Direct stimulation of transcription initiation by BRCA1 requires both its amino and carboxyl termini.
Published experiments suggest that BRCA1 interaction with RNAPII and regulation of a number of target genes may be central to its role as a tumor suppressor. Previous in vivo and in vitro work has implicated the carboxyl terminus of BRCA1 in transcriptional stimulation, but the mechanism of action remains unknown, and whether the full-length protein stimulates transcription is controversial. BRCA1 interacts with a number of enhancer-binding transcriptional activators, suggesting that these factors recruit BRCA1 to promoters, where it stimulates RNA synthesis. To investigate whether BRCA1 has intrinsic transcriptional activity, we established a fully purified transcription assay. We demonstrate here that BRCA1 stimulates transcription initiation across a range of promoters. Both the amino and carboxyl termini of BRCA1 are required for this activity, but the BRCA1-binding partner, BARD1, is not. Our data support a model whereby BRCA1 stabilizes productive preinitiation complexes and thus stimulates transcription.
Program in Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Andrew A
AA
Horwitz
Satish
S
Sankaran
Jeffrey D
JD
Parvin
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019313:BRCA1 Protein / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D019313:BRCA1 Protein; D014157:Transcription Factors; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; C102449:BARD1 protein, human; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases