|
Advertisement | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 279, Issue 38, 39240-39250, September 17, 2004
Redundant Mechanisms Are Used by Ssn6-Tup1 in Repressing Chromosomal Gene Transcription in Saccharomyces cerevisiae*![]() From the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
Received for publication, June 25, 2004 , and in revised form, July 14, 2004.
The Ssn6-Tup1 corepressor complex regulates many genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Three mechanisms have been proposed to explain its repression functions: 1) nucleosome positioning by binding histone tails; 2) recruitment of histone deacetylases; and 3) direct interference with the general transcription machinery or activators. It is unclear if Ssn6-Tup1 utilizes each of these mechanisms at a single gene in a redundant manner or each individually at different loci. A systematic analysis of the contribution of each mechanism at a native promoter has not been reported. Here we employed a genetic strategy to analyze the contributions of nucleosome positioning, histone deacetylation, and Mediator interference in the repression of chromosomal Tup1 target genes in vivo. We exploited the fact that Ssn6-Tup1 requires the ISW2 chromatin remodeling complex to establish nucleosome positioning in vivo to disrupt chromatin structure without affecting other Tup1 repression functions. Deleting ISW2, the histone deacetylase gene HDA1, or genes encoding Mediator subunits individually caused slight or no derepression of RNR3 and HUG1. However, when Mediator mutations were combined with isw2 or hda1 mutations, enhanced transcription was observed, and the strongest level of derepression was observed in triple isw2/ hda1/Mediator mutants. The increased transcription in the mutants was not due to the loss of Tup1 at the promoter and correlated with increased TBP cross-linking to promoters. Thus, Tup1 utilizes multiple redundant mechanisms to repress transcription of native genes, which may be important for it to act as a global corepressor at a wide variety of promoters.
The Ssn6-Tup1 complex represses more than 180 genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae controlled by different pathways (1) and is, thus, considered a global corepressor of transcription. It does not directly bind to DNA, but is targeted to promoters by sequence-specific DNA binding repressors (for review see Ref. 2). Although Ssn6 and Tup1 form a complex, it is largely accepted that Tup1 contributes the bulk of the repression activity and Ssn6 acts as an adaptor. Recruitment of Ssn6 to promoter via the LexA DNA binding domain can repress transcription of a reporter plasmid in a Tup1-dependent manner, while repression by LexA-Tup1 is independent of Ssn6 (35). Furthermore, overexpression of TUP1 can partially suppress the mating defect of a ssn6/ tup1 double mutant, whereas overexpression of SSN6 cannot (6). One model for Ssn6-Tup1-mediated repression is the establishment of nucleosome positioning. Nucleosomes are well positioned in an Ssn6-Tup1-dependent manner at many repressed loci (714). Furthermore, the repression domain of Tup1 can directly bind hypoacetylated histone H3 and H4 tails (15), and H3 and H4 tails are required for repression of Tup1-dependent genes (15, 16). At the mating type-specific gene STE6, Tup1 was shown to cross-link throughout the entire gene, and two Tup1 molecules per nucleosome were incorporated into the repressive chromatin structure of a minichromosome (17). Although different degrees of Tup1 spreading have been reported (14, 1719), the participation of Ssn6-Tup1 in maintaining nucleosome positioning and a repressive chromatin structure is clear.
A second Ssn6-Tup1 repression model, which is not mutually exclusive with the first, is by its recruitment of histone-modifying enzymes. Ssn6-Tup1 interacts with the class I histone deacetylases (HDACs)1 Rpd3, Hos1, and Hos2 (20, 21) and the class II HDAC Hda1 (18). Recruitment of Ssn6-Tup1 to promoters causes histone hypoacetylation, which can be reversed by deleting RPD3/HOS1/HOS2 or HDA1 (5, 18, 20). A recent paper showed that a triple
In addition to the chromatin-dependent repression mechanisms described above, Ssn6-Tup1 can also function by blocking activators and interfering with the transcription machinery (2, 22, 23). Ssn6-Tup1-dependent repression of transcription from a plasmid bearing an The RNR3 gene encodes for the large subunit of the enzyme ribonucleotide reductase (RNR), which plays a crucial role in DNA replication and repair. RNR3 and the other RNR genes (RNR1, 2, and 4) are under the tight control of the Ssn6-Tup1 complex (13, 33, 34). The corepressor complex is recruited to the RNR genes by the sequence-specific DNA-binding protein Crt1, which recognizes the DNA damage response elements (DREs) in the upstream repression sequence (URS) (19, 35). Crt1 interacts with Ssn6-Tup1 in vitro and recruits it to promoters in the absence of DNA damage, and the activation of the DNA damage checkpoint pathway causes the release of Crt1 and Tup1 from the promoter (14, 35). Nucleosomes are precisely positioned over RNR3 in the repressed state, and inducing the cell with the DNA-damaging agent MMS causes the release Crt1-Ssn6-Tup1 from the URS and chromatin remodeling, suggesting a role for chromatin structure in RNR3 gene regulation (13, 14, 35). Likewise, deleting CRT1, SSN6, or TUP1 disrupts the nucleosome array over RNR3 (13, 14). Recent work from our laboratory suggested that nucleosome positioning by Ssn6-Tup1 requires the chromatin remodeling/nucleosome spacing complex ISW2. Deleting the gene coding for the catalytic subunit of the ISW2 complex, ISW2, disrupts nucleosome positioning without causing significant transcription derepression of the DNA damage-inducible RNR3 or stress-inducible ENA1 genes (14), suggesting that pathways in addition to nucleosome positioning repress Tup1-regulated genes. In this study, we used DNA damage-inducible genes as our primary models to analyze systematically the contribution of each Ssn6-Tup1 repression mechanism in transcriptional regulation. We find that Tup1 utilizes multiple redundant mechanisms to repress transcription, which include nucleosome positioning, histone deacetylation, and Mediator interference. We propose that Ssn6-Tup1 has developed multiple mechanisms to function as a "global" corepressor, and different groups of genes have developed different strategies to utilize Ssn6-Tup1 in repression.
Strains and MediaThe strains used in this study are listed in Table I. Gene deletions were constructed by one-step replacement using PCR-generated cassettes (36). Detailed information on their construction will be provided upon request. In all cases, cells were grown in 2% peptone, 1% yeast extract, 20 µg/ml adenine sulfate, and 2% dextrose (YPAD) at 30 °C. The induced cells were treated, at the A600 of 0.61.0, with methyl methane sulfate (MMS) at a concentration of 0.03% for 22.5 h.
RNA Isolation and Northern BlotRNA isolation was carried out as previously reported (37). 1015 ml of yeast cell grown in YPAD, treated or untreated with MMS, were harvested by centrifugation, washed with STE buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4, 100 mM NaCl, 1 mM EDTA), and resuspended in RNA preparation buffer (1% SDS, 100 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 10 mM EDTA, 500 mM NaCl). RNA was released by glass bead disruption in the presence of 150 µl of phenol/chloroform, extracted once more with phenol/chloroform, precipitated with ethanol, and dissolved in diethyl pyrocarbonate-treated water. RNA concentration was then quantified by measuring its absorption at 260 nm. 20 µg of total RNA was separated on 1% (1.6% for ANB1 analysis) formaldehyde agarose gels and transferred to nylon membrane (Amersham Biosciences) by capillary blotting. After UV-cross-linking and 4-h prehybridization at 65 °C, radioactively labeled gene-specific probes were added. Micrococcal Nuclease MappingNuclei preparation was carried out essentially as described previously (13, 38). In brief, 1 liter of cells was grown in YPAD to an A600 of around 1.0, harvested, and digested with Zymolyase T100 (Seikagaku). The nuclei were isolated by differential centrifugation and resuspended in digestion buffer according to the size of the nuclei pellet, and digested by 0, 2, 4, and 8 units/ml of micrococcal nuclease (MNase, Worthington) for 10 min at 37 °C. The purified DNA was digested with PstI restriction enzyme, and the products were detected by Southern Blotting using a 200-bp probe specific for the PstI fragment (13). Genomic DNA digested by (PstI plus MluI) and (PstI plus EagI) was loaded as the marker. Chromatin ImmunoprecipitationChromatin immunoprecipitation was performed as described in previous publications with minor changes (39, 40). 50 ml of cells was grown in YPAD media to A600 of 0.51.0 and cross-linked for 15 min at 23 °C by the addition of formaldehyde to 1%. The induced cells were treated at A600 of 0.7 with 0.03% MMS and incubated for 2 h before cross-linking. Cross-linking was terminated by the addition of glycine (125 mM) followed by incubation at room temperature for 15 min. Extracts were prepared by glass bead disruption, and the chromatin was sheared into fragments averaging in size of 300400 bp. The extracts were then clarified by centrifugation, and 200 µl was used for immunoprecipitation. 1 µl of di-acetylated H3 antibody (Upstate), anti-TBP polyclonal antiserum, anti-myc (9E10, Covance), 8WG16 monoclonal antibody (Covance), and 1/300 diluted anti-Tup1 polyclonal antibody were used routinely. The immune complexes were isolated on 25 µl of protein A-Sepharose CL-4B beads (Amersham Biosciences) and washed, and the DNA was eluted. After reversing the cross-links at 65 °C overnight, the immunoprecipitated and input DNA were analyzed by semi-quantitative PCR. The PCR products were analyzed on agarose gels, stained with ethidium bromide, scanned with a Typhoon system (Molecular Dynamics), and quantified by ImageQuaNT software (Amersham Biosciences). The amplified immunoprecipitated DNA was normalized to the input samples. Results are averages and standard errors from three to six batches of independently prepared extracts.
Repression of DNA Damage-inducible Genes in the Absence of Nucleosome PositioningThe RNR3 gene is an Ssn6-Tup1-dependent gene whose regulation correlates with nucleosome positioning and disruption (13). Our previous studies indicate that disrupting nucleosome positioning is not sufficient to achieve a high level of derepression or preinitiation complex assembly, suggesting that other mechanisms carry out repression in the absence of nucleosome positioning (14). Thus, we set out to define what pathways mediate Tup1 repression when nucleosome positioning is disrupted. Fig. 1A shows that deleting the gene encoding the catalytic subunit of the ISW2 complex, ISW2 (41), disrupts nucleosome positioning over the promoter and into the coding sequence of RNR3. Moreover, the pattern is indistinguishable from that of digested naked DNA or that of a crt1 mutant, suggesting that nucleosome positioning is completely disrupted in the isw2 mutant. Specifically, the TATA box and promoter is exposed to micrococcal nuclease digestion (Fig. 1A). On the other hand, transcription of RNR3 was only moderately increased (Fig. 1B), about a 2.5-fold increase, versus a 40- to 50-fold increase in fully derepressed cells (+MMS). Importantly, RNR3 can be fully derepressed in the isw2 cells, suggesting that the failure to observe a high level of transcription in these cells is not caused by an indirect effect on the derepression/activation machinery. A similar transcription phenotype was observed at HUG1, another gene controlled by Crt1-Ssn6-Tup1 and the DNA damage checkpoint pathway (42). Like RNR3, the chromatin structure at HUG1 is dependent upon ISW2 (14). These results suggest that disruption of nucleosome positioning is insufficient to cause a high level of derepression of these DNA damage-inducible genes.
