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Molecular and Cellular Biology, November 2002, p. 7868-7876, Vol. 22, No. 22
0270-7306/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MCB.22.22.7868-7876.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
and Donald E. Ayer*
Department of Oncological Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-5550
Received 21 June 2002/ Returned for modification 30 July 2002/ Accepted 15 August 2002
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The identification and characterization of the proteins associated with mSin3A has revealed how it functions to repress transcription (4, 29). Purification of a highly stable core mSin3A complex from a number of cell types identified 8 to 12 polypeptides tightly associated with mSin3A (24, 31, 47, 49; T. Fleischer and D. E. Ayer, submitted for publication). The components of the mSin3A core complex include HDAC1 and HDAC2, the retinoblastoma-associated proteins 46 and 48 (RbAp46 and RbAp48), mSin3A-associated protein 30 (SAP30), and retinoblastoma binding protein 1 (Rbp1). Experiments using deacetylase inhibitors and mutagenesis demonstrated that most mSin3A-dependent transcriptional repression is due to the activities of HDAC1 and HDAC2 (24, 26, 32, 33). RbAp46 and RbAp48 are likely involved in targeting HDACs to nucleosomes (46). SAP30 is an adaptor protein that specifies mSin3A involvement in repression by a subset of nuclear hormone receptors and is required for transcriptional repression by Rb through Rbp1 (32, 34, 35). The mSin3A protein is the scaffold upon which the complex assembles and has four paired amphipathic alpha helix domains (PAH1 to -4) and the HDAC interaction domain (HID), which function as highly conserved protein-protein interaction surfaces (4, 29, 45).
The core mSin3A complex can associate with other complexes that regulate chromatin structure, including the Transducin-Like Enhancer of Split (TLE), which is orthologous to the Drosophila melanogaster Groucho corepressor (17, 19, 48). TLE is not a component of the core mSin3A complex but can be tethered to mSin3A through association with proteins that are not part of the core complex. One protein demonstrated to link TLE to mSin3A is the plant homeodomain (PHD) zinc finger protein Pf1 (48). Pf1 has two separate mSin3A interaction domains that directly bind mSin3A; Pf1SID1 binds PAH2 and Pf1SID2 binds PAH1 (48). Although Pf1 does not contain a known Groucho/TLE binding motif, binding of TLE to Pf1 does not require mSin3A, suggesting that TLE and Pf1 may interact directly through a novel domain (48). TLE proteins also appear to interact with mSin3A through Pf1-independent mechanisms (17, 19). Thus, these data suggest that there may be functional cross talk between the mSin3A and TLE corepressors.
Here, we demonstrate that one member of the mortality factor (MORF) family, MORF-related gene on chromosome 15 (MRG15), is a Pf1-interacting protein. The MORF family includes MORF on chromosome 4 (MORF4), MORF-related gene on chromosome X (MRGX), and MRG15 and is implicated in the transcriptional regulation of cellular senescence (7, 8). Pf1 interaction is restricted to MRG15 despite the high sequence identity among the MORFs. We show that when fused to the Gal4 DNA binding domain, MORF4, MRGX, and MRG15 repress transcription and associate with both mSin3A and TLE. Together, these findings suggest that MORFs are components of multiple and distinct corepressor complexes and that this family of transcription factors has both shared and unique functions.
