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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 278, Issue 46, 45888-45902, November 14, 2003
Identification of a Novel TATA Element-binding Protein Binding Region at the N Terminus of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae TAF1 Protein*![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ¶
From the
Received for publication, June 27, 2003 , and in revised form, August 25, 2003.
TFIID, a multiprotein complex composed of TATA element-binding protein (TBP) and 14 TBP-associated factors (TAFs), can directly recognize core promoter elements and mediate transcriptional activation. The TAF N-terminal domain (TAND) of TAF1 may play a significant role in these two principal TFIID functions by regulating the access of TBP to the TATA element. In yeast, TAND consists of two subdomains, TAND1 (10-37 amino acids (aa)) and TAND2 (46-71 aa), which interact with the concave and convex surfaces of TBP, respectively. Here we demonstrate that another region located on the C-terminal side of TAND2 (82-139 aa) can also bind to TBP and induce transcriptional activation when tethered to DNA as a GAL4 fusion protein. As these properties are the same as those of TAND1, we denoted this sequence as TAND3. Detailed mutational analyses revealed that three blocks of hydrophobic amino acid residues located within TAND3 are required not only for TBP binding and transcriptional activation but also for supporting cell growth and the efficient transcription of a subset of genes. We also show that the surface of TBP recognized by TAND3 is broader than that recognized by TAND1, although these regions overlap partially. Supporting these observations is that TAND1 can be at least partly functionally substituted by TAND3.
In eukaryotes, transcriptional initiation and regulation of class II genes require a plethora of transcription factors including general transcription factors (TFIIA, TFIIB, TFIID, TFIIE, TFIIF, and TFIIH), mediators, cofactors, chromatin modifiers, gene-specific activators or repressors, and RNA polymerase II (reviewed in Refs. 1-4). In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, TFIID is composed of TATA-binding protein (TBP)1 and 14 TBP-associated factors (TAFs) (5, 6). TBP binds specifically to the TATA element (7), whereas TAFs bind directly or indirectly to other core promoter elements like the initiator and downstream promoter element (8). TAFs also play a significant role in facilitating transcription in response to various types of activators (2, 3). Interestingly, since some of the TAFs are also included in the Spt-Ada-Gcn5-acetyltransferase (SAGA) complex (9) that is centrally involved in remodeling nucleosomal arrays on a subset of promoters (10), they may also be crucial for the recognition of a chromatinized template.
TAF1 is one of the TFIID-specific subunits and is thought to serve as a platform for the assembly of the whole TFIID complex (11). Of the presumptive multiple TBP-binding sites of the TAF1 protein (Taf1p) (12, 13), the one located at the N terminus, designated as TAF N-terminal domain (TAND), has been characterized the most extensively (12, 14-16). TAND consists of two subdomains, TAND1 (10-37 aa) and TAND2 (46-71 aa), which bind to the concave and convex surfaces of TBP, respectively (15, 17). Importantly, TAND1 can restrict TBP binding to the TATA element, since it overlaps the DNA recognition surface of TBP (15, 18, 19). In fact, when TBP is mixed together with TAND in vitro, they promptly form a stable complex that is unable to bind to the TATA element (15, 16). Moreover, both native and partially reconstituted TFIID were shown to exhibit lower activities for DNA binding and basal transcription than TBP alone (5, 20-22). On the other hand, since TAND1 and acidic type of activators like VP16 compete for TBP binding (18), it has been proposed that activators may first sever the inhibitory interaction between TAND1 and TBP and subsequently facilitate the transfer of TBP from TAND1 to the TATA element (denoted as the two-step handoff model in Ref. 23). In this model, TFIIA is proposed to also play a pivotal role in dislodging TAND2 from the opposite side of TBP by competitively binding to TBP. In good agreement with this, TFIIA significantly increased the DNA-binding ability of either native TFIID (5, 24) or partially reconstituted TFIID containing TAF1, TAF4, and TBP (25). TFIIA also suppressed the temperature-sensitive growth of strains lacking TAND (
