scholarly journals Prediction of Fine-tuned Promoter Activity from DNA Sequence

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey H Siwo ◽  
Andrew Rider ◽  
Asako Tan ◽  
Richard S Pinapati ◽  
Scott Emrich ◽  
...  

The quantitative prediction of transcriptional activity of genes using promoter sequence is fundamental to the engineering of biological systems for industrial purposes and understanding the natural variation in gene expression. To catalyze the development of new algorithms for this purpose, the Dialogue on Reverse Engineering Assessment and Methods (DREAM) organized a community challenge seeking predictive models of promoter activity given normalized promoter activity data for 90 ribosomal protein promoters driving expression of a fluorescent reporter gene. By developing an unbiased modeling approach that performs an iterative search for predictive DNA sequence features using the frequencies of various k-mers, inferred DNA mechanical properties and spatial positions of promoter sequences, we achieved the best performer status in this challenge. The specific predictive features used in the model included the frequency of the nucleotide G, the length of polymeric tracts of T and TA, the frequencies of 6 distinct trinucleotides and 12 tetranucleotides, and the predicted protein deformability of the DNA sequence. Our method accurately predicted the activity of 20 natural variants of ribosomal protein promoters (Spearman correlation r = 0.73) as compared to 33 laboratory-mutated variants of the promoters (r = 0.57) in a test set that was hidden from participants. Notably, our model differed substantially from the rest in 2 main ways: i) it did not explicitly utilize transcription factor binding information implying that subtle DNA sequence features are highly associated with gene expression, and ii) it was entirely based on features extracted exclusively from the 100 bp region upstream from the translational start site demonstrating that this region encodes much of the overall promoter activity. The findings from this study have important implications for the engineering of predictable gene expression systems and the evolution of gene expression in naturally occurring biological systems.

F1000Research ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Siwo ◽  
Andrew Rider ◽  
Asako Tan ◽  
Richard Pinapati ◽  
Scott Emrich ◽  
...  

The quantitative prediction of transcriptional activity of genes using promoter sequence is fundamental to the engineering of biological systems for industrial purposes and understanding the natural variation in gene expression. To catalyze the development of new algorithms for this purpose, the Dialogue on Reverse Engineering Assessment and Methods (DREAM) organized a community challenge seeking predictive models of promoter activity given normalized promoter activity data for 90 ribosomal protein promoters driving expression of a fluorescent reporter gene. By developing an unbiased modeling approach that performs an iterative search for predictive DNA sequence features using the frequencies of various k-mers, inferred DNA mechanical properties and spatial positions of promoter sequences, we achieved the best performer status in this challenge. The specific predictive features used in the model included the frequency of the nucleotide G, the length of polymeric tracts of T and TA, the frequencies of 6 distinct trinucleotides and 12 tetranucleotides, and the predicted protein deformability of the DNA sequence. Our method accurately predicted the activity of 20 natural variants of ribosomal protein promoters (Spearman correlation r = 0.73) as compared to 33 laboratory-mutated variants of the promoters (r = 0.57) in a test set that was hidden from participants. Notably, our model differed substantially from the rest in 2 main ways: i) it did not explicitly utilize transcription factor binding information implying that subtle DNA sequence features are highly associated with gene expression, and ii) it was entirely based on features extracted exclusively from the 100 bp region upstream from the translational start site demonstrating that this region encodes much of the overall promoter activity. The findings from this study have important implications for the engineering of predictable gene expression systems and the evolution of gene expression in naturally occurring biological systems.


Blood ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 128 (22) ◽  
pp. 2931-2931
Author(s):  
Xia Liu ◽  
Jiaji G Chen ◽  
Jie Chen ◽  
Lian Xu ◽  
Nicholas Tsakmaklis ◽  
...  

