scholarly journals Neuronal Cell-type Engineering by Transcriptional Activation

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Songlei Liu ◽  
Johannes Striebel ◽  
Giovanni Pasquini ◽  
Alex H. M. Ng ◽  
Parastoo Khoshakhlagh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Recent Progress ◽  
Gene Activation ◽  
Neuronal Cell ◽  
Open Reading Frame ◽  
Cell Type ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Cellular Behavior ◽  
Technical Parameters

Gene activation with the CRISPR-Cas system has great implications in studying gene function, controlling cellular behavior, and modulating disease progression. In this review, we survey recent studies on targeted gene activation and multiplexed screening for inducing neuronal differentiation using CRISPR-Cas transcriptional activation (CRISPRa) and open reading frame (ORF) expression. Critical technical parameters of CRISPRa and ORF-based strategies for neuronal programming are presented and discussed. In addition, recent progress on in vivo applications of CRISPRa to the nervous system are highlighted. Overall, CRISPRa represents a valuable addition to the experimental toolbox for neuronal cell-type programming.

scholarly journals Human Cytomegalovirus Open Reading Frame TRL11/IRL11 Encodes an Immunoglobulin G Fc-Binding Protein

2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (22) ◽  
pp. 11218-11221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brendan N. Lilley ◽  
Hidde L. Ploegh ◽  
Rebecca S. Tirabassi
Keyword(s):  
Human Cytomegalovirus ◽  
Immunoglobulin G ◽  
Binding Protein ◽  
Fc Receptors ◽  
Binding Activity ◽  
Open Reading Frame ◽  
Membrane Glycoprotein ◽  
Type I ◽  
Reading Frame

ABSTRACT Several herpesviruses encode Fc receptors that may play a role in preventing antibody-mediated clearance of the virus in vivo. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) induces an Fc-binding activity in cells upon infection, but the gene that encodes this Fc-binding protein has not been identified. Here, we demonstrate that the HCMV AD169 open reading frame TRL11 and its identical copy, IRL11, encode a type I membrane glycoprotein that possesses IgG Fc-binding capabilities.

scholarly journals Regulation of Metalloprotease Gene Expression in Vibrio vulnificus by a Vibrio harveyi LuxR Homologue

2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (4) ◽  
pp. 1369-1375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chung-Ping Shao ◽  
Lien-I Hor
Keyword(s):  
Parent Strain ◽  
Vibrio Vulnificus ◽  
Vibrio Harveyi ◽  
Negative Regulation ◽  
Open Reading Frame ◽  
Protease Gene ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Allelic Exchange ◽  
Exchange Technique

ABSTRACT Expression of the Vibrio vulnificus metalloprotease gene, vvp, was turned up rapidly when bacterial growth reached the late log phase. A similar pattern of expression has been found in the metalloprotease gene of Vibrio cholerae, and this has been shown to be regulated by a Vibrio harveyiLuxR-like transcriptional activator. To find out whether a LuxR homologue exists in V. vulnificus, a gene library of this organism was screened by colony hybridization using a probe derived from a sequence that is conserved in various luxR-like genes of vibrios. A gene containing a 618-bp open reading frame was identified and found to be identical to the smcR gene ofV. vulnificus reported previously. An isogenic SmcR-deficient (RD) mutant was further constructed by an in vivo allelic exchange technique. This mutant exhibited an extremely low level of vvp transcription compared with that of the parent strain. On the other hand, the cytolysin gene, vvhA, was expressed at a higher level in the RD mutant than in the parent strain during the log phase of growth. These data suggested that SmcR might not only be a positive regulator of the protease gene but might also be involved in negative regulation of the cytolysin gene. Virulence of the RD mutant in either normal or iron-overloaded mice challenged by intraperitoneal injection was comparable to that of the parent strain, indicating that SmcR is not required for V. vulnificusvirulence in mice.

Interspersion of an unusual GCN4 activation site with a complex transcriptional repression site in Ty2 elements of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2091-2103
Author(s):  
S Türkel ◽  
P J Farabaugh
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Transcriptional Repression ◽  
Physiological Control ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Negative Region ◽  
Activation Site

Transcription of the Ty2-917 retrotransposon of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is modulated by a complex set of positive and negative elements, including a negative region located within the first open reading frame, TYA2. The negative region includes three downstream repression sites (DRSI, DRSII, and DRSIII). In addition, the negative region includes at least two downstream activation sites (DASs). This paper concerns the characterization of DASI. A 36-bp DASI oligonucleotide acts as an autonomous transcriptional activation site and includes two sequence elements which are both required for activation. We show that these sites bind in vitro the transcriptional activation protein GCN4 and that their activity in vivo responds to the level of GCN4 in the cell. We have termed the two sites GCN4 binding sites (GBS1 and GBS2). GBS1 is a high-affinity GCN4 binding site (dissociation constant, approximately 25 nM at 30 degrees C), binding GCN4 with about the affinity of a consensus UASGCN4, this though GBS1 includes two differences from the right half of the palindromic consensus site. GBS2 is more diverged from the consensus and binds GCN4 with about 20-fold-lower affinity. Nucleotides 13 to 36 of DASI overlap DRSII. Since DRSII is a transcriptional repression site, we tested whether DASI includes repression elements. We identify two sites flanking GBS2, both of which repress transcription activated by the consensus GCN4-specific upstream activation site (UASGCN4). One of these is repeated in the 12 bp immediately adjacent to DASI. Thus, in a 48-bp region of Ty2-917 are interspersed two positive and three negative transcriptional regulators. The net effect of the region must depend on the interaction of the proteins bound at these sites, which may include their competing for binding sites, and on the physiological control of the activity of these proteins.

scholarly journals The Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 2α N-Terminal and C-Terminal Transactivation Domains Cooperate To Promote Renal Tumorigenesis In Vivo

2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 2092-2102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Yan ◽  
Steven Bartz ◽  
Mao Mao ◽  
Lianjie Li ◽  
William G. Kaelin
Keyword(s):  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Hypoxia Inducible Factor ◽  
Gene Activation ◽  
Tumor Formation ◽  
Transactivation Domain ◽  
Renal Carcinogenesis ◽  
Von Hippel Lindau ◽  
Transactivation Domains ◽  
Relative Contribution

ABSTRACT Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) is a heterodimeric transcription factor, consisting of an alpha subunit and a beta subunit, that controls cellular responses to hypoxia. HIFα contains two transcriptional activation domains called the N-terminal transactivation domain (NTAD) and the C-terminal transactivation domain (CTAD). HIFα is destabilized by prolyl hydroxylation catalyzed by EglN family members. In addition, CTAD function is inhibited by asparagine hydroxylation catalyzed by FIH1. Both hydroxylation reactions are linked to oxygen availability. The von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor protein (pVHL) is frequently mutated in kidney cancer and is part of the ubiquitin ligase complex that targets prolyl hydroxylated HIFα for destruction. Recent studies suggest that HIF2α plays an especially important role in promoting tumor formation by pVHL-defective renal carcinoma cells among the three HIFα paralogs. Here we dissected the relative contribution of the two HIF2α transactivation domains to hypoxic gene activation and renal carcinogenesis and investigated the regulation of the HIF2α CTAD by FIH1. We found that the HIF2α NTAD is capable of activating both artificial and naturally occurring HIF-responsive promoters in the absence of the CTAD. Moreover, we found that the HIF2α CTAD, in contrast to the HIF1α CTAD, is relatively resistant to the inhibitory effects of FIH1 under normoxic conditions and that, perhaps as a result, both the NTAD and CTAD cooperate to promote renal carcinogenesis in vivo.

scholarly journals The Largest Open Reading Frame (pks12) in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Genome Is Involved in Pathogenesis and Dimycocerosyl Phthiocerol Synthesis

2003 ◽  
Vol 71 (7) ◽  
pp. 3794-3801 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana D. Sirakova ◽  
Vinod S. Dubey ◽  
Hwa-Jung Kim ◽  
Michael H. Cynamon ◽  
Pappachan E. Kolattukudy
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acids ◽  
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis ◽  
Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Sodium Dodecyl ◽  
Immunoblot Analysis ◽  
Open Reading Frame ◽  
Pcr Analysis ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Sds Page

