DNMT1 Cxxc Domain Can Functionally Substitute In An MLL Fusion Protein

Blood ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 116 (21) ◽  
pp. 4193-4193
Author(s):  
Laurie E. Risner ◽  
Aravinda Kuntimaddi ◽  
John H. Bushweller ◽  
Nancy J. Zeleznik-Le
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Binding Affinity ◽  
Fusion Proteins ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Cpg Dna ◽  
Domain Swap ◽  
Binding Domains ◽  
Dna Binding Affinity

Abstract Abstract 4193 The MLL gene encodes a multi-domain protein that is involved in the maintenance of Hox gene expression during development and hematopoiesis, and was first identified through its involvement in chromosome translocations that cause leukemia. The CXXC domain of MLL, which is retained in leukemic MLL fusion proteins, is a cysteine rich DNA binding domain, with specificity for binding nonmethylated CpG-containing DNA, and is essential for MLL fusion proteins' oncogenic properties. We performed domain swap experiments in which CXXC domains from other proteins were swapped in to replace MLL's CXXC domain in the context of an oncogenic MLL fusion. CXXC domains from DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1), CpG binding protein (CGBP), and methyl-CpG binding domain protein 1 (MBD1), as well as a methyl binding domain (MBD) from MBD1 were swapped into the MLL-AF9 fusion. These particular domains were chosen because their described CpG DNA binding capacity is either similar or different from that described for MLL. In vitro colony assays on isolated murine bone marrow progenitor cells infected with domain swapped or wild type MLL-AF9 fusion genes were performed in order to determine whether CpG binding domains from other proteins would affect the ability of MLL-AF9 to give an enhanced proliferative capacity to bone marrow progenitor cells. In vivo murine studies determined whether the different CpG binding domains alter the ability of MLL fusion proteins to cause leukemia. We predicted that the different CpG binding domains would change the strength or specificity of MLL binding to DNA, which would affect the ability of MLL-AF9 to cause leukemia. The results of both in vitro replating assays and in vivo leukemogenesis experiments have shown significant differences between the ability of various CpG DNA binding domains to function in the context of an MLL-AF9 fusion protein. MLL-AF9 containing the DNMT1 CXXC domain shows robust in vitro colony forming activity and in vivo leukemogenesis activity, similar to the oncogenic MLL-AF9 fusion. However, MLL-AF9 containing either the CXXC domain from CGBP or MBD1, or the MBD domain of MBD1 all show reduced colony forming ability and leukemogenicity in vivo. In vitro DNA binding experiments are currently being performed to directly measure and compare the DNA binding affinity of the CXXC domain from MLL to the other domain swap proteins. Preliminary data suggests that MLL CXXC has a stronger DNA binding affinity to non-methylated DNA compared to the other CXXC domains. Furthermore, the DNMT and CGBP CXXC domains both show lower affinity DNA binding compared to MLL CXXC, but they have different effects in MLL-AF9. This suggests that CXXC domain properties in addition to DNA binding affinity, perhaps including protein recruitment, also contribute to an MLL fusion protein's leukemogenic properties. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

scholarly journals DNA-binding specificity of Mcm1: operator mutations that alter DNA-bending and transcriptional activities by a MADS box protein.

1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1881-1889 ◽  
Author(s):  
T B Acton ◽  
H Zhong ◽  
A K Vershon
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Binding Affinity ◽  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Dna Bending ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Mads Box ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Dna Binding Affinity

The yeast Mcm1 protein is a member of the MADS box family of transcriptional regulatory factors, a class of DNA-binding proteins found in such diverse organisms as yeast, plants, flies, and humans. To explore the protein-DNA interactions of Mcm1 in vivo and in vitro, we have introduced an extensive series of base pair substitutions into an Mcm1 operator site and examined their effects on Mcm1-mediated transcriptional regulation and DNA-binding affinity. Our results show that Mcm1 uses a mechanism to contact the DNA that has some significant differences from the one used by the human serum response factor (SRF), a closely related MADS box protein in which the three-dimensional structure has been determined. One major difference is that 5-bromouracil-mediated photo-cross-linking experiments indicate that Mcm1 is in close proximity to functional groups in the major groove at the center of the recognition site whereas the SRF protein did not exhibit this characteristic. A more significant difference is that mutations at a position outside of the conserved CC(A/T)6GG site significantly reduce Mcm1-dependent DNA bending, while these substitutions have no effect on DNA bending by SRF. This result shows that the DNA bending by Mcm1 is sequence dependent and that the base-specific requirements for bending differ between Mcm1 and SRF. Interestingly, although these substitutions have a large effect on DNA bending and transcriptional activation by Mcm1, they have a relatively small effect on the DNA-binding affinity of the protein. This result suggests that the degree of DNA bending is important for transcriptional activation by Mcm1.

