title: Activation of prokaryotic transcription through arbitrary protein-protein contacts.
abstract: Many transcriptional activators in prokaryotes are known to bind near a promoter and contact RNA polymerase, but it is not clear whether a protein-protein contact between an activator and RNA polymerase is enough to activate gene transcription. Here we show that contact between a DNA-bound protein and a heterologous protein domain fused to RNA polymerase can elicit transcriptional activation; moreover, the strength of this engineered protein-protein interaction determines the amount of gene activation. Our results indicate that an arbitrary interaction between a DNA-bound protein and RNA polymerase can activate transcription. We also find that when the DNA-bound 'activator' makes contact with two different components of the polymerase, the effect of these two interactions on transcription is synergistic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Dove
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Joung
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hochschild
mesh_terms: D010582:Bacteriophage lambda / Q000235:genetics; D001665:Binding Sites; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D009154:Mutation; D010957:Plasmids; D011387:Prokaryotic Cells; D011485:Protein Binding; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D014764:Viral Proteins; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins; C016649:phage repressor proteins; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases