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Molecular and Cellular Biology, September 2002, p. 6148-6157, Vol. 22, No. 17
0270-7306/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MCB.22.17.6148-6157.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Lawrence R. Benjamin,2,
Yingyun Liu,2 David S. Gilmour,2 and Sarah C. R. Elgin1*
Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130,1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 168022
Received 27 February 2002/ Returned for modification 2 May 2002/ Accepted 30 May 2002
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In vivo studies have shown that GAGA factor plays a critical role in establishing the nucleosome-free DH sites observed at the promoter and upstream regulatory elements of the hsp26 and hsp70 heat shock genes in Drosophila melanogaster prior to activation (reviewed in references 17 and 30). It appears that the chromatin remodeling complex NURF can have a key role in this process (42, 43). The NURF complex can alter nucleosome structure in an ATP-dependent manner to allow GAGA factor binding in an in vitro chromatin assembly assay, resulting in nuclease sensitivity at the hsp70 promoter (42, 43). However, our understanding of the steps required to obtain the in vivo nucleosome-free DH site, and the potential for activation, remains incomplete.
The Drosophila hsp26 gene, as well as the hsp70 gene, is characterized not only by preset DH sites in the promoter region but also by the presence of a paused RNA polymerase II, having stalled after synthesis of
25 bases of RNA (reviewed in references 29 and 30). Heat shock induces the formation of trimers of the heat shock factor (HSF); binding of the HSF to its target sequences, located in the DH sites, releases RNA polymerase II to proceed with elongation. An illustration of the hsp26 promoter in the inactive but inducible state is shown in Fig. 1A. GAGA factor, the TFIID complex, and RNA polymerase II are all present in the DH sites, while the regions upstream and downstream are packaged in a specific nucleosome array. Folding of the DNA around the nucleosome positioned between the two DH sites appears likely to bring the distal regulatory site into proximity with the proximal regulatory site. The above considerations suggest a possible cooperation of GAGA factor with TFIID and other members of the preinitiation complex in creation of the DH sites and positioning of nucleosomes in the upstream region of the hsp26 gene.
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FIG. 1. CarX-based constructs of the hsp26 gene promoter used in this work. (A) Current view of the organization and chromatin structure of the endogenous hsp26 gene promoter. The white oval represents a positioned nucleosome separating the two DH sites, and the cross-hatched boxes represent regions containing (CT)n repeats (the target sequences for GAGA factor) and the major heat shock elements (the target sequences for the gene-specific activator, heat shock factor). The TATA box (binding site for TBP) and Initiator Element (Inr) and Downstream Promoter Element (DPE) are also shown. Numbers below the line mark the borders (in base pairs) of various changes made in the transgenic constructs depicted in panel B. +1 is the transcription start site (indicated by a bent arrow). (B) Structures of various CarX-based constructs used in this work. The hatched boxes depict mutation in the distal GAGA factor binding site, the gaps show deletions of the corresponding sequences, and the white boxes with dashes depict replacement with random sequence. The white boxes depict ry, the rosy gene, a visible marker used in all transgenic constructs. The constructs in panel B are based on the CarX construct (32). The heat shock-inducible ß-galactosidase activity (HS ß-gal) of each construct, normalized to the corresponding control CarX transgene (set at 100%), is shown to the right of the constructs. XbaI cleavage of chromatin (from larval nuclei of each line, no heat shock) at the proximal DH site, normalized to the CarX control transgene (set at 100%), is shown in the XbaI sensitivity column. These results are the averages of measurements in three to seven independent lines for each transgene (the variation was ±5%).
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CT (same as cP
CT·GA), with a deletion of the proximal GAGA factor binding site, were described by Glaser et al. (20). Plasmids with downstream deletions cP-
D1 (deletion of positions +7 to + 48) and cP-
D2 (deletion of positions +48 to +137) were made by standard techniques from cP-351, and cP-
CT-
D1 and cP-
CT-
D2 were made by standard techniques from cP-
CT.
