Skip to main content
Molecular and Cellular Biology logoLink to Molecular and Cellular Biology
. 1994 Mar;14(3):1582–1593. doi: 10.1128/mcb.14.3.1582

Species-specific interaction of the glutamine-rich activation domains of Sp1 with the TATA box-binding protein.

A Emili 1, J Greenblatt 1, C J Ingles 1
PMCID: PMC358517  PMID: 8114696

Abstract

We have used protein-blotting and protein affinity chromatography to demonstrate that each of the two glutamine-rich activation domains of the human transcription factor Sp1 can bind specifically and directly to the C-terminal evolutionarily conserved domain of the human TATA box-binding protein (TBP). These activation domains of Sp1 also bind directly to Drosophila TBP but bind much less strongly to TBP from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The abilities of the Sp1 activation domains to interact directly with the TBPs of various species correlate well with their abilities to activate transcription in extracts derived from the same species. We also show that a glutamine-rich transcriptional activating region of the Drosophila protein Antennapedia binds directly to TBP in a species-specific manner that reflects its ability to activate transcription in vivo. These results support the notion that TBP is a direct and important target of glutamine-rich transcriptional activators.

Full text

PDF
1582

Images in this article

Selected References

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

  1. Andrews B. J., Herskowitz I. The yeast SWI4 protein contains a motif present in developmental regulators and is part of a complex involved in cell-cycle-dependent transcription. Nature. 1989 Dec 14;342(6251):830–833. doi: 10.1038/342830a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Berger S. L., Piña B., Silverman N., Marcus G. A., Agapite J., Regier J. L., Triezenberg S. J., Guarente L. Genetic isolation of ADA2: a potential transcriptional adaptor required for function of certain acidic activation domains. Cell. 1992 Jul 24;70(2):251–265. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(92)90100-q. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chasman D. I., Leatherwood J., Carey M., Ptashne M., Kornberg R. D. Activation of yeast polymerase II transcription by herpesvirus VP16 and GAL4 derivatives in vitro. Mol Cell Biol. 1989 Nov;9(11):4746–4749. doi: 10.1128/mcb.9.11.4746. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Colgan J., Wampler S., Manley J. L. Interaction between a transcriptional activator and transcription factor IIB in vivo. Nature. 1993 Apr 8;362(6420):549–553. doi: 10.1038/362549a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cormack B. P., Strubin M., Ponticelli A. S., Struhl K. Functional differences between yeast and human TFIID are localized to the highly conserved region. Cell. 1991 Apr 19;65(2):341–348. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90167-w. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Courey A. J., Tjian R. Analysis of Sp1 in vivo reveals multiple transcriptional domains, including a novel glutamine-rich activation motif. Cell. 1988 Dec 2;55(5):887–898. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90144-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Cress W. D., Triezenberg S. J. Critical structural elements of the VP16 transcriptional activation domain. Science. 1991 Jan 4;251(4989):87–90. doi: 10.1126/science.1846049. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Croston G. E., Kerrigan L. A., Lira L. M., Marshak D. R., Kadonaga J. T. Sequence-specific antirepression of histone H1-mediated inhibition of basal RNA polymerase II transcription. Science. 1991 Feb 8;251(4994):643–649. doi: 10.1126/science.1899487. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Dynlacht B. D., Hoey T., Tjian R. Isolation of coactivators associated with the TATA-binding protein that mediate transcriptional activation. Cell. 1991 Aug 9;66(3):563–576. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90019-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Farnham P. J., Means A. L. Sequences downstream of the transcription initiation site modulate the activity of the murine dihydrofolate reductase promoter. Mol Cell Biol. 1990 Apr;10(4):1390–1398. doi: 10.1128/mcb.10.4.1390. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Fitzpatrick V. D., Ingles C. J. The Drosophila fushi tarazu polypeptide is a DNA-binding transcriptional activator in yeast cells. Nature. 1989 Feb 16;337(6208):666–668. doi: 10.1038/337666a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Fitzpatrick V. D., Percival-Smith A., Ingles C. J., Krause H. M. Homeodomain-independent activity of the fushi tarazu polypeptide in Drosophila embryos. Nature. 1992 Apr 16;356(6370):610–612. doi: 10.1038/356610a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Flanagan P. M., Kelleher R. J., 3rd, Tschochner H., Sayre M. H., Kornberg R. D. Simple derivation of TFIID-dependent RNA polymerase II transcription systems from Schizosaccharomyces pombe and other organisms, and factors required for transcriptional activation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Aug 15;89(16):7659–7663. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.16.7659. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Gill G., Tjian R. A highly conserved domain of TFIID displays species specificity in vivo. Cell. 1991 Apr 19;65(2):333–340. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90166-v. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Greenblatt J. Roles of TFIID in transcriptional initiation by RNA polymerase II. Cell. 1991 Sep 20;66(6):1067–1070. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90027-v. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Greenblatt J. Transcription. Riding high on the TATA box. Nature. 1992 Nov 5;360(6399):16–17. doi: 10.1038/360016a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Ha I., Lane W. S., Reinberg D. Cloning of a human gene encoding the general transcription initiation factor IIB. Nature. 1991 Aug 22;352(6337):689–695. doi: 10.1038/352689a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Hagemeier C., Bannister A. J., Cook A., Kouzarides T. The activation domain of transcription factor PU.1 binds the retinoblastoma (RB) protein and the transcription factor TFIID in vitro: RB shows sequence similarity to TFIID and TFIIB. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Feb 15;90(4):1580–1584. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.4.1580. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Ham J., Steger G., Yaniv M. How do eukaryotic activator proteins stimulate the rate of transcription by RNA polymerase II? FEBS Lett. 1992 Jul 27;307(1):81–86. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(92)80906-w. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Hisatake K., Hasegawa S., Takada R., Nakatani Y., Horikoshi M., Roeder R. G. The p250 subunit of native TATA box-binding factor TFIID is the cell-cycle regulatory protein CCG1. Nature. 1993 Mar 11;362(6416):179–181. doi: 10.1038/362179a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Hoey T., Weinzierl R. O., Gill G., Chen J. L., Dynlacht B. D., Tjian R. Molecular cloning and functional analysis of Drosophila TAF110 reveal properties expected of coactivators. Cell. 1993 Jan 29;72(2):247–260. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90664-c. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Horikoshi M., Carey M. F., Kakidani H., Roeder R. G. Mechanism of action of a yeast activator: direct effect of GAL4 derivatives on mammalian TFIID-promoter interactions. Cell. 1988 Aug 26;54(5):665–669. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(88)80011-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. 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]
  24. Horikoshi N., Maguire K., Kralli A., Maldonado E., Reinberg D., Weinmann R. Direct interaction between adenovirus E1A protein and the TATA box binding transcription factor IID. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Jun 15;88(12):5124–5128. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.12.5124. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Ingles C. J., Shales M., Cress W. D., Triezenberg S. J., Greenblatt J. Reduced binding of TFIID to transcriptionally compromised mutants of VP16. Nature. 1991 Jun 13;351(6327):588–590. doi: 10.1038/351588a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Inostroza J. A., Mermelstein F. H., Ha I., Lane W. S., Reinberg D. Dr1, a TATA-binding protein-associated phosphoprotein and inhibitor of class II gene transcription. Cell. 1992 Aug 7;70(3):477–489. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(92)90172-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Kadonaga J. T., Courey A. J., Ladika J., Tjian R. Distinct regions of Sp1 modulate DNA binding and transcriptional activation. Science. 1988 Dec 16;242(4885):1566–1570. doi: 10.1126/science.3059495. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Kelleher R. J., 3rd, Flanagan P. M., Chasman D. I., Ponticelli A. S., Struhl K., Kornberg R. D. Yeast and human TFIIDs are interchangeable for the response to acidic transcriptional activators in vitro. Genes Dev. 1992 Feb;6(2):296–303. doi: 10.1101/gad.6.2.296. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Kelleher R. J., 3rd, Flanagan P. M., Kornberg R. D. A novel mediator between activator proteins and the RNA polymerase II transcription apparatus. Cell. 1990 Jun 29;61(7):1209–1215. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90685-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Lee W. S., Kao C. C., Bryant G. O., Liu X., Berk A. J. Adenovirus E1A activation domain binds the basic repeat in the TATA box transcription factor. Cell. 1991 Oct 18;67(2):365–376. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90188-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Lieberman P. M., Berk A. J. The Zta trans-activator protein stabilizes TFIID association with promoter DNA by direct protein-protein interaction. Genes Dev. 1991 Dec;5(12B):2441–2454. doi: 10.1101/gad.5.12b.2441. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Lin Y. S., Green M. R. Mechanism of action of an acidic transcriptional activator in vitro. Cell. 1991 Mar 8;64(5):971–981. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90321-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Liu X., Miller C. W., Koeffler P. H., Berk A. J. The p53 activation domain binds the TATA box-binding polypeptide in Holo-TFIID, and a neighboring p53 domain inhibits transcription. Mol Cell Biol. 1993 Jun;13(6):3291–3300. doi: 10.1128/mcb.13.6.3291. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Martin D. W., Muñoz R. M., Subler M. A., Deb S. p53 binds to the TATA-binding protein-TATA complex. J Biol Chem. 1993 Jun 25;268(18):13062–13067. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Meisterernst M., Roeder R. G. Family of proteins that interact with TFIID and regulate promoter activity. Cell. 1991 Nov 1;67(3):557–567. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90530-c. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Meisterernst M., Roy A. L., Lieu H. M., Roeder R. G. Activation of class II gene transcription by regulatory factors is potentiated by a novel activity. Cell. 1991 Sep 6;66(5):981–993. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90443-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Mitchell P. J., Tjian R. Transcriptional regulation in mammalian cells by sequence-specific DNA binding proteins. Science. 1989 Jul 28;245(4916):371–378. doi: 10.1126/science.2667136. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Nakajima N., Horikoshi M., Roeder R. G. Factors involved in specific transcription by mammalian RNA polymerase II: purification, genetic specificity, and TATA box-promoter interactions of TFIID. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Oct;8(10):4028–4040. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.10.4028. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Peterson M. G., Tanese N., Pugh B. F., Tjian R. Functional domains and upstream activation properties of cloned human TATA binding protein. Science. 1990 Jun 29;248(4963):1625–1630. doi: 10.1126/science.2363050. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Ptashne M. How eukaryotic transcriptional activators work. Nature. 1988 Oct 20;335(6192):683–689. doi: 10.1038/335683a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Pugh B. F., Tjian R. Mechanism of transcriptional activation by Sp1: evidence for coactivators. Cell. 1990 Jun 29;61(7):1187–1197. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90683-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Pugh B. F., Tjian R. Transcription from a TATA-less promoter requires a multisubunit TFIID complex. Genes Dev. 1991 Nov;5(11):1935–1945. doi: 10.1101/gad.5.11.1935. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Ransone L. J., Kerr L. D., Schmitt M. J., Wamsley P., Verma I. M. The bZIP domains of Fos and Jun mediate a physical association with the TATA box-binding protein. Gene Expr. 1993;3(1):37–48. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Regier J. L., Shen F., Triezenberg S. J. Pattern of aromatic and hydrophobic amino acids critical for one of two subdomains of the VP16 transcriptional activator. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Feb 1;90(3):883–887. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.3.883. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. Rosenberg A. H., Lade B. N., Chui D. S., Lin S. W., Dunn J. J., Studier F. W. Vectors for selective expression of cloned DNAs by T7 RNA polymerase. Gene. 1987;56(1):125–135. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(87)90165-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  46. Ruppert S., Wang E. H., Tjian R. Cloning and expression of human TAFII250: a TBP-associated factor implicated in cell-cycle regulation. Nature. 1993 Mar 11;362(6416):175–179. doi: 10.1038/362175a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  47. Sawadogo M., Roeder R. G. Interaction of a gene-specific transcription factor with the adenovirus major late promoter upstream of the TATA box region. Cell. 1985 Nov;43(1):165–175. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90021-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  48. Smale S. T., Schmidt M. C., Berk A. J., Baltimore D. Transcriptional activation by Sp1 as directed through TATA or initiator: specific requirement for mammalian transcription factor IID. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Jun;87(12):4509–4513. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.12.4509. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  49. Smith D. B., Johnson K. S. Single-step purification of polypeptides expressed in Escherichia coli as fusions with glutathione S-transferase. Gene. 1988 Jul 15;67(1):31–40. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(88)90005-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  50. Stringer K. F., Ingles C. J., Greenblatt J. Direct and selective binding of an acidic transcriptional activation domain to the TATA-box factor TFIID. Nature. 1990 Jun 28;345(6278):783–786. doi: 10.1038/345783a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  51. Truant R., Xiao H., Ingles C. J., Greenblatt J. Direct interaction between the transcriptional activation domain of human p53 and the TATA box-binding protein. J Biol Chem. 1993 Feb 5;268(4):2284–2287. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  52. Weinzierl R. O., Dynlacht B. D., Tjian R. Largest subunit of Drosophila transcription factor IID directs assembly of a complex containing TBP and a coactivator. Nature. 1993 Apr 8;362(6420):511–517. doi: 10.1038/362511a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  53. Woontner M., Wade P. A., Bonner J., Jaehning J. A. Transcriptional activation in an improved whole-cell extract from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Cell Biol. 1991 Sep;11(9):4555–4560. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.9.4555. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  54. Zawel L., Reinberg D. Initiation of transcription by RNA polymerase II: a multi-step process. Prog Nucleic Acid Res Mol Biol. 1993;44:67–108. doi: 10.1016/s0079-6603(08)60217-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  55. Zhou Q., Boyer T. G., Berk A. J. Factors (TAFs) required for activated transcription interact with TATA box-binding protein conserved core domain. Genes Dev. 1993 Feb;7(2):180–187. doi: 10.1101/gad.7.2.180. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  56. Zhou Q., Lieberman P. M., Boyer T. G., Berk A. J. Holo-TFIID supports transcriptional stimulation by diverse activators and from a TATA-less promoter. Genes Dev. 1992 Oct;6(10):1964–1974. doi: 10.1101/gad.6.10.1964. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Molecular and Cellular Biology are provided here courtesy of Taylor & Francis

RESOURCES