Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound

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Query: EC:2.7.7.6 (RNA polymerase)
34,946 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Transcription of a eukaryotic structural gene by RNA polymerase II requires the ordered assembly of general transcription factors on the promoter to form a pre-initiation complex. Here we analyze affinity-purified complexes at various stages of assembly to determine the mechanism of action of an acidic transcriptional activator. We show that the activator can function in the absence of ATP and stimulates transcription by increasing the number of functional preinitiation complexes. The activator effects this increase by recruiting the general transcription factor TFIIB to the promoter. Using protein affinity chromatography we demonstrate a specific interaction between an acidic activating region and TFIIB. Based on these combined results, we propose that TFIIB is a direct target of an acidic activator.
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PMID:Mechanism of action of an acidic transcriptional activator in vitro. 200 92

The human T cell-specific transcription factor TCF-1 alpha plays a key role in the tissue-specific activation of the T cell receptor (TCR) C alpha enhancer and binds to pyrimidine-rich elements (5'-PyCTTTG-3') present in a variety of other T cell-specific control regions. Using amino acid sequence information derived from the DNA affinity-purified protein, we have now isolated cDNA clones encoding TCF-1 alpha. The TCF-1 alpha cDNA contains a single 68-amino-acid domain that is homologous to a region conserved among high-mobility group (HMG) and nonhistone chromosomal proteins. Expression of full-length and mutant cDNA clones in bacteria reveal that the single HMG motif, which is predicted to contain two extended alpha-helical segments, is sufficient to direct the sequence-specific binding of TCF-1 alpha to DNA. Northern blot experiments demonstrate further that TCF-1 alpha mRNA is highly tissue specific, found primarily in the thymus or T cell lines. The immature CEM T cell line expresses relatively low levels of TCF-1 alpha mRNA, which are increased upon activation of these cells by phorbol esters. Interestingly, the cloned TCF-1 alpha protein is a potent transcriptional activator of the human TCR alpha enhancer in nonlymphoid cell lines, whereas the activity of the endogenous protein in T cell lines is strongly dependent on an additional T cell-specific protein that interacts with the core enhancer. TCF-1 alpha is currently unique among the newly emerging family of DNA-binding regulatory proteins that share the HMG motif in that it is a highly tissue-specific RNA polymerase II transcription factor.
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PMID:A thymus-specific member of the HMG protein family regulates the human T cell receptor C alpha enhancer. 201 90

A new gene whose product is required for the production of formate hydrogenlyase (FHL) has been identified in Escherichia coli. This gene, termed fhlB, maps between the frdA (94.4 min) and argI (96.6 min) genes on the E. coli chromosome and is transcribed in a clockwise direction toward argI. Biochemical analysis of an FhlB- mutant, strain SE-2011 [phi(fhlB-lacZ+)], revealed that the mutant lacks formate dehydrogenase activity associated with FHL (FDH-H) and hydrogenase activity. As a result of these defects, fermentative hydrogen production and hydrogen uptake reactions were undetectable in strain SE-2011. Fumarate reductase activity of this mutant was also reduced to about 15% of the levels of the parent (strain MC4100), and strain SE-2011 did not produce succinate as a fermentation end product. Regulation of expression of the fhlB gene, studied as production of beta-galactosidase activity by strain SE-2011, revealed that the operon is expressed at low levels under aerobic conditions. Under anaerobic growth conditions, this activity increased by two- to threefold. Addition of formate enhanced the differential rate of synthesis of the fhlB gene product to as high as 130 U of beta-galactosidase specific activity per microgram of cell protein, but only under anaerobic conditions. Formate-dependent expression of phi(fhlB-lacZ+) required the sigma 54 subunit of RNA polymerase and the fhlA gene product. The concentration of formate required for maximum expression of the fhlB gene was about 15 mM; this value decreased to about 3 mM in the presence of plasmid pSE-133, which carries the fhlA gene in a multicopy plasmid. DNA sequence analysis of the fhlA gene showed that the FhlA protein is 686 amino acids long and has an anhydrous molecular weight of 78,086. On the basis of sequence homology with other transcriptional activators such as NtrC, HydG, and Klebsiella pneumoniae NifA proteins, the FhlA protein was deduced to be a transcriptional activator controlling the production of FHL. It is proposed that formate interacts with the FhlA protein and that this active complex initiates transcription of the fhlB gene. The FhlA and FhlB proteins act as a cascade in regulating the production of FDH-H and the FHL-linked hydrogenase and ultimately the production of FHL and fermentative hydrogen.
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PMID:Genetic regulation of formate hydrogenlyase of Escherichia coli: role of the fhlA gene product as a transcriptional activator for a new regulatory gene, fhlB. 211 3

The 5'-flanking sequences required for expression of a human 7S K RNA gene have been defined by mutant analysis. A -111 upstream deletion mutant showed full activity when analysed by in vitro transcription with HeLa cell extracts. In contrast, upon transfection into intact cells, this mutant only revealed a basal level activity of approximately 6% as compared to the wild-type promoter up to position -252. The deleted upstream sequence element acts as a transcriptional activator in vivo, in a strictly position and orientation-dependent manner. Two octamer-like binding motifs observed within this upstream sequence were both dispensable for proper function of this RNA polymerase III promoter in vivo. Instead, a detailed analysis of this region identified a CACCC-box element, together with its surrounding base pairs, as the essential upstream element required for expression of this 7S K RNA gene in vivo. Furthermore, this CACCC-box is centered within a footprint obtained with HeLa cell nuclear proteins.
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PMID:Expression of a human 7S K RNA gene in vivo requires a novel pol III upstream element. 213 77

The N gene product of Escherichia coli phage lambda is a transcriptional activator that captures the host RNA polymerase and modifies it to a termination-resistant form, permitting gene expression in two large polycistronic operons of the phage genome. Antitermination in vitro requires at least one host factor called NusA, which directly binds the N protein as well as RNA polymerase, and also a transcribed cis-acting site known as nut, within which lies the hypothesized N-recognition signal, boxB. BoxB is an interrupted palindrome capable of forming a hairpin in the mRNA. Inhibition studies with complementary DNA oligonucleotides provide evidence for a direct role of the boxB hairpin in antitermination. Kinetic studies of transcript elongation reveal that the boxB hairpin does not induce an appreciable pause to hold polymerase captive for engagement by N and NusA. Moreover, the efficiency of antitermination remains virtually the same whether N and NusA are added early, prior to nut site transcription, or added later, after the polymerase has already transcribed past the nut site. After transcription of the nut site, RNA polymerase remains susceptible to modification by N and NusA for an appreciable amount of time and distance, and the nut site DNA becomes dispensable for this modification. These results lead to the hypothesis that the boxB RNA hairpin acts in a manner analogous to the DNA enhancers, binding N and mediating a productive polymerase-NusA-N interaction by mRNA looping.
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PMID:Action of an RNA site at a distance: role of the nut genetic signal in transcription antitermination by phage-lambda N gene product. 215 59

The E2 open reading frame (ORF) of the bovine papillomavirus (BPV-1) encodes a family of site-specific DNA-binding proteins. The full-length protein is a transcriptional activator, whereas the polypeptides that contain only the carboxy-terminal domain are repressors. Here we show that the trans-activator can work as a repressor of transcription for one of the BPV-1 promoters by binding to a DNA sequence required for basal activity of the promoter. This operator site is defined as a 12-bp sequence that lies immediately downstream of the cap site. The operator DNA contains sequences that are defined genetically and biochemically as being important for basal level promoter activity. Furthermore, this site has been shown to be protected in a DNase footprint assay using fractionated HeLa cell extracts. The repression does not simply result from E2 blocking RNA polymerase initiation or elongation, because a strong E2-binding site placed at the operator has no repressive effect on transcription when the basal target sequence is placed independently upstream of the promoter. Thus, this is an interesting parallel to a theme well known in prokaryotes, where some site-specific DNA-binding proteins can work as either activators or repressors. In this system, as well as in the prokaryotic systems, the precise position of the binding site relative to other cis signals at the promoter determines the nature of the effects.
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PMID:The E2 trans-activator can act as a repressor by interfering with a cellular transcription factor. 215 58

