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Zeiske T, Baburajendran N, Kaczynska A, Brasch J, Palmer AG, Shapiro L, Honig B, Mann RS. Intrinsic DNA Shape Accounts for Affinity Differences between Hox-Cofactor Binding Sites. Cell Rep 2020; 24:2221-2230. [PMID: 30157419 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.07.100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2018] [Revised: 06/14/2018] [Accepted: 07/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Transcription factors bind to their binding sites over a wide range of affinities, yet how differences in affinity are encoded in DNA sequences is not well understood. Here, we report X-ray crystal structures of four heterodimers of the Hox protein AbdominalB bound with its cofactor Extradenticle to four target DNA molecules that differ in affinity by up to ∼20-fold. Remarkably, despite large differences in affinity, the overall structures are very similar in all four complexes. In contrast, the predicted shapes of the DNA binding sites (i.e., the intrinsic DNA shape) in the absence of bound protein are strikingly different from each other and correlate with affinity: binding sites that must change conformations upon protein binding have lower affinities than binding sites that have more optimal conformations prior to binding. Together, these observations suggest that intrinsic differences in DNA shape provide a robust mechanism for modulating affinity without affecting other protein-DNA interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Zeiske
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Nithya Baburajendran
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Anna Kaczynska
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Julia Brasch
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Arthur G Palmer
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Lawrence Shapiro
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Barry Honig
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Richard S Mann
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
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Hajheidari M, Wang Y, Bhatia N, Vuolo F, Franco-Zorrilla JM, Karady M, Mentink RA, Wu A, Oluwatobi BR, Müller B, Dello Ioio R, Laurent S, Ljung K, Huijser P, Gan X, Tsiantis M. Autoregulation of RCO by Low-Affinity Binding Modulates Cytokinin Action and Shapes Leaf Diversity. Curr Biol 2019; 29:4183-4192.e6. [PMID: 31761704 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.10.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2019] [Revised: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 10/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Mechanisms through which the evolution of gene regulation causes morphological diversity are largely unclear. The tremendous shape variation among plant leaves offers attractive opportunities to address this question. In cruciferous plants, the REDUCED COMPLEXITY (RCO) homeodomain protein evolved via gene duplication and acquired a novel expression domain that contributed to leaf shape diversity. However, the molecular pathways through which RCO regulates leaf growth are unknown. A key question is to identify genome-wide transcriptional targets of RCO and the DNA sequences to which RCO binds. We investigate this question using Cardamine hirsuta, which has complex leaves, and its relative Arabidopsis thaliana, which evolved simple leaves through loss of RCO. We demonstrate that RCO directly regulates genes controlling homeostasis of the hormone cytokinin to repress growth at the leaf base. Elevating cytokinin signaling in the RCO expression domain is sufficient to both transform A. thaliana simple leaves into complex ones and partially bypass the requirement for RCO in C. hirsuta complex leaf development. We also identify RCO as its own target gene. RCO directly represses its own transcription via an array of low-affinity binding sites, which evolved after RCO duplicated from its progenitor sequence. This autorepression is required to limit RCO expression. Thus, evolution of low-affinity binding sites created a negative autoregulatory loop that facilitated leaf shape evolution by defining RCO expression and fine-tuning cytokinin activity. In summary, we identify a transcriptional mechanism through which conflicts between novelty and pleiotropy are resolved during evolution and lead to morphological differences between species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohsen Hajheidari
- Department of Comparative Development and Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, 50829 Cologne, Germany
| | - Yi Wang
- Department of Comparative Development and Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, 50829 Cologne, Germany
| | - Neha Bhatia
- Department of Comparative Development and Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, 50829 Cologne, Germany
| | - Francesco Vuolo
- Department of Comparative Development and Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, 50829 Cologne, Germany
| | - José Manuel Franco-Zorrilla
- Unidad de Genómica and Departamento de Genética Molecular de Plantas, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Calle Darwin 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Michal Karady
- Umeå Plant Science Centre, Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Remco A Mentink
- Department of Comparative Development and Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, 50829 Cologne, Germany
| | - Anhui Wu
- Department of Comparative Development and Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, 50829 Cologne, Germany
| | - Bello Rilwan Oluwatobi
- Department of Comparative Development and Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, 50829 Cologne, Germany
| | - Bruno Müller
- Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Correnstr. 3, 06466 Seeland, Gatersleben, Germany
| | - Raffaele Dello Ioio
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Laboratory of Functional Genomics and Proteomics of Model Systems, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Sardi 70, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Stefan Laurent
- Department of Comparative Development and Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, 50829 Cologne, Germany
| | - Karin Ljung
- Umeå Plant Science Centre, Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Peter Huijser
- Department of Comparative Development and Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, 50829 Cologne, Germany
| | - Xiangchao Gan
- Department of Comparative Development and Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, 50829 Cologne, Germany
| | - Miltos Tsiantis
- Department of Comparative Development and Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, 50829 Cologne, Germany.
