Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Nucleic Acids Research logoLink to Nucleic Acids Research
. 1988 Dec 9;16(23):11207–11222. doi: 10.1093/nar/16.23.11207

Do transcriptional enhancers also augment DNA replication?

D T O'Connor 1, S Subramani 1
PMCID: PMC339005  PMID: 2849759

Abstract

Enhancers are DNA elements that augment transcription in cis, independent of distance and orientation. Evidence such as hormone dependent neoplastic cell growth and the stimulation of viral replication by sequences present in enhancers suggests that enhancers may also directly affect DNA replication. We tested this hypothesis in recombinant plasmids by asking whether sequences that stimulated DNA replication shared the properties of transcriptional enhancers. The homologous simian virus 40 (SV40) core enhancer was ligated either adjacent to or 2.6 kb distant from the SV40 minimal origin of replication (ori) in both orientations. Plasmids were transfected into T antigen producing COS cells, and episomal DNA was harvested for quantitation of replication. Replication could be assessed either as accumulation of fmol of MboI sensitive progeny DNA, or as a transition in % DNA in replicated (MboI sensitive) versus unreplicated (DpnI sensitive) form. The two measures were related exponentially (r = 0.86). The SV40 enhancer augmented replication 1.5-10 fold. The effect was time dependent, distance dependent (only the adjacent enhancer locus stimulated replication), partially orientation dependent, and enhancer copy number independent. Phorbol ester did not affect replication. The heterologous glucocorticoid enhancer had no effect on replication. We conclude that the SV40 enhancer's cis-effect on replication seems to be dependent on the close proximity to the replication origin of specific homologous sequences within the enhancer, rather than a typical enhancer-like effect.

Full text

PDF
11207

Images in this article

11214Image
on p.11214
11217Image
on p.11217

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bradford M. M. A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal Biochem. 1976 May 7;72:248–254. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(76)90527-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Chandler V. L., Maler B. A., Yamamoto K. R. DNA sequences bound specifically by glucocorticoid receptor in vitro render a heterologous promoter hormone responsive in vivo. Cell. 1983 Jun;33(2):489–499. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90430-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. DeLucia A. L., Deb S., Partin K., Tegtmeyer P. Functional interactions of the simian virus 40 core origin of replication with flanking regulatory sequences. J Virol. 1986 Jan;57(1):138–144. doi: 10.1128/jvi.57.1.138-144.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. DePamphilis M. L. Transcriptional elements as components of eukaryotic origins of DNA replication. Cell. 1988 Mar 11;52(5):635–638. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90398-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Deb S., DeLucia A. L., Baur C. P., Koff A., Tegtmeyer P. Domain structure of the simian virus 40 core origin of replication. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 May;6(5):1663–1670. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.5.1663. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fromm M., Berg P. Deletion mapping of DNA regions required for SV40 early region promoter function in vivo. J Mol Appl Genet. 1982;1(5):457–481. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gidoni D., Dynan W. S., Tjian R. Multiple specific contacts between a mammalian transcription factor and its cognate promoters. 1984 Nov 29-Dec 5Nature. 312(5993):409–413. doi: 10.1038/312409a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gluzman Y. SV40-transformed simian cells support the replication of early SV40 mutants. Cell. 1981 Jan;23(1):175–182. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90282-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gorman C. M., Moffat L. F., Howard B. H. Recombinant genomes which express chloramphenicol acetyltransferase in mammalian cells. Mol Cell Biol. 1982 Sep;2(9):1044–1051. doi: 10.1128/mcb.2.9.1044. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hay R. T., DePamphilis M. L. Initiation of SV40 DNA replication in vivo: location and structure of 5' ends of DNA synthesized in the ori region. Cell. 1982 Apr;28(4):767–779. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90056-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hertz G. Z., Mertz J. E. Bidirectional promoter elements of simian virus 40 are required for efficient replication of the viral DNA. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Oct;6(10):3513–3522. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.10.3513. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hirt B. Selective extraction of polyoma DNA from infected mouse cell cultures. J Mol Biol. 1967 Jun 14;26(2):365–369. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(67)90307-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Jongstra J., Reudelhuber T. L., Oudet P., Benoist C., Chae C. B., Jeltsch J. M., Mathis D. J., Chambon P. Induction of altered chromatin structures by simian virus 40 enhancer and promoter elements. Nature. 1984 Feb 23;307(5953):708–714. doi: 10.1038/307708a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lee-Chen G. J., Woodworth-Gutai M. Simian virus 40 DNA replication: functional organization of regulatory elements. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Sep;6(9):3086–3093. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.9.3086. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Li J. J., Peden K. W., Dixon R. A., Kelly T. Functional organization of the simian virus 40 origin of DNA replication. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Apr;6(4):1117–1128. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.4.1117. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Lusky M., Botchan M. Inhibition of SV40 replication in simian cells by specific pBR322 DNA sequences. Nature. 1981 Sep 3;293(5827):79–81. doi: 10.1038/293079a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Moreau P., Hen R., Wasylyk B., Everett R., Gaub M. P., Chambon P. The SV40 72 base repair repeat has a striking effect on gene expression both in SV40 and other chimeric recombinants. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Nov 25;9(22):6047–6068. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.22.6047. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Parker B. A., Stark G. R. Regulation of simian virus 40 transcription: sensitive analysis of the RNA species present early in infections by virus or viral DNA. J Virol. 1979 Aug;31(2):360–369. doi: 10.1128/jvi.31.2.360-369.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Pruijn G. J., van Driel W., van Miltenburg R. T., van der Vliet P. C. Promoter and enhancer elements containing a conserved sequence motif are recognized by nuclear factor III, a protein stimulating adenovirus DNA replication. EMBO J. 1987 Dec 1;6(12):3771–3778. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02712.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Subramani S., Southern P. J. Analysis of gene expression using simian virus 40 vectors. Anal Biochem. 1983 Nov;135(1):1–15. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(83)90723-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Tyndall C., La Mantia G., Thacker C. M., Favaloro J., Kamen R. A region of the polyoma virus genome between the replication origin and late protein coding sequences is required in cis for both early gene expression and viral DNA replication. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Dec 11;9(23):6231–6250. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.23.6231. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Wildeman A. G., Sassone-Corsi P., Grundström T., Zenke M., Chambon P. Stimulation of in vitro transcription from the SV40 early promoter by the enhancer involves a specific trans-acting factor. EMBO J. 1984 Dec 20;3(13):3129–3133. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1984.tb02269.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Yamaguchi M., DePamphilis M. L. DNA binding site for a factor(s) required to initiate simian virus 40 DNA replication. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Mar;83(6):1646–1650. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.6.1646. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. de Villiers J., Schaffner W., Tyndall C., Lupton S., Kamen R. Polyoma virus DNA replication requires an enhancer. Nature. 1984 Nov 15;312(5991):242–246. doi: 10.1038/312242a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. de Vries E., van Driel W., van den Heuvel S. J., van der Vliet P. C. Contactpoint analysis of the HeLa nuclear factor I recognition site reveals symmetrical binding at one side of the DNA helix. EMBO J. 1987 Jan;6(1):161–168. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb04734.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. de Wet J. R., Wood K. V., DeLuca M., Helinski D. R., Subramani S. Firefly luciferase gene: structure and expression in mammalian cells. Mol Cell Biol. 1987 Feb;7(2):725–737. doi: 10.1128/mcb.7.2.725. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Nucleic Acids Research are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES