scholarly journals Programmable gene regulation for metabolic engineering using decoy transcription factor binding sites

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiebin Wang ◽  
Nathan Tague ◽  
Stephen A Whelan ◽  
Mary J Dunlop
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Metabolic Engineering ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Metabolic Flux ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Arginine Biosynthesis ◽  
Knock Out ◽  
Transcription Factor Decoy

Abstract Transcription factor decoy binding sites are short DNA sequences that can titrate a transcription factor away from its natural binding site, therefore regulating gene expression. In this study, we harness synthetic transcription factor decoy systems to regulate gene expression for metabolic pathways in Escherichia coli. We show that transcription factor decoys can effectively regulate expression of native and heterologous genes. Tunability of the decoy can be engineered via changes in copy number or modifications to the DNA decoy site sequence. Using arginine biosynthesis as a showcase, we observed a 16-fold increase in arginine production when we introduced the decoy system to steer metabolic flux towards increased arginine biosynthesis, with negligible growth differences compared to the wild type strain. The decoy-based production strain retains high genetic integrity; in contrast to a gene knock-out approach where mutations were common, we detected no mutations in the production system using the decoy-based strain. We further show that transcription factor decoys are amenable to multiplexed library screening by demonstrating enhanced tolerance to pinene with a combinatorial decoy library. Our study shows that transcription factor decoy binding sites are a powerful and compact tool for metabolic engineering.

scholarly journals Programmable gene regulation for metabolic engineering using decoy transcription factor binding sites

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiebin Wang ◽  
Nathan Tague ◽  
Stephen Whelan ◽  
Mary J. Dunlop
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Metabolic Engineering ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Metabolic Flux ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Arginine Biosynthesis ◽  
Knock Out ◽  
Transcription Factor Decoy

ABSTRACTTranscription factor decoy binding sites are short DNA sequences that can serve as “sponges” to titrate a transcription factor away from its natural binding site, therefore regulating gene expression. In this study, we harness decoy sites to develop synthetic transcription factor sponge systems to regulate gene expression for metabolic pathways in Escherichia coli. We show that transcription factor sponges can effectively regulate expression of native and heterologous genes. Tunability of the sponge can be engineered via changes in copy number or modifications to the DNA decoy site sequence. Using arginine biosynthesis as a showcase, we observe a 16-fold increase in arginine production when we introduce the sponge system to steer metabolic flux towards increased arginine biosynthesis, with negligible growth differences compared to the wild type strain. The sponge-based production strain shows high genetic stability; in contrast to a gene knock-out approach where mutations were common, we detected no mutations in the production system using the sponge-based strain. We further show that transcription factor sponges are amenable to multiplexed library screening by demonstrating enhanced tolerance to pinene with a combinatorial sponge library. Our study shows that transcription factor sponges are a powerful and compact tool for metabolic engineering.

scholarly journals Role of polycomb repressive complex 2 in regulation of human transcription factor gene expression

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Brown
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Rna Polymerase ◽  
Rna Polymerase Ii ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Regulatory Control ◽  
Polycomb Repressive Complex ◽  
Control Of Gene Expression ◽  
Polycomb Repressive Complex 2

Control of gene expression is now recognized as a central issue in the field of molecular biology. We now know the sequences of many genomes including that of the human genome, and we know the nature of many pathways involved in control of gene expression. It remains difficult, however, to look at the DNA sequences surrounding a particular gene and tell which methods of regulatory control are in use. I have been pursuing the idea that progress might be made by comparing the regulatory regions of paired gene populations in which one population is strongly expressed and the other weakly. Here I report the results obtained with human genes encoding transcription factors (TF). In this population, broadly expressed genes are strongly expressed while tissue targeted TF expression is suppressed in most tissues. The results demonstrated that the promoter region of broadly expressed TF genes is enriched in binding sites for POLR2A, a component of RNA polymerase II while promoters of tissue targeted genes are enriched in EZH2, a subunit of polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2). It was rare to observe promoters with binding sites for both POLR2A and EZH2. The findings are interpreted to indicate that strong expression of broadly expressed TF genes is due to the presence of RNA polymerase II at the promoter while weak expression of tissue targeted promoters results from the presence of PRC2. Finally, transcription factor families were compared in the proportion of broadly expressed and tissue targeted genes they contain. The results demonstrated that most families possess both broadly expressed and tissue targeted members. For instance, this was the case with 16 of 20 TF families examined. The results are interpreted to indicate that while individual TFs such as EZH2 may be specific for broadly expressed or tissue targeted genes, this is not a property of most TF families.

