This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wei, W.
Right arrow Articles by Brennan, M. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Wei, W.
Right arrow Articles by Brennan, M. D.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Molecular and Cellular Biology, November 2001, p. 7714-7720, Vol. 21, No. 22
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.22.7714-7720.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

The gypsy Insulator Can Act as a Promoter-Specific Transcriptional Stimulator

Wei Wei and Mark D. Brennan*

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky 40202

Received 13 July 2001/Accepted 13 August 2001

Insulators define chromosomal domains such that an enhancer in one domain cannot activate a promoter in a different domain. We show that the Drosophila gypsy insulator behaves as a cis-stimulatory element in the larval fat body. Transcriptional stimulation by the insulator is distance dependent, as expected for a promoter element as opposed to an enhancer. Stimulation of a test alcohol dehydrogenase promoter requires a binding site for a GATA transcription factor, suggesting that the insulator may be facilitating access of this DNA binding protein to the promoter. Short-range stimulation requires both the Suppressor of Hairy-wing protein and the Mod(mdg4)-62.7 protein encoded by the trithorax group gene mod(mdg4). In the absence of interaction with Mod(mdg4)-62.7, the insulator is converted into a short-range transcriptional repressor but retains some cis-stimulatory activity over longer distances. These results indicate that insulator and promoter sequences share important characteristics and are not entirely distinct. We propose that the gypsy insulator can function as a promoter element and may be analogous to promoter-proximal regulatory modules that integrate input from multiple distal enhancer sequences.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Louisville Medical School, Louisville, KY 40202. Phone: (502) 852-1646. Fax: (502) 852-6222. E-mail: MDBREN01{at}LOUISVILLE.EDU.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, November 2001, p. 7714-7720, Vol. 21, No. 22
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.22.7714-7720.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Savitskaya, E., Melnikova, L., Kostuchenko, M., Kravchenko, E., Pomerantseva, E., Boikova, T., Chetverina, D., Parshikov, A., Zobacheva, P., Gracheva, E., Galkin, A., Georgiev, P. (2006). Study of Long-Distance Functional Interactions between Su(Hw) Insulators That Can Regulate Enhancer-Promoter Communication in Drosophila melanogaster. Mol. Cell. Biol. 26: 754-761 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kravchenko, E., Savitskaya, E., Kravchuk, O., Parshikov, A., Georgiev, P., Savitsky, M. (2005). Pairing between gypsy Insulators Facilitates the Enhancer Action in trans throughout the Drosophila Genome. Mol. Cell. Biol. 25: 9283-9291 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Volgina, V., Yam, P.-C., Knight, K. L. (2005). A negative regulatory element in the rabbit 3'IgH chromosomal region. Int Immunol 17: 973-982 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Golovnin, A., Melnick, E., Mazur, A., Georgiev, P. (2005). Drosophila Su(Hw) Insulator Can Stimulate Transcription of a Weakened yellow Promoter Over a Distance. Genetics 170: 1133-1142 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Karakozova, M., Savitskaya, E., Melnikova, L., Parshikov, A., Georgiev, P. (2004). The Mod(mdg4) Component of the Su(Hw) Insulator Inserted in the P Transposon Can Repress Its Mobility in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 167: 1275-1280 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Parnell, T. J., Viering, M. M., Skjesol, A., Helou, C., Kuhn, E. J., Geyer, P. K. (2003). An endogenous Suppressor of Hairy-wing insulator separates regulatory domains in Drosophila. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100: 13436-13441 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Giraldo, P., Martinez, A., Regales, L., Lavado, A., Garcia-Diaz, A., Alonso, A., Busturia, A., Montoliu, L. (2003). Functional dissection of the mouse tyrosinase locus control region identifies a new putative boundary activity. Nucleic Acids Res 31: 6290-6305 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»