Real-Time Footprinting of DNA in the First Kinetically Significant Intermediate in Open Complex Formation by Escherichia Coli RNA Polymerase

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Real-Time Footprinting of DNA in the First Kinetically Significant Intermediate in Open Complex Formation by Escherichia Coli RNA Polymerase Real-time footprinting of DNA in the first kinetically significant intermediate in open complex formation by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase Caroline A. Davis*, Craig A. Bingman*†, Robert Landick*§, M. Thomas Record, Jr.*¶ʈ, and Ruth M. Saecker¶ʈ Departments of *Biochemistry, §Bacteriology, and ¶Chemistry and †Center for Eukaryotic Structural Genomics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 Edited by E. Peter Geiduschek, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, and approved March 19, 2007 (received for review November 7, 2006) The architecture of cellular RNA polymerases (RNAPs) dictates that where the relatively slow interconversions between I1 and I2 are transcription can begin only after promoter DNA bends into a deep rate-limiting in both the forward and back directions (2, 3). In the channel and the start site nucleotide (؉1) binds in the active site mechanism shown in Eq. 1,I2 and RPo are characterized by their located on the channel floor. Formation of this transcriptionally resistance to a short challenge with a polyanionic competitor competent ‘‘open’’ complex (RPo)byEscherichia coli RNAP at the such as heparin, which acts to sequester any free RNAP present ␭PR promoter is greatly accelerated by DNA upstream of base pair during the challenge. (In contrast, after a 10 to 20 sec challenge ؊47 (with respect to ؉1). Here we report real-time hydroxyl radical with heparin, I1 complexes, which are in rapid equilibrium with (⅐OH) and potassium permanganate (KMnO4) footprints obtained free RNAP and promoter sequences, are eliminated from the under conditions selected for optimal characterization of the first population.) Given the high degree of conservation of bacterial RNAP and promoter DNA sequences, this mechanism is likely kinetically significant intermediate (I1)inRPo formation. ⅐OH foot- .prints reveal that the DNA backbone from ؊71 to ؊81 is engulfed to describe the key steps in initiation in most prokaryotes Moreover, conservation of many elements of sequence, struc- by RNAP in I1 but not in RPo; downstream protection extends to ture, and/or function between bacterial and eukaryotic polymer- -approximately ؉20 in both complexes. KMnO4 footprinting de tects solvent-accessible thymine bases in RP , but not in I .We ase (pol II) subunits and transcription factors supports the o 1 inference that the bacterial intermediates may be homologs of conclude that upstream DNA wraps more extensively on RNAP in initiation intermediates formed by pol II (4, 5). I than in RP and that downstream DNA (؊11 to ؉20) occupies the 1 o Recently we (6) and Ross and Gourse (7) found that the presence active-site channel in I1 but is not yet melted. Mapping of the of DNA upstream of the Ϫ35 promoter recognition hexamer footprinting data onto available x-ray structures provides a de- greatly accelerates (up to Ϸ60-fold) the rate-determining isomer- tailed model of a kinetic intermediate in bacterial transcription ization step (conversion of I1 to I2). Strikingly, DNase I footprinting initiation and suggests how transient contacts with upstream DNA of I1 at the strong bacteriophage promoter ␭PR reveals that when in I1 might rearrange the channel to favor entry of downstream nonspecific DNA upstream of base pair Ϫ47 is present, downstream duplex DNA. DNA is protected to around ϩ20, and thus bound in the active-site BIOCHEMISTRY channel of RNAP. However, when DNA upstream of Ϫ47 is initiation ͉ transcription ͉ wrapping ͉ kinetics deleted, I1 is now less ‘‘advanced,’’ with downstream protection ending at ϩ2 (template strand)/ϩ7 (nontemplate strand) (6). How pecific transcription initiation by Escherichia coli RNA poly- does DNA upstream of Ϫ47 alter downstream interactions