Ferrari: Lecture VII Flashcards

Eukaryotic Gene Control

1
Q

What makes the difference between different cells of the same organism?

A

the regulation of gene expression (how the transcriptome and the proteasome are regulated)

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2
Q

Are the decision taken at a molecular level during development and differentiation reversible?

A

not in complex organisms (only in bacteria)

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3
Q

What are the regions on the DNA that control gene expression?

A

promoter
regulatory sequences
regulatory proteins & transcription factors
interfering RNA

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4
Q

Promoter

A

essential part of the gene responsible for expression by binding the RNA polymerase with the accessory TF (true for polymerase I, II and II in eukaryotes)

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5
Q

Regulatory Sequences

A

allow the binding of the regulatory proteins

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6
Q

Regulatory Proteins and Transcription Factors

A

role in gene expression and regulation

(RNA can also control gene expression)

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7
Q

Interfering RNA

A

regulation of gene expression

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8
Q

How are things brought closer to the promoter?

A

looping of DNA (job of enhancers)

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9
Q

What are 2 main actors responsible for the looping of DNA?

A

trans-acting proteins
cis-acting elements

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10
Q

trans-acting proteins

A

in transcription factors

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11
Q

cis-acting elements

A

on the DNA; they are sequences recognized by the TF on DNA

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12
Q

How is transcription controlled?

A

binding of trans-acting proteins to the cis-acting regulatory DNA sequences

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13
Q

ENCODE Project

A

objective was to identify all the elements on the DNA and do all the annotations on them in a functional way

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14
Q

Sequences of Regulatory Proteins (cis-regions) act in genes that are usually involved in:

A

DNA replication
chromatin condensation
chromosome regulation
gene expression

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15
Q

What is the most used model of simple eukaryotes?

A

Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae and Saccharomyces Probe

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16
Q

WHy are Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae and Saccharomyces Probe the most used simple eukaryotic model?

A

the regulatory regions are very short, they are easy to study, and they are close to the core promoter

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17
Q

What was hard about studying complex eukaryotes?

A

the elements (enhancers, insulators, or silencers) were far away and hard to identify, but now we know the distance between promoter and regulatory sequences

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18
Q

Enhancers

A

cis-acting elements on the DNA which offer multiple binding sites for TF

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19
Q

What is the general size of enhancers?

A

500bp

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20
Q

What do enhancers do?

A

relay different regulatory signals that come from activators to the basal machinery of the promoter

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21
Q

Enhanceosome

A

soma of the enhancer that defines all the TF that are bound to the same enhancer (needed because there are multiple binding sites for different proteins on the enhancer)

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22
Q

What is an example of the enhanceosome?

A

beta-interferon gene

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23
Q

In the beta-interferon complex, what is the function of HMG1?

A

bends the DNA and allows for the interaction between proteins and DNA at different distances

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24
Q

How many TF are there in humans?

A

more than 3000

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25
Q

What are the 3 classes of regulatory proteins?

A

sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins
general transcription factors (GTFs)
chromatin remodeling and modification complex

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26
Q

general transcription factors (GTFs)

A

recognize the same sequence in all the genes in the promoters

part of the RNA polymerase II complex

required for promoter recognition and catalysis of RNA synthesis

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27
Q

chromatin remodeling and modification complex

A

change chromatin by assisting the transcriptional machinery in order to facilitate access of proteins to DNA

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28
Q

RNA polymerase II

A

initiates transcription without TF because it has affinity for the DNA, but without the TF, it cannot bind in a specific way

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29
Q

What do transcription factors do for RNA polymerase II?

A

bring specific polymerase to a specific region

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30
Q

RNA polymerase II promoter

A

region upstream of the coding region for the +1 (+1 is where transcription starts and the promoter is usually 200bp upstream

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31
Q

What defines a core promoter?

A

core promoter is the minimal sequence needed for effective transcription

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32
Q

Which sequences identify the presence of a promoter?

A

TATA BOX
BRE
INITIATOR
DCE & DPE

33
Q

TATA BOX

A

fixed position in prokaryotes and eukaryotes (all transcription starts at +1, and all upstream sequences are annotated by - and all downstream are annotated by +)

TATAAT is the TATA binding protein sequence (TBP sequence)

34
Q

BRE

A

sequence rich in G & C

binding site for TF2B, a general transcription factor of RNA polymerase II

it is the TF2B recognition element

35
Q

INITIATOR

A

middle of the sequence and includes the +1 (so it is not upstream like the TATA BOX)

it has a couple of nucleotides upstream and 4 nucleotides downstream the +1

36
Q

DCE & DPE

A

sequences are all bound to TF2D and works with RNA polymerase II

37
Q

Why are the TATA BOX or the other listed sequences needed?

A

they are needed so that the DNA can bend and bind

38
Q

How are RNA polymerases recruited on promoters?

A

by TBP containing complexes

39
Q

role of polymerase I

A

enzyme that transcribes for ribosomal RNA

40
Q

role of polymerase III

A

transcribes all the transfer RNA and 5S ribosomal RNA

41
Q

What TFs is polymerase II associated with?