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Yeast two-hybrid screen. LexA-Pf1 was used to screen a VP16 fusion cDNA library made from RNA derived from day 9.5 and 10.5 mouse embryos as described previously (10, 44) with the following modifications. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain DY5736 (9) was transformed with LexA-Pf1 to make the bait strain. Into this strain, the VP16 library was transformed, and the yeast cells were plated on selective media containing 5 or 10 mM 3-amino-1,2,4-triazol (Sigma). Yeast cells were cured of LexA-Pf1 with 5-flouroorotic acid (Sigma). ß-Galactosidase (ß-Gal) assays were performed after the original LexA-Pf1 fusion or the control plasmids were reintroduced to test for binding specificity. The cDNAs fused to VP16 from 217 positive clones were isolated and sequenced. Of these, 17 contained mrg15 sequences that were aligned with Sequencher software. For the yeast two-hybrid assays, different LexA-Pf1 deletion constructs were cotransformed with a VP16-MRG15 construct that contained the minimal overlapping region from the mrg15 clones isolated in the two-hybrid screen, which corresponds to amino acids 149 through 303 [VP16-MRG15 (149-303)] (see below), and ß-Gal assays (3) were performed on colonies transferred to nitrocellulose filters (Osmotics).
Transfections, immunoprecipitations, and Western blotting. In vivo interaction assays were performed by transfection of HEK293 cells (American Type Culture Collection) and HEK293:FLAG-Pf1 cells (48) with the plasmids indicated in the figure legends. Coimmunoprecipitation of proteins from cellular extracts, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and Western blot analysis were performed as described previously (48). Primary antibodies used to detect immunoprecipitated proteins include anti-mSin3A (24), anti-Pf1 (48), anti-MRG15 (36), anti-FLAG (Sigma), antihemagglutinin (anti-HA) (Boehringer Mannheim), anti-Myc (Santa Cruz), anti-Gal4 (Santa Cruz), and anti-pan TLE (kind gift from S. Stifani). Protein A-Sepharose (Sigma) was used in all immunoprecipitations with the exception of the FLAG immunoprecipitations, which were performed with M2 anti-FLAG agarose (Sigma). Secondary antibodies conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (Amersham) and ECL reagent (Amersham) were used to detect blotted proteins.
Transcription assays. Plasmids encoding Gal4 fusion proteins, cytomegalovirus (CMV) ß-Gal, and the 14DG4-Luc reporter (5) were cotransfected into 5 x 105 HEK293 cells. Twenty-four hours later, luciferase and ß-Gal activities were detected with the luciferase assay system (Promega) and an MLX microtiter plate luminometer (Dynex). Typically, 100 ng of the reporter, 25 ng of CMV ß-Gal, and 200 ng of the expression construct were cotransfected. Values are reported as relative light units divided by the value for ß-Gal to control for transfection efficiency. Each sample was tested in triplicate to calculate the mean standard deviation of error. Assays with the dominant negative TLE construct, AES1, were performed as described above except that 1 µg of the FLAG-AES1 plasmid was included in the cotransfection mixtures.
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FIG. 1. Pf1 interacts with MRG15. (A) Schematic of MRG15 (top) and the region of MRG15 isolated in the Pf1 two-hybrid screen as a VP16 fusion (bottom). The chromatin modifier (Chromo), HLH (H-L-H), and leucine zipper (LZ) domains of MRG15 are indicated. (B) Western blots of FLAG immunoprecipitates (IP) from HEK293 cells cotransfected with HA-MRG15 and FLAG-Pf1. Proteins were detected with anti-HA and anti-FLAG antibodies. Molecular weight markers, with masses in kilodaltons, are indicated at the right. (C) Anti-MRG15 and anti-FLAG Western blots of FLAG immunoprecipitates from HEK293:FLAG-Pf1 cells, a cell line that stably expresses FLAG-Pf1. IN or INPUT, 1/15 of the input lysate used in each immunoprecipitation; +blk, block (FLAG agarose incubated with FLAG peptide prior to immunoprecipitation).