in early ␣ ␤␤Ј␻ ϩ ␴70 ϭ transcription intermediates? Surprisingly, protection of DNA in I Smerase (RNAP: core subunit composition 2 1 holoenzyme) at promoter sequences is determined by recognition from DNase I cleavage extends upstream only to Ϫ52 (template) on ␭ of DNA (Ϫ10 and Ϫ35 hexamers) upstream of the start site (ϩ1) ‘‘full-length’’ PR, similar to what is observed in RPo (6). Because by the specificity subunit ␴70. Subsequent to binding, a series of DNase I might displace weak upstream interactions in I1 (8, 9), large-scale conformational changes in both RNAP and promoter other techniques are required to probe RNAP–DNA contacts in this transient intermediate. DNA create the initiation-competent open complex (RPo) (1). During these steps, the multisubunit bacterial RNAP acts as an Sclavi et al. (10) recently reported an elegant ‘‘real-time’’ foot- intricate molecular machine and opens Ϸ14 bp of the DNA double printing study of RPo formation at the T7A1 promoter using x-ray-generated ⅐OH and rapid quench mixing. Unlike DNase I, helix. Defining the cascade of conformational changes that occur ⅐OH is small and nonperturbing of weak interactions. It reacts during initiation is essential to understand sequence- and factor- rapidly and exhibits little if any sequence specificity, making it very dependent regulation of the rate of transcription initiation and has useful for probing transient protein–DNA interactions (11). Addi- important applications in chemical biology and in antibiotic design. tionally, the rapid rate of ⅐OH reaction with the DNA backbone However, the intermediates on this pathway are relatively unstable means that fractional protection is approximately proportional to and short-lived and hence are difficult to trap unambiguously. To date, all structural information about complexes known to be on-pathway intermediates in RPo formation has come from chem- Author contributions: C.A.D., M.T.R., and R.M.S. designed research; C.A.D., C.A.B., M.T.R., ical and enzymatic DNA footprinting methods. and R.M.S. performed research; R.L. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; C.A.D., C.A.B., Quantitative kinetic–mechanistic studies find that at least two M.T.R., and R.M.S. analyzed data; and C.A.D., C.A.B., R.L., M.T.R., and R.M.S. wrote the paper. kinetically significant intermediates, generically designated I1 and The authors declare no conflict of interest. I2, precede formation of RPo by E. coli RNAP: This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. Abbreviations: RNAP, RNA polymerase; RPo, open complex; I1, first kinetically significant intermediate; CTD, C-terminal domain; NTD, N-terminal domain. ʈTo whom correspondence may be addressed at: University of Wisconsin, 433 Babcock Drive, Madison, WI 53706. E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]. This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/ 0609888104/DC1. © 2007 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA www.pnas.org͞cgi͞doi͞10.1073͞pnas.0609888104 PNAS ͉ May 8, 2007 ͉ vol. 104 ͉ no. 19 ͉ 7833–7838 Downloaded by guest on October 1, 2021 Template strand Nontemplate strand a3500 b 2000 +20 I1 I1 3000 RP RP0 0 Free DNA Free DNA Fig. 1. Hydroxyl radical (⅐OH) foot- 2500 1500 prints of RNAP–promoter complexes. -76 Shown are representative scans of ytisnetnI 2000 -71 ⅐OH cleavage of RNAP–␭PR promoter -60 -41 -2 -36 1000 -23 mixtures at 17°C at short (25 sec, 1500 Ͼ70% I1, Ͻ30% RPo; red) and long (Ͼ2,500 sec, Ͻ5% I1, Ͼ95% RPo; blue) 1000 -70 -47 -60 500 times after mixing, compared with the cleavage of free DNA (green) on 500 the template strand (a) and nontem- 0 0 plate strand (b). (c) The average pro- Downstream Upstream Upstream Downstream tection in four to five independent ␭ c experiments mapped onto the PR se- quence. (See SI Tables 1 and 2 for I1 NT protection at each position observed -80 -70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 +1 +10 +20 +30 in each independent experiment.) T Numbers above the DNA cleavage products specifying fragment length in a and b and in between the tem- RP0 