title: Transcriptional repression by zinc finger peptides. Exploring the potential for applications in gene therapy.
abstract: A series of studies were performed to determine whether zinc finger peptides could efficiently repress transcription from RNA polymerase II promoters in vivo and to determine how such repression might depend on the position of the zinc finger binding site with respect to those of the TATA box or the initiator element. Promoter constructs were prepared with Zif268 binding sites inserted at various positions, and the activity of a reporter gene was measured in transfection studies. We found that the peptide containing the three zinc fingers of Zif268 could efficiently repress activated transcription when bound to a site near the TATA box (19-fold repression) or when bound to a site near the initiator element (18-fold repression). Repression was even more effective when the zinc finger peptide was bound to both of these sites (63-fold repression). Novel zinc finger peptides that had been selected via phage display also served as repressors of activated transcription, but repression with these proteins was somewhat less efficient than with the Zif268 peptide.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: C O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Pabo
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012319:RNA Polymerase II / Q000378:metabolism; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016385:TATA Box; D035581:Transcription Factor TFIIB; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D016335:Zinc Fingers
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D035581:Transcription Factor TFIIB; D014157:Transcription Factors; D012319:RNA Polymerase II