scholarly journals Transcription Factor Decoy (TFD) in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
pp. 405-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Piva ◽  
Roberto Gambari
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Gene Expression ◽  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Transcription Factors ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Estrogen Receptor Α ◽  
Tumor Onset ◽  
Transcription Factor Decoy ◽  
Modulation Of Gene Expression ◽  
Synthetic Oligonucleotides

Synthetic oligonucleotides have recently been the object of many investigations aimed to develop sequence-selective compounds able to modulate, either positively or negatively, transcription of eukaryotic and viral genes. Alteration of transcription could be obtained by using synthetic oligonucleotides mimicking target sites of transcription factors (the transcription factor decoy -TFD- approach). This could lead to either inhibition or activation of gene expression, depending on the biological functions of the target transcription factors. Since several transcription factors are involved in tumor onset and progression, this issue is of great interest in order to design anti-tumor compounds. In addition to oligonucleotides, peptide nucleic acids (PNA) can be proposed for the modulation of gene expression. In this respect, double-stranded PNA-DNA chimeras have been shown to be capable to exhibit strong decoy activity. In the case of treatment of breast cancer cells, decoy oligonucleotides mimicking CRE binding sites, promoter region of estrogen receptor α gene, NF-kB binding sites have been used with promising results. Therefore, the transcription factor decoy approach could be object of further studies to develop protocols for the treatment of breast cancer. In the future, transcription factors regulating cell cycle, hormone-dependent differentiation, tumor invasion and metastasis are expected to be suitable targets for transcription factor decoy.

scholarly journals Understanding Transcription Factor Regulation by Integrating Gene Expression and DNase I Hypersensitive Sites

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guohua Wang ◽  
Fang Wang ◽  
Qian Huang ◽  
Yu Li ◽  
Yunlong Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Transcription Factors ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Transcription Factor Binding Sites ◽  
Transcription Factor Binding ◽  
Interferon Treatment ◽  
Factor Binding ◽  
Hypersensitive Sites

Transcription factors are proteins that bind to DNA sequences to regulate gene transcription. The transcription factor binding sites are short DNA sequences (5–20 bp long) specifically bound by one or more transcription factors. The identification of transcription factor binding sites and prediction of their function continue to be challenging problems in computational biology. In this study, by integrating the DNase I hypersensitive sites with known position weight matrices in the TRANSFAC database, the transcription factor binding sites in gene regulatory region are identified. Based on the global gene expression patterns in cervical cancer HeLaS3 cell and HelaS3-ifnα4h cell (interferon treatment on HeLaS3 cell for 4 hours), we present a model-based computational approach to predict a set of transcription factors that potentially cause such differential gene expression. Significantly, 6 out 10 predicted functional factors, including IRF, IRF-2, IRF-9, IRF-1 and IRF-3, ICSBP, belong to interferon regulatory factor family and upregulate the gene expression levels responding to the interferon treatment. Another factor, ISGF-3, is also a transcriptional activator induced by interferon alpha. Using the different transcription factor binding sites selected criteria, the prediction result of our model is consistent. Our model demonstrated the potential to computationally identify the functional transcription factors in gene regulation.

scholarly journals Co-regulation of the transcription controlling ATF2 phosphoswitch by JNK and p38

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Klára Kirsch ◽  
András Zeke ◽  
Orsolya Tőke ◽  
Péter Sok ◽  
Ashish Sethi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Mechanistic Modeling ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Phosphorylation Sites ◽  
Binding Motifs ◽  
Mitogen Activated Protein Kinases ◽  
Transactivation Domains ◽  
Mitogen Activated Protein

AbstractTranscription factor phosphorylation at specific sites often activates gene expression, but how environmental cues quantitatively control transcription is not well-understood. Activating protein 1 transcription factors are phosphorylated by mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) in their transactivation domains (TAD) at so-called phosphoswitches, which are a hallmark in response to growth factors, cytokines or stress. We show that the ATF2 TAD is controlled by functionally distinct signaling pathways (JNK and p38) through structurally different MAPK binding sites. Moreover, JNK mediated phosphorylation at an evolutionarily more recent site diminishes p38 binding and made the phosphoswitch differently sensitive to JNK and p38 in vertebrates. Structures of MAPK-TAD complexes and mechanistic modeling of ATF2 TAD phosphorylation in cells suggest that kinase binding motifs and phosphorylation sites line up to maximize MAPK based co-regulation. This study shows how the activity of an ancient transcription controlling phosphoswitch became dependent on the relative flux of upstream signals.

