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 Chen, Z.
Right arrow Articles by Manley, J. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Chen, Z.
Right arrow Articles by Manley, J. L.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Molecular and Cellular Biology, October 2003, p. 7350-7362, Vol. 23, No. 20
0270-7306/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.23.20.7350-7362.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Core Promoter Elements and TAFs Contribute to the Diversity of Transcriptional Activation in Vertebrates

Zheng Chen{dagger} and James L. Manley*

Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027

Received 20 March 2003/ Returned for modification 27 May 2003/ Accepted 7 July 2003

Gene-specific transcriptional activation is a multistep process that requires numerous protein factors and DNA elements, including enhancers and the core promoter. To investigate the roles of core promoter elements in transcriptional activation in vertebrates, we examined expression and factor occupancy on representative promoters in chicken DT40 cells containing a conditional TATA binding protein (TBP)-associated factor 9 allele (TAF9). Characterized core elements, including TATA box-flanking regions and the downstream promoter element, were found to play significant roles in determining promoter strength, response to activators, and factor occupancy and recruitment. The requirement for TAF9 was found to be highly promoter specific, and TAF9 dependence and promoter occupancy were not always correlated. We also describe contrasting examples of factor recruitment and activation mechanisms at different promoters, highlighted by the nearly opposite mechanisms utilized by the simian virus 40 enhancer and p53. With the core promoters analyzed, the former functions by facilitating RNA polymerase II (RNAP II) recruitment to a preassembled TBP/TFIIB-containing scaffold and p53 strongly recruits TBP and TFIIB while RNAP II levels remain modest. Taken together, our results illustrate both the important roles of core promoter elements and the remarkable diversity that characterizes transcriptional activation mechanisms in vertebrates.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027. Phone: (212) 854-4647. Fax: (212) 865-8246. E-mail: jlm2{at}columbia.edu.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Biochemistry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, October 2003, p. 7350-7362, Vol. 23, No. 20
0022-538X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.23.20.7350-7362.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Mirkin, N., Fonseca, D., Mohammed, S., Cevher, M. A., Manley, J. L., Kleiman, F. E. (2008). The 3' processing factor CstF functions in the DNA repair response. Nucleic Acids Res 36: 1792-1804 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bush, S. D., Richard, P., Manley, J. L. (2008). Variations in Intracellular Levels of TATA Binding Protein Can Affect Specific Genes by Different Mechanisms. Mol. Cell. Biol. 28: 83-92 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Muller, F., Demeny, M. A., Tora, L. (2007). New Problems in RNA Polymerase II Transcription Initiation: Matching the Diversity of Core Promoters with a Variety of Promoter Recognition Factors. J. Biol. Chem. 282: 14685-14689 [Full Text]  
  • Lee, D.-H., Gershenzon, N., Gupta, M., Ioshikhes, I. P., Reinberg, D., Lewis, B. A. (2005). Functional Characterization of Core Promoter Elements: the Downstream Core Element Is Recognized by TAF1. Mol. Cell. Biol. 25: 9674-9686 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Shao, H., Revach, M., Moshonov, S., Tzuman, Y., Gazit, K., Albeck, S., Unger, T., Dikstein, R. (2005). Core Promoter Binding by Histone-Like TAF Complexes. Mol. Cell. Biol. 25: 206-219 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hori, R. T., Xu, S., Hu, X., Pyo, S. (2004). TFIIB-facilitated recruitment of preinitiation complexes by a TAF-independent mechanism. Nucleic Acids Res 32: 3856-3863 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lim, C. Y., Santoso, B., Boulay, T., Dong, E., Ohler, U., Kadonaga, J. T. (2004). The MTE, a new core promoter element for transcription by RNA polymerase II. Genes Dev. 18: 1606-1617 [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»