title: Comparative analysis of ATRX, a chromatin remodeling protein.
abstract: The ATRX protein, associated with X-linked alpha-thalassaemia, mental retardation and developmental abnormalities including genital dysgenesis, has been proposed to function as a global transcriptional regulator within a multi-protein complex. However, an understanding of the composition and mechanics of this machinery has remained elusive. We applied inter-specific comparative analysis to identify conserved elements which may be involved in regulating the conformation of chromatin. As part of this study, we cloned and sequenced the entire translatable coding region (7.4 kb) of the ATRX gene from a model marsupial (tammar wallaby, Macropus eugenii). We identify an ATRX ancestral core, conserved between plants, fish and mammals, comprising the cysteine-rich and SWI2/SNF2 helicase-like regions and protein interaction domains. Our data are consistent with the model of the cysteine-rich region as a DNA-binding zinc finger adjacent to a protein-binding (plant homeodomain-like) domain. Alignment of vertebrate ATRX sequences highlights other conserved elements, including a negatively charged mammalian sequence which we propose to be involved in binding of positively charged histone tails.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, The University of Melbourne, Gate 12 Royal Parade, Melbourne 3010, Australia. d.park@unimelb.edu.au
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Pask
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Huynh
authors.forename: Marilyn B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Renfree
authors.forename: Vincent R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Harley
authors.forename: Jennifer A Marshall
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Graves
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites / Q000235:genetics; D042002:Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029941:Fish Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D007614:Macropodidae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D023721:Tetraodontiformes / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029941:Fish Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors