Common and Distinct DNA-Binding and Regulatory Activities of the BEN-Solo Transcription Factor Family
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Downloaded from genesdev.cshlp.org on October 4, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Common and distinct DNA-binding and regulatory activities of the BEN-solo transcription factor family Qi Dai,1 Aiming Ren,2 Jakub O. Westholm,1,3 Hong Duan,1 Dinshaw J. Patel,2 and Eric C. Lai1 1Department of Developmental Biology, 2Department of Structural Biology, Sloan-Kettering Institute New York, New York 10065, USA Recently, the BEN (BANP, E5R, and NAC1) domain was recognized as a new class of conserved DNA-binding domain. The fly genome encodes three proteins that bear only a single BEN domain (‘‘BEN-solo’’ factors); namely, Insensitive (Insv), Bsg25A (Elba1), and CG9883 (Elba2). Insv homodimers preferentially bind CCAATTGG palindromes throughout the genome to mediate transcriptional repression, whereas Bsg25A and Elba2 hetero- trimerize with their obligate adaptor, Elba3 (i.e., the ELBA complex), to recognize a CCAATAAG motif in the Fab-7 insulator. While these data suggest distinct DNA-binding properties of BEN-solo proteins, we performed reporter assays that indicate that both Bsg25A and Elba2 can individually recognize Insv consensus sites efficiently. We confirmed this by solving the structure of Bsg25A complexed to the Insv site, which showed that key aspects of the BEN:DNA recognition strategy are similar between these proteins. We next show that both Insv and ELBA proteins are competent to mediate transcriptional repression via Insv consensus sequences but that the ELBA complex appears to be selective for the ELBA site. Reciprocally, genome-wide analysis reveals that Insv exhibits significant cobinding to class I insulator elements, indicating that it may also contribute to insulator function. Indeed, we observed abundant Insv binding within the Hox complexes with substantial overlaps with class I insulators, many of which bear Insv consensus sites. Moreover, Insv coimmunoprecipitates with the class I insulator factor CP190. Finally, we observed that Insv harbors exclusive activity among fly BEN-solo factors with respect to regulation of Notch-mediated cell fate choices in the peripheral nervous system. This in vivo activity is recapitulated by BEND6, a mammalian BEN-solo factor that conserves the Notch corepressor function of Insv but not its capacity to bind Insv consensus sites. Altogether, our data define an array of common and distinct biochemical and functional properties of this new family of transcription factors. [Keywords: BEN-solo; insulator; repressor; transcription factor] Supplemental material is available for this article. Received September 2, 2014; revised version accepted November 20, 2014. The BEN (BANP, E5R, and NAC1) domain was originally (NAC1), or interacting with insulator sites [mod(mdg4)] or identified bioinformatically as a domain with a-helical heterochromatin (BEND3). Altogether, these collected character that is present in a variety of metazoan and viral findings indicate an intimate connection between diverse proteins (Abhiman et al. 2008). Several BEN-containing BEN proteins and gene repression. proteins were characterized to have chromatin-related Previous studies of BEN proteins mostly concern functions, including mammalian BANP/SMAR1 (Kaul- factors that contain other characterized domains, and, Ghanekar et al. 2004; Rampalli et al. 2005), NAC1 (Korutla in these cases, the function of the BEN domain has not et al. 2005, 2007), BEND3 (Sathyan et al. 2011), and the C received much attention (Abhiman et al. 2008). Recently, isoform of Drosophila mod(mdg4) (Gerasimova et al. 1995; several studies indicate a new functionality for the BEN Negre et al. 2010). Moreover, all of these proteins were domain as an intrinsic sequence-specific DNA-binding linked to transcriptional silencing, albeit via different domain. Mammalian RBB, a BEN and BTB domain strategies such as interacting with matrix attachment protein, was found as a direct transcriptional repressor of sites (SMAR1), recruiting histone deacetylases or CoREST Ó 2015 Dai et al. This article is distributed exclusively by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press for the first six months after the full-issue 3Present address: Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Biochem- publication date (see http://genesdev.cshlp.org/site/misc/terms.xhtml). istry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, SE-17121 Solna, Sweden. After six months, it is available under a Creative Commons License Corresponding author: [email protected] (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International), as described at http:// Article is online at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.252122.114. creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. 