scholarly journals Nuclear role for human Argonaute-1 as an estrogen-dependent transcription coactivator

2020 ◽  
Vol 219 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciana I. Gómez Acuña ◽  
Ezequiel Nazer ◽  
Santiago A. Rodríguez-Seguí ◽  
Berta Pozzi ◽  
Valeria Buggiano ◽  
...  

In mammals, argonaute (AGO) proteins have been characterized for their roles in small RNA–mediated posttranscriptional and also in transcriptional gene silencing. Here, we report a different role for AGO1 in estradiol-triggered transcriptional activation in human cells. We show that in MCF-7 mammary gland cells, AGO1 associates with transcriptional enhancers of estrogen receptor α (ERα) and that this association is up-regulated by treating the cells with estrogen (E2), displaying a positive correlation with the activation of these enhancers. Moreover, we show that AGO1 interacts with ERα and that this interaction is also increased by E2 treatment, but occurs in the absence of RNA. We show that AGO1 acts positively as a coactivator in estradiol-triggered transcription regulation by promoting ERα binding to its enhancers. Consistently, AGO1 depletion decreases long-range contacts between ERα enhancers and their target promoters. Our results point to a role of AGO1 in transcriptional regulation in human cells that is independent from small RNA binding.

2004 ◽  
Vol 186 (24) ◽  
pp. 8472-8477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yngve Östberg ◽  
Ignas Bunikis ◽  
Sven Bergström ◽  
Jörgen Johansson

ABSTRACT Small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) have recently been shown to be the main controllers of several regulatory pathways. The function of sRNAs depends in many cases on the RNA-binding protein Hfq, especially for sRNAs with an antisense function. In this study, the genome of Borrelia burgdorferi was subjected to different searches for sRNAs, including direct homology and comparative genomics searches and ortholog- and annotation-based search strategies. Two new sRNAs were found, one of which showed complementarity to the rpoS region, which it possibly controls by an antisense mechanism. The role of the other sRNA is unknown, although observed complementarities against particular mRNA sequences suggest an antisense mechanism. We suggest that the low level of sRNAs observed in B. burgdorferi is at least partly due to the presumed lack of both functional Hfq protein and RNase E activity.


2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeong Hoon Kim ◽  
Mee Hyun Lee ◽  
Byoung Jin Kim ◽  
Jun Hyun Kim ◽  
Seong Jun Han ◽  
...  

Estrogen-dependent transcriptional activation by estrogen receptor α (ERα) depends on the conformation of helices 3 and 12 in the ligand-binding domain. To better understand the function of helix 3 in ERα, we examined the role of charged residues, which are conserved in most steroid receptors in helix 3, in estrogen-dependent transactivation. The replacement of Asp-351 with lysine (D351K) or leucine (D351 L) completely abolished estrogen-dependent transactivation without affecting estrogen-binding, DNA-binding and homodimerization activities in ERα. The mutations dramatically reduced the ligand-dependent activation function 2 activity and impaired the ability of ERα to bind p160 coactivators. In addition, the D351K mutant effectively inhibited the transcriptional activation activity of wild-type ERα. Furthermore Asp-351 was required not only for the estrogen-dependent conformational change of wild-type ERα but also for the constitutive transcriptional activity and ligand-independent active conformation of ERα mutant Y537N. Similarly, in the orphan nuclear receptor called estrogen-related receptor 3 (ERR3), the replacement of Asp-273 (the corresponding amino acid to Asp-351 in ERα) with lysine abolished constitutive transcriptional activity of ERR3 without affecting DNA-binding activity and impaired the ability of the receptor to interact with p160 coactivators. These data suggest a role of Asp-351 in inducing and stabilizing the active conformation of ERα, and our results experimentally confirm the concept that Asp-351 in helix 3 interacts with the amide hydrogen of L540 in helix 12 to form a transcriptionally competent surface for binding p160 coactivators.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Annalisa Tameni ◽  
Elisabetta Sauta ◽  
Valentina Mularoni ◽  
Federica Torricelli ◽  
Gloria Manzotti ◽  
...  

AbstractDeregulation of chromatin modifiers, including DNA helicases, is emerging as one of the mechanisms underlying the transformation of anaplastic lymphoma kinase negative (ALK−) anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). We recently identified the DNA-helicase HELLS as central for proficient ALK−ALCL proliferation and progression. Here we assessed in detail its function by performing RNA-sequencing profiling coupled with bioinformatic prediction to identify HELLS targets and transcriptional cooperators. We demonstrated that HELLS, together with the transcription factor YY1, contributes to an appropriate cytokinesis via the transcriptional regulation of genes involved in cleavage furrow regulation. Binding target promoters, HELLS primes YY1 recruitment and transcriptional activation of cytoskeleton genes including the small GTPases RhoA and RhoU and their effector kinase Pak2. Single or multiple knockdowns of these genes reveal that RhoA and RhoU mediate HELLS effects on cell proliferation and cell division of ALK−ALCLs. Collectively, our work demonstrates the transcriptional role of HELLS in orchestrating a complex transcriptional program sustaining neoplastic features of ALK−ALCL.