ABSTRACT The cell wall lipids in Mycobacterium tuberculosis are probably involved in pathogenesis. The largest open reading frame in the genome of M. tuberculosis H37Rv, pks12, is unique in that it encodes two sets of domains needed to produce fatty acids. A pks12-disrupted mutant was produced, and disruption was confirmed by both PCR analysis and Southern blotting. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis showed that a 430-kDa protein band present in the wild type was missing in the mutant. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MS) and liquid chromatography (LC)-MS analysis of tryptic peptides showed that 54 peptides distributed throughout this protein matched the pks12-encoded sequence. Biochemical analysis using [1-14C]propionate as the radiotracer showed that the pks12 mutant was deficient in the synthesis of dimycocerosyl phthiocerol (DIM). SDS-PAGE, immunoblot analysis of proteins, and analysis of fatty acids showed that the mutant can produce mycocerosic acids. Thus, the pks12 gene is probably involved in the synthesis of phthiocerol, the diol required for DIM synthesis. Growth of the pks12 mutant was attenuated in mouse alveolar macrophage cell line MH-S, and the virulence of the mutant in vivo was highly attenuated in a murine model. Thus, pks12 probably participates in DIM production and its expression is involved in pathogenesis.

scholarly journals Deletion of Open Reading Frame UL26 from the Human Cytomegalovirus Genome Results in Reduced Viral Growth, Which Involves Impaired Stability of Viral Particles

2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (11) ◽  
pp. 5423-5434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Lorz ◽  
Heike Hofmann ◽  
Anja Berndt ◽  
Nina Tavalai ◽  
Regina Mueller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Cytomegalovirus ◽  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Deletion Mutant ◽  
Artificial Chromosome ◽  
Open Reading Frame ◽  
Wild Type Virus ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Transcriptional Activation Domain ◽  
Viral Particles

ABSTRACT We previously showed that open reading frame (ORF) UL26 of human cytomegalovirus, a member of the US22 multigene family of betaherpesviruses, encodes a novel tegument protein, which is imported into cells in the course of viral infection. Moreover, we demonstrated that pUL26 contains a strong transcriptional activation domain and is capable of stimulating the major immediate-early (IE) enhancer-promoter. Since this suggested an important function of pUL26 during the initiation of the viral replicative cycle, we sought to ascertain the relevance of pUL26 by construction of a viral deletion mutant lacking the UL26 ORF using the bacterial artificial chromosome mutagenesis procedure. The resulting deletion virus was verified by PCR, enzyme restriction, and Southern blot analyses. After infection of human foreskin fibroblasts, the UL26 deletion mutant showed a small-plaque phenotype and replicated to significantly lower titers than wild-type or revertant virus. In particular, we noticed a striking decrease of infectious titers 7 days postinfection in a multistep growth experiment, whereas the release of viral DNA from infected cells was not impaired. A further investigation of this aspect revealed a significantly diminished stability of viral particles derived from the UL26 deletion mutant. Consistent with this, we observed that the tegument composition of the deletion mutant deviates from that of the wild-type virus. We therefore hypothesize that pUL26 plays a role not only in the onset of IE gene transcription but also in the assembly of the viral tegument layer in a stable and correct manner.

Histone deacetylase–mediated transcriptional activation reduces proviral loads in HTLV-1–associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis patients

Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (10) ◽  
pp. 3722-3728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnès Lezin ◽  
Nicolas Gillet ◽  
Stéphane Olindo ◽  
Aïssatou Signaté ◽  
Nathalie Grandvaux ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Histone Deacetylase ◽  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Gene Activation ◽  
Spastic Paraparesis ◽  
Viral Gene Expression ◽  
Tropical Spastic Paraparesis ◽  
Viral Reservoir ◽  
Viral Gene

AbstractEpigenetic modifications of chromatin may play a role in maintaining viral latency and thus persistence of the human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1), which is responsible for HTLV-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). A major determinant of disease progression is increased peripheral blood proviral load (PVL), possibly via the accumulation of infected cells in the central nervous system (CNS) creating a damaging inflammatory response. Current therapeutic approaches that focus on reducing either cell proliferation, viral replication, or tissue invasion are still unsatisfactory. Contrasting with these inhibitory strategies, we evaluated the efficacy of a novel approach aimed, paradoxically, at activating viral gene expression to expose virus-positive cells to the host immune response. We used valproate (VPA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor that has been used for decades as a chronic, safe treatment for epileptic disorders. Based on in vitro and in vivo data, we provide evidence that transient activation of the latent viral reservoir causes its collapse, a process that may alleviate the condition of HAM/TSP. This represents the first such approach to treating HAM/TSP, using gene activation therapy to tilt the host-pathogen balance in favor of an existing antiviral response. This trial is registered at http://clinicaltrials.gov/as no. NCT00519181.

