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Watanabe T, Kimura Y, Umeno D. MetJ-Based Mutually Interfering SAM-ON/SAM-OFF Biosensors. ACS Synth Biol 2024; 13:624-633. [PMID: 38286030 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.3c00621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2024]
Abstract
SAM (S-adenosylmethionine) is an important metabolite that operates as a major donor of methyl groups and is a controller of various physiological processes. Its availability is also believed to be a major bottleneck in the biological production of numerous high-value metabolites. Here, we constructed SAM-sensing systems using MetJ, an SAM-dependent transcriptional regulator, as a core component. SAM is a corepressor of MetJ, which suppresses the MetJ promoter with an increasing cellular concentration of SAM (SAM-OFF sensor). The application of transcriptional interference and evolutionary tuning effectively inverted its response, yielding a SAM-ON sensor (signal increases with increasing SAM concentration). By linking two genes encoding fluorescent protein reporters in such a way that their transcription events interfere with each other's and by placing one of them under the control of MetJ, we could increase the effective signal-to-noise ratio of the SAM sensor while decreasing the batch-to-batch deviation in signal output, likely by canceling out the growth-associated fluctuation in translational resources. By taking the ratio of SAM-ON/SAM-OFF signals and by resetting the default pool size of SAM, we could rapidly identify SAM synthetase (MetK) mutants with increased cellular activity from a random library. The strategy described herein should be widely applicable for identifying activity mutants, which would be otherwise overlooked because of the strong homeostasis of metabolic networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taro Watanabe
- Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Ohkubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
- Kirin Central Research Institute, Kirin Holdings Company, Limited, 2-26-1, Muraoka-Higashi, Fujisawa 251-8555, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Yuki Kimura
- Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Ohkubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
| | - Daisuke Umeno
- Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Ohkubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
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2
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Structural basis of transcriptional regulation by a nascent RNA element, HK022 putRNA. Nat Commun 2022; 13:4668. [PMID: 35970830 PMCID: PMC9378689 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32315-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Transcription, in which RNA polymerases (RNAPs) produce RNA from DNA, is the first step of gene expression. As such, it is highly regulated either by trans-elements like protein factors and/or by cis-elements like specific sequences on the DNA. Lambdoid phage HK022 contains a cis-element, put, which suppresses pausing and termination during transcription of the early phage genes. The putRNA transcript solely performs the anti-pausing/termination activities by interacting directly with the E.coli RNAP elongation complex (EC) by an unknown structural mechanism. In this study, we reconstituted putRNA-associated ECs and determined the structures using cryo-electron microscopy. The determined structures of putRNA-associated EC, putRNA-absent EC, and σ70-bound EC suggest that the putRNA interaction with the EC counteracts swiveling, a conformational change previously identified to promote pausing and σ70 might modulate putRNA folding via σ70-dependent pausing during elongation.
