scholarly journals Analysis of an even-skipped rescue transgene reveals both composite and discrete neuronal and early blastoderm enhancers, and multi-stripe positioning by gap gene repressor gradients

Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (11) ◽  
pp. 2527-2538 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Fujioka ◽  
Y. Emi-Sarker ◽  
G.L. Yusibova ◽  
T. Goto ◽  
J.B. Jaynes

The entire functional even-skipped locus of Drosophila melanogaster is contained within a 16 kilobase region. As a transgene, this region is capable of rescuing even-skipped mutant flies to fertile adulthood. Detailed analysis of the 7.7 kb of regulatory DNA 3′ of the transcription unit revealed ten novel, independently regulated patterns. Most of these patterns are driven by non-overlapping regulatory elements, including ones for syncytial blastoderm stage stripes 1 and 5, while a single element specifies both stripes 4 and 6. Expression analysis in gap gene mutants showed that stripe 5 is restricted anteriorly by Kruppel and posteriorly by giant, the same repressors that regulate stripe 2. Consistent with the coregulation of stripes 4 and 6 by a single cis-element, both the anterior border of stripe 4 and the posterior border of stripe 6 are set by zygotic hunchback, and the region between the two stripes is ‘carved out’ by knirps. Thus the boundaries of stripes 4 and 6 are set through negative regulation by the same gap gene domains that regulate stripes 3 and 7 (Small, S., Blair, A. and Levine, M. (1996) Dev. Biol. 175, 314–24), but at different concentrations. The 3′ region also contains a single element for neurogenic expression in ganglion mother cells 4–2a and 1–1a, and neurons derived from them (RP2, a/pCC), suggesting common regulators in these lineages. In contrast, separable elements were found for expression in EL neurons, U/CQ neurons and the mesoderm. The even-skipped 3′ untranslated region is required to maintain late stage protein expression in RP2 and a/pCC neurons, and appears to affect protein levels rather than mRNA levels. Additionally, a strong pairing-sensitive repression element was localized to the 3′ end of the locus, but was not found to contribute to efficient functional rescue.

1993 ◽  
Vol 296 (3) ◽  
pp. 663-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
M F Wilkemeyer ◽  
E R Andrews ◽  
F D Ledley

Methylmalonyl-CoA mutase (MCM) is a nuclear-encoded mitochondrial matrix enzyme. We have reported characterization of murine MCM and cloning of a murine MCM cDNA and now describe the murine Mut locus, its promoter and evidence for tissue-specific variation in MCM mRNA, enzyme and holo-enzyme levels. The Mut locus spans 30 kb and contains 13 exons constituting a unique transcription unit. A B1 repeat element was found in the 3′ untranslated region (exon 13). The transcription initiation site was identified and upstream sequences were shown to direct expression of a reporter gene in cultured cells. The promoter contains sequence motifs characteristic of: (1) TATA-less housekeeping promoters; (2) enhancer elements purportedly involved in co-ordinating expression of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial proteins; and (3) regulatory elements including CCAAT boxes, cyclic AMP-response elements and potential AP-2-binding sites. Northern blots demonstrate a greater than 10-fold variation in steady-state mRNA levels, which correlate with tissue levels of enzyme activity. However, the ratio of holoenzyme to total enzyme varies among different tissues, and there is no correlation between steady-state mRNA levels and holoenzyme activity. These results suggest that, although there may be regulation of MCM activity at the level of mRNA, the significance of genetic regulation is unclear owning to the presence of epigenetic regulation of holoenzyme formation.


Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (14) ◽  
pp. 3057-3065 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Zhou ◽  
H. Ashe ◽  
C. Burks ◽  
M. Levine

Genetic studies have identified an unusual transvection process in the Abdominal-B (Abd-B) locus of Drosophila. In some cases distal infraabdominal (iab) regulatory domains continue to activate the Abd-B promoter even when translocated onto different chromosomes. Transvection depends on an approx. 10 kb genomic DNA sequence, termed the transvection mediating region (tmr), located immediately downstream of the Abd-B transcription unit. Here we report a detailed analysis of this region. Different DNA fragments from the tmr were inserted into a variety of P-transformation vectors. Analyses of reporter gene expression in transgenic embryos and adults identify at least three cis-regulatory elements, including two enhancers (IAB7 and IAB8) and a new insulator DNA (Frontabdominal-8, Fab-8). Evidence is also presented for a Polycomb Response Element (PRE) linked to the IAB8 enhancer, and an internal promoter in the iab-8 domain, which transcribes the iab-7 and iab-8 cis-regulatory DNA, including the Fab-8 insulator. We discuss the significance of these findings with regard to Abd-B transvection and long-range enhancer-promoter interactions in mammalian globin loci.