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Abstract
Eukaryotic transcription factors (TFs) from the same structural family tend to bind similar DNA sequences, despite the ability of these TFs to execute distinct functions in vivo. The cell partly resolves this specificity paradox through combinatorial strategies and the use of low-affinity binding sites, which are better able to distinguish between similar TFs. However, because these sites have low affinity, it is challenging to understand how TFs recognize them in vivo. Here, we summarize recent findings and technological advancements that allow for the quantification and mechanistic interpretation of TF recognition across a wide range of affinities. We propose a model that integrates insights from the fields of genetics and cell biology to provide further conceptual understanding of TF binding specificity. We argue that in eukaryotes, target specificity is driven by an inhomogeneous 3D nuclear distribution of TFs and by variation in DNA binding affinity such that locally elevated TF concentration allows low-affinity binding sites to be functional.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith F Kribelbauer
- Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; .,Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY 10031, USA;
| | - Chaitanya Rastogi
- Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; .,Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY 10031, USA;
| | - Harmen J Bussemaker
- Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; .,Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY 10031, USA;
| | - Richard S Mann
- Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY 10031, USA; .,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY 10031, USA.,Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
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Rastogi C, Rube HT, Kribelbauer JF, Crocker J, Loker RE, Martini GD, Laptenko O, Freed-Pastor WA, Prives C, Stern DL, Mann RS, Bussemaker HJ. Accurate and sensitive quantification of protein-DNA binding affinity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:E3692-701. [PMID: 29610332 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1714376115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Transcription factors (TFs) control gene expression by binding to genomic DNA in a sequence-specific manner. Mutations in TF binding sites are increasingly found to be associated with human disease, yet we currently lack robust methods to predict these sites. Here, we developed a versatile maximum likelihood framework named No Read Left Behind (NRLB) that infers a biophysical model of protein-DNA recognition across the full affinity range from a library of in vitro selected DNA binding sites. NRLB predicts human Max homodimer binding in near-perfect agreement with existing low-throughput measurements. It can capture the specificity of the p53 tetramer and distinguish multiple binding modes within a single sample. Additionally, we confirm that newly identified low-affinity enhancer binding sites are functional in vivo, and that their contribution to gene expression matches their predicted affinity. Our results establish a powerful paradigm for identifying protein binding sites and interpreting gene regulatory sequences in eukaryotic genomes.
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Papagianni A, Forés M, Shao W, He S, Koenecke N, Andreu MJ, Samper N, Paroush Z, González-Crespo S, Zeitlinger J, Jiménez G. Capicua controls Toll/IL-1 signaling targets independently of RTK regulation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:1807-12. [PMID: 29432195 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1713930115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The HMG-box protein Capicua (Cic) is a conserved transcriptional repressor that functions downstream of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signaling pathways in a relatively simple switch: In the absence of signaling, Cic represses RTK-responsive genes by binding to nearly invariant sites in DNA, whereas activation of RTK signaling down-regulates Cic activity, leading to derepression of its targets. This mechanism controls gene expression in both Drosophila and mammals, but whether Cic can also function via other regulatory mechanisms remains unknown. Here, we characterize an RTK-independent role of Cic in regulating spatially restricted expression of Toll/IL-1 signaling targets in Drosophila embryogenesis. We show that Cic represses those targets by binding to suboptimal DNA sites of lower affinity than its known consensus sites. This binding depends on Dorsal/NF-κB, which translocates into the nucleus upon Toll activation and binds next to the Cic sites. As a result, Cic binds to and represses Toll targets only in regions with nuclear Dorsal. These results reveal a mode of Cic regulation unrelated to the well-established RTK/Cic depression axis and implicate cooperative binding in conjunction with low-affinity binding sites as an important mechanism of enhancer regulation. Given that Cic plays a role in many developmental and pathological processes in mammals, our results raise the possibility that some of these Cic functions are independent of RTK regulation and may depend on cofactor-assisted DNA binding.
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