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3
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Falgenhauer E, Mückl A, Schwarz-Schilling M, Simmel FC. Transcriptional Interference in Toehold Switch-Based RNA Circuits. ACS Synth Biol 2022; 11:1735-1745. [PMID: 35412304 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Gene regulation based on regulatory RNA is an important mechanism in cells and is increasingly used for regulatory circuits in synthetic biology. Toehold switches are rationally designed post-transcriptional riboregulators placed in the 5' untranslated region of mRNA molecules. In the inactive state of a toehold switch, the ribosome-binding site is inaccessible to the ribosome. In the presence of a trigger RNA molecule, protein production is turned on. Using antisense RNA against trigger molecules (antitrigger RNA), gene expression can also be switched off again. We here study the utility of antisense transcription in this context, which enables a particularly compact circuit design. Our circuits utilize two inducible promoters that separately regulate trigger and antitrigger transcription, whereas their cognate toehold switch, regulating the expression of a reporter protein, is transcribed from a constitutive promoter. We explore various design options for the arrangement of the promoters and demonstrate that the resulting dynamic behavior is influenced by transcriptional interference (TI) effects depending on the promoter distance. Our experimental results are consistent with previous findings that enhanced local RNA polymerase concentrations due to active promoters in close proximity lead to an increase in transcriptional activity of the strongest promoter in the circuits. We observed that the range of this effect is larger when the participating promoters are stronger. Based on this insight, we combined two promoter arrangements for the realization of a genetic circuit comprised of two toehold switches, two triggers, and two antitriggers that function as a two-input two-output logic gate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabeth Falgenhauer
- Physics Department - E14 and ZNN/WSI, TU Munich, Am Coulombwall 4a, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Andrea Mückl
- Physics Department - E14 and ZNN/WSI, TU Munich, Am Coulombwall 4a, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | | | - Friedrich C. Simmel
- Physics Department - E14 and ZNN/WSI, TU Munich, Am Coulombwall 4a, 85748 Garching, Germany
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4
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James S, Jain V. A positive Selection Escherichia Coli Recombinant Protein Expression Vector for One-Step Cloning. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2022; 9:776828. [PMID: 35047486 PMCID: PMC8761972 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2021.776828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 12/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We introduce OLIVAR ( O rientation se L ection of I nsert in V ector through A ntisense R eporter) as a novel selection strategy for the insertion of protein-coding genes into vector backbones. As a proof-of-concept, we have engineered a plasmid vector, pGRASS ( G reen fluorescent protein R eporter from A ntisense promoter-based S creening S ystem), for gene cloning in E. coli. With pGRASS, positive clones can be effortlessly distinguished from negative clones after blunt-end cloning. The vector not only screens clones with an insert but also for its correct orientation. The design further allows for the expression of recombinant protein from the T7 promoter in an appropriate host bacterium. With this vector, we are able to reduce the entire cloning workflow into a single step involving a 2-h reaction at room temperature. We believe that our cloning-cum-screening system presented here is extremely cost-effective and straightforward and can be applied to other vector systems and domains such as phage display and library construction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shinto James
- Microbiology and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal, India
| | - Vikas Jain
- Microbiology and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal, India
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5
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O’Connor NJ, Bordoy AE, Chatterjee A. Engineering Transcriptional Interference through RNA Polymerase Processivity Control. ACS Synth Biol 2021; 10:737-748. [PMID: 33710852 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Antisense transcription is widespread in all kingdoms of life and has been shown to influence gene expression through transcriptional interference (TI), a phenomenon in which one transcriptional process negatively influences another in cis. The processivity, or uninterrupted transcription, of an RNA polymerase (RNAP) is closely tied to levels of antisense transcription in bacterial genomes, but its influence on TI, while likely important, is not well-characterized. Here, we show that TI can be tuned through processivity control via three distinct antitermination strategies: the antibiotic bicyclomycin, phage protein Psu, and ribosome-RNAP coupling. We apply these methods toward TI and tune ribosome-RNAP coupling to produce 38-fold transcription-level gene repression due to both RNAP collisions and antisense RNA interference. We then couple protein roadblock and TI to design minimal genetic NAND and NOR logic gates. Together, these results show the importance of processivity control for strong TI and demonstrate TI's potential for synthetic biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nolan J. O’Connor
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80303, United States
| | - Antoni E. Bordoy
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80303, United States
| | - Anushree Chatterjee
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80303, United States
