Mechanisms of transcriptional activation: Differences and similarities between yeast, Drosophila, and man

Current Opinion in Genetics and Development

Volumn 7, Issue 2, 1997, Pages 176-181

  Sauer, Frank ^a   Tjian, Robert ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

RNA POLYMERASE II; TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR;

ARTICLE; DROSOPHILA; HUMAN; MESSENGER RNA SYNTHESIS; NONHUMAN; PRIORITY JOURNAL; SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE; SPECIES DIFFERENCE; TRANSCRIPTION REGULATION;

EID: 0031001711     PISSN: 0959437X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0959-437X(97)80126-8     Document Type: Article

References (40)

1. Roeder RG: The role of general initiation factors in transcription by RNA polymerase II. Trends Biochem Sci 1986, 21:327-335.
2. Tjian R, Maniatis T: Transcriptional activation: a complex puzzle with few easy pieces. Cell 1994, 77:5-8.
3. Meisterernst M, Roy AL, Lieu HM, Roeder RG: Activation of gene transcription by regulatory factors is potentiated by a novel activity. Cell 1991, 66:981-993.
4. Kaiser K. Meisterernst M: The human general co-factors. Trends Biochem Sci 1996, 21:342-345.
5. Merino A, Madden KR, Lane WS, Champoux JJ, Reinberg D: DNA topoisomerase I is involved in both repression and activation of transcription. Nature 1993, 365:227-232.
6. Gee H. Roeder RG: Purification, cloning, and characterisation of a human coactivator, PC4, that mediates transcriptional activation of class II genes. Cell 1994, 78:513-523.
7. Kretzschmar M, Kaiser K, Lottspeich F, Meisterernst M: A novel mediator of class II gene transcription with homology to viral immediate-early transcriptional regulators. Cell 1994, 78:525-534.
8. Kaiser K, Stelzer G, Meisterernst M: The coactivator p15 (PC4) initiates transcriptional activation during TFIIA-TFIID-promoter complex formation. EMBO J 1995, 14:3520-3527. PC4 stimulates activated transcription by a variety of distinct activators. The authors provide evidence that PC4 can bind single as well as double stranded DNA. DNA binding of PC4 is required for its ability to stimulate activated transcription. PC4 enhances the formation of TFIIA-TFIID complexes on the core promoter. Excess amounts of TFIID diminish the effect of PC4 on DNA complex formation as well as on activated transcription.
9. Knaus R, Pollock R, Guarente L: Yeast SUB1 is a suppressor of TFIIB mutations and has homology to the human co-activator PC4. EMBO J 1996, 15:1933-1940. Cloning and characterization of SUB1 (suppressor of TFIIB) the yeast homolog of human PC4. SUB1 was isolated as a suppressor of cold-sensitive TFIIB mutants. In contrast to PC4, which contacts TFIIA, SUB1 binds TFIIB in vitro and inhibits the formation of TBP-TFIIB complexes on the corepromoter.
10. Kim Y-I, Björklund S, Li Y, Sayre MH, Kornberg RD: A multiprotein mediator of transcriptional activation and its interaction with the C-terminal repeat domain of RNA polymerase II. Cell 1994, 77:599-608.
11. Koleske AJ, Young RA: An RNA polymerase II holoenzyme responsive to activators. Nature 1994, 368:466-469.
12. Maldonado E, Shiekhattar R, Sheldon M, Cho H, Drapkin R, Rickert P, Lees E, Anderson CW, Linn S, Reinberg D: A human RNA polymerase II complex associated with SRB and DNA-repair proteins. Nature 1996, 381:86-89. A description of the purification of an RNA polymerase II holoenzyme from human cells. Human holoenzyme is shown to contain, in addition to RNA polymerase II, several basal transcription factors, human homologs of yeast SRB proteins, and factors involved in DNA repair. Consequently, human holoenzyme supports activated transcription in response to activator proteins and mediates DNA repair.
13. Chao DM, Gadbois EL, Murray PJ, Anderson SF, Sono WS, Parvin JD, Young RA: A mammalian SRB protein associated with an RNA polymerase II holoenzyme. Nature 1996, 380:82-84. The isolation and characterization of a human homolog for the yeast mediator component SRB7. Antibodies raised against human SRB7 were used to purify a human RNA polymerase II holoenzyme.
14. Li Y, Björklund S. Jiang YW, Kim Y-J, Lane WS, Stillman DJ, Kornberg RD: Yeast global transcriptional regulators Sin4 and Rgr1 are components of mediator complex/RNA polymerase II holoenzyme. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1995, 92:10864-10868. Sin4, Gal11 and Rgr1 are identified here as mediator components. These three proteins form an independent subcomplex that is part of the mediator.
15. Björklund S, Kim Y-J: Mediator of transcriptional regulation. Trends Biochem Sci 1996, 21:327-335.
16. Wilson CJ, Chao DM, Imbalzano AN, Schnitzler GR, Kingston RE, Young RA: RNA polymerase II holoenzyme contains SWI/SNF regulators involved in chromatin remodeling. Cell 1996, 84:235-244. The SWI/SNF complex is an ATP-dependent nucleosome remodeling complex. The authors show that the SWI/SNF gene products are components of the yeast mediator complex. Subsequently, mediator/RNA polymerase II holoenzyme is shown to be capable of disrupting nucleosome arrangements in vitro. This study provides a possible mechanism showing how a chromatin remodeling factor might be tethered to core-promoters.
