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 King, I. F. G.
Right arrow Articles by Kingston, R. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by King, I. F. G.
Right arrow Articles by Kingston, R. E.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Molecular and Cellular Biology, November 2002, p. 7919-7928, Vol. 22, No. 22
0270-7306/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.22.22.7919-7928.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Native and Recombinant Polycomb Group Complexes Establish a Selective Block to Template Accessibility To Repress Transcription In Vitro

Ian F. G. King, Nicole J. Francis, and Robert E. Kingston*

Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, and Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Received 5 June 2002/ Returned for modification 11 July 2002/ Accepted 8 August 2002

Polycomb group (PcG) proteins are responsible for stable repression of homeotic gene expression during Drosophila melanogaster development. They are thought to stabilize chromatin structure to prevent transcription, though how they do this is unknown. We have established an in vitro system in which the PcG complex PRC1 and a recombinant PRC1 core complex (PCC) containing only PcG proteins are able to repress transcription by both RNA polymerase II and by T7 RNA polymerase. We find that assembly of the template into nucleosomes enhances repression by PRC1 and PCC. The subunit Psc is able to inhibit transcription on its own. PRC1- and PCC-repressed templates remain accessible to Gal4-VP16 binding, and incubation of the template with HeLa nuclear extract before the addition of PCC eliminates PCC repression. These results suggest that PcG proteins do not merely prohibit all transcription machinery from binding the template but instead likely inhibit specific steps in the transcription reaction.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114. Phone: (617) 726-5990. Fax: (617) 726-5949. E-mail: Kingston{at}frodo.mgh.harvard.edu.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, November 2002, p. 7919-7928, Vol. 22, No. 22
0022-538X/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.22.22.7919-7928.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Boukarabila, H., Saurin, A. J., Batsche, E., Mossadegh, N., van Lohuizen, M., Otte, A. P., Pradel, J., Muchardt, C., Sieweke, M., Duprez, E. (2009). The PRC1 Polycomb group complex interacts with PLZF/RARA to mediate leukemic transformation. Genes Dev. 23: 1195-1206 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Karakuzu, O., Wang, D. P., Cameron, S. (2009). MIG-32 and SPAT-3A are PRC1 homologs that control neuronal migration in Caenorhabditis elegans. Development 136: 943-953 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lo, S. M., Ahuja, N. K., Francis, N. J. (2009). Polycomb Group Protein Suppressor 2 of Zeste Is a Functional Homolog of Posterior Sex Combs. Mol. Cell. Biol. 29: 515-525 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Martinez, C. A., Arnosti, D. N. (2008). Spreading of a Corepressor Linked to Action of Long-Range Repressor Hairy. Mol. Cell. Biol. 28: 2792-2802 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Savla, U., Benes, J., Zhang, J., Jones, R. S. (2008). Recruitment of Drosophila Polycomb-group proteins by Polycomblike, a component of a novel protein complex in larvae. Development 135: 813-817 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Calonje, M., Sanchez, R., Chen, L., Sung, Z. R. (2008). EMBRYONIC FLOWER1 Participates in Polycomb Group-Mediated AG Gene Silencing in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 20: 277-291 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Beisel, C., Buness, A., Roustan-Espinosa, I. M., Koch, B., Schmitt, S., Haas, S. A., Hild, M., Katsuyama, T., Paro, R. (2007). Comparing active and repressed expression states of genes controlled by the Polycomb/Trithorax group proteins. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104: 16615-16620 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Fujimura, Y.-i., Isono, K.-i., Vidal, M., Endoh, M., Kajita, H., Mizutani-Koseki, Y., Takihara, Y., van Lohuizen, M., Otte, A., Jenuwein, T., Deschamps, J., Koseki, H. (2006). Distinct roles of Polycomb group gene products in transcriptionally repressed and active domains of Hoxb8. Development 133: 2371-2381 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • King, I. F. G., Emmons, R. B., Francis, N. J., Wild, B., Muller, J., Kingston, R. E., Wu, C.-t. (2005). Analysis of a Polycomb Group Protein Defines Regions That Link Repressive Activity on Nucleosomal Templates to In Vivo Function. Mol. Cell. Biol. 25: 6578-6591 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Isono, K., Mizutani-Koseki, Y., Komori, T., Schmidt-Zachmann, M. S., Koseki, H. (2005). Mammalian Polycomb-mediated repression of Hox genes requires the essential spliceosomal protein Sf3b1. Genes Dev. 19: 536-541 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Plath, K., Talbot, D., Hamer, K. M., Otte, A. P., Yang, T. P., Jaenisch, R., Panning, B. (2004). Developmentally regulated alterations in Polycomb repressive complex 1 proteins on the inactive X chromosome. JCB 167: 1025-1035 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Francis, N. J., Kingston, R. E., Woodcock, C. L. (2004). Chromatin Compaction by a Polycomb Group Protein Complex. Science 306: 1574-1577 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ali, J. Y., Bender, W. (2004). Cross-Regulation among the Polycomb Group Genes in Drosophila melanogaster. Mol. Cell. Biol. 24: 7737-7747 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Peterson, A. J., Mallin, D. R., Francis, N. J., Ketel, C. S., Stamm, J., Voeller, R. K., Kingston, R. E., Simon, J. A. (2004). Requirement for Sex Comb on Midleg Protein Interactions in Drosophila Polycomb Group Repression. Genetics 167: 1225-1239 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • FAN, H.-Y., NARLIKAR, G.J., KINGSTON, R.E. (2004). Noncovalent Modification of Chromatin: Different Remodeled Products with Different ATPase Domains. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 69: 183-192 [Abstract]  
  • ZHANG, Y., CAO, R., WANG, L., JONES, R.S. (2004). Mechanism of Polycomb Group Gene Silencing. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 69: 309-318 [Abstract]  
  • Sathyamurthy, A., Allen, M. D., Murzin, A. G., Bycroft, M. (2003). Crystal Structure of the Malignant Brain Tumor (MBT) Repeats in Sex Comb on Midleg-like 2 (SCML2). J. Biol. Chem. 278: 46968-46973 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mulholland, N. M., King, I. F.G., Kingston, R. E. (2003). Regulation of Polycomb group complexes by the sequence-specific DNA binding proteins Zeste and GAGA. Genes Dev. 17: 2741-2746 [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»