scholarly journals Murine cytomegalovirus open reading frame m29.1 augments virus replication both in vitro and in vivo

2007 ◽  
Vol 88 (11) ◽  
pp. 2941-2951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad M. Ahasan ◽  
Clive Sweet
Keyword(s):  
Virus Replication ◽  
Post Infection ◽  
Stop Codon ◽  
Premature Stop Codon ◽  
Open Reading Frame ◽  
Murine Cytomegalovirus ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Codon Mutation

Murine cytomegalovirus mutant Rc29, with a premature stop codon mutation in the m29 open reading frame (ORF), produced no apparent phenotype in cell culture or following infection of BALB/c mice. In contrast, a similar mutant virus, Rc29.1, with a premature stop codon mutation in its m29.1 ORF, showed reduced virus yields (2–3 log10 p.f.u. ml−1) in tissue culture. Mutant virus yields in BALB/c mice were delayed, reduced (∼1 log10 p.f.u. per tissue) and persisted less well in salivary glands compared with wild-type (wt) and revertant (Rv29.1) virus. In severe combined immunodeficiency mice, Rc29.1 virus showed delayed and reduced replication initially in all tissues (liver, spleen, kidneys, heart, lung and salivary glands). This delayed death until 31 days post-infection (p.i.) compared with wt (23 days p.i.) but at death virus yields were similar to wt. m29 gene transcription was initiated at early times post-infection, while production of a transcript from ORF m29.1 in the presence of cycloheximide indicated that it was an immediate-early gene. ORFs m29.1 and M28 are expressed from a bicistronic message, which is spliced infrequently. However, it is likely that each ORF expresses its own protein, as antiserum derived in rabbits to the m29.1 protein expressed in bacteria from the m29.1 ORF detected only one protein in Western blot analysis of the size predicted for the m29.1 protein. Our results suggest that neither ORF is essential for virus replication but m29.1 is important for optimal viral growth in vitro and in vivo.

scholarly journals Phosphorylated forms of GAL4 are correlated with ability to activate transcription.

1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 4623-4629 ◽  
Author(s):  
L M Mylin ◽  
M Johnston ◽  
J E Hopper
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Gene Activation ◽  
Sodium Dodecyl ◽  
Immunoblot Analysis ◽  
Transcriptional Activator Protein ◽  
Mel Gene ◽  
High Level

GAL4I, GAL4II, and GAL4III are three forms of the yeast transcriptional activator protein that are readily distinguished on the basis of electrophoretic mobility during sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Phosphorylation accounts for the reduced mobility of the slowest-migrating form, GAL4III, which is found to be closely associated with high-level GAL/MEL gene expression (L. Mylin, P. Bhat, and J. Hopper, Genes Dev. 3:1157-1165, 1989). Here we show that GAL4II, like GAL4III, can be converted to GAL4I by phosphatase treatment, suggesting that in vivo GAL4II is derived from GAL4I by phosphorylation. We found that cells which overproduced GAL4 under conditions in which it drove moderate to low levels of GAL/MEL gene expression showed only forms GAL4I and GAL4II. To distinguish which forms of GAL4 (GAL4I, GAL4II, or both) might be responsible for transcription activation in the absence of GAL4III, we performed immunoblot analysis on UASgal-binding-competent GAL4 proteins from four gal4 missense mutants selected for their inability to activate transcription (M. Johnston and J. Dover, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:2401-2405, 1987; Genetics 120;63-74, 1988). The three mutants with no detectable GAL1 expression did not appear to form GAL4II or GAL4III, but revertants in which GAL4-dependent transcription was restored did display GAL4II- or GAL4III-like electrophoretic species. Detection of GAL4II in a UASgal-binding mutant suggests that neither UASgal binding nor GAL/MEL gene activation is required for the formation of GAL4II. Overall, our results imply that GAL4I may be inactive in transcriptional activation, whereas GAL4II appears to be active. In light of this work, we hypothesize that phosphorylation of GAL4I makes it competent to activate transcription.

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