Core promoter-specific function of a mutant transcription factor TFIID defective in TATA-box binding.
In conjunction with other general initiation factors, the TATA box-binding protein (TBP) can direct basal transcription by RNA polymerase II from TATA-containing promoters, but its stable interaction with TBP-associated factors (TAFs) in the TFIID complex is required both for activator-dependent transcription and for basal transcription directed by an initiator element. We have generated a TATA-binding-defective TFIID complex containing an amino acid substitution in the DNA-binding surface of its TBP subunit. This mutated TFIID is defective in both basal and activated transcription from core promoters containing only a TATA box but supports transcription from initiator-containing promoters independently of the presence or absence of a TATA sequence. Our results show that a functional initiator element is needed to bypass the requirement for an active TATA DNA-binding surface in TFIID and imply that gene-specific transcription can be achieved by modulating distinct core promoter-specific TFIID functions--e.g., TBP-TATA versus TAF-initiator interactions.
Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10021, USA.
E
E
Martinez
Q
Q
Zhou
N D
ND
L'Etoile
T
T
Oelgeschläger
A J
AJ
Berk
R G
RG
Roeder
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D001665:Binding Sites / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011485:Protein Binding; D012319:RNA Polymerase II / Q000378:metabolism; D012320:RNA Polymerase III / Q000378:metabolism; D016385:TATA Box; D035181:TATA-Box Binding Protein; D035362:Transcription Factor TFIID; D035361:Transcription Factor TFIIIB; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D035181:TATA-Box Binding Protein; D035362:Transcription Factor TFIID; D035361:Transcription Factor TFIIIB; D014157:Transcription Factors; D012319:RNA Polymerase II; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases; D012320:RNA Polymerase III