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FIG. 6. cP-351-based constructs of the hsp26 gene promoter used in this work. (A) Current view of the organization and chromatin structure of the endogenous hsp26 gene promoter. For explanation of symbols, see the legend to Fig. 1. The constructs in panel B are based on cP-351 (20). The heat shock-inducible ß-galactosidase activity of each construct (HS ß-gal), normalized to the corresponding control transgene (cP-351) (set at 100%), is shown to the right of the constructs. XbaI cleavage of the chromatin from each line, again normalized to the cP-351 control transgene, is shown in the XbaI sensitivity column.
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CT were described by Lu et al. (32). Creation and cloning of a random sequence replacement and point mutations in the hsp26 TATA box. The random sequence introduced in transgenic constructs designated TDR (TATA-downstream replacement) starts from the first nucleotide of the TATA box (position -35) and extends to position +60 downstream from the transcription start site (total of 95 bp). The TDR sequence was computer generated and inspected for the absence of obvious motifs for known DNA binding proteins, including target sequences for GAGA factor. To facilitate cloning and mapping, restriction sites for NheI and ApaI were introduced at the ends of the sequence; the second base in the NheI recognition site replaces the first base in the TATA box. To form 95 bp of random sequence, two overlapping synthetic oligonucleotides (58 bases each) were hybridized and extended with Sequenase version 2.0 DNA polymerase (U.S. Biochemical Corp., Cleveland, Ohio). A pGEM-3Zf(+) plasmid containing a XbaI-SacI fragment of the hsp26 upstream region (positions -52 to + 490) was PCR amplified outward using a pair of primers to introduce NheI and ApaI sites in the desired positions. The random sequence fragment, trimmed by NheI and ApaI, was ligated with pGEM-3Zf(+) plasmid containing the modified XbaI-SacI fragment of the hsp26 upstream region (positions -52 to + 490) cut by NheI and ApaI. Thus, the original sequence from positions -39 to +64 at the hsp26 gene promoter,5'cgggTATAAAAGCAGCGTCGCTTGACGAACAGAGCACAGATCGAATTCAAAAATCGAGCAGTGAACAACTCAAAGCAACTTTGCGCAAAAGCAAAACTTcaaa3' (sequences to be replaced in capital letters; the TATA box underlined; lowercase letters are unchanged sequences), was replaced by 5'cgggCTAGCAAAGCGAACCTAAAATACGGTCCGAATAGACAGGAGGTCCAACATGTTGAAAAAGCAACAGGGCCAACATACCGCATTACCATAAGGGCCcaaa3' (new, random sequence in capital letters and italic type; NheI and ApaI sites in bold type). The modified XbaI-SacI fragment with the random sequence was reintegrated with the SalI fragments from CarX and CarX-mCTd (which has a mutation in the distal GAGA factor binding site) and then placed in the transformation vector Car20T, creating the constructs CarX-TDR and CarX-mCTd-TDR, respectively.
A modified XbaI-SacI fragment without the random sequence inserted was also reintroduced in the transgenic construct CarX-mCTd-
CT, creating the construct CarX-mCTd-
CT-
TA with a mutation in the distal GAGA factor binding site, deletion of the proximal GAGA factor binding site, and a 67-bp deletion in the region of TFIID binding. The final sequence of the above region is 5'cgggCTAGCa agcag/gcgca aaagcaaGGG CCcaaa3' (nucleotides remaining from the wild-type hsp26 promoter are in lowercase letters,/indicates the junction of the original hsp26 fragments, and NheI and ApaI recognition sites are in bold type).
In addition, we have made a new mutation changing the two first bases in the TATA box (hsp26mTATA) for in vitro studies of TFIID binding. In this mutation, the wild-type sequence 5'tccagcgggtataaaagcagcgtcgc3' (from positions -44 to -19) is replaced with the sequence 5'tccagcAGTACtaaaagcagcgtcgc3', introducing a ScaI recognition site (TATA box remnants are underlined; new sequence is in capital letters, with the ScaI site in bold type).
In vitro binding of the TFIID complex.
To assess binding of the TFIID complex to the hsp26 gene variant promoters in vitro, we generated PCR fragments from the transformation plasmids described above containing the wild-type (hsp26X) or mutant versions of the TATA box region (hsp26TDR, hsp26mTATA, and hsp26
TA). In all cases the left primer was the same, but the right primer was chosen to yield fragments of different length for each sequence studied. These PCR fragments were end labeled, mixed, and incubated with TFIID from Drosophila nuclear extract immobilized on protein G-Sepharose beads with an antibody against the TAFII230 subunit of the TFIID complex, as previously described (51). Purified DNA from immunoprecipitated material was analyzed on a denaturing polyacrylamide gel. A phosphorimager and NIH Image software were used to quantitatively assess the relative amount of DNA in each of the bands. The fractions of bound DNA to input DNA in the control lanes (mock precipitation) were subtracted from the fractions of bound DNA to input DNA in the experimental lanes (beads treated with the anti-TFIID antibodies).
Fly strains and germ line transformation.
Transformed lines (designated CarX-TDR, CarX-mCTd-TDR, CarX-mCTd-
CT-
TA, cP-
D1, cP-
CT-
D1, cP-
D2, and cP-
CT-
D2) were obtained using P elements as described previously (25, 40). The presence of a single copy of the P element and the integrity of the transgenes were verified by Southern hybridization using both ry sequences and the lacZ gene as probes (data not shown). Either the transformed lines were made homozygous or the transgenes were maintained over an appropriate balancer chromosome. In some cases, to increase the number of lines with inserts in different locations, the original transgene was mobilized in genetic crosses using the stock w; P
2-3/TM6, Tb e (see description at http://flybase.bio.indiana.edu). Three to seven independent lines were obtained for all constructs described in this work.
Transgenic flies containing the intact hsp70 promoter (line WT D7) and the hsp70 promoter with a 15-bp deletion encompassing the TATA box (line
TATA C) were described by Wu et al. (51).
Analysis of inducible expression. Third-instar larvae were heat shocked for 90 min at 37°C. ß-Galactosidase activity was measured as described by Lu et al. (32) using the CPRG (chlorophenol red/ß-D-galactopyranoside) assay.
Analysis of XbaI and DNase I cleavage in chromatin from larval nuclei. Experiments were performed as previously described (46). Briefly, nuclei were isolated from 1 g of flash-frozen third-instar larvae from each strain studied and treated with increasing concentrations of XbaI or DNase I. DNA from treated nuclei was purified, cut with restriction enzymes appropriate for the indirect end-labeling procedure (EcoRV and SmaI), electrophoresed in 1% agarose, transferred to a nylon filter (Roche Diagnostics, Indianapolis, Ind.) and hybridized with a digoxigenin-labeled probe (Roche Diagnostics). The probe was a 1.1-kb fragment of the lacZ gene (downstream from the hsp26 promoter). This provides qualitative assessment (with DNase I) and quantitative assessment (with XbaI) of the accessibility to nucleases at the proximal DH site. X-ray films were scanned, and bands were quantitatively scored on a Fluoro S MultiImager documentation system with QuantityOne software (Bio-Rad).
The accessibility of the proximal site to digestion by XbaI was calculated as the ratio of the measured intensity of signal in the proximal band to the sum of intensities of signal from the proximal, distal, and parental bands (32). Three to six lines with each transgenic construct were studied; the experiments were repeated at least three times with each line. Variation in the measurement of XbaI cleavage is approximately ±5%. To simplify the comparison of relative values of XbaI cleavage between different constructs, values for transgenes shown in Fig. 1 and 6 (XbaI sensitivity values) have been normalized to those of CarX and cP-351, respectively.
Immunoprecipitation of cross-linked chromatin (ChIP). ChIP analyses of hsp26 transgenes were performed using 0- to 12-h-old embryos as described by Cavalli et al. (8) with minor modifications. Polyclonal rabbit anti-GAGA or anti-TBP antibodies (2 µl of each per 500 µl of chromatin) were used. The GAGA factor used to immunize rabbits was that expressed from the plasmid pAR-GAGA and purified as described previously (42), with the following modifications. Fractions from the heparin-Affigel column were diluted to a final concentration of 0.2 M HEMGN (HEPES-EDTA-magnesium-glycerol-Nonidet p-40). This material was loaded onto a Mono S column, washed with 3 column volumes of 0.15 M HEMGN, and eluted with a 0.15 to 1 M HEMGN gradient. Fractions containing GAGA factor were collected. Anti-GAGA factor serum was obtained by immunizing rabbits with the recombinant GAGA factor (service provided by the Pennsylvania State University Animal Facility). A polyclonal antiserum against Drosophila TBP was raised in rabbits as previously described (13). Antibodies were evaluated and shown to have the desired specificity by immunostaining of polytene chromosomes and by Western blotting (data not shown).
