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Baird-Titus JM, Thapa M, Doerdelmann T, Combs KA, Rance M. Lysine Side-Chain Dynamics in the Binding Site of Homeodomain/DNA Complexes As Observed by NMR Relaxation Experiments and Molecular Dynamics Simulations. Biochemistry 2018; 57:2796-2813. [PMID: 29664630 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.8b00195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
An important but poorly characterized contribution to the thermodynamics of protein-DNA interactions is the loss of entropy that occurs from restricting the conformational freedom of amino acid side chains. The effect of restricting the flexibility of several side chains at a protein-DNA interface may be comparable in many cases to the other factors that determine the binding thermodynamics and may, therefore, play a key role in dictating the binding affinity and/or specificity. Because the entropic contributions, including the presence and influence of side-chain dynamics, are especially difficult to estimate based on structural information, it is important to pursue experimental and theoretical studies that can provide direct information regarding these issues. We report on studies of a model system, the homeodomain/DNA complex, focusing on the Lys50 class of homeodomains where a key lysine residue in position 50 was shown previously to be critical for binding site specificity. NMR methodology was employed for determining the dynamics of lysine side-chain amino groups via 15N relaxation measurements in the Lys50-class homeodomains from the Drosophila protein Bicoid and the human protein Pitx2. In the case of Pitx2, complexes with both a consensus and a nonconsensus DNA binding site were examined. NMR-derived order parameters indicated moderate to substantial conformational freedom for the lysine NH3+ group in the complexes studied. To complement the experimental NMR measurements, molecular dynamics simulations were performed for the consensus complexes to gain further, detailed insights regarding the dynamics of the Lys50 side chain and other important residues in the protein-DNA interface.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie M Baird-Titus
- Department of Chemistry and Physical Sciences , Mount St. Joseph University , Cincinnati , Ohio 45233 , United States
| | - Mahendra Thapa
- Department of Physics , University of Cincinnati , Cincinnati , Ohio 45220 , United States
| | - Thomas Doerdelmann
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry and Microbiology , University of Cincinnati College of Medicine , Cincinnati , Ohio 45267 , United States
| | - Kelly A Combs
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry and Microbiology , University of Cincinnati College of Medicine , Cincinnati , Ohio 45267 , United States
| | - Mark Rance
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry and Microbiology , University of Cincinnati College of Medicine , Cincinnati , Ohio 45267 , United States
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Weirauch MT, Yang A, Albu M, Cote AG, Montenegro-Montero A, Drewe P, Najafabadi HS, Lambert SA, Mann I, Cook K, Zheng H, Goity A, van Bakel H, Lozano JC, Galli M, Lewsey MG, Huang E, Mukherjee T, Chen X, Reece-Hoyes JS, Govindarajan S, Shaulsky G, Walhout AJM, Bouget FY, Ratsch G, Larrondo LF, Ecker JR, Hughes TR. Determination and inference of eukaryotic transcription factor sequence specificity. Cell 2014; 158:1431-1443. [PMID: 25215497 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2014.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1139] [Impact Index Per Article: 113.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2014] [Revised: 04/03/2014] [Accepted: 08/06/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Transcription factor (TF) DNA sequence preferences direct their regulatory activity, but are currently known for only ∼1% of eukaryotic TFs. Broadly sampling DNA-binding domain (DBD) types from multiple eukaryotic clades, we determined DNA sequence preferences for >1,000 TFs encompassing 54 different DBD classes from 131 diverse eukaryotes. We find that closely related DBDs almost always have very similar DNA sequence preferences, enabling inference of motifs for ∼34% of the ∼170,000 known or predicted eukaryotic TFs. Sequences matching both measured and inferred motifs are enriched in chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) peaks and upstream of transcription start sites in diverse eukaryotic lineages. SNPs defining expression quantitative trait loci in Arabidopsis promoters are also enriched for predicted TF binding sites. Importantly, our motif "library" can be used to identify specific TFs whose binding may be altered by human disease risk alleles. These data present a powerful resource for mapping transcriptional networks across eukaryotes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew T Weirauch
- Center for Autoimmune Genomics and Etiology (CAGE) and Divisions of Biomedical Informatics and Developmental Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA; Banting and Best Department of Medical Research and Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5S 3E1, Canada
| | - Ally Yang
- Banting and Best Department of Medical Research and Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5S 3E1, Canada
| | - Mihai Albu
- Banting and Best Department of Medical Research and Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5S 3E1, Canada
| | - Atina G Cote
- Banting and Best Department of Medical Research and Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5S 3E1, Canada
| | - Alejandro Montenegro-Montero
- Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile
| | - Philipp Drewe
- Computational Biology Center, Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Hamed S Najafabadi
- Banting and Best Department of Medical Research and Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5S 3E1, Canada
| | - Samuel A Lambert
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5S 1A8, Canada
| | - Ishminder Mann
- Banting and Best Department of Medical Research and Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5S 3E1, Canada
| | - Kate Cook
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5S 1A8, Canada
| | - Hong Zheng
- Banting and Best Department of Medical Research and Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5S 3E1, Canada
| | - Alejandra Goity
- Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile
| | - Harm van Bakel
- Banting and Best Department of Medical Research and Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5S 3E1, Canada; Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, NY 10029, USA
| | - Jean-Claude Lozano
- Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS UMR 7621, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Océanographie Microbienne, Observatoire Océanologique, F-66650 Banyuls/mer, France
| | - Mary Galli
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Mathew G Lewsey
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; Plant Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Eryong Huang
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Tuhin Mukherjee
- Department of Electronic and Computing Systems, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
| | - Xiaoting Chen
- Department of Electronic and Computing Systems, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
| | - John S Reece-Hoyes
- Program in Systems Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655, USA
| | | | - Gad Shaulsky
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Albertha J M Walhout
- Program in Systems Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655, USA
| | - François-Yves Bouget
- Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS UMR 7621, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Océanographie Microbienne, Observatoire Océanologique, F-66650 Banyuls/mer, France
| | - Gunnar Ratsch
- Computational Biology Center, Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Luis F Larrondo
- Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile
| | - Joseph R Ecker
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; Plant Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Timothy R Hughes
- Banting and Best Department of Medical Research and Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5S 3E1, Canada; Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5S 1A8, Canada.
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Baird-Titus JM, Clark-Baldwin K, Dave V, Caperelli CA, Ma J, Rance M. The solution structure of the native K50 Bicoid homeodomain bound to the consensus TAATCC DNA-binding site. J Mol Biol 2005; 356:1137-51. [PMID: 16406070 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2005.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2005] [Revised: 11/30/2005] [Accepted: 12/02/2005] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The solution structure of the homeodomain of the Drosophila morphogenic protein Bicoid (Bcd) complexed with a TAATCC DNA site is described. Bicoid is the only known protein that uses a homeodomain to regulate translation, as well as transcription, by binding to both RNA and DNA during early Drosophila development; in addition, the Bcd homeodomain can recognize an array of different DNA sites. The dual functionality and broad recognition capabilities signify that the Bcd homeodomain may possess unique structural/dynamic properties. Bicoid is the founding member of the K50 class of homeodomain proteins, containing a lysine residue at the critical 50th position (K50) of the homeodomain sequence, a residue required for DNA and RNA recognition; Bcd also has an arginine residue at the 54th position (R54), which is essential for RNA recognition. Bcd is the only known homeodomain with the K50/R54 combination of residues. The Bcd structure indicates that this homeodomain conforms to the conserved topology of the homeodomain motif, but exhibits a significant variation from other homeodomain structures at the end of helix 1. A key result is the observation that the side-chains of the DNA-contacting residues K50, N51 and R54 all show strong signs of flexibility in the protein-DNA interface. This finding is supportive of the adaptive-recognition theory of protein-DNA interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie M Baird-Titus
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry, and Microbiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Medical Sciences Building, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0524, USA
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Nagaraj VH, O'Flanagan RA, Bruning AR, Mathias JR, Vershon AK, Sengupta AM. Combined analysis of expression data and transcription factor binding sites in the yeast genome. BMC Genomics 2004; 5:59. [PMID: 15331021 PMCID: PMC517709 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-5-59] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2004] [Accepted: 08/26/2004] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The analysis of gene expression using DNA microarrays provides genome wide profiles of the genes controlled by the presence or absence of a specific transcription factor. However, the question arises of whether a change in the level of transcription of a specific gene is caused by the transcription factor acting directly at the promoter of the gene or through regulation of other transcription factors working at the promoter. RESULTS To address this problem we have devised a computational method that combines microarray expression and site preference data. We have tested this approach by identifying functional targets of the a1-alpha2 complex, which represses haploid-specific genes in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our analysis identified many known or suspected haploid-specific genes that are direct targets of the a1-alpha2 complex, as well as a number of previously uncharacterized targets. We were also able to identify a number of haploid-specific genes which do not appear to be direct targets of the a1-alpha2 complex, as well as a1-alpha2 target sites that do not repress transcription of nearby genes. Our method has a much lower false positive rate when compared to some of the conventional bioinformatic approaches. CONCLUSIONS These findings show advantages of combining these two forms of data to investigate the mechanism of co-regulation of specific sets of genes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ruadhan A O'Flanagan