- Antimicrobial Regeneration Consortium, Boulder, Colorado 80301, United States
- Sachi Bioworks, Inc., Boulder, Colorado 80301, United States
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6
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Tominaga M, Nozaki K, Umeno D, Ishii J, Kondo A. Robust and flexible platform for directed evolution of yeast genetic switches. Nat Commun 2021; 12:1846. [PMID: 33758180 PMCID: PMC7988172 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22134-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2019] [Accepted: 02/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
A wide repertoire of genetic switches has accelerated prokaryotic synthetic biology, while eukaryotic synthetic biology has lagged in the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Eukaryotic genetic switches are larger and more complex than prokaryotic ones, complicating the rational design and evolution of them. Here, we present a robust workflow for the creation and evolution of yeast genetic switches. The selector system was designed so that both ON- and OFF-state selection of genetic switches is completed solely by liquid handling, and it enabled parallel screen/selection of different motifs with different selection conditions. Because selection threshold of both ON- and OFF-state selection can be flexibly tuned, the desired selection conditions can be rapidly pinned down for individual directed evolution experiments without a prior knowledge either on the library population. The system's utility was demonstrated using 20 independent directed evolution experiments, yielding genetic switches with elevated inducer sensitivities, inverted switching behaviours, sensory functions, and improved signal-to-noise ratio (>100-fold induction). The resulting yeast genetic switches were readily integrated, in a plug-and-play manner, into an AND-gated carotenoid biosynthesis pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masahiro Tominaga
- grid.31432.370000 0001 1092 3077Graduate School of Science, Technology and Innovation, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan
| | - Kenta Nozaki
- grid.31432.370000 0001 1092 3077Graduate School of Science, Technology and Innovation, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan
| | - Daisuke Umeno
- grid.136304.30000 0004 0370 1101Department of Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan
| | - Jun Ishii
- grid.31432.370000 0001 1092 3077Graduate School of Science, Technology and Innovation, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan ,grid.31432.370000 0001 1092 3077Engineering Biology Research Center, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan
| | - Akihiko Kondo
- grid.31432.370000 0001 1092 3077Graduate School of Science, Technology and Innovation, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan ,grid.31432.370000 0001 1092 3077Engineering Biology Research Center, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan ,grid.31432.370000 0001 1092 3077Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan ,grid.7597.c0000000094465255Center for Sustainable Resource Science, RIKEN, Yokohama, Japan
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7
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Synthetic gene-regulatory networks in the opportunistic human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:27608-27619. [PMID: 33087560 PMCID: PMC7959565 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1920015117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major human pathogen responsible for enormous global morbidity and mortality. Despite this, the pneumococcus makes up part of the commensal nasopharyngeal flora. How the pneumococcus switches from this commensal to pathogenic state and causes disease is unclear and very likely involves variability in expression of its virulence factors. Here, we used synthetic biology approaches to generate complex gene-regulatory networks such as logic gates and toggle switches. We show that these networks are functional in vivo to control capsule production in an influenza-superinfection model. This opens the field of systematically testing the role of phenotypic variation in pneumococcal virulence. The approaches used here may serve as an example for synthetic biology projects in unrelated organisms. Streptococcus pneumoniae can cause disease in various human tissues and organs, including the ear, the brain, the blood, and the lung, and thus in highly diverse and dynamic environments. It is challenging to study how pneumococci control virulence factor expression, because cues of natural environments and the presence of an immune system are difficult to simulate in vitro. Here, we apply synthetic biology methods to reverse-engineer gene expression control in S. pneumoniae. A selection platform is described that allows for straightforward identification of transcriptional regulatory elements out of combinatorial libraries. We present TetR- and LacI-regulated promoters that show expression ranges of four orders of magnitude. Based on these promoters, regulatory networks of higher complexity are assembled, such as logic AND gates and IMPLY gates. We demonstrate single-copy genome-integrated toggle switches that give rise to bimodal population distributions. The tools described here can be used to mimic complex expression patterns, such as the ones found for pneumococcal virulence factors. Indeed, we were able to rewire gene expression of the capsule operon, the main pneumococcal virulence factor, to be externally inducible (YES gate) or to act as an IMPLY gate (only expressed in absence of inducer). Importantly, we demonstrate that these synthetic gene-regulatory networks are functional in an influenza A virus superinfection murine model of pneumonia, paving the way for in vivo investigations of the importance of gene expression control on the pathogenicity of S. pneumoniae.
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8
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Krylov AA, Shapovalova VV, Miticheva EA, Shupletsov MS, Mashko SV. Universal Actuator for Efficient Silencing of Escherichia coli Genes Based on Convergent Transcription Resistant to Rho-Dependent Termination. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:1650-1664. [PMID: 32442368 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.9b00463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Dynamic control is a distinguished strategy in modern metabolic engineering, in which inducible convergent transcription is an attractive approach for conditional gene silencing. Instead of a simple strong "reverse" (r-) promoter, a three-component actuator has been developed for constitutive genes silencing. These actuators, consisting of r-promoters with different strengths, the ribosomal transcription antitermination-inducing sequence rrnG-AT, and the RNase III processing site, were inserted into the 3'-UTR of three E. coli metabolic genes. Second and third actuator components were important to improve the effectiveness and robustness of the approach. The maximal silencing folds achieved for gltA, pgi, and ppc were approximately 7, 11, and >100, respectively. Data were analyzed using a simple model that considered RNA polymerase (RNAP) head-on collisions as the unique reason for gene silencing and continued transcription after collision with only one of two molecules. It was previously established that forward (f-) RNAP with a trailing ribosome was approximately 13-times more likely to continue transcription after head-on collision than untrailed r-RNAP which is sensitive to Rho-dependent transcription termination (RhoTT). According to the current results, this bias in complex stabilities decreased to no more than (3.0-5.7)-fold if r-RNAP became resistant to RhoTT. Therefore, the developed constitutive actuator could be considered as an improved tool for controlled gene expression mainly due to the transfer of r-transcription into a state that is resistant to potential termination and used as the basis for the design of tightly regulated actuators for the achievement of conditional silencing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander A. Krylov
- Ajinomoto-Genetika Research Institute, 1st Dorozhny pr., 1-1, Moscow, 117545, Russian Federation
| | - Valeriya V. Shapovalova
- Ajinomoto-Genetika Research Institute, 1st Dorozhny pr., 1-1, Moscow, 117545, Russian Federation
| | - Elizaveta A. Miticheva
- Faculty of Biotechnology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskiye Gory, 1-51, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
| | - Mikhail S. Shupletsov
- Ajinomoto-Genetika Research Institute, 1st Dorozhny pr., 1-1, Moscow, 117545, Russian Federation
- Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskiye Gory, 1-52, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
| | - Sergey V. Mashko
- Ajinomoto-Genetika Research Institute, 1st Dorozhny pr., 1-1, Moscow, 117545, Russian Federation
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskiye Gory, 1-12, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
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9
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Magán A, Amman F, El-Isa F, Hartl N, Shamovsky I, Nudler E, Schroeder R, Sedlyarova N. iRAPs curb antisense transcription in E. coli. Nucleic Acids Res 2019; 47:10894-10905. [PMID: 31535128 PMCID: PMC6847712 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkz791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2019] [Revised: 09/03/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
RNA polymerase-binding RNA aptamers (RAPs) are natural RNA elements that control transcription in cis by directly contacting RNA polymerase. Many RAPs inhibit transcription by inducing Rho-dependent termination in Escherichia coli. Here, we studied the role of inhibitory RAPs (iRAPs) in modulation of antisense transcription (AT) using in silico and in vivo approaches. We revisited the antisense transcriptome in cells with impaired AT regulators (Rho, H-NS and RNaseIII) and searched for the presence of RAPs within antisense RNAs. Many of these RAPs were found at key genomic positions where they terminate AT. By exploring the activity of several RAPs both in a reporter system and in their natural genomic context, we confirmed their significant role in AT regulation. RAPs coordinate Rho activity at the antisense strand and terminate antisense transcripts. In some cases, they stimulated sense expression by alleviating ongoing transcriptional interference. Essentially, our data postulate RAPs as key determinants of Rho-mediated AT regulation in E. coli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrés Magán
- Department of Biochemistry and Cell biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Vienna 1030, Austria
| | - Fabian Amman
- Department of Biochemistry and Cell biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Vienna 1030, Austria
- Institute for Theoretical Chemistry, University of Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria
| | - Fatinah El-Isa
- Department of Biochemistry and Cell biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Vienna 1030, Austria
| | - Natascha Hartl