The Histone Deacetylase Hda1 Is Required for Full Repression of the DNA Damage-inducible GenesBecause one mechanism of Tup1-mediated repression involves the recruitment of histone deacetylases (HDACs), we explored a role for HDA1 in repression. Hda1 is a class II HDAC that interacts with Tup1 (18), and the global gene expression profiles of hda1 and tup1 mutants overlap considerably (43). Derepression of RNR3 by MMS treatment results in a 3-fold increase in the acetylation of lysines 9 and 14 of H3 (Fig. 2A, upper left) (40). We found that deleting HDA1 resulted in an increase in H3 acetylation to a level comparable to that of the induced condition (Fig. 2A, upper left), suggesting that Hda1 is required for deacetylating histone H3 at the RNR3 promoter. However, only slight, if any, increase in RNR3 transcription was observed in the hda1 mutant, as compared with that of MMS-treated cells (Fig. 2B, compare lanes 1, 3, and 9). A slightly higher level of derepression was observed at HUG1, about 3- to 4-fold, but this level was significantly below that of MMS-treated cells. Because certain HDACs may play a role in transcription activation (44, 45; and see below), it is a formal possibility that the failure to observe a high level of derepression in the hda1 cells results from the muting of transcription due to the positive effects of HDACs. However, data arguing against this are the robust MMS-induced increase in RNR3 and HUG1 transcription in the hda1 mutant (Fig. 2B, lane 11; and see below). To support the Northern blot data, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays to monitor the cross-linking of TBP and RNA polymerase II (Rpb1), to analyze preinitiation complex (PIC) formation. A 3- and 8-fold increase in TBP and Rpb1 cross-linking, respectively, was detected in MMS-treated versus untreated cells. In contrast, no significant change was detected in the hda1 mutant (Fig. 2A, bottom). Thus, mimicking histone H3 acetylation increases by this genetic strategy failed to activate the gene or cause PIC formation. We next examined if Tup1 is present at RNR3 in the hda1 mutant, and found that Tup1 cross-linking was not reduced, suggesting it is capable of repressing transcription though histone H3 acetylation is high.
Most, if not all, genes undergo both chromatin disruption and enhanced histone acetylation upon induction, and RNR3 is no exception (Figs. 1 and 2) (40). Thus, we wondered if simultaneously disrupting nucleosome positioning and increasing histone acetylation by deleting ISW2 and HDA1, respectively, would cause an enhanced level of derepression of RNR3 and HUG1. The level of derepression was compared in a double isw2/ hda1 mutant and the single mutants, and we found that the double mutant had higher levels of derepression than either of the single mutants. HUG1 was more sensitive to the mutations than RNR3, displaying a higher level of derepression. However, the levels of transcription were significantly below that of MMS-treated cells. This suggests that even though both ISW2 and HDA1 play a role in the repression of DNA damage-inducible genes, a significant level of repression remains when nucleosome positioning is disrupted and histone H3 is acetylated.
Next, we explored the role of RPD3 in the repression of RNR3 and HUG1. ISW2 collaborates with RPD3 in the repression of many genes in vivo, and a microarray analysis reports that RNR3 is up-regulated about 1.6-fold in a
Histone Acetylation Is Insufficient to Disrupt Chromatin Structure over RNR3Histone acetylation neutralizes positive charges on the histone tails and could weaken DNA-histone interactions, making the chromatin structure more permissive for transcription. It is unknown if increasing histone acetylation can itself disrupt chromatin structure, so we examined the chromatin structure of RNR3 in a
Because the
Role of Mediator Revealed by Altering Chromatin-mediated RepressionActivation of RNR3 correlates with a disruption in nucleosome positioning and an increase in histone acetylation, which were mimicked genetically by deleting ISW2 and HDA1, respectively. However, a significant level of repression of RNR3 and HUG1 remained in either mutant, or when the two mutations were combined. This result suggests that Ssn6-Tup1 represses these genes by one or more mechanisms in addition to nucleosome positioning and histone deacetylation. A possibility is repression through the Mediator. Thus, we examined the involvement of Mediator in the repression of RNR3 and HUG1. Mutants of Mediator components that have been proposed by others to be involved in Ssn6-Tup1 repression were analyzed (29, for review see Ref. 26). As shown in Fig. 3 (A and B), mutation of MED3, SIN4, CSE2, GAL11, NUT1, or SRB7 had little to no effect on the level of repression of RNR3 or HUG1. Only the On the other hand, consistent with their positive role in transcription and the requirement for Mediator as a whole for RNR3 expression (40), certain Mediator mutants caused defects in the induction of RNR3 and HUG1 by MMS (Fig. 3, A and B, lower panels). The defect was observed in only a subset of Mediator mutants, and interestingly, RNR3 and HUG1 responded differently even though they are both regulated by Crt1-Ssn6-Tup1. For instance, deletion of SRB10, SRB11, or CSE2 had little to no effect on the MMS-induced level of RNR3 mRNA, but a clear effect on HUG1.