For each chromatin preparation, mock precipitations without antibodies were performed; the amount of DNA recovered in mock precipitations was usually 5- to 10-fold less than that from precipitation with antibodies. To visualize the products, we employed two different approaches, with comparable results. In both cases (see Fig. 4A), the immunoprecipitated DNA was first amplified using primers P1 and P2 (30 cycles [1 cycle consisting of 1 min at 95°C, 1 min at 55°C, and 1 min at 72°C], followed by 10 min at 72°C). To achieve quantitative PCR results following chromatin immunoprecipitation, a series of PCR amplifications was conducted using serially diluted input DNA, and all immunoprecipitated samples were assayed in a range where the PCR products showed a strict, linear correlation to input DNA. In the first method, the resulting PCR products were digested with restriction enzyme DraI, electrophoresed in a 15% polyacrylamide gel in 1x Tris-borate-EDTA (TBE) buffer for 3 to 4 h at 200 V, and electroblotted for 2 h in 0.5x TBE buffer at 40 V at 4°C to a nylon filter. The filter was hybridized with a 32P-labeled PCR-generated fragment (made with the same primers [P1 and P2]) from a cloned genomic fragment of the wild-type hsp26 gene (see Fig. 4A) (plasmid p88B13 [10]), and exposed using X-ray film and/or a Bio-Rad phosphorimager screen. QuantityOne software was used for quantitation of the data. The length of the transgene fragment is 21 bp shorter than the length of the endogenous gene fragment due to the loss of a 21-bp XbaI fragment during the original cloning. The lengths of the endogenous and transgenic DraI restriction fragments are 142 and 121 bp, respectively. This allows one to measure hybridization signals for the transgene and the endogenous gene in the same lane. Results were calculated as (Tab/Eab)/(Tm/Em), where T is the length of the transgene fragment, E is the length of the endogenous fragment, and the ab and m superscripts indicate that the samples were precipitated with antibodies or without antibodies (mock), respectively. This calculation assumes that if the transgene with a given mutation immunoprecipitates without any difference from the wild-type transgene, then the T/E ratio will be the same following immunoprecipitation as it is in the mock precipitation. Thus, Tab/Eab = Tm/Em where Eab is expected to be constant for all flies. Deviations from this equality should be attributable to the differences in protein binding to the transgene. PCR amplification of DNA recovered from three to seven independent preparations of cross-linked chromatin was repeated a total of 6 to 16 times for each case.
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FIG. 4. Binding of GAGA factor and TBP to different variants of the hsp26 promoter as shown by chromatin immunoprecipitation. (A) The general approach used to visualize and quantify the immunoprecipitated chromatin fragments is diagrammed. Immunoprecipitated DNA was amplified by PCR with primers P1 and P2 and digested with restriction enzyme DraI (D), followed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and hybridization with the PCR-generated wild-type 32P-labeled probe shown in the top line (the anticipated fragments shown in panel 1). In some experiments, immunoprecipitated material was first amplified using the P1 and P2 primers, followed by a second round of amplification with primers P3 and P4 (the anticipated fragments are shown in panel 2). The lengths (in base pairs) of the anticipated fragments of the transgene (T) and endogenous gene (E) are indicated. The numbers above the top line are the left and right map positions of the probe. X, X1, and X2 are XbaI sites in the endogenous hsp26 promoter; all fall within the DH sites. (B) Representative examples of the chromatin immunoprecipitation data. (Left) Comparison between the control CarX line and the line with random replacement of sequences from positions -35 to +60, CarX-TDR. (Right) Comparison between the control line CarX and the line with two mutations in GAGA factor binding sites, CarX-mCTd- CT. Note that the amount of DNA recovered in mock precipitations is 5- to 10-fold less than that from precipitations with antibodies; however, equal amounts of DNA have been used here to establish the ratio of transgene to endogenous gene in the precipitate. The positions of the 142-bp DraI fragment from the endogenous gene (E) and the 121-bp DraI fragment from the transgene (T) are shown to the right. GAGA, anti-GAGA antibody; TBP, anti-TBP antibody. (C) Comparison of immunoprecipitation of the hsp26 promoter chromatin fragments from the control (CarX) and mutant hsp26 transgenes. The data presented were obtained by the first approach described above. The results are shown as the value (normalized T/E) for the mutant transgene divided by the value (normalized T/E) for the control (wild-type) transgene (Tables 1 and 2). The broken line indicates the theoretically expected value (1.0) if the promoter mutations do not affect GAGA factor or TBP binding. See Materials and Methods for details.
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To analyze the interaction of GAGA factor with the wild-type hsp70 promoter compared to the hsp70 promoter with a deletion in the TATA box, chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments were performed using isolated, intact salivary glands of third-instar larvae as a source of material. Salivary glands (15 pairs per sample) were dissected from WT D7 or
TATA C transgenic larvae in Ringer solution (130 mM NaCl, 5 mM KCl, 1.5 mM CaCl2) and cross-linked with 1% formaldehyde for 10 min at room temperature. To stop the cross-linking reaction, 1 M glycine was added to a final concentration of 125 mM and the glands were incubated at room temperature for 5 min. The glands were then washed twice with 1 ml of Tris-buffered saline (140 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris-Cl [pH 7.5]) and suspended in 200 µl of sodium dodecyl sulfate lysis buffer (1% sodium dodecyl sulfate, 10 mM EDTA, 50 mM Tris-Cl [pH 8]). The suspension was then sonicated in four 15-s pulses at output level 1.6 with a Branson Sonifier 450 instrument (VWR Scientific). Subsequent treatment with antibody plus protein A beads and recovery of immunoprecipitated DNA followed the ChIP protocol from Upstate Biotechnology, except that whole Sepharose beads were subjected to proteinase K digestion to release the DNA from the immunoprecipitate. Multiplex PCRs were performed with the purified DNA as template using two pairs of primers to amplify the fragments of the hsp70 promoter and of the white gene.
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TA) (Fig. 2). To assess the sensitivity of this in vitro approach, we analyzed binding of TFIID to a PCR fragment with a point mutation (changing the TATA box from TATAAAA to ACTAAAA). TFIID binding is significantly reduced but not abolished in this case (hsp26mTA; 29% binding in comparison with the wild-type construct). This agrees very well with previous data for different point mutations in the TATA box (33). Thus, the constructs prepared can serve the desired purpose of reducing the association of TFIID with the promoter DNA.
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FIG. 2. In vitro binding of the TFIID complex to hsp26 promoter DNA fragments. A mixture of 32P-labeled PCR-generated fragments containing the wild-type hsp26 (hsp26wt) promoter and promoter mutants (hsp26mTA, hsp26TDR, and hsp26 TA) was incubated with TFIID that had been immobilized on protein G-Sepharose with an antibody against TAFII230. As a negative control (mock precipitation), an equivalent mixture of 32P-labeled DNA fragments was incubated with protein G-Sepharose that had been incubated with Drosophila nuclear extract in the absence of the TAFII230 monoclonal antibody. Bound (IP) and input DNA were analyzed on a sequencing gel. To the right of the gel, the fraction of each fragment recovered in the bound fraction calculated as described in Materials and Methods is shown in column A, and binding as a percentage of binding for the hsp26wt fragment is shown in column B.
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Generation of accessible DH sites is drastically curtailed in flies where the TFIID binding region is replaced by the random sequence.
The chromatin structure of the uninduced hsp26 promoter, as shown by maintenance of the proximal DH site, was assessed for the various transgenes by digestion of isolated larval nuclei with XbaI. XbaI sites are located within both the proximal and distal DH sites of the hsp26 promoter (Fig. 1A), and cleavage with excess restriction enzyme correlates very well with relative sensitivity to DNase I. The extent of XbaI cleavage was determined using the indirect end-labeling protocol (see Materials and Methods). Sample lumigraphs are shown in Fig. 3A, and the quantitative results for each of the constructs studied are given in Fig. 1 (XbaI sensitivity column), normalized to the corresponding control line, CarX. It is evident that replacement of the region from positions -35 to +60 with random sequence (CarX-TDR) results in a dramatic loss in accessibility at the proximal DH site (22% cleavage in comparison to control line CarX). The presence of an additional mutation in the distal GAGA factor binding site (CarX-mCTd-TDR) decreased the cleavage to 6%, indicating an additional effect. However, in the presence of mutation or deletion of the GAGA sites, no further loss in accessibility can be detected on loss of the TFIID binding site (compare CarX-mCTd-
CT-
TA to CarX-mCTd-
CT), suggesting that the GAGA factor plays an upstream role.
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FIG. 3. Cleavage by XbaI or DNase I in the proximal DH site is reduced in constructs CarX-TDR and CarX-mCTd-TDR. (A) Lumigraphs of DNA from nuclei digested with XbaI, analyzed by the indirect end-labeling procedure using the lacZ probe. Numbers below the lanes show the amount of enzyme used; results are shown for one representative transgenic line carrying the CarX-TDR construct and one carrying the CarX-mCTd-TDR construct. The positions of the parental band (which is created by EcoRV digestion of DNA not cleaved in nuclei by XbaI) (Pa), the distal DH site (D), the proximal DH site (Pr), and an unrelated band (#) are indicated to the right. The far left lane shows results from digestion of purified DNA, rather than chromatin. Quantitative results for all lines studied are presented in Fig. 1 in the XbaI sensitivity column. (B) Lumigraphs of the parallel experiment with limited digestion of nuclei with DNase I. In panels A and B, a map with the positions of the DH sites and XbaI sites of the hsp26 promoter is shown at the extreme right.
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Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments indicate that GAGA factor can bind its target sequences in the absence of TFIID and facilitates binding of TFIID at the hsp26 promoter.
We have performed immunoprecipitation experiments using chromatin from the transgenic lines described with different alterations in the hsp26 promoter region. Chromatin from 0- to 12-h-old embryos was cross-linked with formaldehyde, fragmented by sonication, purified in a CsCl gradient, and precipitated with antibodies to GAGA factor or to TBP. Immunoprecipitated chromatin was isolated by binding to protein A-Sepharose. The following genotypes were examined: a line with the control CarX construct, a line with the random replacement of the sequence from positions -35 to +60 (CarX-TDR), a line with a mutation in the distal GAGA factor binding site and deletion of the proximal GAGA factor binding site (CarX-mCTd-
CT), and a similar line with the additional deletion in the TFIID binding region (CarX-mCTd-
CT-
TA) (Fig. 1B and Materials and Methods). In each case, immunoprecipitation of the transgene was compared to immunoprecipitation of the endogenous hsp26 gene in the same sample. The results are presented in Tables 1 and 2, as the T/E ratio (transgene/endogenous gene) normalized to the same ratio from mock (no-antibody) control experiments, (Tab/Eab)/(Tm/Em), and in Fig. 4C as the ratio of this value in flies with the mutant transgene to the same value in flies with the control transgene.
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TABLE 1. Quantitative analysis of immunoprecipitation of cross-linked chromatin of CarX and CarX-TDR transgenes
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CT) decrease GAGA factor binding approximately twofold (Fig. 4B). The binding of TBP is also significantly reduced on this transgene, indicating that GAGA factor is required for efficient TBP binding. The change observed in TBP binding, compared with the wild-type control transgene, is probably the limit of what can be detected with this method; flies with a transgene carrying two mutations in GAGA factor binding sites and a deletion in the TFIID binding region (CarX-mCTd-
CT-
TA), while showing a significant loss of GAGA factor binding, show a similar loss in TBP in comparison with the control CarX transgene. The results for this transgene are very similar to the results for the transgene with mutations only in GAGA factor binding sites (Fig. 4C). Deletion of the TATA box in the hsp70 gene promoter does not affect binding of GAGA factor. To demonstrate that GAGA factor binding in the absence of TBP is not a feature specific to the hsp26 promoter, we have performed chromatin cross-linking immunoprecipitation experiments with lines carrying a deletion of the TATA box at the hsp70 promoter using antibodies to GAGA factor. In vitro binding studies have shown that this mutation reduces the binding of TFIID by at least 20-fold (13). DNase I hypersensitivity was also decreased in transgenic flies with such a construct, although the association of GAGA factor was still evident in genomic footprinting analysis (47). Chromatin immunoprecipitation performed on isolated, intact salivary glands (Fig. 5) shows that deletion of the TATA box does not significantly impair the ability of GAGA factor to bind to its target sequences. We conclude that both heat shock genes behave similarly in this respect.