TBP function is also negatively regulated by other factors, such as Mot1 and NC2, or by self-dimerization (reviewed in Ref. 26). Mot1 is a member of the Snf2/Swi2 ATPase family and, in the absence of ATP, forms a complex with TBP in solution or on the TATA element (27, 28). However, when ATP is provided to this complex, some conformational change appears to occur in Mot1 or TBP upon ATP hydrolysis, and this results in dissociation of TBP from the TATA element (28). In contrast, NC2 is a histone-folded heterodimer, composed of NC2
Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis revealed that there are two distinct classes of promoters in S. cerevisiae, namely TAF-dependent and TAF-independent promoters (43, 44). The former depends on multiple TAFs for its transcription, whereas the latter does not. In addition, although significant amounts of TAFs are recruited specifically to the former, TBP is recruited to both types, which suggests that there may be other form(s) of TBP besides TFIID. It still remains unclear whether this corresponds to a free form of TBP or form(s) associated with Mot1, NC2, SAGA or other unknown factors (43-45). In any case, the recruitment of an appropriate form of TBP onto each promoter appears to be directed by upstream activator(s) (46, 47). In the case of TFIID, a cooperative interaction with Mediator is also important for the efficient assembly of the productive preinitiation complex (48, 49). Intriguingly, in strains lacking TAND1 ( Accumulating evidence suggests that TAND is in fact involved in transcriptional regulation (19, 40, 50-54). Despite this important function, the primary sequence of the TAND region is poorly conserved between yeast and Drosophila, with the exception of the small TAND2 segment (17, 18). Structural determination of the binary complex composed of Drosophila TAND1 and TBP revealed that TAND1 mimics the minor groove surface of the partially unwound TATA element (55). Since yeast TAND1 (10-37 aa) is about half the size of Drosophila TAND1 (11-77 aa), it is difficult to imagine that these two TAND1 sequences can form a similar structure. Thus, we suspect that there may be another unidentified TBP-interacting region in close proximity to TAND1 in yeast Taf1p (see details in the first paragraph under "Results"). To test this possibility, we searched for TAND1-like activity in the region adjoining TAND2, and we found that the sequence from 82 to 139 aa meets this criterion. We designated this region as TAND3 and compared its properties with those of TAND1. The relationships of yeast TAND1 and TAND3 to Drosophila TAND1 are also discussed.
Yeast Strains and CultureStandard techniques were used for yeast growth and transformation (56, 57). Yeast strains used in this study are listed in Table I. All were generated from the Y22.1 ( taf1) strain (15) using a plasmid shuffle technique (58).
Construction of TAF1 PlasmidspM3984/taf1 TAND3-pRS314, pM3985/taf1 TAND2 TAND3-pRS314, pM3986/taf1 TAND1 -TAND3-pRS314 and pM3987/taf1 TAND1 TAND2 TAND3-pRS314 were generated from pM1169/TAF1-pRS314, pM977/taf1 TAND2-pRS314, pM1002/taf1 TAND1-pRS314, and pM1001/taf1 TAND1 TAND2-pRS314, respectively, by site-specific mutagenesis (59) using the TK3543 oligonucleotide. The latter plasmids had been constructed by inserting a DNA fragment encoding four repeats of the HA epitope tag at the C terminus of the Taf1p encoded by pM11, pM761, pM30, and pM10, respectively (17). The oligonucleotides used in this study are glisted in Table II.
To introduce a series of alanine-scanning mutations into TAND3, pM1169 was subjected to site-specific mutagenesis to create pM4028, pM4029, pM4030, pM4031, pM4032, pM4033, pM4034, pM4035, pM4036, pM4037, pM4038 and pM4039 by using oligonucleotides TK3812, TK3813, TK3546, TK3815, TK3816, TK3817, TK3818, TK3819, TK3820, TK3821, TK3822, and TK3823, respectively. The same set of oligonucleotides was used for site-specific mutagenesis of pM1002 and pM1001 to create the other two sets of plasmids, i.e. pM4040-pM4051 and pM4152-pM4163, respectively. To introduce alanine substitution mutations into the three subregions of TAND3, pM1169 was subjected to site-specific mutagenesis to create