- Department of Biochemistry and Cell biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Vienna 1030, Austria
| | - Ilya Shamovsky
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Evgeny Nudler
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Renée Schroeder
- Department of Biochemistry and Cell biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Vienna 1030, Austria
| | - Nadezda Sedlyarova
- Department of Biochemistry and Cell biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Vienna 1030, Austria
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10
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Bordoy AE, O’Connor NJ, Chatterjee A. Construction of Two-Input Logic Gates Using Transcriptional Interference. ACS Synth Biol 2019; 8:2428-2441. [PMID: 31532632 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.9b00321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Transcriptional interference (TI) has been shown to regulate gene expression at the DNA level via different molecular mechanisms. The obstacles present on the DNA that a transcribing RNA polymerase might encounter, for example, a DNA-bound protein or another RNA polymerase, can result in TI causing termination of transcription, thus reducing gene expression. However, the potential of TI as a new strategy to engineer complex gene expression modules has not been fully explored yet. Here we created a series of two-input genetic devices that use the presence of a roadblocking protein to control gene expression and analyzed their behaviors using both experimental and mathematical modeling approaches. We explored how multiple characteristics affect the response of genetic devices engineered to act like either AND, OR, or single input logic gates. We show that the dissociation constant of the roadblocking protein, inducer activation of promoter and operator sites, and distance between tandem promoters tune gate behavior. This work highlights the potential of rationally creating different types of genetic responses using the same transcription factors in subtly different genetic architectures.
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11
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Hoffmann SA, Hao N, Shearwin KE, Arndt KM. Characterizing Transcriptional Interference between Converging Genes in Bacteria. ACS Synth Biol 2019; 8:466-473. [PMID: 30717589 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.8b00477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Antisense transcription is common in naturally occurring genomes and is increasingly being used in synthetic genetic circuitry as a tool for gene expression control. Mutual influence on the expression of convergent genes can be mediated by antisense RNA effects and by transcriptional interference (TI). We aimed to quantitatively characterize long-range TI between convergent genes with untranslated intergenic spacers of increasing length. After controlling for antisense RNA-mediated effects, which contributed about half of the observed total expression inhibition, the TI effect was modeled. To achieve model convergence, RNA polymerase processivity and collision resistance were assumed to be modulated by ribosome trailing. The spontaneous transcription termination rate in regions of untranslated DNA was experimentally determined. Our modeling suggests that an elongating RNA polymerase with a trailing ribosome is about 13 times more likely to resume transcription than an opposing RNA polymerase without a trailing ribosome, upon head-on collision of the two.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan A Hoffmann
- Molecular Biotechnology, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology , University of Potsdam , Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 24-25 , 14476 Potsdam-Golm , Germany
| | - Nan Hao
- Discipline of Biochemistry, Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science, School of Biological Sciences , The University of Adelaide , Adelaide , South Australia 5005 , Australia
- CSIRO Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform , GPO Box 1700, Canberra , Australian Capital Territory 2601 , Australia
| | - Keith E Shearwin
- Discipline of Biochemistry, Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science, School of Biological Sciences , The University of Adelaide , Adelaide , South Australia 5005 , Australia
| | - Katja M Arndt
- Molecular Biotechnology, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology , University of Potsdam , Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 24-25 , 14476 Potsdam-Golm , Germany
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12
