scholarly journals The Oct-1 POU-specific domain can stimulate small nuclear RNA gene transcription by stabilizing the basal transcription complex SNAPc.

1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 1955-1965 ◽  
Author(s):  
V Mittal ◽  
M A Cleary ◽  
W Herr ◽  
N Hernandez
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Dna Binding ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Dna Binding Domain ◽  
Small Nuclear Rna ◽  
Basal Transcription ◽  
Sequence Element ◽  
Proximal Sequence Element ◽  
Pou Domain ◽  
Nuclear Rna

The RNA polymerase II and III human small nuclear RNA promoters have a common basal element, the proximal sequence element, which binds the TATA box-binding protein-containing complex SNAPc. They also contain an enhancer characterized by a highly conserved octamer sequence, which constitutes a binding site for the broadly expressed POU domain transcription factor Oct-1. The POU domain is a bipartite DNA-binding domain consisting of a POU-homeo (POUH) domain and a POU-specific (POUs) domain joined by a flexible linker. Here, we show that the Oct-1 POU domain but not the related Pit-1 POU domain can facilitate the binding of SNAPc to the proximal sequence element, and activate transcription. The effect is probably mediated by protein-protein contacts, and 1 of 30 amino acid differences between the Oct-1 and Pit-1 POUs domains is the key determinant for the differential interaction with SNAPc and the ability to activate transcription. These results show that a function that is the hallmark of activation domains, namely, recruitment of a basal transcription complex resulting in activation of transcription, can be performed by a DNA-binding domain. In this case, subtle changes between activator DNA-binding domains, as subtle as a single amino acid difference, can profoundly affect interaction with the basal transcription machinery.

scholarly journals The Small Nuclear RNA-activating Protein 190 Myb DNA Binding Domain Stimulates TATA Box-binding Protein-TATA Box Recognition

2003 ◽  
Vol 278 (20) ◽  
pp. 18649-18657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig S. Hinkley ◽  
Heather A. Hirsch ◽  
Liping Gu ◽  
Brandon LaMere ◽  
R. William Henry
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Binding Protein ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Tata Box ◽  
Dna Binding Domain ◽  
Small Nuclear Rna ◽  
Nuclear Rna ◽  
Tata Box Binding Protein

Oct-1 and Oct-2 potentiate functional interactions of a transcription factor with the proximal sequence element of small nuclear RNA genes

1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 3247-3261
Author(s):  
S Murphy ◽  
J B Yoon ◽  
T Gerster ◽  
R G Roeder
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Rna Polymerase ◽  
Rna Polymerase Ii ◽  
Rna Polymerase Iii ◽  
Small Nuclear Rna ◽  
Sequence Element ◽  
Proximal Sequence Element ◽  
Pou Domain ◽  
Polymerase Iii ◽  
Nuclear Rna

The promoters of both RNA polymerase II- and RNA polymerase III-transcribed small nuclear RNA (snRNA) genes contain an essential and highly conserved proximal sequence element (PSE) approximately 55 bp upstream from the transcription start site. In addition, the upstream enhancers of all snRNA genes contain binding sites for octamer-binding transcription factors (Octs), and functional studies have indicated that the PSE and octamer elements work cooperatively. The present study has identified and characterized a novel transcription factor (designated PTF) which specifically binds to the PSE sequence of both RNA polymerase II- and RNA polymerase III-transcribed snRNA genes. PTF binding is markedly potentiated by Oct binding to an adjacent octamer site. This potentiation is effected by Oct-1, Oct-2, or the conserved POU domain of these factors. In agreement with these results and despite the independent binding of Octs to the promoter, PTF and Oct-1 enhance transcription from the 7SK promoter in an interdependent manner. Moreover, the POU domain of Oct-1 is sufficient for significant in vitro activity in the presence of PTF. These results suggest that essential activation domains reside in PTF and that the potentiation of PTF binding by Octs plays a key role in the function of octamer-containing snRNA gene enhancers.

scholarly journals Oct-1 and Oct-2 potentiate functional interactions of a transcription factor with the proximal sequence element of small nuclear RNA genes.