The contributions of Mediator in repression could be masked by the chromatin-mediated mechanisms, such as histone deacetylation and nucleosome positioning. To better understand whether Mediator is indeed targeted by Ssn6-Tup1 in the regulation of DNA damage-inducible genes, we combined the Mediator mutations with
Because deletion of SRB10 had the strongest effect on the expression of RNR3 of all the Mediator mutations examined here, the chromatin structure over RNR3 promoter was mapped in
ISW2, Hda1, and Mediator Collaborate in Repression of the DNA Damage-inducible GenesAll of the double mutants examined thus far displayed levels of derepression significantly lower than that observed in MMS-treated cells or in a
Because derepression can be caused by a loss of Tup1 binding to promoters, we used the ChIP assay to verify that Tup1 remained at the promoters of RNR3 and HUG1 in the mutants. As reported previously (14), the cross-linking of Tup1 to RNR3 increased significantly in strains containing the isw2 mutation (Fig. 5A, left, bar 2). This was observed in all mutants containing a deletion of ISW2, such as isw2/hda1 and the triple mutants (Fig. 5A, left, bars 710). Surprisingly, deleting ISW2 did not increase the cross-linking of Tup1 to the HUG1 promoter (Fig. 5A, right, bar 2), or the RNR2 gene (data not shown), which are also regulated by Crt1-Ssn6-Tup1. Thus, the increased cross-linking of Tup1 to RNR3 in isw2 mutants is gene-specific. What accounts for the difference is not clear, although the different promoter structures at each locus could be a reason. The excessive recruitment of Tup1 might also explain why RNR3 was only partially derepressed in the triple mutants, whereas derepression of HUG1 was comparable to that of tup1 or DNA damage induction. The promoter-specific sensitivity of Tup1 cross-linking was not unique to ISW2 deletion. Deleting SRB10 reduced the cross-linking of Tup1 to RNR3 somewhat (about 30%), but was not obviously affected at HUG1 or RNR2 (Fig. 5A; and data not shown) (19). The reduction in Tup1 cross-linking to RNR3 in the srb10 single mutant was slight but clearer in the isw2 background where Tup1 cross-linking is elevated in the first place (Fig. 5A, left, bar 10). It needs to be pointed out that, in the isw2/hda1/srb10 mutation, which caused the strongest RNR3 transcription, Tup1 cross-linking is 2-fold above that in the wild type strain. Furthermore, in the other two Mediator mutants, med3 and sin4 did not affect Tup1 cross-linking to RNR3 or HUG1 (Fig. 5A), although they enhanced the transcription when combined with isw2 or hda1 mutations. The cross-linking data suggest that the increased transcription in the mutants was not due to the loss of Tup1 at the promoters, but rather resulted from compromised repression functions of the corepressor. Importantly, the presence of Tup1 at the promoter in the various mutants argues that the derepression observed in these mutants is not caused by indirect effects on the promoter, such as inducing a DNA damage signal, because Tup1 is released under such conditions (Figs. 2A and 5A) (14).