17. Barberis A, Pearlberg J, Simkovich N, Farrell S, Reinagel P, Bamdad C, Sigal G, Ptashne M: Contact with a component of the polymerase II holoenzyme suffices for gene activation. Cell 1995, 81:359-368. This paper and [18*] reports that Gal11P, a mutant form of the mediator component Gal11, interacts with the DNA-binding domain of the yeast activator Gal4. This interaction supports activation of transcription in yeast, supposedly by recruitment of the mediator/RNA polymerase II holoenzyme to the core-promoter.
18. Farrell S, Simkovich N, Wu Y, Barberis A, Ptashne M: Gene activation by recruitment of the RNA polymerase II holoenzyme. Genes Dev 1996, 10:2359-2367. See annotation [17**].
19. Hengartner CJ, Thompson CM, Zhang J, Chao DM, Lian S, Koleske AJ, Okamura S, Young RA: Association of an activator with an RNA polymerase II holoenzyme. Genes Dev 1995, 9:897-910. Cloning of genes encoding SRB7, SRB8, and SRB9. These three and the other eight SRB proteins are shown to be subunits of the mediator complex. Further, the authors show that the activation domain of the viral protein VP16 interacts with the mediator in vitro.
20. Thompson CM, Young RA: General requirement for RNA polymerase II holoenzymes in vivo. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1995, 92:4587-4590.
21. Dynlacht BD, Hoey T, Tjian R: Isolation of coactivators associated with the TATA- binding protein that mediate transcriptional activation. Cell 1991, 55:563-576.
22. Tanese N, Pugh BF, Tjian R: Coactivators for a proline-rich activator purified from the multisubunit human TFIID complex. Genes Dev 1991, 5:2212-2224.
23. Poon D, Weil PA: Immunopurification of yeast TATA-binding protein and associated factors. J Biol Chem 1993, 268:15325-15328.
24. Reese JC, Apone L. Walker SS, Griffin LA, Green M: Yeast TAFIIs in a multisubunit complex required for activated transcription. Nature 1994, 371:523-527.
25. Verrijzer CP, Tjian R: TAFs mediate transcriptional activation and promoter selectivity. Trends Biochem Sci 1996, 21:327-335.
26. Chen J-L, Attardi LD, Verrijzer CP, Yokomori K, Tjian R: Assembly of recombinant TFIID reveals differential coactivator requirements for distinct transcriptional activators. Cell 1994, 79:93-105.
27. II60 and p53 mediates activation of transcription.
28. Hoey T, Weinzierl ROJ, Gill G, Chen J-L, Dynlacht BD, Tjian R: Molecular cloning and functional analysis of Drosophila TAF110 reveal properties expected of coactivators. Cell 1993, 72:247-260.
29. IIs directing synergistic activation of transcription. Science 1995, 270:1783-1788. In Drosophila, the transcription of the segmentation gene hunchback is activated by a synergistic interplay of two different activators, Bicoid and Hunchback. In vitro, this synergistic activation is TFIID-dependent. Protein-protein interactions reveal that Bicoid and Hunchback contact distinct TAF subunits of TFIID. These multiple simultaneous TAF-activator interactions support synergistic activation of hunchback transcription in vitro. DNasel footprint experiments reveal that the simultaneous interaction of different activators with distinct TAFs synergistically enhances the recruitment of TFIID to the core-promoter.
30. Sauer F, Hansen SK, Tjian R: DNA template and activator-coactivator requirements for transcriptional synergism by Drosophila Bicoid. Science 1995, 270:1783-1738. See annotation [29**].
31. II110, the two TAFs required for Bicoid-dependent activation in vitro, reduce the transcription of Bicoid target genes in the Drosophila embryo. In addition, by employing different genetic test systems, TAF-activation domain interactions are shown to support simple as well as synergistic activation of transcription in the Drosophila embryo.
32. Johnston M: The complete code for a eukaryotic cell. Curr Biol 1996, 6:500-503.
33. Hahn S, Buratowski S, Sharp PA, Guarente L: Yeast TATA-binding protein TFIID binds to TATA elements with both consensus and nonconsensus DNA sequences. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1989, 86:5718-5722.
34. IIs. Nature 1996, 382:185-188. This study and [35**] report that either targeted destruction, depletion, or inactivation of six different yeast TAFs does not diminish transcriptional activation in yeast. Mutations in yeast TAFs arrest cell cycle progression.
35. Moqtaderi Z, Bai Y, Poon D, Weil PA, Struhl K: TBP-associated factors are not generally required for transcriptional activation. Nature 1996, 382:188-191. See annotation [34**].
36. Apone LM, Virbasius CMA, Reese JC, Green MR: Yeast TAF(II)90 is required for cell-cycle progression through G(2)/M but not for general transcription activation. Genes Dev 1996, 10:2388-2380. Disruption or inactivation of yeast TAF(II)90 has no general effect on transcriptional activation of yeast genes. By contrast, conditional defects in yeast TAF(II)90 inhibit cell cycle progression. This paper and [34**,35**] suggest a direct role for yeast TAFs in cell cycle regulation.
37. II250. Science 1994, 263:811-814.
38. Driever W, Ma J, Ptashne M, Nüsslein-Volhard C: Rescue of bicoid mutant Drosophila embryos by Bicoid fusion proteins containing heterologous activating sequences. Nature 1989, 342:148-153.
39. Künzler M, Braus GH, Georgiev O, Seipel K, Schaffner W: Functional differences between mammalian transcription activation domains at the yeast GAL1 promoter. EMBO J 1994, 13:641-645.
40. Ponticelli AS, Pardee TS, Struhl K: The glutamine-rich activation domains of human SP1 do not stimulate transcription in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Cell Biol 1995, 15:983-988.