Abstract Hematopoietic cell kinase (HCK) is a member of the SRC family of tyrosine kinases (SFKs). HCK transcription is aberrantly upregulated in Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia (WM) and Activated B-cell (ABC) subtype Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) in response to activating mutations in MYD88 (Yang et al, Blood 2016). To clarify the mechanism responsible for the aberrant upregulation of HCK transcription inMYD88 mutated cells, we analyzed the promoter sequence of HCK using PROMO and identified consensus binding sites for transcription factors (AP1, NF-kB, STAT3, and IRF1) that are regulated by mutated MYD88 (Ngo et al, Nature 2011; Treon et al, NEJM 2012; Yang et al, Blood 2013; Juilland et al, Blood 2016; Yang et al, Blood 2016). We performed Chromatin Immuno-precipitation (ChIP) assays using ChIP grade antibodies to JunB, c-Jun, NF-kB-p65, STAT3 and IRF1 in MYD88 mutated WM (BCWM.1, MWCL-1) and ABC DLBCL (TMD-8, HBL-1, OCI-Ly3) cells that highly express HCK transcripts, as well as wild type MYD88 expressing GCB DLBCL (OCI-Ly7, OCI-Ly19) cells that show low HCK transcription. Following ChIP, a HCK promoter specific quantitative PCR assay was used to detect HCK promoter sequences. These studies showed that JunB, NF-kB-p65 and STAT3 bound more robustly to the HCK promoter in MYD88 mutated WM and ABC-DLBCL cells versus MYD88 wild type GCB DLBCL cell lines, while c-Jun bound more abundantly to the HCK promoter sequence in all DLBCL cell lines, regardless of MYD88 mutation status. In contrast c-Jun binding was low in MYD88 mutated WM cells. IRF1 binding to the HCK promoter was similar in all cell lines, regardless of the MYD88 mutation status. To further investigate HCK regulation, we developed an HCK promoter driven luciferase reporter vector (WT) with mutated AP-1 binding (AP1-mu-1~6), NF-kB binding (NF-kB-mu-1~5), and STAT3 binding (STAT3-mu) sites and investigated their impact on HCK promoter activity in MYD88 mutated BCWM.1 cells. We observed that mutation of AP1-mu-1,4,5,6; NF-kB-mu-1,4,5, as well as STAT3-mu binding sites greatly reduced HCK promoter activity, thereby supporting a role for AP-1, NF-kB and STAT3 transcription factors in HCK gene expression in MYD88 mutated cells. To further clarify the importance of these transcription factors in aberrant HCK gene expression in MYD88 mutated cells, we treated BCWM.1, MWCL-1, TMD-8 and HBL-1 cells with the AP-1 inhibitor SR 11302; NF-kB inhibitor QNZ; and the STAT3 inhibitor STA-21. Treatment of cells for 2 hours with SR 11302, QNZ, and STA-21 at sub-EC50 concentrations resulted in decreased HCK expression in MYD88 mutated all cell lines. Lastly, we investigated the contribution of BCR signaling to HCK transcription. BCWM.1, MWCL-1, TMD-8, and HBL-1 cells were treated with the Syk kinase inhibitor R406, and HCK transcription levels were then assessed. Differences in HCK expression were observed between MYD88 mutated WM and ABC DLBCL cells following R406, supporting a contributing role for BCR signaling in ABC DLBCL but not WM cells to HCK expression. Our data provide critical new insights into HCK regulation, and a framework for targeting pro-survival HCK signaling in WM and ABC DLBCL cells dependent on activating MYD88 mutations. Disclosures Castillo: Biogen: Consultancy; Otsuka: Consultancy; Millennium: Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria; Abbvie: Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Honoraria. Treon:Janssen: Consultancy; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Research Funding.