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To determine whether Pf1 interacts with full-length MRG15 in mammalian cells, we performed coimmunoprecipitation assays. Expression plasmids encoding FLAG epitope-tagged Pf1 and HA-tagged MRG15 were cotransfected into HEK293 cells. Pf1 and associated proteins were purified from cell extracts with anti-FLAG M2 agarose, and HA-MRG15 association was determined by Western blotting with anti-HA antibodies. Pf1 coimmunoprecipitated MRG15, and this interaction was blocked in a parallel sample containing FLAG agarose preincubated with FLAG peptide (Fig. 1B). Interaction between Pf1 and MRG15 may have resulted from high levels of expression of the two proteins, so we modified the coimmunoprecipitation assay to reflect conditions that may occur in vivo. We utilized the HEK293:FLAG-Pf1 cell line (48), which stably expresses much lower levels of FLAG-Pf1 than do transfected cells, and looked for an association of endogenous MRG15 protein with FLAG-Pf1. Endogenous MRG15 specifically associated with FLAG-Pf1 in cell lysates prepared from HEK293:FLAG-Pf1 cells (Fig. 1C), demonstrating that MRG15 and Pf1 associate in vivo.
MRG15 is highly similar to MRGX and MORF4. In fact, the three proteins are nearly identical over a 200-amino-acid region (7). Because the fragment of MRG15 that interacted with Pf1 in the two-hybrid screen contains this region of high similarity, it is possible that Pf1 also interacts with MRGX and MORF4. However, we did not recover MRGX or MORF4 clones in the two-hybrid screen, suggesting either that the clones were not represented in the library or that Pf1 interacts only with MRG15. We therefore determined whether MRGX and/or MORF4 interacted with FLAG-Pf1 in the HEK293:FLAG-Pf1 cells. To perform these and subsequent experiments, the MORF family members were fused to the Gal4 DNA binding domain (Gal4). The Gal4-MORF fusions were transfected individually into the HEK293:FLAG-Pf1 cells, and Pf1 binding was determined by Western blotting of Gal4 immunoprecipitates with a Pf1 antibody. All the MORFs were expressed to similar levels; however, only Pf1 interacted with Gal4-MRG15, demonstrating that, in spite of high sequence similarity among MORFs, Pf1 association is restricted to MRG15 (Fig. 2A). Endogenous MRGX did not associate with FLAG-Pf1 in the HEK293:FLAG-Pf1 cell line, further supporting a specific interaction between Pf1 and MRG15 alone (data not shown).
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FIG. 2. The Pf1 interaction is restricted to MRG15, and targeted MORFs repress transcription. (A) Western blot of anti-Gal4 immunoprecipitates (IP) from HEK293:FLAG-Pf1cells transfected with the indicated Gal4-MORF plasmid. Pf1 association was determined by Western blotting with anti-Pf1 antibodies. (Bottom panel) Anti-Gal4 Western blot of immunoprecipitates, demonstrating that equal amounts of Gal4-MORFs were precipitated. Molecular weight markers, with masses in kilodaltons, are indicated at the right. INPUT, 1/15 of the input lysate used in each immunoprecipitation. (B) HEK293 cells were cotransfected with a minimal Gal4-responsive luciferase reporter (14DG4-Luc), CMV ß-Gal, and the indicated Gal4-MORF fusion proteins, and transcriptional activities were measured. (C) HEK293:FLAG-Pf1 cells and HEK293 cells were cotransfected with 14DG4-Luc, CMV ß-Gal, and the indicated Gal4-MORF fusion proteins. Data are presented as percentages of repression relative to the transcriptional activity of the Gal4 DNA binding domain in HEK293:FLAG-Pf1 cells versus that in HEK293 cells. WT, wild type. (D) HEK293 cells were transfected as described for panel B except that Pf1 was added to the transfection mix in the indicated microgram amounts. For all transcription assays, luciferase and ß-Gal activities were measured 24 h after transfection. RLU, relative light units.