pM4089, pM4090, pM4091, pM4092, pM4093, pM4094, and pM4095 by using oligonucleotides TK4083, TK4084, TK4085, TK4083+TK4084, TK4084+TK4085, TK4083+TK4085, and TK4083+TK4084+TK4085, respectively. The same set of oligonucleotides was used for the site-specific mutagenesis of pM1002 and pM1001 to create pM4096-pM4102 and pM4164-pM4170, respectively. The BamHI-BssHII fragment encoding TAND1 of pM1169 was replaced with the BamHI-BssHII fragment encoding TAND3 that was amplified from pM1169 itself by PCR using the primer pair TK3824 and TK3825. This created pM4171. Similarly, the BamHI-BssHII fragment encoding TAND1 of pM1169 was replaced with the BamHI-BssHII fragment encoding TAND3ABCmut amplified from pM4116 (constructed as described below) by PCR using the primer pair TK5162 and TK5163. This created pM4225. Construction of GAL4 Fusion PlasmidsTo express various N-terminal portions of Taf1p as GAL4 fusions in yeast cells, pM3489, pM3490, pM3491, pM3492, pM3493, pM3494, pM3495, pM3496, pM3497, pM3498, pM3499, pM3500, pM3501, pM3502, pM3503, pM3504, pM3505, pM3630, pM3631, pM3632, pM3633, pM3742, pM3743, pM3744, pM3745, and pM3746 were constructed by ligating DNA fragments encoding 70-170, 70-160, 70-150, 70-140, 70-130, 70-120, 70-110, 70-100, 70-90, 81-170, 91-170, 101-170, 111-170, 121-170, 131-170, 141-170, 151-170, 81-140, 91-140, 101-140, 111-140, 85-140, 81-136, 85-136, 91-136, and 137-190 amino acids, respectively, into pGBT9 (Clontech). These fragments were amplified by PCR from pM1169/TAF1 (TRP1 marker) using the primer pairs TK2192 and TK2193, TK2192 and TK2194, TK2192 and TK2195, TK2192 and TK2196, TK2192 and TK2197, TK2192 and TK2198, TK2192 and TK2199, TK2192 and TK2200, TK2192 and TK2201, TK2202 and TK2193, TK2203 and TK2193, TK2204 and TK2193, TK2205 and TK2193, TK2206 and TK2193, TK2207 and TK2208, TK2209 and TK2193, TK2202 and TK2196, TK2203 and TK2196, TK2204 and TK2196, TK2205 and TK2196, TK2594 and TK2196, TK2202 and TK2595, TK2594 and TK2595, TK2203 and TK2595, and TK2598 and TK2599, respectively. To express TAND3 harboring alanine substitution mutations as GAL4 fusion proteins in yeast cells, pM4064, pM4065, pM4066, pM4067, pM4068, pM4069, pM4070, pM4071, pM4072, pM4073, pM4074, pM4075, pM4076, pM4110, pM4111, pM4112, pM4113, pM4114, pM4115, and pM4116 were constructed by ligating DNA fragments encoding TAND3(82-139 aa, wild type), TAND3(82-86Ala), TAND3(87-91Ala), TAND3(92-96Ala), TAND3(97-101Ala), TAND3(102-106Ala), TAND3(107-111Ala), TAND3(112-116Ala), TAND3(117-121Ala), TAND3(122-126Ala), TAND3(127-131Ala), TAND3(132-136Ala), TAND3(137-139Ala), TAND3Amut, TAND3Bmut, TAND3Cmut, TAND3ABmut, TAND3BCmut, TAND3ACmut and TAND3ABCmut, respectively, into pM471 (60). The DNA fragments for pM4064, pM4066, pM4067, pM4068, pM4069, pM4070, pM4071, pM4072, pM4073 and pM4074 were amplified by PCR from pM1169, pM4029, pM4030, pM4031, pM4032, pM4033, pM4034, pM4035, pM4036, and pM4037 by using the primer pair TK3972 and TK3961, respectively. In contrast, DNA fragments for pM4065, pM4075, pM4076, pM4110, pM4111, pM4112, pM4113, pM4114, pM4115, and pM4116 were amplified by PCR from pM4028, pM4038, pM4039, pM4096, pM4097, pM4098, pM4099, pM4100, pM4101, and pM4102 by using the primer pairs TK3973 and TK3961, TK3972 and TK3854, TK3972 and TK3855, TK4221 and TK3961, TK3972 and TK3961, TK3972 and TK4222, TK4221 and TK3961, TK3972 and TK4222, TK4221 and TK4222, and TK4221 and TK4222, respectively. pM465/GAL4-TAND1 and pM365/GAL4-VP16C were constructed as described previously (23). Construction of GST Fusion PlasmidsTo express GST-tagged TAND(2+3) proteins harboring alanine substitution mutations in the TAND3 domain, pM4052, pM4053, pM4054, pM4055, pM4056, pM4057, pM4058, pM4059, pM4060, pM4061, pM4062, pM4063, pM4103, pM4104, pM4105, pM4106, pM4107, pM4108, and pM4109 were constructed by ligating the BamHI-EcoRI DNA fragments encoding TAND2+TAND3(82-86Ala), TAND2+TAND3(87-91Ala), TAND2+TAND3(92-96Ala), TAND2+TAND3(97-101Ala), TAND2+ TAND3(102-106Ala), TAND2+TAND3(107-111Ala), TAND2+ TAND3(112-116Ala), TAND2+TAND3(117-121Ala), TAND2+TAND3(122-126Ala), TAND2+TAND3(127-131Ala), TAND2+TAND3(132-136Ala), TAND2+TAND3(137-139Ala), TAND2+TAND3Amut, TAND2+TAND3Bmut, TAND2+TAND3Cmut, TAND2+TAND3ABmut, TAND2+TAND3BCmut, TAND2+TAND3ACmut, and TAND2+ TAND3ABCmut, respectively, into pGEX2T (Amersham Biosciences). The DNA fragments