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Adrian R Bruning
- Waksman Institute and Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Jonathan R Mathias
- Waksman Institute and Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
- Medical Sciences Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Andrew K Vershon
- Waksman Institute and Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Anirvan M Sengupta
- BioMaPS Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
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Woda JM, Pastagia J, Mercola M, Artinger KB. Dlx proteins position the neural plate border and determine adjacent cell fates. Development 2003; 130:331-42. [PMID: 12466200 PMCID: PMC4018238 DOI: 10.1242/dev.00212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
The lateral border of the neural plate is a major source of signals that induce primary neurons, neural crest cells and cranial placodes as well as provide patterning cues to mesodermal structures such as somites and heart. Whereas secreted BMP, FGF and Wnt proteins influence the differentiation of neural and non-neural ectoderm, we show here that members of the Dlx family of transcription factors position the border between neural and non-neural ectoderm and are required for the specification of adjacent cell fates. Inhibition of endogenous Dlx activity in Xenopus embryos with an EnR-Dlx homeodomain fusion protein expands the neural plate into non-neural ectoderm tissue whereas ectopic activation of Dlx target genes inhibits neural plate differentiation. Importantly, the stereotypic pattern of border cell fates in the adjacent ectoderm is re-established only under conditions where the expanded neural plate abuts Dlx-positive non-neural ectoderm. Experiments in which presumptive neural plate was grafted to ventral ectoderm reiterate induction of neural crest and placodal lineages and also demonstrate that Dlx activity is required in non-neural ectoderm for the production of signals needed for induction of these cells. We propose that Dlx proteins regulate intercellular signaling across the interface between neural and non-neural ectoderm that is critical for inducing and patterning adjacent cell fates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliana M. Woda
- Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Julie Pastagia
- Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Oral Biology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Mark Mercola
- Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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Hart B, Mathias JR, Ott D, McNaughton L, Anderson JS, Vershon AK, Baxter SM. Engineered improvements in DNA-binding function of the MATa1 homeodomain reveal structural changes involved in combinatorial control. J Mol Biol 2002; 316:247-56. [PMID: 11851335 DOI: 10.1006/jmbi.2001.5333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
We have engineered enhanced DNA-binding function into the a1 homeodomain by making changes in a loop distant from the DNA-binding surface. Comparison of the free and bound a1 structures suggested a mechanism linking van der Waals stacking changes in this loop to the ordering of a final turn in the DNA-binding helix of a1. Inspection of the protein sequence revealed striking differences in amino acid identity at positions 24 and 25 compared to related homeodomain proteins. These positions lie in the loop connecting helix-1 and helix-2, which is involved in heterodimerization with the alpha 2 protein. A series of single and double amino acid substitutions (a1-Q24R, a1-S25Y, a1-S25F and a1-Q24R/S25Y) were engineered, expressed and purified for biochemical and biophysical study. Calorimetric measurements and HSQC NMR spectra confirm that the engineered variants are folded and are equally or more stable than the wild-type a1 homeodomain. NMR analysis of a1-Q24R/S25Y demonstrates that the DNA recognition helix (helix-3) is extended by at least one turn as a result of the changes in the loop connecting helix-1 and helix-2. As shown by EMSA, the engineered variants bind DNA with enhanced affinity (16-fold) in the absence of the alpha 2 cofactor and the variant alpha 2/a1 heterodimers bind cognate DNA with specificity and affinity reflective of the enhanced a1 binding affinity. Importantly, in vivo assays demonstrate that the a1-Q24R/S25Y protein binds with fivefold greater affinity than wild-type a1 and is able to partially suppress defects in repression by alpha 2 mutants. As a result of these studies, we show how subtle differences in residues at a surface distant from the functional site code for a conformational switch that allows the a1 homeodomain to become active in DNA binding in association with its cofactor alpha 2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beverly Hart
- Wadsworth Center, NY State Department of Health, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12201-0509, USA
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