Abstract
We describe a cell-free system in which the transcription of the yeast metallothionein gene is inducible by the addition of metal ions plus a specific regulatory protein. Efficient transcription requires the complete yeast ACE1 metalloregulatory protein, including both its DNA-binding and transactivation domains; a mouse nuclear extract providing RNA polymerase and general transcription factors; a template containing the ACE1 binding site; and Cu(I). Because the binding of ACE1 to DNA is dependent on Cu, it is possible to inhibit transcription by the use of Cu-complexing agents such as CN-. We have used this specific inhibition to show that the ACE1 regulatory protein is required for the maintenance as well as the formation of a functional preinitiation complex. The ability to reversibly induce yeast metallothionein gene transcription in vitro provides a powerful system for determining the molecular mechanism of a simple eukaryotic regulatory circuit.
Full text
PDF




Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Butt T. R., Sternberg E. J., Gorman J. A., Clark P., Hamer D., Rosenberg M., Crooke S. T. Copper metallothionein of yeast, structure of the gene, and regulation of expression. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Jun;81(11):3332–3336. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.11.3332. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Byrd J., Berger R. M., McMillin D. R., Wright C. F., Hamer D., Winge D. R. Characterization of the copper-thiolate cluster in yeast metallothionein and two truncated mutants. J Biol Chem. 1988 May 15;263(14):6688–6694. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Carter A. D., Felber B. K., Walling M. J., Jubier M. F., Schmidt C. J., Hamer D. H. Duplicated heavy metal control sequences of the mouse metallothionein-I gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Dec;81(23):7392–7396. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.23.7392. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Culotta V. C., Hamer D. H. Fine mapping of a mouse metallothionein gene metal response element. Mol Cell Biol. 1989 Mar;9(3):1376–1380. doi: 10.1128/mcb.9.3.1376. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fürst P., Hu S., Hackett R., Hamer D. Copper activates metallothionein gene transcription by altering the conformation of a specific DNA binding protein. Cell. 1988 Nov 18;55(4):705–717. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90229-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Guarente L. Regulatory proteins in yeast. Annu Rev Genet. 1987;21:425–452. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ge.21.120187.002233. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hai T. W., Horikoshi M., Roeder R. G., Green M. R. Analysis of the role of the transcription factor ATF in the assembly of a functional preinitiation complex. Cell. 1988 Sep 23;54(7):1043–1051. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90119-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hamer D. H., Thiele D. J., Lemontt J. E. Function and autoregulation of yeast copperthionein. Science. 1985 May 10;228(4700):685–690. doi: 10.1126/science.3887570. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hawley D. K., Roeder R. G. Separation and partial characterization of three functional steps in transcription initiation by human RNA polymerase II. J Biol Chem. 1985 Jul 5;260(13):8163–8172. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Horikoshi M., Hai T., Lin Y. S., Green M. R., Roeder R. G. Transcription factor ATF interacts with the TATA factor to facilitate establishment of a preinitiation complex. Cell. 1988 Sep 23;54(7):1033–1042. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90118-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Huibregtse J. M., Engelke D. R., Thiele D. J. Copper-induced binding of cellular factors to yeast metallothionein upstream activation sequences. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Jan;86(1):65–69. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.1.65. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jones N. C., Rigby P. W., Ziff E. B. Trans-acting protein factors and the regulation of eukaryotic transcription: lessons from studies on DNA tumor viruses. Genes Dev. 1988 Mar;2(3):267–281. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.3.267. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kakidani H., Ptashne M. GAL4 activates gene expression in mammalian cells. Cell. 1988 Jan 29;52(2):161–167. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90504-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Karin M., Najarian R., Haslinger A., Valenzuela P., Welch J., Fogel S. Primary structure and transcription of an amplified genetic locus: the CUP1 locus of yeast. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Jan;81(2):337–341. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.2.337. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Karin M., Richards R. I. Human metallothionein genes--primary structure of the metallothionein-II gene and a related processed gene. Nature. 1982 Oct 28;299(5886):797–802. doi: 10.1038/299797a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lin Y. S., Carey M. F., Ptashne M., Green M. R. GAL4 derivatives function alone and synergistically with mammalian activators in vitro. Cell. 1988 Aug 26;54(5):659–664. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(88)80010-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- McKnight S., Tjian R. Transcriptional selectivity of viral genes in mammalian cells. Cell. 1986 Sep 12;46(6):795–805. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90061-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Parker C. S., Topol J. A Drosophila RNA polymerase II transcription factor contains a promoter-region-specific DNA-binding activity. Cell. 1984 Feb;36(2):357–369. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90229-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ptashne M. How eukaryotic transcriptional activators work. Nature. 1988 Oct 20;335(6192):683–689. doi: 10.1038/335683a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Schena M., Yamamoto K. R. Mammalian glucocorticoid receptor derivatives enhance transcription in yeast. Science. 1988 Aug 19;241(4868):965–967. doi: 10.1126/science.3043665. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Struhl K. Promoters, activator proteins, and the mechanism of transcriptional initiation in yeast. Cell. 1987 May 8;49(3):295–297. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90277-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Struhl K. The JUN oncoprotein, a vertebrate transcription factor, activates transcription in yeast. Nature. 1988 Apr 14;332(6165):649–650. doi: 10.1038/332649a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Szczypka M. S., Thiele D. J. A cysteine-rich nuclear protein activates yeast metallothionein gene transcription. Mol Cell Biol. 1989 Feb;9(2):421–429. doi: 10.1128/mcb.9.2.421. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Thiele D. J. ACE1 regulates expression of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae metallothionein gene. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Jul;8(7):2745–2752. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.7.2745. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Thiele D. J., Hamer D. H. Tandemly duplicated upstream control sequences mediate copper-induced transcription of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae copper-metallothionein gene. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Apr;6(4):1158–1163. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.4.1158. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Webster N., Jin J. R., Green S., Hollis M., Chambon P. The yeast UASG is a transcriptional enhancer in human HeLa cells in the presence of the GAL4 trans-activator. Cell. 1988 Jan 29;52(2):169–178. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90505-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Welch J., Fogel S., Buchman C., Karin M. The CUP2 gene product regulates the expression of the CUP1 gene, coding for yeast metallothionein. EMBO J. 1989 Jan;8(1):255–260. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1989.tb03371.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Winge D. R., Nielson K. B., Gray W. R., Hamer D. H. Yeast metallothionein. Sequence and metal-binding properties. J Biol Chem. 1985 Nov 25;260(27):14464–14470. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wright C. F., Hamer D. H., McKenney K. Autoregulation of the yeast copper metallothionein gene depends on metal binding. J Biol Chem. 1988 Jan 25;263(3):1570–1574. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Yamamoto T., de Crombrugghe B., Pastan I. Identification of a functional promoter in the long terminal repeat of Rous sarcoma virus. Cell. 1980 Dec;22(3):787–797. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(80)90555-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]