for pM4052, pM4053, pM4054, pM4055, pM4056, pM4057, pM4058, pM4059, pM4060, pM4061, pM4103, pM4104 and pM4106 were amplified by PCR from pM4028, pM4029, pM4030, pM4031, pM4032, pM4033, pM4034, pM4035, pM4036, pM4037, pM4096, pM4097, and pM4099 by using the primer pair TK133 and TK3546. On the other hand, the DNA fragments for pM4062 and pM4063 were amplified by PCR from pM4038 and pM4039 by using the primer pairs TK133 and TK3849 and TK133 and TK3850, respectively, whereas those for pM4105, pM4107, pM4108, and pM4109 were amplified by PCR from pM4098, pM4100, pM4101, and pM4102 by using the primer pair TK133 and TK4086. pM3998(GST-TAND(1+2+3)), pM1431(GST-TAND(1+2)), pM4000 (GST-TAND(2+3)), pM4078(GST-TAND1), pM4079(GST-TAND2), and pM4001(GST-TAND3) were constructed by ligating the BamHI-EcoRI PCR fragments amplified from pM1169 using the primer pairs TK344 and TK3546, TK344 and T869, TK344 and TK3831, TK133 and T869, and TK3545 and TK3546, respectively. Similarly, pM3999(GSTTAND(1+3)) was constructed by ligating the BamHI-EcoRI PCR fragment amplified from pM977 using the primer pair TK344 and TK3546. Construction of TBP PlasmidspM494(N159D), pM1873(T153I), pM1876(N159L), pM1877(V161A), pM2004(F148H), and pM2005(S118L) were generated from pM1578(wild type TBP/pET28a(Novagen)) as described previously (61). pM1578 was subjected to site-specific mutagenesis to create pM31(Y139A), pM493(L114K), pM606(A86E), pM607(N91E), pM608(E93R), pM894(N69S), pM1404(T75N), pM1405(V85I), pM1407(Q219V), pM1870(F155S), pM4130(L189K), pM4131(E188A), pM4135(E188R), pM4136(L189E), pM4137(Y195C), and pM4138(V198A) by using oligonucleotides TK35, TK214, TK289, TK290, TK291, TK388, TK912, TK913, TK915, TK389, TK1208, TK4389, TK4422, TK4423, TK4424, and TK4425, respectively. To express TBP in yeast cells, pM4281 was constructed by ligating the 2.4-kb EcoRI-BamHI DNA fragment encoding TBP into pRS316 (62).
GST Pulldown AssayExpression plasmids based on pGEX2T (Amersham Biosciences) or pET28a (Novagen), as described above, were transformed into Escherichia coli DH5 Immunoblot AnalysisImmunoblot analysis was conducted as described previously (17). Polyclonal antibodies directed against TBP were prepared as described (17). Monoclonal antibodies against the HA epitope were purchased from Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc. Northern Blot AnalysisNorthern blot analysis was performed as described previously (60). To prepare the probes, DNA fragments surrounding the initiating methionine were amplified by PCR from yeast genomic DNA, purified, and 32P-labeled using a random priming method. The PCR primer pairs used were as follows: TK1881/TK1882 for HIS4, TK5101/TK5102 for CYC3, TK493/TK494 for RPS5, TK5103/TK5104 for YDR119W, TK5085/TK5086 for MET17, TK1186/TK1187 for ADH1, and TK1224/TK1225 for PGK1. The data were quantitated with a Fuji BAS 2500 PhosphorImager and Science Lab software.
The Region between Amino Acids 82 and 139 of Taf1p Functions as a Strong Activation DomainOur previous observation that TAND1, but not TAND2, can function as a transcriptional activation domain (AD) prompted us to propose a model in which the transient displacement by an AD of TAND1 from the concave surface of TBP may be important for activation (23). According to this model, any molecule that competes with TAND1 for TBP binding (including TAND1 itself) could function as an AD. Previously, we noticed that the region between 72 and 96 aa of Taf1p could enhance the AD function of TAND1 (6-41 aa) by about 1.5-fold, although this region itself did not function as an AD (23). Thus, we suspect that another, as yet unidentified, region located at the C-terminal side of TAND2 (46-71 aa) may bind to some areas that are not occupied with TAND1 on the concave surface of TBP and thereby contribute to the inhibitory effect of TAND on TBP function. This may also provide a plausible explanation for the observation that yeast TAND1 is smaller in size and possesses weaker TBP binding activity than Drosophila TAND1. Furthermore, it is reasonable to postulate that the region between 72 and 96 aa described above constitutes only a part of such a third TBP-interacting domain and can thereby help the AD function of TAND1 without functioning as an independent AD. If this is the case, the complete domain should activate transcription when tethered to DNA.
