In vitro transcription of a Drosophila U1 small nuclear RNA gene requires TATA box-binding protein and two proximal cis-acting elements with stringent spacing requirements

1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5918-5927
Author(s):  
Z Zamrod ◽  
C M Tyree ◽  
Y Song ◽  
W E Stumph

Transcription of a Drosophila U1 small nuclear RNA gene was functionally analyzed in cell extracts derived from 0- to 12-h embryos. Two promoter elements essential for efficient initiation of transcription in vitro by RNA polymerase II were identified. The first, termed PSEA, is located between positions -41 and -61 relative to the transcription start site, is crucial for promoter activity, and is the dominant element for specifying the transcription initiation site. PSEA thus appears to be functionally homologous to the proximal sequence element of vertebrate small nuclear RNA genes. The second element, termed PSEB, is located at positions -25 to -32 and is required for an efficient level of transcription initiation because mutation of PSEB, or alteration of the spacing between PSEA and PSEB, severely reduced transcriptional activity relative to that of the wild-type promoter. Although the PSEB sequence does not have any obvious sequence similarity to a TATA box, conversion of PSEB to the canonical TATA sequence dramatically increased the efficiency of the U1 promoter and simultaneously relieved the requirement for the upstream PSEA. Despite these effects, introduction of the TATA sequence into the U1 promoter had no effect on the choice of start site or on the RNA polymerase II specificity of the promoter. Finally, evidence is presented that the TATA box-binding protein is required for transcription from the wild-type U1 promoter as well as from the TATA-containing U1 promoter.

1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5918-5927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z Zamrod ◽  
C M Tyree ◽  
Y Song ◽  
W E Stumph

Transcription of a Drosophila U1 small nuclear RNA gene was functionally analyzed in cell extracts derived from 0- to 12-h embryos. Two promoter elements essential for efficient initiation of transcription in vitro by RNA polymerase II were identified. The first, termed PSEA, is located between positions -41 and -61 relative to the transcription start site, is crucial for promoter activity, and is the dominant element for specifying the transcription initiation site. PSEA thus appears to be functionally homologous to the proximal sequence element of vertebrate small nuclear RNA genes. The second element, termed PSEB, is located at positions -25 to -32 and is required for an efficient level of transcription initiation because mutation of PSEB, or alteration of the spacing between PSEA and PSEB, severely reduced transcriptional activity relative to that of the wild-type promoter. Although the PSEB sequence does not have any obvious sequence similarity to a TATA box, conversion of PSEB to the canonical TATA sequence dramatically increased the efficiency of the U1 promoter and simultaneously relieved the requirement for the upstream PSEA. Despite these effects, introduction of the TATA sequence into the U1 promoter had no effect on the choice of start site or on the RNA polymerase II specificity of the promoter. Finally, evidence is presented that the TATA box-binding protein is required for transcription from the wild-type U1 promoter as well as from the TATA-containing U1 promoter.


2003 ◽  
Vol 278 (20) ◽  
pp. 18649-18657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig S. Hinkley ◽  
Heather A. Hirsch ◽  
Liping Gu ◽  
Brandon LaMere ◽  
R. William Henry

1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. 6398-6407 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Klug ◽  
M Beato

The gene for rabbit uteroglobin codes for a small calcium-, steroid-, and biphenyl metabolite-binding homodimeric protein which is expressed in a variety of epithelial cell types such as Clara cells (lung) and the glandular and luminal cells of the endometrium. One important region mediating its efficient transcription in a human endometrium-derived cell line, Ishikawa, is centered around a noncanonical TATA box. Two factors, TATA core factor (TCF), expressed in cell lines derived from uteroglobin-expressing tissues, and the ubiquitously expressed TATA palindrome factor, bind to the DNA major groove at two adjacent sites within this region. Here, we report the identification of the TATA palindrome factor as the transcription/initiation factor YY1 by microsequencing of the biochemically purified factor from HeLa cells. The binding site for YY1 within the uteroglobin gene is unique in its sequence and its location overlapping a weak TATA box (TACA). Binding of YY1 was required for efficient transcription in TCF-positive Ishikawa cells, which responded only weakly to a change of TACA to TATA, although in vitro binding affinity for the TATA-box-binding protein increased by 1 order of magnitude. In contrast, in CV-1 cells, lacking TCF, binding of YY1 was not required for transcription in the context of a wild-type TACA box, whereas a change from TACA to TATA led to significantly increased reporter gene expression. DNA binding data exclude a role of YY1 in stabilizing the interaction of the TATA-box-binding protein with the uteroglobin promoter. We conclude that cell lines derived from uteroglobin-expressing tissues overcome the weak TATA box with the help of auxiliary factors, one of them being YY1.


1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 2130-2141 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. C. Kuhlman ◽  
H. Cho ◽  
D. Reinberg ◽  
N. Hernandez

ABSTRACT RNA polymerase II transcribes the mRNA-encoding genes and the majority of the small nuclear RNA (snRNA) genes. The formation of a minimal functional transcription initiation complex on a TATA-box-containing mRNA promoter has been well characterized and involves the ordered assembly of a number of general transcription factors (GTFs), all of which have been either cloned or purified to near homogeneity. In the human RNA polymerase II snRNA promoters, a single element, the proximal sequence element (PSE), is sufficient to direct basal levels of transcription in vitro. The PSE is recognized by the basal transcription complex SNAPc. SNAPc, which is not required for transcription from mRNA-type RNA polymerase II promoters such as the adenovirus type 2 major late (Ad2ML) promoter, is thought to recruit TATA binding protein (TBP) and nucleate the assembly of the snRNA transcription initiation complex, but little is known about which GTFs other than TBP are required. Here we show that the GTFs IIA, IIB, IIF, and IIE are required for efficient RNA polymerase II transcription from snRNA promoters. Thus, although the factors that recognize the core elements of RNA polymerase II mRNA and snRNA-type promoters differ, they mediate the recruitment of many common GTFs.