48 GENES & DEVELOPMENT 29:48–62 Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; ISSN 0890-9369/15; www.genesdev.org Downloaded from genesdev.cshlp.org on October 4, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Drosophila BEN-solo proteins the HDM2 oncogene and an interactor of the nucleosome with the capacity to regulate Notch signaling during periph- remodeling and deacetylase (NuRD) complex (Xuan et al. eral neurogenesis. Indeed, mammalian BEND6 is better 2013). In vitro selection tests showed that RBB bound able to rescue neural phenotypes of flies compromised for DNA as a homodimer to TGTCRSWWYYGWC-type sites. CSL corepressor function than ELBA factors are. Alto- Two other studies in Drosophila provided the first func- gether, we identified both distinct and overlapping functional tional analyses of the subclass of BEN proteins that properties of the three Drosophila BEN-solo proteins, contain only a single BEN domain and no other recogniz- introducing unexpected complexity in their contribu- able domains (i.e., ‘‘BEN-solo’’ proteins). Two of these tions to gene regulation and development. proteins, Bsg25A (Elba1) and CG9883 (Elba2), along with the adaptor protein CG15634 (Elba3) associate with the Results asymmetric site ‘‘CCAATAAG’’ in the Fab-7 insulator element and are involved in insulator function (Aoki et al. The neural BEN-solo factor Insv is deployed 2012). In vitro gel shift assays demonstrated that DNA- throughout the blastoderm with ELBA factors binding activity on this site is a specific attribute of the Of the three Drosophila BEN-solo factors, Elba1 (Bsg25A) heterotrimeric complex, with no binding being observed and Elba2 (CG9883) reside in the ELBA heterotrimeric by any pairwise or single proteins tested. Genome-wide complex (Aoki et al. 2012). In this study, we chose to studies of the third Drosophila BEN-solo factor, Insensi- retain the Bsg25A nomenclature due to historical pre- tive (Insv), showed its broad genomic association with cedent (Singer and Lengyel 1997) and refer to the other TCYAATHRGAA sites, and in vitro studies demonstrated Elba BEN-solo component as Elba2. As noted, Bsg25A and high-affinity binding of Insv homodimers to palindromic Elba3 reside in neighboring transcription units (with TCCAATTGGA sequences (Dai et al. 2013b). Reporter Bsg25A nested within CG11929), while the BEN-solo studies in culture cells and expression profiling of insv loci Insv and Elba2 are also arranged as adjacent genomic mutants indicate that Insv binding to its cognate site loci (Aoki et al. 2012). mediates transcriptional repression. Our previous Insv immunostaining studies during Curiously, Insv exhibits dual modes of transcriptional larval and pupal stages highlighted its restricted spatial regulation. In addition to functioning as a direct repressor, accumulation in the developing peripheral nervous sys- it is also recruited to chromatin via a CSL-type transcrip- tem (PNS) for adult mechanosensory organs (Duan et al. tion factor, which serves as the primary nuclear effector of 2011), consistent with studies of insv mRNA accumulation the Notch signaling pathway (Lai 2004). In this context, (Reeves and Posakony 2005). These patterns are seemingly Insv associates directly with CSL via its BEN domain, distinct from the documented ubiquitous blastoderm ex- represses Notch pathway target genes, and is required pression of various ELBA factors. However, inspection of phenotypically to oppose Notch signaling during neural modENCODE developmental time-course RNA sequenc- cell fate specification and promote neurogenesis (Duan ing (RNA-seq) data (Graveley et al. 2011) indicated that et al. 2011). Although a definitive mammalian ortholog of insv mRNA levels are by far highest in 2- to 4-h embryos Insv is not apparent from the primary sequence, mamma- (Fig. 1A). Indeed, we confirmed strong ubiquitous accu- lian BEND6 has all of the key functional attributes of mulation of Insv protein in blastoderm stages (Fig. 1B). a CSL corepressor. In particular, BEND6 binds CSL di- Thus, Insv exhibits two phases of expression: early/ubiqui- rectly via its BEN domain, associates with and represses tous and later/neural-restricted (Fig. 1B–G). Notably, peak Notch target genes, and restricts Notch signaling in neural levels of Bsg25A, Elba2, and Elba3 are also found specif- stem cells, thereby opposing their self-renewal and pro- ically in 2- to 4-h embryos (Fig 1A). We confirmed the strong moting neurogenesis (Dai et al. 2013a). and specific blastoderm expression of Bsg25A and Elba3 These collected studies suggest that Insv and Elba proteins (Supplemental Fig. 1) and note that the presence exhibit distinct sequence preferences and strategies of of Elba2 in later embryonic stages corresponds mostly to DNA binding (homodimer vs. heterotrimer) and that this its expression in the procephalic ectoderm primordium may be further associated