plate and nontemplate ␭PR sequences NT -80 -70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 +1 +10 +20 +30 in c correspond to promoter position T numbered with respect to the tran- scription start site (ϩ1). (The ⅐OH en- Weak protection hancement observed at ϩ20 on the Moderate protection Strong protection template strand in RPo is not observed Enhancement in any other ⅐OH footprints.) fractional occupancy for a short-lived, rapidly equilibrating inter- Results mediate like I1 (10). By following the appearance of protection of Comparative Analysis of DNA Backbone Interactions in I1 and in RPo the DNA backbone as a function of time (milliseconds to seconds) by ⅐OH Footprinting. How does the presence of upstream DNA after mixing at 37°C, this study (10) circumvented potential issues extend the protection of downstream DNA from ϩ2 (nontem- raised by trapping promoter complexes at low temperature (11) plate)/ϩ7 (template) to approximately ϩ20 in I1 (6)? Are direct and possible displacement of weak upstream interactions by DNase contacts between RNAP and DNA upstream of base pair Ϫ47 I (8, 9). responsible? Fig. 1 summarizes the ⅐OH footprints of I1 and of RPo In the absence of detailed kinetic–mechanistic information for at ␭PR obtained at 25 sec (Ͼ70% I1) and Ͼ2,500 sec (Ͼ95% RPo) this promoter, Sclavi et al. (10) used the footprinting data from base after mixing, respectively (see Methods). Striking differences exist pair Ϫ60 to ϩ20 to infer both the mechanism (e.g., sequence of between these footprints in the upstream boundary, in the degree intermediates and rate constants of their interconversions) and of protection of the far-upstream region of DNA (approximately structure of intermediates preceding RPo. Evidence was obtained Ϫ65 to Ϫ81) and in the degree of protection of the downstream for three classes of intermediates (and two to three subclasses of the DNA (approximately Ϫ17 to ϩ16). Regions of promoter DNA two early intermediates). The mechanistic analysis revealed that, in from Ϫ82 (nontemplate)/Ϫ81 (template) to approximately ϩ20 are general, multiple complexes are populated at T7A1 at each time protected in I1, whereas the upstream boundary of moderate DNA point in the kinetics.
Recommended publications
  • DNA Footprinting with an Automated DNA Analyzer: Does the Shoe Fit?
    DNA Footprinting with an automated DNA Analyzer: does the shoe fit? Michael Zianni Manager, Plant-Microbe Genomics Facility DNA Footprinting with an Applied Biosystems 3730 DNA Analyzer: does the shoe fit ……….yes! DNA Footprint Analysis DNA Fragment BSA 6FAM DNA Binding Protein 6FAM Endonuclease Digestion (DNase I) 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM Capillary Electrophoresis rfu rfu Size (bp) Size (bp) 6FAM HrpY DNA Fragment 6FAM BSA 6FAM HrpY DNA Fragment 6FAM BSA Endonuclease EndonucleaseDigestion (DNaseDigestion I) (DNase I) 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM 6FAM Capillary ElectrophoresisCapillary Electrophoresis rfu rfu rfu rfu Size (bp) Size (bp) Size (bp) Size (bp) Development of DNA Foot print Analysis Techniques and Goals of This Study First performed in 1977, and utilized radioactively labeled DNA, slab gels, and autoradiography In 1994, dyes and fluorescent gel imager were used instead of radioisotopes and autoradiography but the slab gel remained. In 2000, the slab gel and imager were replaced by an automated capillary electrophoresis instrument: 310 DNA Analyzer. In 2004, ........... Demonstrate the feasibility by reproducing a protection assay previously done with autoradiography and a slab gel Demonstrate that each peak could be accurately identified Apply this method to a previously uncharacterized protein DNA Footprint analysis with protein: Autoradiography vs Electropherogram DNA Footprint analysis without protein: Electropherogram vs Autoradiography Fluorescent Primer Design For use in: (1) the DNA sequencing reactions which act as a standard/ladder and (2) the PCR reaction to make the DNA probe Used routine DNA sequencing guidelines: 18 -25mer. Tm at 55 – 60C. about 50% GC.
