Transcription factor IIB acetylates itself to regulate transcription.
Acetylation is a well-known regulatory post-translational modification, but a biological function for acetylation in regulating basal transcription factors has not been reported. Here we show that the general transcription factor TFIIB, which is required for the initiation of eukaryotic polymerase II transcription, is acetylated. TFIIB is also an autoacetyltransferase, although it shares no sequence homology with any known acetyltransferases. In the absence of other enzymes, it binds acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA), and catalyses the transfer of the acetyl group onto a specific lysine residue (K238). Both recombinant and cellular TFIIB can autoacetylate, markedly stabilizing the interaction between TFIIB and transcription factor TFIIF and activating transcription in vitro and in cells. A K238A mutant, which cannot be autoacetylated, does not show this activation of transcription. Our findings suggest that there is a regulatory pathway controlling acetylation of TFIIB, and they link acetyl-CoA with basal gene transcription.
Choi
Chu H
CH
Endocrinology Division, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, 99 Brookline Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
Hiromura
Makoto
M
Usheva
Anny
A
D000105:Acetyl Coenzyme A / Q000378:metabolism; D000107:Acetylation; D000123:Acetyltransferases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D011485:Protein Binding; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D035581:Transcription Factor TFIIB / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019473:Transcription Factors, TFII / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D035581:Transcription Factor TFIIB; D019473:Transcription Factors, TFII; D000105:Acetyl Coenzyme A; D000123:Acetyltransferases; C056604:transcription factor TFIIF