scholarly journals UBF levels determine the number of active ribosomal RNA genes in mammals

2008 ◽  
Vol 183 (7) ◽  
pp. 1259-1274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Sanij ◽  
Gretchen Poortinga ◽  
Kerith Sharkey ◽  
Sandy Hung ◽  
Timothy P. Holloway ◽  
...  

In mammals, the mechanisms regulating the number of active copies of the ∼200 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes transcribed by RNA polymerase I are unclear. We demonstrate that depletion of the transcription factor upstream binding factor (UBF) leads to the stable and reversible methylation-independent silencing of rRNA genes by promoting histone H1–induced assembly of transcriptionally inactive chromatin. Chromatin remodeling is abrogated by the mutation of an extracellular signal-regulated kinase site within the high mobility group box 1 domain of UBF1, which is required for its ability to bend and loop DNA in vitro. Surprisingly, rRNA gene silencing does not reduce net rRNA synthesis as transcription from remaining active genes is increased. We also show that the active rRNA gene pool is not static but decreases during differentiation, correlating with diminished UBF expression. Thus, UBF1 levels regulate active rRNA gene chromatin during growth and differentiation.

2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (13) ◽  
pp. 4938-4952 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley E. Brown ◽  
Moshe Szyf

ABSTRACT Within the human genome there are hundreds of copies of the rRNA gene, but only a fraction of these genes are active. Silencing through epigenetics has been extensively studied; however, it is essential to understand how active rRNA genes are maintained. Here, we propose a role for the methyl-CpG binding domain protein MBD3 in epigenetically maintaining active rRNA promoters. We show that MBD3 is localized to the nucleolus, colocalizes with upstream binding factor, and binds to unmethylated rRNA promoters. Knockdown of MBD3 by small interfering RNA results in increased methylation of the rRNA promoter coupled with a decrease in RNA polymerase I binding and pre-rRNA transcription. Conversely, overexpression of MBD3 results in decreased methylation of the rRNA promoter. Additionally, overexpression of MBD3 induces demethylation of nonreplicating plasmids containing the rRNA promoter. We demonstrate that this demethylation occurs following the overexpression of MBD3 and its increased interaction with the methylated rRNA promoter. This is the first demonstration that MBD3 is involved in inducing and maintaining the demethylated state of a specific promoter.


2005 ◽  
Vol 86 (8) ◽  
pp. 2315-2322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajeev Banerjee ◽  
Mary K. Weidman ◽  
Sonia Navarro ◽  
Lucio Comai ◽  
Asim Dasgupta

Soon after infection, poliovirus (PV) shuts off host-cell transcription, which is catalysed by all three cellular RNA polymerases. rRNA constitutes more than 50 % of all cellular RNA and is transcribed from rDNA by RNA polymerase I (pol I). Here, evidence has been provided suggesting that both pol I transcription factors, SL-1 (selectivity factor) and UBF (upstream binding factor), are modified and inactivated in PV-infected cells. The viral protease 3Cpro appeared to cleave the TATA-binding protein-associated factor 110 (TAF110), a subunit of the SL-1 complex, into four fragments in vitro. In vitro protease-cleavage assays using various mutants of TAF110 and purified 3Cpro indicated that the Q265G266 and Q805G806 sites were cleaved by 3Cpro. Both SL-1 and UBF were depleted in PV-infected cells and their disappearance correlated with pol I transcription inhibition. rRNA synthesis from a template containing a human pol I promoter demonstrated that both SL-1 and UBF were necessary to restore pol I transcription fully in PV-infected cell extracts. These results suggested that both SL-1 and UBF are transcriptionally inactivated in PV-infected HeLa cells.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (19) ◽  
pp. 10357-10372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keiichi Izumikawa ◽  
Hideaki Ishikawa ◽  
Harunori Yoshikawa ◽  
Sally Fujiyama ◽  
Akira Watanabe ◽  
...  