    [Show full text]
  • Locating Mammalian Transcription Factor Binding Sites: a Survey of Computational and Experimental Techniques
    Downloaded from genome.cshlp.org on September 26, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Review Locating mammalian transcription factor binding sites: A survey of computational and experimental techniques Laura Elnitski,1,4 Victor X. Jin,2 Peggy J. Farnham,2 and Steven J.M. Jones3 1Genomic Functional Analysis Section, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland 20878, USA; 2Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility, University of California–Davis, Davis, California 95616-8645, USA; 3Genome Sciences Centre, British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V5Z-4E6 Fields such as genomics and systems biology are built on the synergism between computational and experimental techniques. This type of synergism is especially important in accomplishing goals like identifying all functional transcription factor binding sites in vertebrate genomes. Precise detection of these elements is a prerequisite to deciphering the complex regulatory networks that direct tissue specific and lineage specific patterns of gene expression. This review summarizes approaches for in silico, in vitro, and in vivo identification of transcription factor binding sites. A variety of techniques useful for localized- and high-throughput analyses are discussed here, with emphasis on aspects of data generation and verification. [Supplemental material is available online at www.genome.org.] One documented goal of the National Human Genome Research and other regulatory elements is mediated by DNA/protein in- Institute (NHGRI) is the identification of all functional noncod- teractions. Thus, one major step in the characterization of the ing elements in the human genome (ENCODE Project Consor- functional elements of the human genome is the identification tium 2004).
    [Show full text]
  • What Would You Do If You Could Sequence Everything?
    PERspECTIVE What would you do if you could sequence everything? Avak Kahvejian1, John Quackenbush2 & John F Thompson1 It could be argued that the greatest transformative aspect ing technologies, be leveraged with insightful approaches to biology and of the Human Genome Project has been not the sequencing medicine to maximize the benefits to all? DNA sequence is no longer just of the genome itself, but the resultant development of new an end in itself, but it is rapidly becoming the digital substrate replac- technologies. A host of new approaches has fundamentally ing analog chip-based hybridization signals; it is the barcode tracking of changed the way we approach problems in basic and enormous numbers of samples; and it is the readout indicating a host of translational research. Now, a new generation of high-throughput chemical modifications and intermolecular interactions. Sequence data sequencing technologies promises to again transform the allow one to count mRNAs or other species of nucleic acids precisely, to scientific enterprise, potentially supplanting array-based determine sharp boundaries for interactions with proteins or positions technologies and opening up many new possibilities. By allowing of translocations and to identify novel variants and splice sites, all in one http://www.nature.com/naturebiotechnology DNA/RNA to be assayed more rapidly than previously possible, experiment with digital accuracy. these next-generation platforms promise a deeper understanding The brief history of molecular biology and genomic technologies has of genome regulation and biology. Significantly enhancing been marked by the introduction of new technologies, their rapid uptake sequencing throughput will allow us to follow the evolution and then a steady state or slow decline in use as newer techniques are of viral and bacterial resistance in real time, to uncover the developed that supersede them.