1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 3247-3261 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Murphy ◽  
J B Yoon ◽  
T Gerster ◽  
R G Roeder
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Rna Polymerase ◽  
Rna Polymerase Ii ◽  
Rna Polymerase Iii ◽  
Small Nuclear Rna ◽  
Sequence Element ◽  
Proximal Sequence Element ◽  
Pou Domain ◽  
Polymerase Iii ◽  
Nuclear Rna

The promoters of both RNA polymerase II- and RNA polymerase III-transcribed small nuclear RNA (snRNA) genes contain an essential and highly conserved proximal sequence element (PSE) approximately 55 bp upstream from the transcription start site. In addition, the upstream enhancers of all snRNA genes contain binding sites for octamer-binding transcription factors (Octs), and functional studies have indicated that the PSE and octamer elements work cooperatively. The present study has identified and characterized a novel transcription factor (designated PTF) which specifically binds to the PSE sequence of both RNA polymerase II- and RNA polymerase III-transcribed snRNA genes. PTF binding is markedly potentiated by Oct binding to an adjacent octamer site. This potentiation is effected by Oct-1, Oct-2, or the conserved POU domain of these factors. In agreement with these results and despite the independent binding of Octs to the promoter, PTF and Oct-1 enhance transcription from the 7SK promoter in an interdependent manner. Moreover, the POU domain of Oct-1 is sufficient for significant in vitro activity in the presence of PTF. These results suggest that essential activation domains reside in PTF and that the potentiation of PTF binding by Octs plays a key role in the function of octamer-containing snRNA gene enhancers.

scholarly journals The C6 zinc finger and adjacent amino acids determine DNA-binding specificity and affinity in the yeast activator proteins LAC9 and PPR1.

1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 5128-5137 ◽  
Author(s):  
M M Witte ◽  
R C Dickson
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Dna Binding ◽  
Zinc Finger ◽  
Binding Specificity ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Dna Binding Domain ◽  
Transcription Activator ◽  
Activator Proteins ◽  
Dna Binding Specificity

LAC9 is a DNA-binding protein that regulates transcription of the lactose-galactose regulon in Kluyveromyces lactis. The DNA-binding domain is composed of a zinc finger and nearby amino acids (M. M. Witte and R. C. Dickson, Mol. Cell. Biol. 8:3726-3733, 1988). The single zinc finger appears to be structurally related to the zinc finger of many other fungal transcription activator proteins that contain positively charged residues and six conserved cysteines with the general form Cys-Xaa2-Cys-Xaa6-Cys-Xaa6-9-Cys-Xaa2-Cys-Xaa 6-Cys, where Xaan indicates a stretch of the indicated number of any amino acids (R. M. Evans and S. M. Hollenberg, Cell 52:1-3, 1988). The function(s) of the zinc finger and other amino acids in DNA-binding remains unclear. To determine which portion of the LAC9 DNA-binding domain mediates sequence recognition, we replaced the C6 zinc finger, amino acids adjacent to the carboxyl side of the zinc finger, or both with the analogous region from the Saccharomyces cerevisiae PPR1 or LEU3 protein. A chimeric LAC9 protein, LAC9(PPR1 34-61), carrying only the PPR1 zinc finger, retained the DNA-binding specificity of LAC9. However, LAC9(PPR1 34-75), carrying the PPR1 zinc finger and 14 amino acids on the carboxyl side of the zinc finger, gained the DNA-binding specificity of PPR1, indicating that these 14 amino acids are necessary for specific DNA binding. Our data show that C6 fingers can substitute for each other and allow DNA binding, but binding affinity is reduced. Thus, in a qualitative sense C6 fingers perform a similar function(s). However, the high-affinity binding required by natural C6 finger proteins demands a unique C6 finger with a specific amino acid sequence. This requirement may reflect conformational constraints, including interactions between the C6 finger and the carboxyl-adjacent amino acids; alternatively or in addition, it may indicate that unique, nonconserved amino acid residues in zinc fingers make sequence-specifying or stabilizing contacts with DNA.