Abstract Activation of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) synthesis is pivotal during cell growth and proliferation, but its aberrant upregulation may promote tumorigenesis. Here, we demonstrate that the candidate oncoprotein, LYAR, enhances ribosomal DNA (rDNA) transcription. Our data reveal that LYAR binds the histone-associated protein BRD2 without involvement of acetyl-lysine–binding bromodomains and recruits BRD2 to the rDNA promoter and transcribed regions via association with upstream binding factor. We show that BRD2 is required for the recruitment of the MYST-type acetyltransferase KAT7 to rDNA loci, resulting in enhanced local acetylation of histone H4. In addition, LYAR binds a complex of BRD4 and KAT7, which is then recruited to rDNA independently of the BRD2-KAT7 complex to accelerate the local acetylation of both H4 and H3. BRD2 also helps recruit BRD4 to rDNA. By contrast, LYAR has no effect on rDNA methylation or the binding of RNA polymerase I subunits to rDNA. These data suggest that LYAR promotes the association of the BRD2-KAT7 and BRD4-KAT7 complexes with transcription-competent rDNA loci but not to transcriptionally silent rDNA loci, thereby increasing rRNA synthesis by altering the local acetylation status of histone H3 and H4.


1991 ◽  
Vol 174 (5) ◽  
pp. 1239-1244 ◽  
Author(s):  
E K Chan ◽  
H Imai ◽  
J C Hamel ◽  
E M Tan

In dividing eukaryotic cells, nucleoli disperse before mitosis and reform in daughter cells at sites of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene clusters that are at the secondary constrictions of chromosomes, called nucleolus organizer regions (NORs). In this study, cDNA clones for a NOR autoantigen (NOR-90) were selected using a specific human autoantibody probe and were subsequently identified to encode an alternative form of the reported human upstream binding factor (hUBF). Results from immunoprecipitation showed that anti-NOR-90 antibodies recognized both forms of hUBF/NOR-90. Our data therefore showed that UBF, a critical factor in the regulation of rRNA transcription, was tightly bound to NOR during mitosis even when rRNA synthesis was thought to be minimal. Furthermore, we identified a nucleolar transcription factor as a novel target for human autoimmune response.


1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 5833-5842 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Kermekchiev ◽  
J L Workman ◽  
C S Pikaard

Upstream binding factor (UBF) is a vertebrate RNA polymerase I transcription factor that can bend and wrap DNA. To investigate UBF's likely role as an architectural protein of rRNA genes organized in chromatin, we tested UBF's ability to bind rRNA gene enhancers assembled into nucleosome cores (DNA plus core histones) and nucleosomes (DNA plus core histones plus histone H1). UBF bound with low affinity to nucleosome cores formed with enhancer DNA probes of 162 bp. However, on nucleosome cores which contained approximately 60 bp of additional linker DNA, UBF bound with high affinity similar to its binding to naked DNA, forming a ternary DNA-core histone-UBF complex. UBF could be stripped from ternary complexes with competitor DNA to liberate nucleosome cores, rather than free DNA, suggesting that UBF binding to nucleosome cores does not displace the core histones H2A, H2B, H3, and H4. DNase I, micrococcal nuclease, and exonuclease III footprinting suggests that UBF and histone H1 interact with DNA on both sides flanking the histone octamer. Footprinting shows that UBF outcompetes histone H1 for binding to a nucleosome core and will displace, if not dissociate, H1 from its binding site on a preassembled nucleosome. These data suggest that UBF may act to prevent or reverse the assembly of transcriptionally inactive chromatin structures catalyzed by linker histone binding.


1991 ◽  
Vol 99 (4) ◽  
pp. 759-767
Author(s):  
M. Thiry ◽  
G. Goessens

The precise location of transcribing rRNA genes within Ehrlich tumor cell nucleoli has been investigated using two approaches: high-resolution autoradiography of cells pulse-labelled with tritiated uridine, varying the exposure time, and in situ-in vitro transcription coupled with an immunogold labelling procedure. When autoradiographic preparations are exposed for a short time, silver grains are found associated almost exclusively with interphasic cell nucleoli. Labelling of extranucleolar areas requires longer exposure. Within the nucleolus, the first sites to be revealed are in the dense fibrillar component. Prolonging exposure increases labelling over the dense fibrillar component, with label becoming more and more apparent over the fibrillar centers. Under these conditions, however, labelling does not extend into the granular component, and no background is observed. Initiation of transcription on ultrathin cell sections occurs preferentially at the borders of condensed chromatin blocks and in their close vicinity. The condensed chromatin areas themselves remain unlabelled. Inside most nucleoli, gold-particle clusters are mainly detected in the fibrillar centers, especially at their periphery, whereas the dense fibrillar component and the granular component remain devoid of label. These results, together with previous observations made on the same cell type, clearly indicate that the fibrillar centers are the sites of rRNA gene transcription in Ehrlich tumor cell nucleoli, while the dense fibrillar component is the site of pre-rRNA accumulation.