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We next determined the effect of Pf1 on the transcriptional repression activity of each Gal4-MORF. To do so, we performed transcription assays using the 14DG4-Luc reporter and Gal4-MORF fusions in wild-type HEK293 cells and HEK293:FLAG-Pf1 cells. In the HEK293 cells, each MORF protein repressed transcription approximately fourfold as before (Fig. 2B, data not shown). However, transcriptional repression by Gal4-MRG15 was reduced nearly fourfold in HEK293:FLAG-Pf1 cells relative to its repression activity in HEK293 cells (Fig. 2C). Levels of repression by Gal4-MORF4 and Gal4-MRGX were the same in both cell types, suggesting that the effect of Pf1 on Gal4-MRG15 repression was specific and not due to a defect in the transcriptional repression machinery in the HEK293:FLAG-Pf1 cells (Fig. 2C). Pf1 reduced transcriptional repression by Gal4-MRG15 in HEK293 cells in a dose-dependent manner, whereas it had no effect on repression by Gal4-MRGX (Fig. 2D). Together, these results are consistent with the restricted interaction between Pf1 and MRG15 and suggest that Pf1 may specifically alter the corepressor complexes associated with MRG15.
We were interested in determining the molecular mechanism(s) underlying the transcriptional repression activities of the Gal4-MORFs. Because the mSin3A corepressor complex is ubiquitously expressed, interacts with Pf1, and is used by a wide variety of transcriptional repressor proteins, we determined whether MORFs could interact with endogenous mSin3A in HEK293 cells. Plasmids encoding Gal4-MRG15, Gal4-MRGX, and Gal4-MORF4 were transfected into HEK293 cells, and binding to endogenous mSin3A was determined by Western blotting of anti-Gal4 immunoprecipitates. All three mortality factors bound to mSin3A (Fig. 3A). The binding site on mSin3A for MRG15 was determined with a series of Myc-tagged mSin3A deletion constructs (33) (diagrammed in Fig. 4A). Gal4-MRG15 coimmunoprecipitated a fusion protein containing only the HID (construct G), thereby defining this region as the minimal MRG15 interaction domain on mSin3A (Fig. 4B). Gal4-MORF4 also interacted with the HID, suggesting that the binding site for mSin3A is conserved among MORFs (data not shown).
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FIG. 3. MORFs interact with mSin3A. Western blots of Gal4 immunoprecipitates (IP) from HEK293 cells transfected with the indicated Gal4-MORF are shown. mSin3A interaction was detected by Western blotting with anti-mSin3A antibodies. (Bottom panel) Anti-Gal4 Western blot of immunoprecipitates, demonstrating that equal amounts of Gal4-MORFs were precipitated. Molecular weight markers, with masses in kilodaltons, are indicated at the right.
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FIG. 4. MRG15 binds the HID of mSin3A. (A) Schematic of the Myc epitope-tagged mSin3A deletion constructs used in panel B. The black box indicates the HID. MT, Myc tag. (B) Anti-Myc Western blots of anti-Gal4 immunoprecipitates (IP) from HEK293 cells cotransfected with Gal4-MRG15 and the indicated Myc-tagged mSin3A deletion construct. Molecular weight markers, with masses in kilodaltons, are indicated at the right. (Bottom panel) Anti-Gal4 Western blot of immunoprecipitates, demonstrating that equal amounts of Gal4-MRG15 were precipitated. INPUT, 1/15 of the input lysate used in each immunoprecipitation.
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FIG. 5. Gal4-MRG15 interacts with mSin3A to repress transcription in HEK293 cells. (A) Schematic of Gal4-MRG15 deletions used in panels B and C. Chromo, chromatin modifier domain; H-L-H, HLH domain; LZ, leucine zipper domain. (B) HEK293 cells were transfected with the 14DG4-Luc reporter, CMV ß-Gal, and the indicated Gal4-MRG15 fusion proteins. Luciferase activity was measured 24 h later. RLU, relative light units. (C) Anti-mSin3A and anti-Gal4 Western blots of Gal4 immunoprecipitates (IP) from HEK293 cells transfected with the indicated Gal4-MRG15 deletion constructs. (Bottom panel) Anti-Gal4 Western blot of immunoprecipitates, demonstrating that equal amounts of the Gal4-MRG15 proteins were precipitated. Molecular weight markers, with masses in kilodaltons, are indicated at the right. INPUT, 1/15 of the input lysate used in each immunoprecipitation.