    [Show full text]
  • DNA Affinity Labeling of Adenovirus Type 2 Upstream Promoter Sequence-Binding Factors Identifies Two Distinct Proteins BRIAN SAFER,* ROGER B
    MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOLOGY, Jan. 1988, p. 105-113 Vol. 8, No. 1 0270-7306/88/010105-09$02.00/0 Copyright © 1988, American Society for Microbiology DNA Affinity Labeling of Adenovirus Type 2 Upstream Promoter Sequence-Binding Factors Identifies Two Distinct Proteins BRIAN SAFER,* ROGER B. COHEN, SUSAN GARFINKEL, AND JOHN A. THOMPSON Section on RNA and Protein Biosynthesis, Laboratory of Molecular Hematology, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892 Received 14 July 1987/Accepted 14 October 1987 A rapid affinity labeling procedure with enhanced specificity was developed to identify DNA-binding proteins. 32p was first introduced at unique phosphodiester bonds within the DNA recognition sequence. UV light-dependent cross-linking of pyrimidines to amino acid residues in direct contact at the binding site, followed by micrococcal nuclease digestion, resulted in the transfer of 32p to only those specific protein(s) which recognized the binding sequence. This method was applied to the detection and characterization of proteins that bound to the upstream promoter sequence (-50 to -66) of the human adenovirus type 2 major late promoter. We detected two distinct proteins with molecular weights of 45,000 and 116,000 that interacted with this promoter element. The two proteins differed significantly in their chromatographic and cross-linking behaviors. The accurate and regulated expression of genes tran- sequence (UPS) of the adenovirus type 2 (Ad2) major late scribed by RNA polymerase II requires the interaction of promoter (MLP). Results of deletion and mutation analyses specific DNA-binding proteins with cis-acting promoter ele- have shown that efficient transcription of the Ad2 MLP is ments (2, 10, 14, 29, 36).
    [Show full text]
  • Input Template Epg Pathshala
    Paper : 15 Molecular Cell Biology Module : 34 Methods for analysis of gene expression: Promoter analysis, DNA foot printing Development Team Principal Investigator: Prof. Neeta Sehgal Department of Zoology, University of Delhi Co-Principal Investigator: Prof. D.K. Singh Department of Zoology, University of Delhi Paper Coordinator: Prof. Kuldeep K. Sharma Department of Zoology, University of Jammu Content Writer: Dr. Jasvinder Kaur, Dr. Poonam Sharma Gargi College, University of Delhi Ms Poornima Vishwakarma, Research Scholar, DU Content Reviewer: Prof. Rup Lal Department of Zoology, University of Delhi 1 ZOOLOGY Molecular Cell biology Methods for analysis of gene expression: Promoter analysis, DNA foot printing Description of Module Subject Name ZOOLOGY Paper Name Zool 015: Molecular Cell Biology Module Name/Title Methods for analysis of gene expression Module ID M34: Promoter analysis, DNA foot printing Keywords DNA Footprint Assay, DNase I, DNA foot print, Promoter characterization, Cleavage agent, Autoradiography Glossary Capillary electrophoresis: To modify the footprinting procedure to modernized detection means, the labelled DNA fragments are identified using capillary electrophoresis mechanism as a substitute of polyacrylamide gel DNase I: A DNA- hydrolyzing enzyme that cuts DNA at random locations in a sequence independent manner DNA Footprint Assay: Technique used to determine the binding site of a protein regulator to DNA which is typically at a promoter for a gene. Foot print: The protected DNA region (bound by proteins) in a DNA footprinting experiment. Hydroxyl radicals: When the iron salts are reacted with hydrogen peroxide, they are reduced to form free hydroxyl radicals. The DNA fragment is cleaved when the free hydroxyl molecule react with the DNA backbone.