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FIG. 5. Binding of GAGA factor to wild-type (wt) and mutated hsp70 ( TA) promoters as shown by chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments. Quantitative PCR was performed with primers for the wild-type hsp70 promoter (hsp70wt) or the hsp70 promoter with a deletion of the TATA box (hsp70 TA), as well as with primers for the white gene promoter (control for specificity), followed by gel electrophoresis. GAGA factor is clearly able to interact with both the wild-type and mutant transgenes. Lanes: input, total DNA from flies; IP, DNA recovered after immunoprecipitation with anti-GAGA antibody. See Materials and Methods for details.
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D1 has a deletion from positions +7 to +48 that encompasses the DPE, and cP-
D2 has a deletion from positions +48 to +137. We anticipated that only the cP-
D1 deletion would affect accessibility and expression, as no reports in the literature indicate components of the preinitiation complex that contact DNA downstream from position +48. The loss of heat shock inducibility was significant, albeit less severe, in the transgenic flies in which the TATA box and Inr were maintained, but downstream portions of the TFIID-interacting sequences, containing the DPE were deleted (cP-
D1) (47% activity) (Fig. 6). [Note that the DPE consensus sequence is (A/G/T)(C/G)(A/T)(C/T)(A/C/G)(C/T); the hsp26 DPE is ACACCT, a complete match (27).] The smaller effect of a mutation in the downstream TFIID-interacting sequences is in accord with previous observations using the hsp70 promoter (51). Interestingly, deletion of sequences downstream of the known TFIID contact points, the
D2 mutation, also shows a significant decrease in heat shock inducibility (57% activity), indicating that DNA sequences well downstream from the DPE may be important for proper activation of hsp26.
XbaI cleavage is decreased to 51% (Fig. 6) using nuclei from larvae with the
D1 deletion, approximately to the same extent as in flies with point mutations in the TATA box (64%) (33). In transgenic lines with the combination of this deletion and a deletion in the proximal GAGA factor binding site, accessibility to nuclease was further decreased (51% versus 16% for cP-
D1 versus cP-
CT-
D1 [Fig. 6]). As is the case for CarX-TDR, this suggests cooperation between GAGA factor and members of the TFIID complex, impacted by subunits in addition to TBP, in the formation of proper chromatin structure at this promoter. The distal
D2 mutation has less impact than the more proximal
D1 mutation (XbaI cleavage is 70% [Fig. 6]). The combination of deletion
D2 and a deletion in the proximal GAGA factor binding site also leads to a further decrease in accessibility (70% versus 34% for cP-
D2 versus cP-
CT-
D2 [Fig. 6]). Considering that variation in the measurement of XbaI cleavage is approximately ±5%, this change in accessibility appears significant. The data for the
D2 mutation suggest that cooperativity between GAGA factor and unknown protein(s), interacting well downstream from the DPE, may be important for both chromatin structure formation and proper function of the gene, as the loss in accessibility correlates with a decrease in heat shock inducibility for this mutant (Fig. 6).
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These data alone do not identify the initial step in the construction of chromatin at the hsp26 promoter. Can the proteins bind to their target sequences independently from each other, or does one recruit another to build the corresponding chromatin structure? To address this question, we have performed immunoprecipitation experiments with formaldehyde cross-linked embryo chromatin. The results clearly show that the amount of GAGA factor is not decreased in flies with the random replacement of sequences from positions -35 to +60 at the hsp26 promoter (construct CarX-TDR [Table 1 and Fig. 4C]). GAGA factor can apparently bind its target sequences irrespective of depletion of TFIID. In contrast, TBP binding was diminished approximately twofold when GAGA factor binding was decreased (construct CarX-mCTd-
CT [Table 2]). We may conclude that GAGA factor binds to (CT)n repeats independently of TBP binding and facilitates binding of the latter directly or indirectly. Recruitment of TBP by GAGA factor is likely to be indirect, as Mason and Lis (34) did not observe any direct interaction of GAGA factor with TBP in pull-down experiments. Some other protein (or protein complex) could serve a bridging function. Alternatively, the presence of GAGA factor might trigger a chromatin modification that facilitates TFIID binding.