In prokaryotes and eukaryotes many gene activators work synergistically. For example, two dimers of lambda repressor interact to promote binding of these proteins to DNA, a reaction that is crucial at the repressor concentrations found in lysogens. In this case one of the bound dimers activates transcription, evidently by touching RNA polymerase. In another example, the yeast transcriptional activator GAL4, which can stimulate transcription in many eukaryotes, binds to multiple sites on DNA to activate transcription synergistically; the presence of two such sites can elicit a level of transcription more than twice that found with a single site. In this paper we show that synergistic activation by each of several GAL4 derivatives involves a mechanism different from that illustrated by the lambda repressor: multiple activator molecules can work synergistically under conditions in which their binding sites on DNA are saturated. The accompanying paper shows that under similar conditions of activator excess, GAL4 derivatives work synergistically with a heterologous mammalian gene activator. These results support the idea that eukaryotic activators can cooperate not by directly interacting but by simultaneously touching some component(s) of the transcriptional machinery.
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PMID:A mechanism for synergistic activation of a mammalian gene by GAL4 derivatives. 216 Jun 9

The OmpR binding sequence (OBS) in the upstream region of the ompF promoter of Escherichia coli was fused to 27 synthetic promoters. Transcription from a number of weak promoters, regardless of their sequences, was dramatically activated in the presence of OmpR, a transcriptional activator. In vivo DNA footprinting revealed that OmpR enhanced the binding of RNA polymerase to the promoters. This enhancement was essential for transcription of weak promoters, while OmpR binding to the OBS fused to a strong promoter was inhibitory for transcription. These results indicate that OmpR stabilizes the formation of an RNA polymerase-promoter complex, possibly a closed promoter complex, and that a transcription activator can serve not only as a positive but also as a negative regulator for gene expression.
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PMID:Enhancement of RNA polymerase binding to promoters by a transcriptional activator, OmpR, in Escherichia coli: its positive and negative effects on transcription. 219 74

Transcriptional regulation of the bacterial mercuric ion resistance operon (mer) in response to nanomolar concentrations of mercuric ion is achieved by the allosterically modulated transcriptional activator protein MerR. We now show that mercuric ion modification of MerR activates transcription, facilitating the conversion of an RNA polymerase complex with the mer promoter from the closed conformation to the strand-separated, transcriptionally competent open complex. An Hg-MerR-induced structural alteration at the center of the promoter has been detected in the presence or absence of RNA polymerase by use of chemical nucleases sensitive to variations in DNA secondary structure. This hypersensitivity correlates directly with transcriptional activation, lending further support to a previous proposal that a protein-induced distortion in local DNA structure can be the key step in an allosterically modulated transcription activation mechanism.
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PMID:DNA distortion accompanies transcriptional activation by the metal-responsive gene-regulatory protein MerR. 236 56

The expression of the Bacillus subtilis phage phi 29 DNA is controlled by the viral gene 4 product, which is required for the initiation of transcription at the unique late promoter A3. Protein p4 binds specifically to a phi 29 DNA fragment containing the A3 promoter. DNase I footprinting analysis has shown that the DNA binding region for protein p4 is located between nucleotides -50 and -100 relative to the transcription start site. Methylation interference assays suggest that two eight base-pair long inverted repeats located within this binding region are the protein p4 recognition sequence. These results, together with the fact that the protein p4-dependent in vitro transcription requires the B. subtilis sigma 43-RNA polymerase, indicate that protein p4 is a transcriptional activator. The protein p4 DNA recognition region is statically bent as suggested by gel retardation and chemical cleavage assays. A model of protein p4 binding to its DNA target site is proposed.
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PMID:Characterization of a new prokaryotic transcriptional activator and its DNA recognition site. 250 24


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