    [Show full text]
  • Chromatin Accessibility and the Regulatory Epigenome
    REVIEWS EPIGENETICS Chromatin accessibility and the regulatory epigenome Sandy L. Klemm1,4, Zohar Shipony1,4 and William J. Greenleaf1,2,3* Abstract | Physical access to DNA is a highly dynamic property of chromatin that plays an essential role in establishing and maintaining cellular identity. The organization of accessible chromatin across the genome reflects a network of permissible physical interactions through which enhancers, promoters, insulators and chromatin-binding factors cooperatively regulate gene expression. This landscape of accessibility changes dynamically in response to both external stimuli and developmental cues, and emerging evidence suggests that homeostatic maintenance of accessibility is itself dynamically regulated through a competitive interplay between chromatin- binding factors and nucleosomes. In this Review , we examine how the accessible genome is measured and explore the role of transcription factors in initiating accessibility remodelling; our goal is to illustrate how chromatin accessibility defines regulatory elements within the genome and how these epigenetic features are dynamically established to control gene expression. Chromatin- binding factors Chromatin accessibility is the degree to which nuclear The accessible genome comprises ~2–3% of total Non- histone macromolecules macromolecules are able to physically contact chroma­ DNA sequence yet captures more than 90% of regions that bind either directly or tinized DNA and is determined by the occupancy and bound by TFs (the Encyclopedia of DNA elements indirectly to DNA. topological organization of nucleosomes as well as (ENCODE) project surveyed TFs for Tier 1 ENCODE chromatin- binding factors 13 Transcription factor other that occlude access to lines) . With the exception of a few TFs that are (TF). A non- histone protein that DNA.
    [Show full text]
  • Genome-Scale Technologies 2/ Algorithmic and Statistical Aspects of DNA Sequencing Dnase I-Seq
    Genome-scale technologies 2/ Algorithmic and statistical aspects of DNA sequencing DNase I-seq Ewa Szczurek University of Warsaw, MIMUW [email protected] Deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) § cleaves DNA adjacent to a pyrimidine nucleotide. § a waste-management endonuclease § one of the deoxyribonucleases responsible for DNA fragmentation during apoptosis. § DNase I hypersensitive sites ~ Ø open, accessible chromatin; Ø regions of the genome are likely to contain active genes Ho-Ryun Chung The project § http://students.mimuw.edu.pl/~szczurek/TSG2_Project/project.html § Report deadline: 20.01.2016 § Presentations: 26.01.2016 Deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) hypersensitive sites § Short region of chromatin. § Super sensitivity to Dnase I cleavage § Nucleosomal structure less compacted § Increased availability of the DNA to binding by proteins: Ø transcription factors and Ø DNase I "DNAse hypersensitive site" by Wang Y-M, Zhou P, Wang L-Y, Li Z-H, Zhang Y-N, et al. - Wang Y-M, Zhou P, Wang L-Y, Li Z-H, Zhang Y-N, et al. (2012) Correlation Between DNase I Hypersensitive Site Distribution and Gene Expression in HeLa S3 Cells. PLoS ONE 7(8): e42414. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0042414. DNase I hypersensitive sites: location § Hypersensitive sites (HS) found: Ø On every active gene (often >1 HS per gene) Ø Exclusively on chromatin of cells in which the gene is expressed Ø Before transcription begins, in regions preceding active promoters. § HS generated as a result of the binding of transcription factors that displace histone octamers. DNase I- Seq DNase-seq: a high-resolution technique for mapping active gene regulatory elements across the genome from mammalian cells Lingyun Song and Gregory E.
    [Show full text]
  • Inhibition of DNA Binding of the NF-Y Transcription Factor by the Pyrrolobenzodiazepine-Polyamide Conjugate GWL-78
    1319 Inhibition of DNA binding of the NF-Y transcription factor by the pyrrolobenzodiazepine-polyamide conjugate GWL-78 Minal Kotecha,1 Jerome Kluza,1 Geoff Wells,2 p53. Thus, agents such as GWL-78 may be useful in C. Caroline O’Hare,1 Claudia Forni,3 modulating transcription and blocking cellular proliferation. Roberto Mantovani,3 Philip W. Howard,2 [Mol Cancer Ther 2008;7(5):1319–28] Peter Morris,1 David E. Thurston,2 John A. Hartley,1 and Daniel Hochhauser1 Introduction DNA-interactive drugs are widely used in the treatment of 1 Cancer Research UK Drug-DNA Interactions Research Group, human cancers. There is considerable evidence of preferred UCL Cancer Institute, University College London; 2Cancer Research UK Gene Targeted Drug Design Research Group, School DNA sequences to which several of these agents bind. For of Pharmacy, University of London, London, United Kingdom; example, doxorubicin has been shown to bind preferen- and 3Dipartimento di Scienze Biomolecolari e Biotecnologie, tially to the CAAT quartet sequence and to the alternating Universita degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy polynucleotide d(TATATA)2 (1). However, the ability of these agents to recognize specific DNA sequences has not Abstract been previously considered a significant factor in their anticancer activity. It would be useful therapeutically to Many genes involved in cell cycle control have promoters develop drugs capable of inhibiting transcription factors. that bind the heterotrimeric transcription factor NF-Y. Such agents could be used to modulate chemosensitivity Several minor-groove binding drugs have been shown to by overcoming resistance mechanisms such as reduced block interactions of transcription factors with cognate expression of topoisomerase IIa (topo IIa; ref.