To explore this possibility, we connected the region between 70 and 170 aa to the GAL4 DNA binding domain, and we tested its ability to activate transcription from the GAL1 promoter containing the GAL4 DNA-binding sites in yeast cells (Fig. 1, construct 1). Two distinct reporter genes, lacZ and HIS3, were used to quantify the AD activity by measuring
Next, to determine the minimal region that functions as an AD, we constructed a series of truncated mutants as described in Fig. 1A. Mutation of the C-terminal region that generated a series of truncated mutants of the region between 70 and 170 aa (constructs 2-9) indicated that the region between 131 and 140 aa must be critical for AD function since a significant difference was observed when the activities of constructs 4 and 5 were compared in both assays. However, the N-terminal mutants lost their activities gradually as this region was truncated up to aa 110, irrespective of whether they carried the C-terminal region between 141 and 170 aa (constructs 10-13) or not (constructs 18-21) (compare the results of both assays in Fig. 1B). These results indicate the presence of multiple subdomains that carry AD function within the region between 81 and 140 aa. Importantly, further truncation at or beyond 121 aa eliminated the AD activity (constructs 14-17), indicating that the region between 111 and 120 aa is essential for AD function. Among these constructs from 1 to 21, construct 18 (81-140 aa) was the shortest one that retained AD activity that was almost equivalent to that of construct 1. Interestingly, the results of several additional mutants, generated by removing methionine clusters at both ends (i.e. Met-82, -83, -85, -137, and -139) of this region (constructs 22-26), revealed that these methionine residues are also critical for AD function. Accordingly, we concluded that the region between 82 and 139 aa (construct 26) is minimally required for AD function. It should be also noted that AD function appears to be specific to this region since the adjoining region between 137 and 190 aa (construct 27) was totally inactive in the same assays (Fig. 1B, bottom row). The Region between Amino Acids 82-139 of Taf1p Directly Binds to TBP and Is Required for Cell Growth and the Transcription of a Subset of Genes Under Specific ConditionsThe results described above indicate that the region between 82 and 139 aa can function as an AD, just like TAND1. This in turn suggests that this region may be another TBP binding domain of Taf1p. To examine this possibility, we constructed several plasmids that express this region either alone or as a fusion protein with TAND1+2, TAND1, or TAND2 in bacterial cells. GST pulldown assays were conducted to investigate whether these proteins can directly bind to TBP (Fig. 2A). As described previously, the TAND1+2 proteins could form a stable and stoichiometric complex with TBP (lanes 6 and 7), whereas TAND1 or TAND2 alone could not (lanes 12-15). In parallel with these findings, we found that a fusion protein of this region, i.e. 82-139 aa, with TAND1 or TAND2 could also form a complex with TBP, albeit less stably than TAND1+2 (lanes 8-11), whereas this region alone could not (lanes 16 and 17). These observations indicate that the region between 82 and 139 aa is a bona fide TBP binding domain that cooperates with either TAND1 or TAND2. We hereafter designate this region as TAND3 since it not only functions as an AD (Fig. 1) but it can also, like TAND1, bind directly to TBP (Fig. 2A). The failure to identify this region earlier as a TBP binding domain most likely reflects the very stable binding of TAND1+2 to TBP (15, 17). In fact, there was no discernible stabilizing effect of TAND3 on TBP binding when it was fused to TAND1+2 (compare lanes 5 and 7). However, a stabilizing effect was observed when the concentration of potassium chloride in the binding buffer was increased to 0.3-0.4 M. In this case, the complex of TAND1+2, but not that of TAND1+2+3, with TBP becomes less stable under these conditions (data not shown) (15). Thus, TAND3 may bind to some surfaces of TBP that are not occupied with TAND1 and TAND2, presumably via hydrophobic rather than ionic interactions.
Since TAND1 and TAND2 are required for the normal growth of yeast cells at higher temperatures (17), we wished to determine whether or not TAND3 has a similar function (Fig. 2B). Deletion of TAND3 alone did not affect the growth at either 25 or 37 °C, contrary to the effect of deleting TAND1 or TAND2 (Fig. 2B). However, we noticed that the growth rate of the TAND1-deleted ( TAND1) strain was reduced slightly, but reproducibly, at 37 °C by the additional deletion of TAND3 (compare 1 and (1+3) in Fig. 2B). Interestingly, this growth retardation effect of TAND3 was specifically observed in combination with TAND1 but not with TAND2. This suggests TAND1 and TAND3 may play a redundant role. We could not detect a clear phenotypic difference between the TAND(1+2) and TAND(1+2+3) strains, apparently because the former mutation alone was sufficiently severe to prevent growth at higher temperatures. Immunoblot analysis confirmed that all TAF1 alleles were expressed at comparable levels for at least 24 h after the temperature shift to 37 °C (Fig. 2C).
We and others previously identified a subset of genes that are affected in the
Hydrophobic Amino Acid Residues Clustered into Three Distinct Subregions of TAND3 Are Important for AD and TBP Binding ActivitiesWe demonstrated that TAND3 carries multiple functions as described above, i.e. AD and TBP binding activities as well as functions in supporting cell growth and gene expression under specific conditions. To determine whether these activities can be ascribed to the same or different region(s) of TAND3, we individually substituted 12 blocks of five (or three) consecutive amino acid residues with alanines and tested them for AD (Fig. 3A) and TBP binding activity (Fig. 3B). AD function was measured by
No single substitution mutation could abolish either AD or TBP binding activity, even when it was introduced into the three critical subregions defined above. It is thus likely that each of these three subregions alone exhibits functional redundancy. To test this, we substituted a set of hydrophobic amino acid residues that are expressed in each subregion, designated as 3A (82-96 aa), 3B (112-126 aa), and 3C (132-139 aa), with alanines individually or in combination (Fig. 3C) and tested them for AD and TBP binding activity (Fig. 3, C and D, respectively). In these experiments, the hydrophobic residues were selectively mutated because it is well known that they are crucial for the AD function of activators (63, 64) and TAND1 (23). As expected, multiple substitutions of hydrophobic residues within each subregion reduced AD activity to much lower levels than those observed in Fig. 3A (Fig. 3C). Furthermore, any combination of these three multiple substitution mutations completely abolished AD activity (Fig. 3C, 3AB, 3AC, 3BC, and 3ABC). Hence, TAND3 appears to include two layers of functional redundancy, one within each subregion and the other between the subregions. This view is in accordance with the gradual loss of AD activity that we observed in the TAND3 deletion analysis (Fig. 1). Importantly, since AD and TBP binding activities were closely correlated as shown in Fig. 3, A and B (Fig. 3, C and D), we concluded that these two functions must be carried out by the same or overlapping region(s) of TAND3. The Same Set of Hydrophobic Residues Is Important Not Only for AD and TBP Binding Activities but Also for Cell Growth and TranscriptionOur previous study (23) showed that, in case of TAND1, the same set of amino acid residues was required for AD and TBP binding activities as well as for cell growth. Thus, here we sought to determine whether the same set of hydrophobic residues that are required for the AD and TBP binding activities of TAND3 (Fig. 3, C and D) is also crucial for the other two activities of TAND3, namely supporting cell growth and transcription under specific conditions (Fig. 2, B and D).
To measure TAND3 activity in supporting cell growth, we used the
Next, to compare the TAND3 activities of these mutations in transcription, we individually combined each mutation with the TAND(1+2) mutation and tested them for transcription of the TAND3-dependent CYC3 gene together with two control genes (ADH1 and PGK1) at 37 °C (Fig. 4C). Interestingly, although transcription of control genes was not affected, that of the CYC3 gene was affected by these combinatorial mutations in a manner that was in accordance with the other three activities (compare Fig. 4C with Fig. 3, C and D, and 4A). Hence we concluded that all four functions must be carried out by the same or overlapping region(s) of TAND3. Thus, TBP binding appears to be required for mediating the other functions of TAND3.
We reasoned that if the growth and transcriptional defects in the
TAND3 Can Partly Be Substituted for TAND1 in Cell Growth and TranscriptionThe experiments described above revealed that TAND3 is functionally similar to TAND1. Thus we next asked whether TAND1 could be replaced with TAND3 in supporting cell growth and transcription at higher temperatures (Fig. 5, A and C). Interestingly, although the
We also examined transcription of the CYC3, HIS4, and RPS5 genes along with control genes ADH1 and PGK1 at 37.5 °C in the same set of strains used for the growth recovery assay (Fig. 5C). Transcription of the CYC3 gene in the TAND1 strain (Fig. 5C) was decreased to lower levels than those in the TAND(1+2) strain (Figs. 2D and 4A). This is apparently due to differences in the experimental conditions used (i.e. incubation for 2.5 h at 37.5 °C in Fig. 5C versus for 2 h at 37 °C in Figs. 2D and 4A). Substitution of TAND1 with wild type TAND3, but not with inactive TAND3, could sustain the same level of CYC3 transcription, which suggests that TAND1 can be replaced with TAND3, at least for the transcription of this gene. A similar effect was observed with regard to the transcription of the RPS5 gene, although with a small difference being observed when active and inactive TAND3s were substituted. In contrast, TAND3 was a poor substitution for TAND1 in the transcription of the HIS4 gene. Taken together, we conclude that TAND1 and TAND3 are functionally similar but not fully interchangeable. The Surface of TBP to Which TAND3 Binds Differs from That of TAND1 and Is BroaderFunctional similarities between TAND1 and TAND3 indicate that these two molecules may serve as a similar regulatory domain for TFIID activation by binding to the same or overlapping surfaces of TBP. To examine this notion further, the GST-TAND(1+2) and GSTTAND(2+3) fusion proteins were tested for their binding to a set of TBP mutants in GST pulldown assays (Fig. 6A). The amount of mutant TBP precipitated with each GST fusion protein was quantitated and presented as a percentage relative to that of the wild type TBP (Fig. 6B). To define the respective binding surfaces of TBP for TAND1 and TAND3, we needed to compare its binding profiles to GST-TAND(1+2) and GSTTAND(2+3) because TAND1 or TAND3 alone cannot stably bind to TBP (Fig. 2A). We reasoned that residues where mutations reduced binding to TAND(1+2), but not to TAND(2+3), should be located on the surface of TBP recognized by TAND1 but not by TAND3 and vice versa. In this system, however, when mutations reduced the binding to both TAND(1+2) and TAND(2+3), it was not clear whether these residues were on the common surface recognized by both TAND1 and TAND3 or on the specific surface recognized by TAND2. To ensure simple interpretation of the data, we avoided testing TBP derivatives that carried mutations in the vicinity of helix 2 that is supposed to be a binding site for TAND2 (with the exception of Y139A).