2008 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 619-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna L. Birch ◽  
Joost C.B.M. Zomerdijk

Transcription of the major ribosomal RNAs by Pol I (RNA polymerase I) is a key determinant of ribosome biogenesis, driving cell growth and proliferation in eukaryotes. Hundreds of copies of rRNA genes are present in each cell, and there is evidence that the cellular control of Pol I transcription involves adjustments to the number of rRNA genes actively engaged in transcription, as well as to the rate of transcription from each active gene. Chromatin structure is inextricably linked to rRNA gene activity, and the present review highlights recent advances in this area.


1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 557-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
W M Hempel ◽  
A H Cavanaugh ◽  
R D Hannan ◽  
L Taylor ◽  
L I Rothblum

Transcription of the 45S rRNA genes is carried out by RNA polymerase I and at least two trans-acting factors, upstream binding factor (UBF) and SL-1. We have examined the hypothesis that SL-1 and UBF interact. Coimmunoprecipitation studies using an antibody to UBF demonstrated that TATA-binding protein, a subunit of SL-1, associates with UBF in the absence of DNA. Inclusion of the detergents sodium dodecyl sulfate and deoxycholate disrupted this interaction. In addition, partially purified UBF from rat cell nuclear extracts and partially purified SL-1 from human cells coimmunoprecipitated with the anti-UBF antibody after mixing, indicating that the UBF-SL-1 complex can re-form. Treatment of UBF-depleted extracts with the anti-UBF antibody depleted the extracts of SL-1 activity only if UBF was added to the extract prior to the immunodepletion reaction. Furthermore, SL-1 activity could be recovered in the immunoprecipitate. Interestingly, these immunoprecipitates did not contain RNA polymerase I, as a monospecific antibody to the 194-kDa subunit of RNA polymerase I failed to detect that subunit in the immunoprecipitates. Treatment of N1S1 cell extracts with the anti-UBF antibody depleted the extracts of SL-1 activity but not TFIIIB activity, suggesting that the binding of UBF to SL-1 is specific and not solely mediated by an interaction between UBF and TATA-binding protein, which is also a component of TFIIIB. These data provide evidence that UBF and SL-1 interact.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (11) ◽  
pp. 5891-5906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Sorino ◽  
Valeria Catena ◽  
Tiziana Bruno ◽  
Francesca De Nicola ◽  
Stefano Scalera ◽  
...  

Abstract Originally identified as an RNA polymerase II interactor, Che-1/AATF (Che-1) has now been recognized as a multifunctional protein involved in cell-cycle regulation and cancer progression, as well as apoptosis inhibition and response to stress. This protein displays a peculiar nucleolar localization and it has recently been implicated in pre-rRNA processing and ribosome biogenesis. Here, we report the identification of a novel function of Che-1 in the regulation of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) synthesis, in both cancer and normal cells. We demonstrate that Che-1 interacts with RNA polymerase I and nucleolar upstream binding factor (UBF) and promotes RNA polymerase I-dependent transcription. Furthermore, this protein binds to the rRNA gene (rDNA) promoter and modulates its epigenetic state by contrasting the recruitment of HDAC1. Che-1 downregulation affects RNA polymerase I and UBF recruitment on rDNA and leads to reducing rDNA promoter activity and 47S pre-rRNA production. Interestingly, Che-1 depletion induces abnormal nucleolar morphology associated with re-distribution of nucleolar proteins. Finally, we show that upon DNA damage Che-1 re-localizes from rDNA to TP53 gene promoter to induce cell-cycle arrest. This previously uncharacterized function of Che-1 confirms the important role of this protein in the regulation of ribosome biogenesis, cellular proliferation and response to stress.


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