Reconstitution of transcriptional activation domains by reiteration of short peptide segments reveals the modular organization of a glutamine-rich activation domain

1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 6056-6067
Author(s):  
M Tanaka ◽  
W Herr
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Dna Binding Domain ◽  
Activation Domain ◽  
Activation Domains ◽  
Transcriptional Activation Domain ◽  
Pou Domain

The POU domain activator Oct-2 contains an N-terminal glutamine-rich transcriptional activation domain. An 18-amino-acid segment (Q18III) from this region reconstituted a fully functional activation domain when tandemly reiterated and fused to either the Oct-2 or GAL4 DNA-binding domain. A minimal transcriptional activation domain likely requires three tandem Q18III segments, because one or two tandem Q18III segments displayed little activity, whereas three to five tandem segments were active and displayed increasing activity with increasing copy number. As with natural Oct-2 activation domains, in our assay a reiterated activation domain required a second homologous or heterologous activation domain to stimulate transcription effectively when fused to the Oct-2 POU domain. These results suggest that there are different levels of synergy within and among activation domains. Analysis of reiterated activation domains containing mutated Q18III segments revealed that leucines and glutamines, but not serines or threonines, are critical for activity in vivo. Curiously, several reiterated activation domains that were inactive in vivo were active in vitro, suggesting that there are significant functional differences in our in vivo and in vitro assays. Reiteration of a second 18-amino-acid segment from the Oct-2 glutamine-rich activation domain (Q18II) was also active, but its activity was DNA-binding domain specific, because it was active when fused to the GAL4 than to the Oct-2 DNA-binding domain. The ability of separate short peptide segments derived from a single transcriptional activation domain to activate transcription after tandem reiteration emphasizes the flexible and modular nature of a transcriptional activation domain.

Conserved DNA binding and self-association domains of the Drosophila zeste protein

1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 598-608
Author(s):  
J D Chen ◽  
C S Chan ◽  
V Pirrotta
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Dna Binding ◽  
Amino Acid Sequence ◽  
Coiled Coil ◽  
Helical Structure ◽  
Binding Activity ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Drosophila Virilis ◽  
Predicted Amino Acid Sequence ◽  
Dna Binding Domain

The zeste gene product is involved in two types of genetic effects dependent on chromosome pairing: transvection and the zeste-white interaction. Comparison of the predicted amino acid sequence with that of the Drosophila virilis gene shows that several blocks of amino acid sequence have been very highly conserved. One of these regions corresponds to the DNA binding domain. Site-directed mutations in this region indicate that a sequence resembling that of the homeodomain DNA recognition helix is essential for DNA binding activity. The integrity of an amphipathic helical region is also essential for binding activity and is likely to be responsible for dimerization of the DNA binding domain. Another very strongly conserved domain of zeste is the C-terminal region, predicted to form a long helical structure with two sets of heptad repeats that constitute two long hydrophobic ridges at opposite ends and on opposite faces of the helix. We show that this domain is responsible for the extensive aggregation properties of zeste that are required for its role in transvection phenomena. A model is proposed according to which the hydrophobic ridges induce the formation of open-ended coiled-coil structures holding together many hundreds of zeste molecules and possibly anchoring these complexes to other nuclear structures.

scholarly journals A novel DNA-binding motif in the nuclear matrix attachment DNA-binding protein SATB1

1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 1852-1860
Author(s):  
K Nakagomi ◽  
Y Kohwi ◽  
L A Dickinson ◽  
T Kohwi-Shigematsu
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Dna Binding ◽  
Direct Contact ◽  
Binding Protein ◽  
Binding Activity ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Binding Motif ◽  
Dna Binding Domain ◽  
Sequence Context ◽  
Dna Binding Activity

The nuclear matrix attachment DNA (MAR) binding protein SATB1 is a sequence context-specific binding protein that binds in the minor groove, making virtually no contact with the DNA bases. The SATB1 binding sites consist of a special AT-rich sequence context in which one strand is well-mixed A's, T's, and C's, excluding G's (ATC sequences), which is typically found in clusters within different MARs. To determine the extent of conservation of the SATB1 gene among different species, we cloned a mouse homolog of the human STAB1 cDNA from a cDNA expression library of the mouse thymus, the tissue in which this protein is predominantly expressed. This mouse cDNA encodes a 764-amino-acid protein with a 98% homology in amino acid sequence to the human SATB1 originally cloned from testis. To characterize the DNA binding domain of this novel class of protein, we used the mouse SATB1 cDNA and delineated a 150-amino-acid polypeptide as the binding domain. This region confers full DNA binding activity, recognizes the specific sequence context, and makes direct contact with DNA at the same nucleotides as the whole protein. This DNA binding domain contains a novel DNA binding motif: when no more than 21 amino acids at either the N- or C-terminal end of the binding domain are deleted, the majority of the DNA binding activity is lost. The concomitant presence of both terminal sequences is mandatory for binding. These two terminal regions consist of hydrophilic amino acids and share homologous sequences that are different from those of any known DNA binding motifs. We propose that the DNA binding region of SATB1 extends its two terminal regions toward DNA to make direct contact with DNA.

scholarly journals Conserved DNA binding and self-association domains of the Drosophila zeste protein.

1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 598-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
J D Chen ◽  
C S Chan ◽  
V Pirrotta
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Dna Binding ◽  
Amino Acid Sequence ◽  
Coiled Coil ◽  
Helical Structure ◽  
Binding Activity ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Drosophila Virilis ◽  
Predicted Amino Acid Sequence ◽  
Dna Binding Domain

The zeste gene product is involved in two types of genetic effects dependent on chromosome pairing: transvection and the zeste-white interaction. Comparison of the predicted amino acid sequence with that of the Drosophila virilis gene shows that several blocks of amino acid sequence have been very highly conserved. One of these regions corresponds to the DNA binding domain. Site-directed mutations in this region indicate that a sequence resembling that of the homeodomain DNA recognition helix is essential for DNA binding activity. The integrity of an amphipathic helical region is also essential for binding activity and is likely to be responsible for dimerization of the DNA binding domain. Another very strongly conserved domain of zeste is the C-terminal region, predicted to form a long helical structure with two sets of heptad repeats that constitute two long hydrophobic ridges at opposite ends and on opposite faces of the helix. We show that this domain is responsible for the extensive aggregation properties of zeste that are required for its role in transvection phenomena. A model is proposed according to which the hydrophobic ridges induce the formation of open-ended coiled-coil structures holding together many hundreds of zeste molecules and possibly anchoring these complexes to other nuclear structures.

scholarly journals A single amino acid change in CUP2 alters its mode of DNA binding.

1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 4778-4787 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Buchman ◽  
P Skroch ◽  
W Dixon ◽  
T D Tullius ◽  
M Karin
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Dna Binding ◽  
Binding Activity ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Single Amino Acid ◽  
Dna Binding Domain ◽  
Sequence Motifs ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Mobility Shift ◽  
Single Amino Acid Change

CUP2 is a copper-dependent transcriptional activator of the yeast CUP1 metallothionein gene. In the presence of Cu+ and Ag+) ions its DNA-binding domain is thought to fold as a cysteine-coordinated Cu cluster which recognizes the palindromic CUP1 upstream activation sequence (UASc). Using mobility shift, methylation interference, and DNase I and hydroxyl radical footprinting assays, we examined the interaction of wild-type and variant CUP2 proteins produced in Escherichia coli with the UASc. Our results suggest that CUP2 has a complex Cu-coordinated DNA-binding domain containing different parts that function as DNA-binding elements recognizing distinct sequence motifs embedded within the UASc. A single-amino-acid substitution of cysteine 11 with a tyrosine results in decreased Cu binding, apparent inactivation of one of the DNA-binding elements and a dramatic change in the recognition properties of CUP2. This variant protein interacts with only one part of the wild-type site and prefers to bind to a different half-site from the wild-type protein. Although the variant has about 10% of wild-type DNA-binding activity, it appears to be completely incapable of activating transcription.

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