    [Show full text]
  • REVIEW Chromatin Immunoprecipitation: Advancing
    R113 REVIEW Chromatin immunoprecipitation: advancing analysis of nuclear hormone signaling Aurimas Vinckevicius and Debabrata Chakravarti Division of Reproductive Biology Research, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 303 East Superior Street, Lurie 4-119, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA (Correspondence should be addressed to D Chakravarti; Email: [email protected]) Abstract Recent decades have been filled with groundbreaking research in the field of endocrine hormone signaling. Pivotal events like the isolation and purification of the estrogen receptor, the cloning of glucocorticoid receptor cDNA, or dissemination of nuclear hormone receptor (NHR) DNA binding sequences are well recognized for their contributions. However, the novel genome-wide and gene-specific information obtained over the last decade describing NHR association with chromatin, cofactors, and epigenetic modifications, as well as their role in gene regulation, has been largely facilitated by the adaptation of the chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) technique. Use of ChIP-based technologies has taken the field of hormone signaling from speculating about the transcription-enabling properties of acetylated chromatin and putative transcription (co-)factor genomic occupancy to demonstrating the detailed, stepwise mechanisms of factor binding and transcriptional initiation; from treating hormone-induced transcription as a steady-state event to understanding its dynamic and cyclic nature; from looking at the DNA sequences recognized by various DNA- binding domains in vitro to analyzing the cell-specific genome-wide pattern of nuclear receptor binding and interpreting its physiological implications. Not only have these events propelled hormone research, but, as some of the pioneering studies, have also contributed tremendously to the field of molecular endocrinology as a whole.
    [Show full text]
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction. Wikipedia. Last Modified on 13
    Polymerase chain reaction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Create account Log in Article Talk Read Edit View Polymerase chain reaction From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Main page Contents "PCR" redirects here. For other uses, see PCR (disambiguation). Featured content It has been suggested that Applications of PCR be merged into Current events this article. (Discuss) Proposed since June 2013. Random article Donate to Wikipedia The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a biochemical technology in molecular Interaction biology to amplify a single or a few copies Help of a piece of DNA across several orders About Wikipedia of magnitude, generating thousands to Community portal millions of copies of a particular DNA Recent changes sequence. Contact page Developed in 1983 by Kary Mullis,[1][2] Tools PCR is now a common and often Print/export indispensable technique used in medical and biological research labs for a variety Languages of applications.[3][4] These include DNA Afrikaans cloning for sequencing, DNA-based phylogeny, or functional analysis of A strip of eight PCR tubes, each containing a 100 μl Azərbaycanca genes; the diagnosis of hereditary reaction mixture Български diseases; the identification of genetic Català fingerprints (used in forensic sciences and paternity testing); and the detection and diagnosis of Česky infectious diseases. In 1993, Mullis was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Michael Dansk Smith for his work on PCR.[5] Deutsch The method relies on thermal cycling, consisting of cycles of repeated heating and cooling of the Eesti reaction for DNA melting and enzymatic replication of the DNA. Primers (short DNA fragments) Ελληνικά containing sequences complementary to the target region along with a DNA polymerase (after Español which the method is named) are key components to enable selective and repeated amplification.