A

TF2E
TF2F
Tf2H (helicase)

42
Q

Why is TF2H (helicase) needed?

A

needed to open the double stranded DNA to start transcription

43
Q

When are the factors that facilitate transcription released?

A

once they enter the elongation phase

44
Q

What are the major changes in polymerase II when transcription is in the elongation phase?

A

phosphorylation in the C-terminal domain, which is needed to change kinetics from transcription initiation to transcription elongation

45
Q

Polymerase II is also a binding site for other factors required during transcription…what are these factors?

A

splicing factors as they all occur on the C-terminus of the enzyme

46
Q

What 2 things happen cotranscriptionally at the C-terminus of enzymes? Why?

A

phosphorylation to change transcription kinetics

splicing of RNA

makes the process more efficient

47
Q

Cofactors

A

large complexes that mediate interactions between regulatory factors and general transcription factors using activators or repressors

48
Q

Mediator

A

mediates the interaction between transcription factors (activators) and RNA polymerase II

49
Q

Analyze the gene regulation graph of eukaryotes:

A
50
Q

How can regulatory proteins bind DNA?

A

they use transcription factors to identify the pattern of particular chemical groups, such as:
hydrogen bond donors
hydrogen bond acceptors
hydrophobic patches

51
Q

Where does TF recognition occur?

A

ONLY in major grooves as the patterns are marked differently here

52
Q

What kind of features must regulatory proteins have?

A

DNA binding domain
activation domain
flexible domain

53
Q

DNA binding domain

A

responsible for the interaction with the DNA (can be present in the N-ter/C-ter/middle of the protein)

54
Q

activation domain

A

interacts with other proteins

55
Q

flexible domain

A

links together other domains

56
Q

DNA-binding domain has different motifs. Every TF must have one of these motifs:

A

Helix-turn-helix
Homeodomain
Zinc-finger
Winged helix (forkhead)
Leucine-zipper
Helix-loop-helix

57
Q

Helix-turn-helix (simplest motif)

A

characterized by an 𝛼-helix (blue), a small turn (white), and another 𝛼-helix (red)

58
Q

Zinc-finger

A

zinc atom linked to a cysteine or histidine residue

the zinc atom is linked to four amino acids: they can be cysteines or histidines in any combination - e.g., 4xHis, 3xHis and 1xCys, 2xHis and 2xCys…

generally, in TF there is more than 1 zinc-finger domain

59
Q

Leucin-Zipper

A

leucine frequency is high

form homodimers or heterodimers, which can alter the DNA-binding ability of the TF and a way to expand regulation

60
Q

What is heterodimerization an example of?

A

combinatorial control (combination of different proteins control a cellular process, which increases the number of DNA sites that are recognized)

61
Q

What is special about the N-terminal tail of histones?

A

protrude outside the nucleosome and can be modified post-translationally by enzymes that reside in the nucleus

62
Q

Describe the histone modification: acetylation of lysines:

A

removes the charge from the lysine and promotes the formation of euchromatin (less compact chromatin) and allows transcription of nearby genes

deacetylation: repression
hyperacetylation: activation

63
Q

What is the most famous acetyltransferase in eukaryotes?

A

p300/CBP complex

64
Q

What does the p300/CBP complex do?

A

interacts with activators and is responsible for the acetylation of histone 4

65
Q

What does the acetyltransferase, PCAF, do?

A

preferentially acetylates histone 3

66
Q

Acetylation is always related to __________

A

enhanced expression

67
Q

Histone methylation can have different outcomes based on:
_____
_____
_____

A

number of methyl groups
residue
histone that is methylated

68
Q

The region in a genome that is transcriptionally active is in the presence of _____

A

euchromatin

69
Q

The region in a genome that is transcriptionally repressed is in the presence of _____

A

heterochromatin

70
Q

Why do we need factors that remodel nucleosomes?

A

because the position of adjacent nucleosomes varies a lot

71
Q

What are chromatin remodelling complexes?

A

found in eukaryotic cells

use energy of ATP hydrolysis to change the structure of nucleosomes temporarily so that DNA becomes less tightly bound to the histone core

72
Q

What does the remodelling of nucleosomes permit?

A

access to nucleosomal DNA by proteins involved in several processes such as gene expression, DNA replication and repair

73
Q

What is the most famous chromatin remodelling complex? Why?

A

SWI/SNF family

it is a complex of proteins that is very conserved among different species

74
Q

What is conserved in the SWI/SNF family?

A

presence of an ATPase domain, which requires energy to remodel the chromatin

75
Q

During the transcription of RNA, there is the cycling mechanism of nucleosome remodelling. When is this disrupted?

A

ONLY during DNA replication

76
Q

ATP-dependent remodelling complexes….

A

loosen the interaction between DNA and histones to permit the entrance of DNA-binding proteins

77
Q

Once DNA-binding proteins have done their job, another ATP-dependent remodelling complex….

A

restores the normal nucleosome structure

78
Q

Histone-modifying enzymes and chromatin remodelling enzymes…

A

work together to release and recondense stretches of chromatin

79
Q

Where does DNA bending occur?

A

minor groove of double helix