2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (21) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Chen ◽  
Mark W. Sherman ◽  
Cynthia Chu ◽  
Natalia Gonzalez ◽  
Tulshi Patel ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The potential utilization of extremophiles as a robust chassis for metabolic engineering applications has prompted interest in the use of Deinococcus radiodurans for bioremediation efforts, but current applications are limited by the lack of availability of genetic tools, such as promoters. In this study, we used a combined computational and experimental approach to identify and screen 30 predicted promoters for expression in D. radiodurans using a fluorescent reporter assay. The top eight candidates were further characterized, compared to currently available promoters, and optimized for engineering through minimization for use in D. radiodurans. Of these top eight, two promoter regions, PDR_1261 and PrpmB, were stronger and more consistent than the most widely used promoter sequence in D. radiodurans, PgroES. Furthermore, half of the top eight promoters could be minimized by at least 20% (to obtain final sequences that are approximately 24 to 177 bp), and several of the putative promoters either showed activity in Escherichia coli or were D. radiodurans specific, broadening the use of the promoters for various applications. Overall, this work introduces a suite of novel, well-characterized promoters for protein production and metabolic engineering in D. radiodurans. IMPORTANCE The tolerance of the extremophile, Deinococcus radiodurans, to numerous oxidative stresses makes it ideal for bioremediation applications, but many of the tools necessary for metabolic engineering are lacking in this organism compared to model bacteria. Although native and engineered promoters have been used to drive gene expression for protein production in D. radiodurans, very few have been well characterized. Informed by bioinformatics, this study expands the repertoire of well-characterized promoters for D. radiodurans via thorough characterization of eight putative promoters with various strengths. These results will help facilitate tunable gene expression, since these promoters demonstrate strong and consistent performance compared to the current standard, PgroES. This study also provides a methodology for high-throughput promoter identification and characterization using fluorescence in D. radiodurans. The promoters identified in this study will facilitate metabolic engineering of D. radiodurans and enable its use in biotechnological applications ranging from bioremediation to synthesis of commodity chemicals.


2000 ◽  
Vol 278 (3) ◽  
pp. F406-F416 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Shachaf ◽  
K. L. Skorecki ◽  
M. Tzukerman

Expression of the Npt2 gene, encoding the type II sodium-dependent phosphate cotransporter, is restricted to renal proximal tubule epithelium. We have isolated a 4,740-bp fragment of the 5′-flanking sequence of the rat Npt2 gene, identified the transcription initiation site, and demonstrated that this 5′-flanking sequence drives luciferase-reporter gene expression, following transfection in the proximal tubule cell-derived opossum kidney (OK) cell line but not in unrelated cell lines. Analysis of the promoter sequence revealed the presence of 10 consensus binding motifs for the AP2 transcription factor. Transient transfection assays revealed an important effect of the number of tandemly repeated AP2 sites in enhancing promoter activity. The promoter sequence also revealed a pair of inverted repeats enclosing 1,324 bp of intervening sequence and containing 8 of the total 10 AP2 consensus sites in the promoter sequence. Deletion or reversal of orientation of the distal inverted repeat resulted in marked enhancement of promoter activity. Electrophoretic mobility shift analysis revealed a distinct pattern of transcription factor binding to oligonucleotides containing AP2 sites, using nuclear extracts from OK cells, compared with unrelated cell lines. Taken together, these results suggest an important role for AP2 consensus binding sites in regulating Npt2 gene expression and suggest a mechanism of regulation mediated by the interaction of inverted repeats enclosing these sites.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Aladdin ◽  
N Sahly ◽  
R Faty ◽  
MM Youssef ◽  
TZ Salem

ABSTRACTUnderstanding how promoters work in non-host cells is complex. Nonetheless, understanding this process is crucial while performing gene expression modulation studies. In this study, inhibitory regions in the 5’ end of the OpIE2 insect viral promoter were found to be blocking the activity of the CMV promoter in mammalian cells. This finding was reached in the process of constructing a shuttle vector with CMV and OpIE2 promoters in a tandem arrangement to achieve gene expression in both mammalian and insect cells, respectively. OpIE2 promoter was cloned downstream of the CMV promoter and upstream of the EGFP reporter gene. After introducing the constructed shuttle vector to insect and mammalian cells, a significant drop in the CMV promoter activity in mammalian cells was observed. To enhance the CMV promoter activity, several modification were made to the shuttle vector including site-directed mutagenesis to remove all ATG codons from the downstream promoter (OpIE2), separating the two promoters to eliminate the effect of transcription interference between them, and finally, identifying some inhibitory regions in the OpIE2 promoter sequence. When these inhibitory regions were removed, high expression levels in insect and mammalian cells were restored. In conclusion, a shuttle vector was constructed that works efficiently in both mammalian and insect cell lines. This study showed that inserting 261 to 313 bp from the 3’ end of the OpIE2 promoter downstream of the CMV promoter maintains efficient gene expression in both Sf9 and mammalian cells.


2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
CR Espinoza ◽  
TL Schmitt ◽  
U Loos

Thyroglobulin (Tg) is an essential thyroid-specific protein, which serves as the matrix for thyroid hormone biosynthesis. To obtain new insights in the regulation of Tg gene expression, we investigated the interaction of the human Tg promoter with the thyroid-specific transcription factors TTF-1 and Pax8. A reporter gene, containing a 202 bp fragment from the human Tg 5'-flanking region including the promoter sequence and the transcriptional start site, and expression vectors containing the cDNAs for human TTF-1 and Pax8 were used in cotransfection experiments, in the non-thyroidal cell lines COS-7 and HeLa. Pax8 increased the specific transcriptional activity of the Tg promoter about threefold, whereas cotransfection with the homeodomain-containing protein TTF-1 stimulated promoter activity from six- to tenfold. The simultaneous expression of both factors stimulated the Tg promoter activity in a multiplicative manner up to 25-fold. TTF-1 binding sites could be localized precisely by lectron mobility shift assay. The two binding elements corresponded to sites A and C in the rat Tg promoter. Site-directed mutagenesis of three nucleotides in each binding element inhibited binding of TTF-1 to the two oligonucleotides. In cotransfection experiments, the mutant site C decreased TTF-1 transactivation to 26% of the wild-type, whereas an additional mutation in the site A reduced this value to almost zero, thus proving the physiological relevance of these sites. The present results demonstrate that the activity of the human Tg promoter is closely dependent on the function of TTF-1 and Pax8, opening the field for further investigations of pathological alterations of Tg gene expression.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben J. Vincent ◽  
Max V. Staller ◽  
Francheska Lopez-Rivera ◽  
Meghan D.J. Bragdon ◽  
Zeba Wunderlich ◽  
...  

AbstractHunchback is a bifunctional transcription factor that can activate and repress gene expression in Drosophila development. We investigated the regulatory DNA sequence features that control Hunchback function by perturbing enhancers for one of its target genes, even-skipped. While Hunchback directly represses the eve stripe 3+7 enhancer, we found that in the eve stripe 2+7 enhancer, Hunchback repression is prevented by Caudal binding—this relationship is called counter-repression. We found evidence that this relationship is conserved by comparing predicted binding sites for Hunchback and Caudal across orthologous eve stripe 2 enhancers. These results alter the textbook view of eve stripe 2 regulation wherein Hb is depicted as a direct activator. Instead, to generate stripe 2, Hunchback repression must be counteracted by Caudal binding. We discuss the implications of this interaction for eve stripe 2 regulation and evolution.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 1487-1496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Midori Murakami ◽  
Hiroto Izumi ◽  
Tomoko Kurita ◽  
Chiho Koi ◽  
Yasuo Morimoto ◽  
...  

Background: Cisplatin is an important anticancer agent in cancer chemotherapy, but when resistant cells appear, treatment becomes difficult, and the prognosis is poor. Objective: In this study, we investigated the gene expression profile in cisplatin sensitive and resistant cells, and identified the genes involved in cisplatin resistance. Methods: Comparison of gene expression profiles revealed that UBE2L6 mRNA is highly expressed in resistant cells. To elucidate whether UBE2L6 is involved in the acquisition of cisplatin resistance, UBE2L6- overexpressing cells established from cisplatin-sensitive cells and UBE2L6-silenced cells developed from cisplatin- resistant cells were generated, and the sensitivity of cisplatin was examined. Results: The sensitivity of the UBE2L6-overexpressing cells did not change compared with the control cells, but the UBE2L6-silenced cells were sensitized to cisplatin. To elucidate the mechanism of UBE2L6 in cisplatin resistance, we compared the gene expression profiles of UBE2L6-silenced cells and control cells and found that the level of ABCB6 mRNA involved in cisplatin resistance was decreased. Moreover, ABCB6 promoter activity was partially suppressed in UBE2L6-silenced cells. Conclusion: These results suggest that cisplatin-resistant cells have upregulated UBE2L6 expression and contribute to cisplatin resistance by regulating ABCB6 expression at the transcriptional level. UBE2L6 might be a molecular target that overcomes cisplatin resistance.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document