title: In trans promoter activation by enhancers in transient transfection.
abstract: Earlier, it was reported that the strong cytomegalovirus enhancer can activate the cytomegalovirus promoter in trans, i.e. as a separate plasmid co-transfected with a promoter-reporter gene construct. Here we demonstrate that the ability of enhancers to activate promoters in trans in transient transfection experiments is a property of not only viral regulatory elements but also of various genomic enhancers and promoters. Enhancer-promoter activation in trans is promoter- and cell type-specific, and accompanied by physical interaction between promoter and enhancer as revealed by chromosome conformation capture assays. Thus, promoter activation in transient co-transfection of promoters and enhancers shares a number of important traits with long-distance promoter activation by enhancers in living cells and may therefore serve as a model of this fundamental cellular process.
authors.affiliation: Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Smirnov
authors.affiliation: Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Akopov
authors.affiliation: Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Didych
authors.affiliation: Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia. Electronic address: lev@ibch.ru.
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Nikolaev
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D048888:Fireflies / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D006367:HeLa Cells; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008156:Luciferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009928:Organ Specificity; D010957:Plasmids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D048790:Renilla / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D014162:Transfection / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D015534:Trans-Activators; D008156:Luciferases
keywords: Activation in trans; Enhancer-promoter interaction; Transient transfection