scholarly journals The Yeast a1 and α2 Homeodomain Proteins Do Not Contribute Equally to Heterodimeric DNA Binding

1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 585-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yisheng Jin ◽  
Hualin Zhong ◽  
Andrew K. Vershon
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Binding Affinity ◽  
Sequence Specificity ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Homeodomain Proteins ◽  
Cell Type Specific ◽  
Dna Binding Affinity ◽  
Diploid Cells

ABSTRACT In diploid cells of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the α2 and a1 homeodomain proteins bind cooperatively to sites in the promoters of haploid cell-type-specific genes (hsg) to repress their expression. Although both proteins bind to the DNA, in the α2 homeodomain substitutions of residues that are involved in contacting the DNA have little or no effect on repression in vivo or cooperative DNA binding with a1 protein in vitro. This result brings up the question of the contribution of each protein in the heterodimer complex to the DNA-binding affinity and specificity. To determine the requirements for the a1-α2 homeodomain DNA recognition, we systematically introduced single base-pair substitutions in an a1-α2 DNA-binding site and examined their effects on repression in vivo and DNA binding in vitro. Our results show that nearly all substitutions that significantly decrease repression and DNA-binding affinity are at positions which are specifically contacted by either the α2 or a1 protein. Interestingly, an α2 mutant lacking side chains that make base-specific contacts in the major groove is able to discriminate between the wild-type and mutant DNA sites with the same sequence specificity as the wild-type protein. These results suggest that the specificity of α2 DNA binding in complex with a1 does not rely solely on the residues that make base-specific contacts. We have also examined the contribution of the a1 homeodomain to the binding affinity and specificity of the complex. In contrast to the lack of a defective phenotype produced by mutations in the α2 homeodomain, many of the alanine substitutions of residues in the a1 homeodomain have large effects on a1-α2-mediated repression and DNA binding. This result shows that the two proteins do not make equal contributions to the DNA-binding affinity of the complex.

scholarly journals Role of Papillomavirus E1 Initiator Dimerization in DNA Replication

2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (13) ◽  
pp. 8661-8664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Schuck ◽  
Arne Stenlund
Keyword(s):  
Dna Replication ◽  
Dna Binding ◽  
Dna Binding Domains ◽  
Binding Domains ◽  
Severe Effect ◽  
Origin Of Dna Replication ◽  
Initiation Of Dna Replication

ABSTRACT Viral initiator proteins are polypeptides that form oligomeric complexes on the origin of DNA replication (ori). These complexes carry out a multitude of functions related to initiation of DNA replication, and although many of these functions have been characterized biochemically, little is understood about how the complexes are assembled. Here we demonstrate that loss of one particular interaction, the dimerization between E1 DNA binding domains, has a severe effect on DNA replication in vivo but has surprisingly modest effects on most individual biochemical activities in vitro. We conclude that the dimer interaction is primarily required for initial recognition of ori.

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.

scholarly journals Sequence-dependent contribution of distal binding domains to CAP protein-DNA binding affinity

1991 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 611-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennise D. Dalma-Weiszhausz ◽  
Marc R. Gartenberg ◽  
Donald M. Crothers
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Binding Affinity ◽  
Binding Domains ◽  
Sequence Dependent ◽  
Dna Binding Affinity

scholarly journals Fused protein domains inhibit DNA binding by LexA.

1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 3006-3014 ◽  
Author(s):  
E A Golemis ◽  
R Brent
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Protein Interactions ◽  
In Vitro Assays ◽  
Dimerization Domain ◽  
Activation Domains ◽  
Dna Binding Domains ◽  
Binding Domains ◽  
Operator Binding

Many studies of transcription activation employ fusions of activation domains to DNA binding domains derived from the bacterial repressor LexA and the yeast activator GAL4. Such studies often implicitly assume that DNA binding by the chimeric proteins is equivalent to that of the protein donating the DNA binding moiety. To directly investigate this issue, we compared operator binding by a series of LexA-derivative proteins to operator binding by native LexA, by using both in vivo and in vitro assays. We show that operator binding by many proteins such as LexA-Myc, LexA-Fos, and LexA-Bicoid is severely impaired, while binding of other LexA-derivative proteins, such as those that carry bacterially encoded acidic sequences ("acid blobs"), is not. Our results also show that DNA binding by LexA derivatives that contain the LexA carboxy-terminal dimerization domain (amino acids 88 to 202) is considerably stronger than binding by fusions that lack it and that heterologous dimerization motifs cannot substitute for the LexA88-202 function. These results suggest the need to reevaluate some previous studies of activation that employed LexA derivatives and modifications to recent experimental approaches that use LexA and GAL4 derivatives to detect and study protein-protein interactions.

scholarly journals Regulation of the DNA-binding and transcriptional activities of Xenopus laevis NFI-X by a novel C-terminal domain.

1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 5552-5562 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Roulet ◽  
M T Armentero ◽  
G Krey ◽  
B Corthésy ◽  
C Dreyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Replication ◽  
Dna Binding ◽  
Xenopus Laevis ◽  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Binding Activity ◽  
New Members ◽  
Binding Domains ◽  
Dna Binding Activity

The nuclear factor I (NFI) family consists of sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins that activate both transcription and adenovirus DNA replication. We have characterized three new members of the NFI family that belong to the Xenopus laevis NFI-X subtype and differ in their C-termini. We show that these polypeptides can activate transcription in HeLa and Drosophila Schneider line 2 cells, using an activation domain that is subdivided into adjacent variable and subtype-specific domains each having independent activation properties in chimeric proteins. Together, these two domains constitute the full NFI-X transactivation potential. In addition, we find that the X. laevis NFI-X proteins are capable of activating adenovirus DNA replication through their conserved N-terminal DNA-binding domains. Surprisingly, their in vitro DNA-binding activities are specifically inhibited by a novel repressor domain contained within the C-terminal part, while the dimerization and replication functions per se are not affected. However, inhibition of DNA-binding activity in vitro is relieved within the cell, as transcriptional activation occurs irrespective of the presence of the repressor domain. Moreover, the region comprising the repressor domain participates in transactivation. Mechanisms that may allow the relief of DNA-binding inhibition in vivo and trigger transcriptional activation are discussed.

scholarly journals Phosphorylation of BATF regulates DNA binding: a novel mechanism for AP-1 (activator protein-1) regulation

2003 ◽  
Vol 374 (2) ◽  
pp. 423-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher D. DEPPMANN ◽  
Tina M. THORNTON ◽  
Fransiscus E. UTAMA ◽  
Elizabeth J. TAPAROWSKY
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Factors ◽  
Dna Binding ◽  
Leucine Zipper ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Dna Binding Domain ◽  
Activator Protein 1 ◽  
Basic Leucine Zipper ◽  
Activator Protein

BATF is a member of the AP-1 (activator protein-1) family of bZIP (basic leucine zipper) transcription factors that form transcriptionally inhibitory, DNA binding heterodimers with Jun proteins. In the present study, we demonstrate that BATF is phosphorylated in vivo on multiple serine and threonine residues and at least one tyrosine residue. Reverse-polarity PAGE revealed that serine-43 and threonine-48 within the DNA binding domain of BATF are phosphorylated. To model phosphorylation of the BATF DNA binding domain, serine-43 was replaced by an aspartate residue. BATF(S43D) retains the ability to dimerize with Jun proteins in vitro and in vivo, and the BATF(S43D):Jun heterodimer localizes properly to the nucleus of cells. Interestingly, BATF(S43D) functions like wild-type BATF to reduce AP-1-mediated gene transcription, despite the observed inability of the BATF(S43D):Jun heterodimer to bind DNA. These data demonstrate that phosphorylation of serine-43 converts BATF from a DNA binding into a non-DNA binding inhibitor of AP-1 activity. Given that 40% of mammalian bZIP transcription factors contain a residue analogous to serine-43 of BATF in their DNA binding domains, the phosphorylation event described here represents a mechanism that is potentially applicable to the regulation of many bZIP proteins.

scholarly journals Properties of the DNA-binding domain of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae STE12 protein.

1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 5910-5918 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y L Yuan ◽  
S Fields
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Amino Acids ◽  
Dna Binding ◽  
Binding Affinity ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Upstream Region ◽  
Dna Binding Domain ◽  
Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Dnase I Footprinting

The STE12 protein of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae binds to the pheromone response element (PRE) present in the upstream region of genes whose transcription is induced by pheromone. Using DNase I footprinting assays with bacterially made STE12 fragments, we localized the DNA-binding domain to 164 amino acids near the amino terminus. Footprinting of oligonucleotide-derived sequences containing one PRE, or two PREs in head-to-tail or tail-to-tail orientation, showed that the N-terminal 215 amino acids of STE12 has similar binding affinity to either of the dimer sites and a binding affinity 5- to 10-fold lower for the monomer site. This binding cooperativity was also evident on a fragment from the MFA2 gene, which encodes the a-factor pheromone. On this fragment, the 215-amino-acid STE12 fragment protected both a consensus PRE as well as a degenerate PRE containing an additional residue. Mutation of the degenerate site led to a 5- to 10-fold decrease in binding; mutation of the consensus site led to a 25-fold decrease in binding. The ability of PREs to function as pheromone-inducible upstream activation sequences in yeast correlated with their ability to bind the STE12 domain in vitro. The sequence of the STE12 DNA-binding domain contains similarities to the homeodomain, although it is highly diverged from other known examples of this motif. Moreover, the alignment between STE12 and the homeodomain postulates loops after both the putative helix 1 and helix 2 of the STE12 sequence.

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