    [Show full text]
  • Riboflavin Activated by Ultraviolet A1 Irradiation Induces Oxidative DNA Damage-Mediated Mutations Inhibited by Vitamin C
    Riboflavin activated by ultraviolet A1 irradiation induces oxidative DNA damage-mediated mutations inhibited by vitamin C Ahmad Besaratinia*, Sang-in Kim, Steven E. Bates, and Gerd P. Pfeifer* Division of Biology, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope National Medical Center, 1450 East Duarte Road, Duarte, CA 91010 Edited by Philip C. Hanawalt, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, and approved February 13, 2007 (received for review November 29, 2006) An increasingly popular theory ascribes UVA (>320–400 nm) carci- duced by UVA has inconsistently matched the mutagenic potential nogenicity to the ability of this wavelength to trigger intracellular of the various induced lesions (4). For the most part, however, the photosensitization reactions, thereby giving rise to promutagenic apparent discrepancies are attributable to a failure to investigate oxidative DNA damage. We have tested this theory both at the UVA-induced DNA damage and mutagenesis simultaneously (4). genomic and nucleotide resolution level in mouse embryonic fibro- Ideally, the correlative nature of events pertaining to each aspect of blasts carrying the lambda phage cII transgene. We have also tested UVA mutagenicity should be established by using comparative the hypothesis that inclusion of a cellular photosensitizer (riboflavin) model systems under uniform experimental conditions. can intensify UVA-induced DNA damage and mutagenesis, whereas Recently, we have shown distinctive UVA-induced oxidative addition of an antioxidant (vitamin C) can counteract the induced DNA damage and mutagenesis in the cII transgene of Big Blue effects. Cleavage assays with formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase mouse embryonic fibroblasts (11, 12). In the present study, we have (Fpg) coupled to alkaline gel electrophoresis and ligation-mediated expanded our investigation to determine the underlying mechanism PCR (LM-PCR) showed that riboflavin treatment (1 ␮M) combined of induced mutagenesis in the same model system.
    [Show full text]
  • Site-Specific Chromatin Immunoprecipitation: a Selective Method to Individually Analyze Neighboring Transcription Factor Binding
    Schuch et al. BMC Research Notes 2012, 5:109 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/5/109 TECHNICALNOTE Open Access Site-specific chromatin immunoprecipitation: a selective method to individually analyze neighboring transcription factor binding sites in vivo Ronaldo Schuch1,5*†, Konstantin Agelopoulos2†, Anna Neumann1, Burkhard Brandt3, Horst Bürger4 and Eberhard Korsching1 Abstract Background: Transcription factors (TFs) and their binding sites (TFBSs) play a central role in the regulation of gene expression. It is therefore vital to know how the allocation pattern of TFBSs affects the functioning of any particular gene in vivo. A widely used method to analyze TFBSs in vivo is the chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). However, this method in its present state does not enable the individual investigation of densely arranged TFBSs due to the underlying unspecific DNA fragmentation technique. This study describes a site-specific ChIP which aggregates the benefits of both EMSA and in vivo footprinting in only one assay, thereby allowing the individual detection and analysis of single binding motifs. Findings: The standard ChIP protocol was modified by replacing the conventional DNA fragmentation, i. e. via sonication or undirected enzymatic digestion (by MNase), through a sequence specific enzymatic digestion step. This alteration enables the specific immunoprecipitation and individual examination of occupied sites, even in a complex system of adjacent binding motifs in vivo. Immunoprecipitated chromatin was analyzed by PCR using two primer sets - one for the specific detection of precipitated TFBSs and one for the validation of completeness of the enzyme digestion step. The method was established exemplary for Sp1 TFBSs within the egfr promoter region.
    [Show full text]