1984 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 492-499
Author(s):  
S W Van Arsdell ◽  
A M Weiner

We found that the genes for human U2 small nuclear RNA (snRNA) are organized as a nearly perfect tandem array of 10 to 20 copies per haploid genome. Although the coding region for the mature form of U2 RNA was only 188 base pairs (bp) long, the basic repeating unit of the tandem array was 6 kilobase pairs in length. Comparison of DNA sequences immediately upstream from human U1 and U2 genes revealed two regions of strong homology: region I (15 bp long) lay upstream of region II (20 bp long) and was separated from it by about the same distance in U1 genes (25 bp) as in U2 genes (21 bp); however, region I and region II were located 174 bp further upstream from the 5' end of the snRNA coding sequence in U1 genes than in U2 genes. Homologs of region II were also found upstream of the snRNA coding region in a mouse U2 gene and two rat U1 genes. Murphy et al. (Cell 29:265-274, 1982) have found that sequences within region II may function as the equivalent of a TATA box for initiation by RNA polymerase II in vitro at a position 183 bp upstream from the 5' end of the human U1 snRNA coding region. In light of the data reported here, this result suggests that region II does indeed play a role in transcription but that its position relative to the actual initiation site can vary.


1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. 7178-7185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q Huang ◽  
M R Jacobson ◽  
T Pederson

The spliceosomal small nuclear RNAs U1, U2, U4, and U5 are transcribed by RNA polymerase II as precursors with extensions at their 3' ends. The 3' processing of these pre-snRNAs is not understood in detail. Two pathways of pre-U2 RNA 3' processing in vitro were revealed in the present investigation by using a series of human wild-type and mutant pre-U2 RNAs. Substrates with wild-type 3' ends were initially shortened by three or four nucleotides (which is the first step in vivo), and the correct mature 3' end was then rapidly generated. In contrast, certain mutant pre-U2 RNAs displayed an aberrant 3' processing pathway typified by the persistence of intermediates representing cleavage at each internucleoside bond in the precursor 3' extension. Comparison of the wild-type and mutant pre-U2 RNAs revealed a potential base-pairing interaction between nucleotides in the precursor 3' extension and a sequence located between the Sm domain and stem-loop III of U2 RNA. Substrate processing competition experiments using a highly purified pre-U2 RNA 3' processing activity suggested that only RNAs capable of this base-pairing interaction had high affinity for the pre-U2 RNA 3' processing enzyme. The importance of this postulated base-pairing interaction between the precursor 3' extension and the internal region between the Sm domain and stem-loop III was confirmed by the results obtained with a compensatory substitution that restores the base pairing, which displayed the normal 3' processing reaction. These results implicate a precursor-specific base-paired structure involving sequences on both sides of the mature cleavage site in the 3' processing of human U2 RNA.


2004 ◽  
Vol 186 (18) ◽  
pp. 6306-6310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunwei Xie ◽  
John N. Reeve

ABSTRACT Transcription initiation in Archaea requires the assembly of a preinitiation complex containing the TATA- box binding protein (TBP), transcription factor B (TFB), and RNA polymerase (RNAP). The results reported establish the fate of Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus TBP and TFB following transcription initiation by M. thermautotrophicus RNAP in vitro. TFB is released after initiation, during extension of the transcript from 4 to 24 nucleotides, but TBP remains bound to the template DNA. Regulation of archaeal transcription initiation by a repressor competition with TBP for TATA-box region binding must accommodate this observation.


2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 4638-4649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattia Frontini ◽  
Evi Soutoglou ◽  
Manuela Argentini ◽  
Christine Bole-Feysot ◽  
Bernard Jost ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT TFIID plays a key role in transcription initiation of RNA polymerase II preinitiation complex assembly. TFIID is comprised of the TATA box binding protein (TBP) and 14 TBP-associated factors (TAFs). A second set of transcriptional regulatory multiprotein complexes containing TAFs has been described (called SAGA, TFTC, STAGA, and PCAF/GCN5). Using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry, we identified a novel TFTC subunit, human TAF9Like, encoded by a TAF9 paralogue gene. We show that TAF9Like is a subunit of TFIID, and thus, it will be called TAF9b. TFIID and TFTC complexes in which both TAF9 and TAF9b are present exist. In vitro and in vivo experiments indicate that the interactions between TAF9b and TAF6 or TAF9 and TAF6 histone fold pairs are similar. We observed a differential induction of TAF9 and TAF9b during apoptosis that, together with their different ability to stabilize p53, points to distinct requirements for the two proteins in gene regulation. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) knockdown of TAF9 and TAF9b revealed that both genes are essential for cell viability. Gene expression analysis of cells treated with either TAF9 or TAF9b siRNAs indicates that the two proteins regulate different sets of genes with only a small overlap. Taken together, these data demonstrate that TAF9 and TAF9b share some of their functions, but more importantly, they have distinct roles in the transcriptional regulatory process.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document