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TABLE 2. Quantitative analysis of immunoprecipitation of cross-linked chromatin of CarX, CarX-mCTd- CT, and CarX-mCTd- CT- TA transgenes
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GAGA factor is encoded by the Trl gene (16), a member of the trithorax group, and acts in several systems as a transcriptional activator (for reviews, see references 21 and 48; for recent experiments, see references 14, 36, 37, and 44). However, GAGA factor has also been shown to interact with dSAP18, a member of the dSin3 complex having histone deacetylase activity (15). GAGA factor has been found in complexes with Polycomb group proteins, involved in gene silencing (23), and has been shown to bind to two Polycomb-responsive elements in homeotic loci (7, 35). The involvement of GAGA factor in regulatory regions for both activation and repression of genes suggests a general role, perhaps involving nucleosome displacement at the regulatory site, with the regulatory outcome depending on the context and other participating proteins (for a review, see reference 18).
The new data allow more informed speculation on the order of events in creation of the chromatin structure at the hsp26 promoter (Fig. 7). It appears that nucleosomes impede GAGA factor interaction with its target sequences as in vitro (42, 43) as well as in vivo (11). Thus, GAGA factor binding to its target sequences must be facilitated by one or another chromatin remodeling complex, likely NURF (42, 43). Recently, Xiao and coworkers (53) have shown in pull-down experiments that the largest subunit of NURF, NURF301, specifically and stoichiometrically interacts with GAGA factor as well as with nucleosomes. The interaction of a chromatin remodeling complex with a nucleosome may destabilize it and increase the probability of GAGA factor binding to its target sequence. The binding of GAGA factor may stimulate DNA bending (26), leading to sliding or displacement of nucleosomes (42, 53). This alone appears to create a partially opened chromatin structure with a modestly developed DH site (20% XbaI accessibility observed for CarX-TDR). In the wild-type gene, this might allow the binding of TBP to the TATA box, further enhancing DNA bending and nucleosome sliding (31; for a review, see reference 37). Other subunits of the TFIID complex could then contact DNA sequences downstream from the TATA box (in the case of the hsp26 or hsp70 genes, including Inr and DPE). Histone acetyltransferase activity of the TAFII230 subunit of TFIID (3, 28) might further facilitate opening up the chromatin structure. Histone modification is widely observed to play a key role in determining the activation state (24). The sum of the interactions must, in the end, stabilize at least three nucleosomes, manifested as the two DH sites with a strictly positioned nucleosome between them, observed in vivo.
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FIG. 7. Proposed model of events leading to formation of proper chromatin structure at the hsp26 promoter. Nucleosomes are represented by large light brown ovals, with a dashed outline indicating their increased instability or movement. The GAGA factor (GAF) (red), chromatin remodeling complex (43) (NURF) (green), TATA binding protein (TBP) (gray), TFIID complex (yellow-green), RNA polymerase II (RPol II) (blue), unknown protein or protein complex (X) (light cyan), GAGA factor binding site (cross-hatched box), TATA box (white box), and DH site (light yellow box) (the broken outline indicating intermediate sensitivity to nucleases) are shown. See text for details. For simplicity, only one GAGA factor site is indicated. While X is suggested here to serve a bridging function, it may also indicate a process, such as histone modification, that facilitates TFIID binding.
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In sum, our study indicates that both GAGA factor and the TFIID complex (or its subunits) play a significant role in the formation of the specific chromatin structure at the hsp26 promoter. The results obtained using the altered hsp26 regulatory regions we have constructed suggest a sequential process initiated by GAGA factor binding. It will be interesting to explore the modifications of histones that occur at the different steps in the reorganization of chromatin on the hsp26 promoter defined by these mutations.
This work was supported in part by the Public Health Service NIH grants GM 31532 to S.C.R.E. and GM7477 to D.S.G.
Present address: GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA 19406. ![]()
Present address: National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892. ![]()
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