2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (9) ◽  
pp. 3670-3681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomofumi Tadauchi ◽  
Toshifumi Inada ◽  
Kunihiro Matsumoto ◽  
Kenji Irie

ABSTRACT Cells of budding yeast give rise to mother and daughter cells, which differ in that only mother cells express the HO endonuclease gene and are thereby able to switch mating types. In this study, we identified the MKT1 gene as a positive regulator of HO expression. The MKT1 gene encodes a protein with two domains, XPG-N and XPG-I, which are conserved among a family of nucleases, including human XPG endonuclease. Loss of MKT1 had little effect on HO mRNA levels but resulted in decreased protein levels. This decrease was dependent on the 3′ untranslated region of the HO transcript. We screened for proteins that associate with Mkt1 and isolated Pbp1, a protein that is known to associate with Pab1, a poly(A)-binding protein. Loss of PBP1 resembles an mkt1Δ deletion, causing decreased expression of HO at the posttranscriptional level. Mkt1 and Pbp1 cosedimented with polysomes in sucrose gradients, with Mkt1 distribution in the polysomes dependent on Pbp1, but not vice versa. These observations suggest that a complex of Mkt1 and Pbp1 regulates the translation of HO mRNA.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Torres-Ruiz ◽  
A. Benitez-Burraco ◽  
M. Martínez-Lage ◽  
S. Rodríguez-Perales ◽  
P. García-Bellido

ABSTRACTMutations in the coding region of FOXP2 are known to cause speech and language impairment. Microdeletions involving the region downstream the gene have been also associated to speech and cognitive deficits. We recently described a girl harbouring a complex chromosomal rearrangement with one breakpoint downstream the gene that might affect her speech and cognitive abilities via physical separation of distant regulatory DNA elements. In this study, we have used highly efficient targeted chromosomal deletions induced by the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing tool to demonstrate the functionality of two enhancers, FOXP2-Eproximal and FOXP2-Edistal, located in the intergenic region between FOXP2 and its adjacent MDFIC gene. Deletion of any of these two functional enhancers in the neuroblastomic cell line SK-N-MC downregulates FOXP2 and decreases FOXP2 protein levels, conversely it upregulates MDFIC and increases MDFIC protein levels. This suggests that both regulatory elements may be shared between FOXP2 and MDFIC. We expect these findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how FOXP2 and MDFIC are regulated to pace neuronal development supporting speech and language.


1992 ◽  
Vol 68 (01) ◽  
pp. 040-047 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Scott Jamison ◽  
Bryan F Burkey ◽  
Sandra J Friezner Degen

SummaryCultures of human hepatoblastoma (HepG2) cells were treated with vitamin K1 or warfarin and prothrombin antigen and mRNA levels were determined. With 3 and 6 h of 10 µg vitamin K1 treatment secreted prothrombin antigen levels, relative to total secreted protein levels, were increased 1.5-fold and 2.1-fold, respectively, over ethanol-treated control levels as determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Dose-response analysis with 3 h of 25 µg/ml vitamin K1 treatment demonstrated a maximal increase of 2.0-fold in secreted prothrombin antigen levels, relative to total secreted protein levels, over ethanol-treated control levels. Pulse-chase analysis with 35S-methionine and immunoprecipitation of 35S-labelled prothrombin demonstrated that, with vitamin K1 treatment (25 µg/ml, 3 h), the rate of prothrombin secretion increased approximately 2-fold and the total amount (intra- and extracellular) of prothrombin synthesized increased approximately 50% over ethanol-treated control levels. Warfarin treatment (1, 5, or 10 µg/ml, 24 h) resulted in decreases in secreted prothrombin antigen levels, relative to total protein levels to approximately 85%, 87% or 81% of ethanol-treated control levels. Analysis of total RNA isolated from these cultures by Northern and solution hybridization techniques demonstrated that prothrombin mRNA was approximately 2.1 kb and that neither vitamin K1 nor warfarin treatment affected the quantity of prothrombin mRNA (ranging from 240–350 prothrombin mRNA molecules per cell). These results demonstrate that vitamin K1 and warfarin, in addition to effects on γ-carboxylation, affect prothrombin synthesis post-transcriptionally, perhaps influencing translation, post-translational processing and/or secretion mechanisms.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-126
Author(s):  
J. Wei ◽  
Y. Yu ◽  
Y. Feng ◽  
J. Zhang ◽  
Q. Jiang ◽  
...  

Background: Homocysteine (Hcy) has been suggested as an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis. Apolipoprotein M (apoM) is a constituent of the HDL particles. The goal of this study was to examine the serum levels of homocysteine and apoM and to determine whether homocysteine influences apoM synthesis. Methods: Serum levels of apoM and Hcy in 17 hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) patients and 19 controls were measured and their correlations were analyzed. Different concentrations of homocysteine (Hcy) and LY294002, a specific phosphoinositide 3- kinase (PI3K) inhibitor, were used to treat HepG2 cells. The mRNA levels were determined by RT-PCR and the apoM protein mass was measured by western blot. Results: We found that decreased serum apoM levels corresponded with serum HDL levels in HHcy patients, while the serum apoM levels showed a statistically significant negative correlation with the serum Hcy levels. Moreover, apoM mRNA and protein levels were significantly decreased after the administration of Hcy in HepG2 cells, and this effect could be abolished by addition of LY294002. Conclusions: resent study demonstrates that Hcy downregulates the expression of apoM by mechanisms involving the PI3K signal pathway.


BMC Cancer ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengwu Xiao ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Meimian Hua ◽  
Huan Chen ◽  
Bin Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The tripartite motif (TRIM) family proteins exhibit oncogenic roles in various cancers. The roles of TRIM27, a member of the TRIM super family, in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remained unexplored. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the clinical impact and roles of TRIM27 in the development of RCC. Methods The mRNA levels of TRIM27 and Kaplan–Meier survival of RCC were analyzed from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Real-time PCR and Western blotting were used to measure the mRNA and protein levels of TRIM27 both in vivo and in vitro. siRNA and TRIM27 were exogenously overexpressed in RCC cell lines to manipulate TRIM27 expression. Results We discovered that TRIM27 was elevated in RCC patients, and the expression of TRIM27 was closely correlated with poor prognosis. The loss of function and gain of function results illustrated that TRIM27 promotes cell proliferation and inhibits apoptosis in RCC cell lines. Furthermore, TRIM27 expression was positively associated with NF-κB expression in patients with RCC. Blocking the activity of NF-κB attenuated the TRIM27-mediated enhancement of proliferation and inhibition of apoptosis. TRIM27 directly interacted with Iκbα, an inhibitor of NF-κB, to promote its ubiquitination, and the inhibitory effects of TRIM27 on Iκbα led to NF-κB activation. Conclusions Our results suggest that TRIM27 exhibits an oncogenic role in RCC by regulating NF-κB signaling. TRIM27 serves as a specific prognostic indicator for RCC, and strategies targeting the suppression of TRIM27 function may shed light on future therapeutic approaches.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lidan Liu ◽  
Chaim Z. Aron ◽  
Cullen M. Grable ◽  
Adrian Robles ◽  
Xiangli Liu ◽  
...  

AbstractLevels of intestinal toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) impact inflammation in the neonatal gastrointestinal tract. While surfactant protein A (SP-A) is known to regulate TLR4 in the lung, it also reduces intestinal damage, TLR4 and inflammation in an experimental model of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in neonatal rats. We hypothesized that SP-A-deficient (SP-A−/−) mice have increased ileal TLR4 and inflammatory cytokine levels compared to wild type mice, impacting intestinal physiology. We found that ileal TLR4 and proinflammatory cytokine levels were significantly higher in infant SP-A−/− mice compared to wild type mice. Gavage of neonatal SP-A−/− mice with purified SP-A reduced ileal TLR4 protein levels. SP-A reduced expression of TLR4 and proinflammatory cytokines in normal human intestinal epithelial cells (FHs74int), suggesting a direct effect. However, incubation of gastrointestinal cell lines with proteasome inhibitors did not abrogate the effect of SP-A on TLR4 protein levels, suggesting that proteasomal degradation is not involved. In a mouse model of experimental NEC, SP-A−/− mice were more susceptible to intestinal stress resembling NEC, while gavage with SP-A significantly decreased ileal damage, TLR4 and proinflammatory cytokine mRNA levels. Our data suggests that SP-A has an extrapulmonary role in the intestinal health of neonatal mice by modulating TLR4 and proinflammatory cytokines mRNA expression in intestinal epithelium.


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