The results are schematically summarized in Fig. 6C, where each residue is shown in different color code according to the extent of the damage induced. Whereas only two TBP mutants (i.e. L114K and V161A) were severely affected (i.e. less than 20% of the wild type) in TAND(1+2) binding, eight TBP mutants (i.e. N91E, E93R, L114K, Y139A, F148H, V161A, V198A, and Q219V) were severely affected in TAND(2+3) binding. None of the TBP mutants that we examined were specifically affected in TAND(1+2) binding. L114K and V161A, colored in green, were critically important for binding to both TAND(1+2) and TAND(2+3). They are located on the concave surface of TBP, which is purported to be a binding surface for TAND1 but not for TAND2. This indicates that TAND3 may also bind to the concave surface of TBP. Mutations of the other two residues, i.e. S118L and F155S, colored in cyan, were moderately affected (20-60% of the wild type) in binding to both TAND(1+2) and TAND(2+3). Since S118L and F155S are located close to, but not exactly on, the concave and convex surfaces of TBP, respectively, it remains unclear whether these mutations impair TAND2 or TAND1/TAND3 binding. In contrast, mutations of six residues, i.e. N91E, E93R, Y139A, F148H, V198A, and Q219V, colored in red, were severely and specifically affected in TAND(2+3) binding, indicating that these residues must be recognized by TAND3 but not by TAND1 or TAND2. Somewhat surprisingly, they are not localized to any small region but rather are dispersed over the surface of TBP. Mutations of five residues, i.e. N69S, T153I, N159D/N159L, E186R, L189E/L189K, colored in magenta, were moderately affected in TAND(2+3) binding but only slightly (60-100% of the wild type) in TAND(1+2) binding. We propose that all of these residues may also be recognized by TAND3 because they are not located on the convex (i.e. TAND2 binding) surface of TBP (e.g. Asn-69, Asn-159, Glu-186, and Leu-189) and/or because their mutations have little effect on TAND(1+2) binding (e.g. Thr-153, Asn-159, Glu-186, and Leu-189). Collectively, the residues colored in green, red, and magenta form a possible binding surface for TAND3. It appears to be much broader than and distinct from that for TAND1, which makes contact only throughout the concave surface of TBP (19, 55). This view is in good agreement with the observation that the molecular size of TAND3 is almost twice as large as that of TAND1 and that TAND3 is composed of three functionally redundant subregions (denoted here as 3A, 3B, and 3C) (Fig. 3C). Although it still remains elusive how each subregion binds to TBP, it is notable that the concave surface of TBP appears to be bound by both TAND1 and TAND3. Consistent with this hypothesis is that TAND(2+3) can inhibit TBP binding to the TATA element, albeit less strongly than TAND(1+2) (data not shown). The functional significance of these interactions with TBP will be discussed below.
In this study, we identified a novel TBP binding region in the region spanning 82-139 aa of yeast Taf1p and designated it as TAND3. In several functional aspects, TAND3 is similar to TAND1 although they do not show significant sequence similarities. First, TAND1 and TAND3 can stably bind TBP only when fused to TAND2. Second, they both activate transcription when tethered to DNA. Third, at higher temperatures, they are required for supporting normal growth and the transcription of a subset of genes. Importantly, any mutations that reduce TBP binding impaired all other activities of TAND1 and TAND3. Thus, we postulate that regulatory interactions between TAND1/TAND3 and TBP may underlie all the other apparently distinct functions carried out by these two TAND domains.
Interactions between TAND1/TAND3 and TBPRegardless of these functional similarities, TAND1 and TAND3 are not fully exchangeable. For instance, at higher temperatures, a mutant strain in which TAND1 was replaced by TAND3 grew much faster than the
The surface of TBP to which TAND3 binds seems to overlap with those for several other important factors that regulate TBP function. For example, the Asn-91 and Glu-93 residues, both of which are specifically required for TAND3 binding (Fig. 6), are located on the TFIIA interface (65-67). The Val-198 residue (corresponding to Ile-296 in human TBP) appears to be crucial for the interaction with NC2 The concave surface of TBP can bind to multiple factors, including TAND1 (15, 18), TAND3, Mot1 (28, 69), and TBP itself (19), in addition to the TATA element. TBP dimerization in vivo is assumed to result in a repressed but potentially active pool of TBP that is in a form that is resistant to proteolytic degradation (19, 40). In contrast, TAND1 and Mot1 seem to be more directly involved in transcription. Based on the observation that TAND1 and AD are interchangeable in several assays, we previously proposed a two-step handoff model in which TAND1 may maintain TBP in an inactive state until it encounters AD, which dissociates TAND1 from TBP and allows activated TBP to bind to the TATA element. Our findings that TAND3 shares several fundamental features with TAND1 raise an intriguing possibility that AD may target not only TAND1, but also TAND3 as a first step in the triggering of TFIID activation. In this regard, it is interesting that several residues of TBP (e.g. Asn-91, Glu-93, Tyr-139, Phe-148, Thr-153, Asn-159, Glu-186, and Leu-189) that are postulated to be involved in transcriptional activation (67, 70-73) exhibited TAND3-specific binding defects (Fig. 6B). Furthermore, the previous observation that two molecules of GAL4 AD bind simultaneously to one molecule of TBP (74) supports our view that AD may target both TAND subdomains, i.e. TAND1 and TAND3, bound on TBP. Functional Relationships between Yeast TAND1/TAND3 and Drosophila TAND1Drosophila TAND1 was shown to bind stably to TBP by mimicking the minor groove surface of the partially unwound TATA element (55). Unlike its yeast counterpart, it activates transcription only slightly when tethered to DNA (23). The differences in size and function between yeast TAND1 (10-37 aa) and Drosophila TAND1 (18-77 aa) suggest that TAND3 (82-139 aa) may correspond to a missing piece of some functional domain that is specifically included in Drosophila TAND1. This view is consistent with the observation that the Glu-186 and Leu-189 residues on the stirrup region, which provides an interaction surface for TFIIB, are also involved in binding to Drosophila TAND1 (55) and yeast TAND3 (Fig. 6) but not to yeast TAND1 (Fig. 6) (19). In this regard, it is notable that a small segment of yeast TAND3, which includes part of the subregion 3B, displays significant sequence similarity to a piece of Drosophila TAND1 that interfaces with the stirrup region of TBP (55) (Fig. 6D). Thus, hydrophobic amino acid residues like Ile-112 and/or Leu-116 of TAND3 (Fig. 3C) may interact with Glu-186 and/or Leu-189 of TBP. On the other hand, NMR studies revealed that Drosophila TAND (1-156 aa), which includes TAND1 (18-77 aa), TAND2 (118-143 aa), and the spacer region (78-117 aa) connecting these two TAND subdomains, interacts not only with the concave surface (i.e. the binding site for TAND1) but also with the TFIIA interface of TBP (75). As TAND2 is supposed to bind to helix 2, the remaining TFIIA interface should be in contact with the spacer region. Thus, it is likely that the spacer region may make contact with the Asn-91 and Phe-148 residues (75), both of which are also essential for TAND3 binding (Fig. 6). Furthermore, the spacer region can activate transcription, albeit less weakly than TAND3, when tethered to DNA.3 Taken together, it appears that at least some subregions of TAND3 might serve as a functional counterpart of the spacer region of Drosophila TAND. We must conduct further analyses to determine the precise relationships between the three subregions of yeast TAND3 and TAND1/the spacer region of Drosophila TAND.
Functional Redundancy between TAND1 and TAND3The effects of the TAND1 deletion (
It is notable that TAND3 is demarcated with two clusters of multiple methionine residues, i.e. Met-82, -83, and -5 and Met-137 and -139. Recently, we found that Taf1p can be produced in vivo in several isoforms by alternative selection of translational initiation sites.5 In other words, Taf1p lacking TAND(1+2) or TAND(1+2+3) is generated in small amounts by initiating translation at Met-82, -83, and -85 or Met-137 and -139, respectively. Hence the observation that Taf1p
* This work was supported by grants from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan and the Mitsubishi Foundation. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact. ¶ To whom correspondence should be addressed: Division of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Science of Biological Supramolecular Systems, Graduate School of Integrated Science, Yokohama City University, 1-7-29, Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 230-0045 Japan. Tel.: 45-508-7237; Fax: 45-508-7369; E-mail: kokubo{at}tsurumi.yokohama-cu.ac.jp.
1 The abbreviations used are: TBP, TATA element-binding protein; TAFs, TBP-associated factors; TAND, TAF N-terminal domain; aa, amino acids; 3-AT, 3-aminotriazole; GST, glutathione S-transferase; HA, hemagglutinin; AD, activation domain.
2 K. Ohtsuki and T. Kokubo, unpublished observations.
3 H. Ohta and T. Kokubo, unpublished observations.
4 S. Takahata and T. Kokubo, unpublished observations.
5 K. Kasahara, M. Kawaichi, and T. Kokubo, submitted for publication.
We thank M. Yuhki and A. Kobayashi for the TBP expression plasmids and other members of our laboratory for advice and comments on this work.
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