Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Nuclear microenvironments modulate transcription from low-affinity enhancers

Justin Crocker, Albert Tsai, Anand K. Muthusamy, Luke D. Lavish, Robert H. Singer, David L. Stern
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/128280
Justin Crocker
†Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: justin.crocker@embl.de tsaia@janelia.hhmi.org
Albert Tsai
†Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: justin.crocker@embl.de tsaia@janelia.hhmi.org
Anand K. Muthusamy
†Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Luke D. Lavish
†Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Robert H. Singer
†Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
††Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Forchheimer 620, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
David L. Stern
†Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Transcription factors regulate gene expression by binding to DNA for short durations and by often binding to low-affinity DNA sequences. It is not clear how such temporally brief, low-affinity interactions can drive efficient transcription. Here we report that the transcription factor Ultrabithorax (Ubx) functionally utilizes low-affinity binding sites in the Drosophila melanogaster shavenbaby (svb) locus in nuclear microenvironments of relatively high Ubx concentration. By manipulating the affinity of svb enhancers, we revealed an inverse relationship between enhancer affinity and Ubx concentration required for transcriptional activation. A Ubx cofactor, Homothorax (Hth), was enriched together with Ubx near enhancers that require Hth, even though Ubx and Hth did not co-localize throughout the nucleus. These results suggest that low affinity sites overcome their kinetic inefficiency by utilizing microenvironments with high concentrations of transcription factors and cofactors. Mechanisms that generate these microenvironments are likely to be a general feature of eukaryotic transcriptional regulation.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted April 18, 2017.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Nuclear microenvironments modulate transcription from low-affinity enhancers
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Nuclear microenvironments modulate transcription from low-affinity enhancers
Justin Crocker, Albert Tsai, Anand K. Muthusamy, Luke D. Lavish, Robert H. Singer, David L. Stern
bioRxiv 128280; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/128280
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Nuclear microenvironments modulate transcription from low-affinity enhancers
Justin Crocker, Albert Tsai, Anand K. Muthusamy, Luke D. Lavish, Robert H. Singer, David L. Stern
bioRxiv 128280; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/128280

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Cell Biology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (2516)
  • Biochemistry (4964)
  • Bioengineering (3466)
  • Bioinformatics (15166)
  • Biophysics (6885)
  • Cancer Biology (5379)
  • Cell Biology (7709)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (4518)
  • Ecology (7128)
  • Epidemiology (2059)
  • Evolutionary Biology (10206)
  • Genetics (7497)
  • Genomics (9763)
  • Immunology (4821)
  • Microbiology (13174)
  • Molecular Biology (5128)
  • Neuroscience (29354)
  • Paleontology (203)
  • Pathology (835)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (1460)
  • Physiology (2127)
  • Plant Biology (4728)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1008)
  • Synthetic Biology (1337)
  • Systems Biology (4001)
  • Zoology (768)