Reproduction ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 142 (6) ◽  
pp. 803-817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mai Nguyen-Chi ◽  
Dominique Morello

Changes in mRNA translation and degradation represent post-transcriptional processes operating during gametogenesis and early embryogenesis to ensure regulated protein synthesis. Numerous mRNA-binding proteins (RBPs) have been described in multiple animal models that contribute to the control of mRNA translation and decay during oogenesis and spermatogenesis. An emerging view from studies performed in germ cells and somatic cells is that RBPs associate with their target mRNAs in RNA–protein (or ribonucleoprotein) complexes (mRNPs) that assemble in various cytoplasmic RNA granules that communicate with the translation machinery and control mRNA storage, triage, and degradation. In comparison withXenopus, Caenorhabditis elegans, orDrosophila, the composition and role of cytoplasmic RNA-containing granules in mammalian germ cells are still poorly understood. However, regained interest for these structures has emerged with the recent discovery of their role in small RNA synthesis and transposon silencing through DNA methylation. In this review, we will briefly summarize our current knowledge on cytoplasmic RNA granules in murine germ cells and describe the role of some of the RBPs they contain in regulating mRNA metabolism and small RNA processing during gametogenesis.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Gonzalez-Vallinas ◽  
Amadís Pagès ◽  
Babita Singh ◽  
Eduardo Eyras

Background Transcriptional enhancers are generally known to regulate gene transcription from afar. Their activation involves a series of changes in chromatin marks and recruitment of protein factors. These enhancers may also occur inside genes, but how many may be active in human cells and their effects on the regulation of the host gene remains unclear. Results We describe a novel semi-supervised method based on the relative enrichment of chromatin signals between 2 conditions to predict active enhancers. We applied this method to the tumoral K562 and the normal GM12878 cell lines to predict enhancers that are differentially active in one cell type. These predictions show enhancer-like properties according to positional distribution, correlation with gene expression and production of enhancer RNAs. Using this model, we predict 10,365 and 9,777 intragenic active enhancers in K562 and GM12878, respectively, and relate the differential activation of these enhancers to expression and splicing differences of the host genes. Conclusions We propose that the activation or silencing of intragenic transcriptional enhancers modulate the regulation of the host gene by means of a local change of the chromatin and the recruitment of enhancer-related factors that may interact with the RNA directly or through the interaction with RNA binding proteins. Predicted enhancers are available at http://regulatorygenomics.upf.edu/Projects/enhancers.html


2004 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 41-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
William B Pratt ◽  
Mario D Galigniana ◽  
Yoshihiro Morishima ◽  
Patrick J M Murphy

Unliganded steroid receptors are assembled into heterocomplexes with heat-shock protein (hsp) 90 by a multiprotein chaperone machinery. In addition to binding the receptors at the chaperone site, hsp90 binds cofactors at other sites that are part of the assembly machinery, as well as immunophilins that connect the assembled receptor-hsp90 heterocomplexes to a protein trafficking pathway. The hsp90-/hsp70-based chaperone machinery interacts with the unliganded glucocorticoid receptor to open the steroid-binding cleft to access by a steroid, and the machinery interacts in very dynamic fashion with the liganded, transformed receptor to facilitate its translocation along microtubular highways to the nucleus. In the nucleus, the chaperone machinery interacts with the receptor in transcriptional regulatory complexes after hormone dissociation to release the receptor and terminate transcriptional activation. By forming heterocomplexes with hsp90, the chaperone machinery stabilizes the receptor to degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway of proteolysis.


2018 ◽  
Vol 239 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
H H Farman ◽  
K L Gustafsson ◽  
P Henning ◽  
L Grahnemo ◽  
V Lionikaite ◽  
...  

The importance of estrogen receptor α (ERα) for the regulation of bone mass in males is well established. ERα mediates estrogenic effects both via nuclear and membrane-initiated ERα (mERα) signaling. The role of mERα signaling for the effects of estrogen on bone in male mice is unknown. To investigate the role of mERα signaling, we have used mice (Nuclear-Only-ER; NOER) with a point mutation (C451A), which results in inhibited trafficking of ERα to the plasma membrane. Gonadal-intact male NOER mice had a significantly decreased total body areal bone mineral density (aBMD) compared to WT littermates at 3, 6 and 9 months of age as measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). High-resolution microcomputed tomography (µCT) analysis of tibia in 3-month-old males demonstrated a decrease in cortical and trabecular thickness in NOER mice compared to WT littermates. As expected, estradiol (E2) treatment of orchidectomized (ORX) WT mice increased total body aBMD, trabecular BV/TV and cortical thickness in tibia compared to placebo treatment. E2 treatment increased these skeletal parameters also in ORX NOER mice. However, the estrogenic responses were significantly decreased in ORX NOER mice compared with ORX WT mice. In conclusion, mERα is essential for normal estrogen signaling in both trabecular and cortical bone in male mice. Increased knowledge of estrogen signaling mechanisms in the regulation of the male skeleton may aid in the development of new treatment options for male osteoporosis.


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