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Chia M, Tresenrider A, Chen J, Spedale G, Jorgensen V, Ünal E, van Werven FJ. Transcription of a 5' extended mRNA isoform directs dynamic chromatin changes and interference of a downstream promoter. eLife 2017; 6:e27420. [PMID: 28906248 PMCID: PMC5655139 DOI: 10.7554/elife.27420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2017] [Accepted: 09/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Cell differentiation programs require dynamic regulation of gene expression. During meiotic prophase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, expression of the kinetochore complex subunit Ndc80 is downregulated by a 5' extended long undecoded NDC80 transcript isoform. Here we demonstrate a transcriptional interference mechanism that is responsible for inhibiting expression of the coding NDC80 mRNA isoform. Transcription from a distal NDC80 promoter directs Set1-dependent histone H3K4 dimethylation and Set2-dependent H3K36 trimethylation to establish a repressive chromatin state in the downstream canonical NDC80 promoter. As a consequence, NDC80 expression is repressed during meiotic prophase. The transcriptional mechanism described here is rapidly reversible, adaptable to fine-tune gene expression, and relies on Set2 and the Set3 histone deacetylase complex. Thus, expression of a 5' extended mRNA isoform causes transcriptional interference at the downstream promoter. We demonstrate that this is an effective mechanism to promote dynamic changes in gene expression during cell differentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Amy Tresenrider
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Jingxun Chen
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | | | - Victoria Jorgensen
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Elçin Ünal
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
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13
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Strategies for the photo-control of endogenous protein activity. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2017; 45:53-58. [DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2016.11.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2016] [Accepted: 11/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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14
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Hao N, Palmer AC, Dodd IB, Shearwin KE. Directing traffic on DNA-How transcription factors relieve or induce transcriptional interference. Transcription 2017; 8:120-125. [PMID: 28129043 PMCID: PMC5423467 DOI: 10.1080/21541264.2017.1285851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Transcriptional interference (TI) is increasingly recognized as a widespread mechanism of gene control, particularly given the pervasive nature of transcription, both sense and antisense, across all kingdoms of life. Here, we discuss how transcription factor binding kinetics strongly influence the ability of a transcription factor to relieve or induce TI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nan Hao
- a Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology , School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide , Adelaide , SA , Australia
| | - Adam C Palmer
- b Department of Systems Biology , Harvard Medical School , Boston , MA , USA
| | - Ian B Dodd
- a Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology , School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide , Adelaide , SA , Australia
| | - Keith E Shearwin
- a Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology , School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide , Adelaide , SA , Australia
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15
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Hao N, Palmer AC, Ahlgren-Berg A, Shearwin KE, Dodd IB. The role of repressor kinetics in relief of transcriptional interference between convergent promoters. Nucleic Acids Res 2016; 44:6625-38. [PMID: 27378773 PMCID: PMC5001618 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkw600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2015] [Accepted: 06/22/2016] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Transcriptional interference (TI), where transcription from a promoter is inhibited by the activity of other promoters in its vicinity on the same DNA, enables transcription factors to regulate a target promoter indirectly, inducing or relieving TI by controlling the interfering promoter. For convergent promoters, stochastic simulations indicate that relief of TI can be inhibited if the repressor at the interfering promoter has slow binding kinetics, making it either sensitive to frequent dislodgement by elongating RNA polymerases (RNAPs) from the target promoter, or able to be a strong roadblock to these RNAPs. In vivo measurements of relief of TI by CI or Cro repressors in the bacteriophage λ PR-PRE system show strong relief of TI and a lack of dislodgement and roadblocking effects, indicative of rapid CI and Cro binding kinetics. However, repression of the same λ promoter by a catalytically dead CRISPR Cas9 protein gave either compromised or no relief of TI depending on the orientation at which it binds DNA, consistent with dCas9 being a slow kinetics repressor. This analysis shows how the intrinsic properties of a repressor can be evolutionarily tuned to set the magnitude of relief of TI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nan Hao
- Discipline of Biochemistry, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
| | - Adam C Palmer
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Alexandra Ahlgren-Berg
- Discipline of Biochemistry, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
| | - Keith E Shearwin
- Discipline of Biochemistry, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
| | - Ian B Dodd
- Discipline of Biochemistry, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
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