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FIG. 6. MRG15 and mSin3A have independent binding sites on Pf1. (A) Yeast cells were cotransformed with the indicated LexA-Pf1 fusion proteins and VP16-MRG15 (149-303). +, ß-Gal activity indicating a positive interaction; -, no ß-Gal activity and, therefore, no interaction. Black boxes denote the PHD zinc fingers of Pf1. Lex denotes the LexA DNA binding domain. (B) Anti-FLAG and anti-HA Western blots of FLAG immunoprecipitates (IP) from HEK293 cells cotransfected with HA-MRG15 and the indicated FLAG-Pf1 proteins. FLAG-Pf1 (102-273) contains Pf1SID1, while FLAG-Pf1 (102-273 m) has the L212P and A216P mutations that disrupt mSin3A binding. Molecular weight markers, with masses in kilodaltons, are indicated at the right. INPUT, 1/15 of the lysate used in each immunoprecipitation.
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FIG. 7. MORFs associate with TLE. (A) Anti-mSin3A, anti-TLE, and anti-Pf1 Western blots of anti-FLAG immunoprecipitates (IP) from HEK293 cells transfected with FLAG-MRG15. Cotransfection with Pf1 is indicated. INPUT, 1/15 of the lysate used in each immunoprecipitation; UTR, untransfected. Molecular weight markers, with masses in kilodaltons, are indicated at the right. (B) HEK293 cells were cotransfected with the 14DG4-Luc reporter, CMV ß-Gal, and the Gal4 fusion constructs indicated. Addition of 1 µg of a dominant negative TLE construct, AES1, to the transfection is indicated. Fold derepression in the presence of AES1 relative to derepression in the absence of AES1 is indicated above the bars. RLU, relative light units.
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MORF4, MRGX, and MRG15 all bind mSin3A and TLE, suggesting that one shared characteristic of the MORFs is to contribute to the functions of these abundant corepressor complexes. TLE has been shown to interact with mSin3A (17, 19, 48), and we report that MRG15 and MORF4 interact with the HID of mSin3A. As such, we propose that the interaction between the MORFs and TLE is bridged by mSin3A as opposed to being direct and independent. Repression by mSin3A is thought to occur close to the site of targeting (28, 41), whereas TLE can likely repress transcription at a distance (18). Whereas both mSin3A and TLE depend, in part, on HDAC activity to drive transcriptional repression (11, 15, 24, 26, 32, 33), TLE also binds to the N-terminal tails of the histones to repress transcription (39). Therefore, a ternary complex between mSin3A, TLE, and the different MORFs may be capable of repressing transcription by different mechanisms at short and long ranges. As TLE and the MORFs do not appear to be stoichiometric components of an mSin3A complex (Fleischer and Ayer, submitted) we propose that this ternary complex will be involved only in regulating a subset of mSin3A-dependent genes. Pf1 can also tether TLE to mSin3A, but surprisingly, Pf1 overexpression did not alter the interaction between MRG15, TLE, and mSin3A (Fig. 7A), suggesting that a quaternary complex does not form. The binding sites for both MRG15 and TLE are located between amino acids 102 and 273 of Pf1, raising the possibility that their interaction with Pf1 is mutually exclusive.
Pf1 binding is restricted to MRG15, expanding the number of regulatory complexes formed by MRG15 relative to those formed by MRGX and MORF4. MRG15 and Pf1 have independent binding sites on mSin3A, suggesting the formation of a ternary complex. In the presence of Pf1, Gal4-MRG15 repression is reduced whereas repression by the other MORFs is unaffected (Fig. 2). These data are consistent with differential roles for MRG15/Pf1/mSin3A complexes and MRG15 (or MORF4 or MRGX)/mSin3A/TLE complexes in transcriptional regulation. Because MORFs are implicated in senescence, we examined pf1 mRNA levels in young and old fibroblasts and found that pf1 expression increased in senescent cells compared to that in presenescent cells (data not shown). Therefore, one function of Pf1 may be to specialize MRG15 transcriptional regulatory complexes during cellular senescence.
