title: Inducible, tightly regulated and growth condition-independent transcription factor in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
abstract: The precise control of gene expression is essential in basic biological research as well as in biotechnological applications. Most regulated systems available in yeast enable only the overexpression of the target gene, excluding the possibility of intermediate or weak expression. Moreover, these systems are frequently toxic or depend on growth conditions. We constructed a heterologous transcription factor that overcomes these limitations. Our system is a fusion of the bacterial LexA DNA-binding protein, the human estrogen receptor (ER) and an activation domain (AD). The activity of this chimera, called LexA-ER-AD, is tightly regulated by the hormone β-estradiol. The selection of the AD proved to be crucial to avoid toxic effects and to define the range of activity that can be precisely tuned with β-estradiol. As our system is based on a heterologous DNA-binding domain, induction in different metabolic contexts is possible. Additionally, by controlling the number of LexA-binding sites in the target promoter, one can scale the expression levels up or down. Overall, our LexA-ER-AD system is a valuable tool to precisely control gene expression in different experimental contexts without toxic side effects.
authors.affiliation: ETH Zurich and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, D-BSSE, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland Life Science Zurich PhD Program on Molecular and Translational Biomedicine, Zurich, Switzerland Competence Center for Systems Physiology and Metabolic Diseases, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Diana S M
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Ottoz
authors.affiliation: ETH Zurich and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, D-BSSE, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland joerg.stelling@bsse.ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rudolf
authors.affiliation: ETH Zurich and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, D-BSSE, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland Competence Center for Systems Physiology and Metabolic Diseases, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland joerg.stelling@bsse.ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Joerg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stelling
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D006801:Humans; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D000099160:LexA Repressor Protein
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D000099160:LexA Repressor Protein