We next examined if the increase in RNR3 and HUG1 expression correlated with increased TBP recruitment. With few exceptions, the trend in the increase in gene expression in the mutants correlated with increased cross-linking of TBP to the promoters. The most striking example of this was observed at HUG1, which showed the strongest derepression in the mutants. For instance, the hda1/ isw2/ med3 mutant displayed the highest level of transcription, equal to that of MMS-treated cells, and had the strongest increase in TBP cross-linking (Fig. 5, B and C, right panel, compare bars 9 and 12). Likewise, derepression of RNR3 was partial in the triple mutants, and the level of TBP cross-linking to RNR3 in these strains was not as high as in fully induced cells (+MMS). Surprisingly, we observed an increase in TBP cross-linking to RNR3 and HUG1 in the sin4 mutant, even though no obvious derepression was observed. The cause of this is unknown, but this observation is consistent with genetic evidence that implies that SIN4 may negatively regulate the binding of TBP to the HO promoter (47, 48). With few exceptions the increase in TBP cross-linking correlates with the mRNA levels detected by Northern blot, both of which occur without a significant decrease in Tup1 cross-linking to the promoters. These results imply that Tup1 is not sufficient to block TBP recruitment, but it requires ISW2, HDA1, and Mediator to do so. Furthermore, because TBP occupancy largely mirrored that of transcription, it is unlikely that these mutants raised the level of mRNA by only affecting RNA stability or transcription elongation.
Redundant Repression Mechanisms Are Also Observed at Other Ssn6-Tup1-regulated GenesSsn6-Tup1 regulates genes controlled by multiple cellular pathways. To address if the redundancy of repression mechanisms is unique to DNA damage-inducible genes we examined the expression of additional Ssn6-Tup1 target genes. Similar to RNR3, nucleosomes are positioned at the anoxia gene ANB1 in a Tup1-dependent manner (11), and deletion of ISW2 disrupts its chromatin structure without affecting Tup1 cross-linking to the promoter (Ref. 14 and data not shown). We examined ANB1 mRNA levels in the panel of mutants and observed a similar derepression pattern to that of the DNA damage-inducible genes. The expression of ANB1 was not significantly affected by any single mutation of
In contrast to RNR3, HUG1, and ANB1, transcription of the flocculation gene FLO1 was strongly affected by single sin4 and srb10 mutations and was moderately affected in the cse2 mutant. Therefore, Mediator plays a more prominent role in the repression of FLO1. Derepression of FLO1 in the srb10 single mutant was almost 50% of that caused by TUP1 deletion (Fig. 6, A and B). Even though FLO1 was not as strongly derepressed in the isw2 or isw2/ hda1 mutants as in some Mediator mutants, the involvement of ISW2 and HDA1 was revealed, however, when combined with the Mediator mutations. The hda1 mutation strongly synergized with Mediator mutations, and the level of FLO1 message in the double Mediator/ hda1 mutants was increased to a level almost equal to that of a tup1 strain (Fig. 6B, compare lanes 6, 9, 4, and 7). Moreover, derepression was significantly enhanced when isw2 was combined with the Mediator mutation cse2 (Fig. 6B, lane 8).
Strikingly, the glucose repressed SUC2 gene was not reproducibly derepressed by any of the mutations tested (Fig. 6A; and data not shown). On the other hand,
Redundancy in Ssn6-Tup1-mediated RepressionThe debate over the function of the Ssn6-Tup1 complex has been ongoing for more than a decade. Multiple mechanisms/pathways have been proposed, each supported by experimental evidence generated from different reporter gene systems or target genes. Although it is generally accepted that Tup1 can repress through at least three separate pathways, Mediator interference, HDAC recruitment, and nucleosome positioning, it was not clear if each pathway was gene-specific or if multiple pathways are used at all genes in a redundant fashion. A clear analysis of the contributions of each repression pathway at a single locus has not been described. Using DNA damage-inducible genes as our primary model, we observe that progressively inactivating each of the three pathways genetically led to a corresponding increase in expression of RNR3 and HUG1. The most striking example is HUG1, where certain triple mutants displayed expression levels similar to MMS-treated cells or a tup1 mutant. Our results indicate that, not only are multiple mechanisms utilized by Ssn6-Tup1 for repression, but also they are utilized redundantly at multiple genes.
Another unanswered question is whether or not nucleosome positioning accounts for the ability of Tup1 to repress transcription or if it is a consequence of repression. A challenge to addressing this issue was separating the nucleosome positioning activity of Tup1 from the other repression mechanisms. Attempting to disrupt nucleosome positioning by mutating histone tails or deleting multiple HDACs simultaneously affects all Tup1 mechanisms, because these strategies lead to the loss of Tup1 binding to promoters (19). The use of the
Ssn6-Tup1 has been proposed to block TBP binding and preinitiation complex (PIC) assembly based on the observation that Ssn6-Tup1 repressed promoters are devoid of TBP and PIC components (30, 49). But it was not clear if Tup1 blocks PIC formation by direct interference or indirectly through its affects on chromatin and Mediator, or both. It is tempting to speculate that the nucleosome positioning ability of Tup1 is solely responsible for blocking TFIID recruitment, because a nucleosome prevents TBP from binding to TATA elements in vitro (50). However, Tup1 can repress transcription and block TBP binding when nucleosomes are disrupted over the promoter. The nucleosome over the TATA box of RNR3 is disrupted in the
Tup1 Utilizes Mediator in the Repression of Chromosomal GenesThe ability of Ssn6-Tup1 to directly interfere with the basal transcription machinery was implied by the repression of a presumably nucleosome-free reporter plasmid in vitro (24, 25). More evidence came from genetic approaches that showed mutations in Mediator subunits derepress Ssn6-Tup1-regulated reporter systems (for review see Refs. 2 and 26) and biochemical studies demonstrating direct interactions between Tup1 and Srb7, Med3, and Srb10 (2730). However, a genetic analysis of Mediator mutations revealed that mutating multiple Mediator components, even in combination, did not cause significant derepression of chromosomal Ssn6-Tup1-regulated genes (31). Most cases documenting derepression by Mediator mutations used promoter-lacZ reporter constructs, with few examples at natural genes (28, 29, 52). Thus the importance of Mediator in Ssn6-Tup1 repression at endogenous genes has not been resolved, and the artificial nature of the lacZ reporter systems could account for their sensitivity to Mediator mutations. For example, although the single Mediator mutations Our studies may explain why Mediator mutations have stronger effects on lacZ reporter constructs, but little to no effect on natural genes. We find that weakening the contributions of chromatin structure in repression renders native Ssn6-Tup1 target genes more sensitive to Mediator mutations. It is likely that on many promoters the chromatin-mediated repression pathway is sufficient to block transcription in the Mediator mutants. The chromatin structure of some artificial reporter genes may exist in a semi-permissive state, allowing the effects of Mediator mutations to be seen. Thus, we argue that Mediator components do play a role in the repression of chromosomal Ssn6-Tup1-regulated genes, but the effects can be masked by chromatin-dependent, or other, repression mechanisms. What is the significance of Mediator repression at DNA damage-inducible genes or ANB1 where the chromatin mechanism is dominant? The chromatin pathway may be dominant in maintaining repression, but perhaps the first step in establishing repression is the inhibition of Mediator. Tup1 can attenuate transcription and PIC formation via contacts with Mediator subunits to allow for the chromatin pathway to be established and provide a permanent, and stable form of repression.
Our results are seemingly in some disagreement with studies showing that
Gene-specific Responses to Tup1 Repression Mechanisms Tup1-regulated genes show unequal sensitivities to different mutations and inactivating different repression pathways. RNR3, HUG1, and ANB1 appear to be more sensitive to disrupting the chromatin-dependent pathways, and most of the derepression is observed in double
* This research was supported by funds provided by the National Institutes of Health Grant GM58672 and by an Established Investigator Grant from the American Heart Association (to J. C. R.). 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.
1 The abbreviations used are: HDAC, histone deacetylase; MNase, micrococcal nuclease; MMS, methyl methanesulfonate; ChIP, chromatin immunoprecipitation; TBP, TATA-binding protein; URS, upstream repression sequence; RNR, ribonucleotide reductase; DRE, DNA damage response element; Rpb1, RNA polymerase II; PIC, preinitiation complex.
2 V. M. Sharma and J. C. Reese, unpublished data.
We thank Drs. Robert Simpson, Jerry Workman, and Song Tan and members of the Reese laboratory and the Pennsylvania State gene regulation group for advice and comments on this work. Vishva M. Sharma is thanked for contributing strains used in this work.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Advertisement | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||