Transcriptional repression by Gal4-MRG15 correlated with its binding to mSin3A (Fig. 5); however, this activity was insensitive to the HDAC inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) (data not shown). Therefore, it is likely that MRG15 can interact with HDAC-independent corepressors in addition to the HDAC-dependent mSin3A. Transcriptional repression by mSin3A is not solely dependent on HDAC activity (24, 33), suggesting the possibility that mSin3A itself may provide MRG15 with an HDAC-independent repression capability. Whether the HDAC-independent functions of MRG15 can be attributed to interactions with mSin3A, TLE, or another at-present-unidentified corepressor remains to be determined.
The MORFs are found within multiple transcriptional complexes; however, their functions within these complexes are currently unknown. All MORFs have putative protein-protein interaction motifs, including HLH and leucine zipper domains (7, 8). MORFs may contribute to the stability or assembly of the corepressor complex or mediate interactions between their different corepressor complexes and other transcriptional regulators. Furthermore, only MRG15 interacts with Pf1, suggesting that it has unique functions compared to MORF4 and MRGX. In addition to binding Pf1, MRG15 is the only MORF with a chromodomain (7, 8). The chromodomain of MRG15 is most closely related to the chromodomain of the male specific lethal (MSL) proteins (8). Within the MSL-3 protein, the chromodomain has been shown to bind roX2 RNA and contribute to the regulation of dosage compensation (2). These findings raise the intriguing possibility that MRG15-containing complexes also regulate transcription via interactions with RNA.
In addition to binding the mSin3A and TLE complexes, MRG15 binds the Rb transcriptional corepressor (36). MRG15 relieved E2F-mediated repression of the myb promoter, presumably by affecting Rb function (36). Whether this effect was unique to MRG15 or shared with the other MORFs was not tested. Transcriptional repression by Rb depends in part on association with HDACs (12, 20, 37), and recent reports demonstrate that mSin3A is tethered to Rb through interactions with SAP30 and RBP1 (34, 35). As such, it is possible that MRG15 is recruited to Rb indirectly by interactions with the mSin3A complex.
While most of the existing data suggest a role for the MORFs in transcriptional repression, recent data from studies of S. cerevisiae suggest a potential role in activation as well. For example, the yeast homolog of the MORF proteins, Eaf3p, is a component of the NuA4 HAT complex (8, 21). The catalytic acetyltransferase subunit of the NuA4 complex is Esa3p, and Esa3p is the yeast homolog of mammalian TIP60 acetyltransferase. Therefore, the TIP60 HAT complex and the NuA4 complex might function analogously. Not all of the components of the TIP60 complex have been characterized, but these findings suggest that the MORFs are likely to be components of the human TIP60 complex and contribute to its transcriptional activation function (8, 21, 27).
mSin3A, TLE, and Rb are abundant transcriptional corepressors that control diverse cellular programs. Interaction between the MORFs and these corepressors implies that they have widespread functions as well. Unraveling the contribution of each MORF will require a careful analysis of the distinct MORF-containing corepressor complexes and the transcriptional targets of these complexes. Recently, SIN3 complexes that contain the yeast orthologs of TLE, HDAC1, MRG15, and Pf1 were purified from S. cerevisiae (22). As such, S. cerevisiae provides an attractive model system to address the functional roles of MRG15-containing complexes in transcriptional regulation.
DNA sequencing and oligonucleotide synthesis were supported by Cancer Center support grant 2P30 CA42014. This work was supported by NIH grants GM55668 and funds from the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. D.E.A. is a scholar of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Present address: The Vollum Institute, Portland, OR 97201-3098. ![]()
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