Functional characterization of WT1 binding sites within the human vitamin D receptor gene promoter

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
TAE HO LEE ◽  
JERRY PELLETIER
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Vitamin D ◽  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Vitamin D Receptor ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Wilms Tumor ◽  
Cdna Array ◽  
Transcriptional Level ◽  
Vdr Gene ◽  
Downstream Target

The Wilms’ tumor suppressor gene, wt1, encodes a zinc finger transcription factor that can regulate gene expression. It plays an essential role in tumorigenesis, kidney differentiation, and urogenital development. To identify WT1 downstream targets, gene expression profiling was conducted using a cDNA array hybridization approach. We confirm herein that the human vitamin D receptor (VDR), a ligand-activated transcription factor, is a WT1 downstream target. Nuclear run on experiments demonstrated that the effect of WT1 on VDR expression is at the transcriptional level. Transient transfection assays, deletion mutagenesis, electrophoretic mobility shift assays, and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays suggest that, although WT1 is presented with a possibility of three binding sites within the VDR promoter, activation of the human VDR gene appears to occur through a single site. This site differs from a previously identified WT1-responsive site in the murine VDR promoter (Maurer U, Jehan F, Englert C, Hübinger G, Weidmann E, DeLucas HF, and Bergmann L. J Biol Chem 276: 3727–3732, 2001). We also show that the products of a Denys-Drash syndrome allele of wt1 inhibit WT1-mediated transactivation of the human VDR promoter. Our results indicate that the human VDR gene is a downstream target of WT1 and may be regulated differently than its murine counterpart.

scholarly journals Bioinformatics Analysis of SNPs in IL-6 Gene Promoter of Jinghai Yellow Chickens

Genes ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shijie Xin ◽  
Xiaohui Wang ◽  
Guojun Dai ◽  
Jingjing Zhang ◽  
Tingting An ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Promoter Region ◽  
Bioinformatics Analysis ◽  
Cpg Islands ◽  
Regulatory Region ◽  
Transcription Factor Binding Sites ◽  
Transcription Factor Binding ◽  
Factor Binding

The proinflammatory cytokine, interleukin-6 (IL-6), plays a critical role in many chronic inflammatory diseases, particularly inflammatory bowel disease. To investigate the regulation of IL-6 gene expression at the molecular level, genomic DNA sequencing of Jinghai yellow chickens (Gallus gallus) was performed to detect single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the region −2200 base pairs (bp) upstream to 500 bp downstream of IL-6. Transcription factor binding sites and CpG islands in the IL-6 promoter region were predicted using bioinformatics software. Twenty-eight SNP sites were identified in IL-6. Four of these 28 SNPs, three [−357 (G > A), −447 (C > G), and −663 (A > G)] in the 5′ regulatory region and one in the 3′ non-coding region [3177 (C > T)] are not labelled in GenBank. Bioinformatics analysis revealed 11 SNPs within the promoter region that altered putative transcription factor binding sites. Furthermore, the C-939G mutation in the promoter region may change the number of CpG islands, and SNPs in the 5′ regulatory region may influence IL-6 gene expression by altering transcription factor binding or CpG methylation status. Genetic diversity analysis revealed that the newly discovered A-663G site significantly deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. These results provide a basis for further exploration of the promoter function of the IL-6 gene and the relationships of these SNPs to intestinal inflammation resistance in chickens.

scholarly journals Direct and widespread role for the nuclear receptor EcR in mediating the response to ecdysone in Drosophila

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (20) ◽  
pp. 9893-9902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Uyehara ◽  
Daniel J. McKay
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Nuclear Receptor ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Transcriptional Responses ◽  
Enhancer Activity ◽  
Developmental Transitions ◽  
Experimental Systems ◽  
The Impact

The ecdysone pathway was among the first experimental systems employed to study the impact of steroid hormones on the genome. In Drosophila and other insects, ecdysone coordinates developmental transitions, including wholesale transformation of the larva into the adult during metamorphosis. Like other hormones, ecdysone controls gene expression through a nuclear receptor, which functions as a ligand-dependent transcription factor. Although it is clear that ecdysone elicits distinct transcriptional responses within its different target tissues, the role of its receptor, EcR, in regulating target gene expression is incompletely understood. In particular, EcR initiates a cascade of transcription factor expression in response to ecdysone, making it unclear which ecdysone-responsive genes are direct EcR targets. Here, we use the larval-to-prepupal transition of developing wings to examine the role of EcR in gene regulation. Genome-wide DNA binding profiles reveal that EcR exhibits widespread binding across the genome, including at many canonical ecdysone response genes. However, the majority of its binding sites reside at genes with wing-specific functions. We also find that EcR binding is temporally dynamic, with thousands of binding sites changing over time. RNA-seq reveals that EcR acts as both a temporal gate to block precocious entry to the next developmental stage as well as a temporal trigger to promote the subsequent program. Finally, transgenic reporter analysis indicates that EcR regulates not only temporal changes in target enhancer activity but also spatial patterns. Together, these studies define EcR as a multipurpose, direct regulator of gene expression, greatly expanding its role in coordinating developmental transitions.

scholarly journals Pituitary transcription factor Prop-1 stimulates porcine pituitary glycoprotein hormone α subunit gene expression

2006 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takanobu Sato ◽  
Kousuke Kitahara ◽  
Takao Susa ◽  
Takako Kato ◽  
Yukio Kato
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Gh3 Cells ◽  
Pituitary Hormone ◽  
Transcriptional Level ◽  
Β Subunit ◽  
Glycoprotein Hormone ◽  
Α Subunit

Recently, we have reported that a Prophet of Pit-1 homeodomain factor, Prop-1, is a novel transcription factor for the porcine follicle-stimulating hormone β subunit (FSHβ) gene. This study subsequently aimed to examine the role of Prop-1 in the gene expression of two other porcine gonadotropin subunits, pituitary glycoprotein hormone α subunit (αGSU), and luteinizing hormone β subunit (LHβ). A series of deletion mutants of the porcine αGSU (up to −1059 bp) and LHβ (up to −1277 bp) promoters were constructed in the reporter vector, fused with the secreted alkaline phosphatase gene (pSEAP2-Basic). Transient transfection studies using GH3 cells were carried out to estimate the activation of the porcine αGSU and LHβ promoters by Prop-1, which was found to activate the αGSU promoter of −1059/+12 bp up to 11.7-fold but not the LHβ promoter. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay and DNase I footprinting analysis revealed that Prop-1 binds to six positions, −1038/−1026, −942/−928, −495/−479, −338/−326, −153/−146, and −131/−124 bp, that comprise the A/T cluster. Oligonucleotides of six Prop-1 binding sites were directly connected to the minimum promoter of αGSU, fused in the pSEAP2-Basic vector, followed by transfecting GH3 cells to determine the cis-acting activity. Finally, we concluded that at least five Prop-1 binding sites are the cis-acting elements for αGSU gene expression. The present results revealed a notable feature of the proximal region, where three Prop-1-binding sites are close to and/or overlap the pituitary glycoprotein hormone basal element, GATA-binding element, and junctional regulatory element. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the role of Prop-1 in the regulation of αGSU gene expression. These results, taken together with our previous finding that Prop-1 is a transcription factor for FSHβ gene, confirm that Prop-1 modulates the synthesis of FSH at the transcriptional level. On the other hand, the defects of Prop-1 are known to cause dwarfism and combined pituitary hormone deficiency accompanying hypogonadism. Accordingly, the present observations provide a novel view to understand the hypogonadism caused by Prop-1 defects at the molecular level through the regulatory mechanism of αGSU and FSHβ gene expressions.

scholarly journals The TEA Transcription Factor Tec1 Confers Promoter-Specific Gene Regulation by Ste12-Dependent and -Independent Mechanisms

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 514-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Heise ◽  
Julia van der Felden ◽  
Sandra Kern ◽  
Mario Malcher ◽  
Stefan Brückner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Regulated Gene Expression

ABSTRACT In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the TEA transcription factor Tec1 is known to regulate target genes together with a second transcription factor, Ste12. Tec1-Ste12 complexes can activate transcription through Tec1 binding sites (TCSs), which can be further combined with Ste12 binding sites (PREs) for cooperative DNA binding. However, previous studies have hinted that Tec1 might regulate transcription also without Ste12. Here, we show that in vivo, physiological amounts of Tec1 are sufficient to stimulate TCS-mediated gene expression and transcription of the FLO11 gene in the absence of Ste12. In vitro, Tec1 is able to bind TCS elements with high affinity and specificity without Ste12. Furthermore, Tec1 contains a C-terminal transcriptional activation domain that confers Ste12-independent activation of TCS-regulated gene expression. On a genome-wide scale, we identified 302 Tec1 target genes that constitute two distinct classes. A first class of 254 genes is regulated by Tec1 in a Ste12-dependent manner and is enriched for genes that are bound by Tec1 and Ste12 in vivo. In contrast, a second class of 48 genes can be regulated by Tec1 independently of Ste12 and is enriched for genes that are bound by the stress transcription factors Yap6, Nrg1, Cin5, Skn7, Hsf1, and Msn4. Finally, we find that combinatorial control by Tec1-Ste12 complexes stabilizes Tec1 against degradation. Our study suggests that Tec1 is able to regulate TCS-mediated gene expression by Ste12-dependent and Ste12-independent mechanisms that enable promoter-specific transcriptional control.

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