Studying the recruitment of Sp1 to the beta-globin promoter with an in vivo method: protein position identification with nuclease tail (PIN*POINT)

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Feb 3;95(3):969-74. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.3.969.

Abstract

Transcription is thought to be regulated by recruitment of transcription factors, adaptors, and certain enzymes to cis-acting elements through protein-DNA interactions and protein-protein interactions. To better understand transcription, a method with the capability to detect in vivo recruitment of these individual proteins will be essential. Toward this end, we use a previously undescribed in vivo method that we term protein position identification with nuclease tail (PIN*POINT). In this method, a fusion protein composed of a chosen protein linked to a nonsequence-specific nuclease is expressed in vivo, and the binding of the protein to DNA is made detectable by the nuclease-induced cleavage near the binding site. In this article, we used the technique protein position identification with nuclease tail to study the effect of the beta-globin locus control region (LCR) and promoter elements on the recruitment of transcription factor Sp1 to the beta-globin promoter. We present evidence that the hypersensitive sites of the LCR synergistically enhance the recruitment of a multimeric Sp1 complex to the beta-globin promoter and that this may be accomplished by protein-protein interactions with proteins bound to the LCR, the upstream activator region, and, possibly, general transcription factors bound near the "TATA" box.

MeSH terms

  • Base Sequence
  • Cell Line
  • DNA Footprinting
  • Globins / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Locus Control Region / physiology*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic*
  • Sp1 Transcription Factor / metabolism*
  • TATA Box
  • Trans-Activators / metabolism
  • Transfection

Substances

  • Sp1 Transcription Factor
  • Trans-Activators
  • Globins