TATA box-mediated in vitro transcription by RNA polymerase III. Evidence for TATA-binding protein in a polymerase III type complex

hTFIIIB-beta stably binds to pol II promoters and recruits RNA polymerase III in a hTFIIIC1 dependent way

It has been shown that under specific conditions, transcription of protein coding genes can be efficiently initiated by RNA polymerase (pol) III in vitro. We examined the formation and composition of such pol III transcription complexes on the duck histone H5 and alphaA-globin promoters and found that the essential step for the formation of pol III transcription complexes on these pol II promoters was the stable binding of transcription factor (TF) IIIB-beta. For this process, the intact TFIIIB-beta complex, consisting of TBP and associated factors (TAFs) was needed and the prior association of pol III assembly factors was not necessary. We demonstrate for the first time that hTFIIIB-beta alone is able to bind to pol II promoter DNA. This resulted in a very stable complex which was resistant to high concentrations of heparin. Although immunodepletion revealed that TBP is essentially required for complex formation, other components of hTFIIIB-beta must also be involved, since TBP itself is unable to form heparin-resistant complexes and does not mediate pol III commitment per se. pol III is recruited to these pol II promoters in a strictly TFIIIC1 dependent way. After binding of TFIIIB-beta, the addition of TFIIIC1 and pol III were sufficient to yield productive pol III transcription complexes, which utilized the correct pol II initiation site. From these findings, we postulate that TFIIIC1 is involved in the recruitment of pol III and may thus form a bridge between TFIIIB-beta and the enzyme. This finding provides the first evidence for functional contacts between TFIIIC1 and pol III, which could be of general importance for the assembly of pol III transcription complexes.

The symmetry of the yeast U6 RNA gene's TATA box and the orientation of the TATA-binding protein in yeast TFIIIB

The central RNA polymerase III (Pol III) transcription factor TFIIIB is composed of the TATA-binding protein (TBP), Brf, a protein related to TFIIB, and the product of the newly cloned TFC5 gene. TFIIIB assembles autonomously on the upstream promoter of the yeast U6 snRNA (SNR6) gene in vitro, through the interaction of its TBP subunit with a consensus TATA box located at base pair -30. As both the DNA-binding domain of TBP and the U6 TATA box are nearly twofold symmetrical, we have examined how the binding polarity of TFIIIB is determined. We find that TFIIIB can bind to the U6 promoter in both directions, that TBP is unable to discern the natural polarity of the TATA element and that, as a consequence, the U6 TATA box is functionally symmetrical. A modest preference for TFIIIB binding in the natural direction of the U6 promoter is instead dictated by flanking DNA. Because the assembly of TFIIIB on the yeast U6 gene in vivo occurs via a TFIIIC-dependent mechanism, we investigated the influence of TFIIIC on the binding polarity of TFIIIB. TFIIIC places TFIIIB on the promoter in one direction only; thus, it is TFIIIC that primarily specifies the direction of transcription. Experiments using TFIIIB reconstituted with the altered DNA specificity mutant TBPm3 demonstrate that in the TFIIIB-U6 promoter complex, the carboxy-terminal repeat of TBP contacts the upstream half of the TATA box. This orientation of yeast TBP in Pol III promoter-bound TFIIIB is the same as in Pol II promoter-bound TFIID and in TBP-DNA complexes that have been analyzed by X-ray crystallography.

Characterization of a nuclear protein that interacts with regulatory elements in the human B creatine kinase gene

The B creatine kinase gene is regulated by an array of positive and negative cis-elements in the 5'-flanking DNA that function in both muscle and nonmuscle cells. In C2C12 myogenic cells M and B creatine kinase mRNAs are coordinately up-regulated in the early stages of myogenesis and then undergo distinct regulatory programs. The B creatine kinase gene is down-regulated in the late stages of myogenesis as M creatine kinase becomes the predominant species in mature myotubes. Sequences between -92 and +80 of the B creatine kinase gene confer a regulated pattern of expression to chimeric plasmids that closely resembles the time-course of expression of the endogenous B creatine kinase gene in C2C12 cells undergoing differentiation. We show that sequences within the first exon of the B creatine kinase gene are important for the development regulation of the gene in C2C12 cells and that these sequences bind a nuclear protein that shows a similar tissue-specific distribution and developmentally regulated expression to that of the endogenous B creatine kinase gene.

Gene expression: surprises from the class III side

Those genes which are transcribed by RNA polymerase III continue to give surprising results with respect to their cis-acting elements and transacting factors. As a result, a broader view of class III promoters has emerged and the internal promoters are not universal in classical polymerase III genes. The involvement of TFIID, TFIIA, a factor homologous to TFIIB and an RNA factor in class III gene transcription has further changed our thinking in regards to the mechanisms of transcription.