Lesson 22 Flashcards
what is it called when DNA is injected directly into the nucleus to be transcribed?
blind method → you cannot see the nucleus
when are histones synthesized?
during S phase
what is the direct model proposed by Adrian Bird?
proposed that if we have a promotor, that will have some CG - if the binding site of the transcription factors is not methylated, the transcriptional factor can bind and therefore the gene is expressed
if the consensus sequence of your tf is methylated, the methyl group overruns into the major groove and then directly interferes with the bind of the factor that therefore will not bind = we will have repression
what is the direct model based off of?
the fact that the methyl group is overhanging into the major groove of DNA
if you are given a tf that has a Cg consensus sequence and you want to test if it binds to its recognition sequence when it undergo methylation in vitro, what do you use?
electrophoretic mobility shift assay → use probes, a piece of the promotor that contain a piece of the binding site for your factor, you put it in a tube and do different samples: not methylated with no factor, methylated with no factor, that will migrate just the same; but for sure one non- methylated with the factor and one methylated with the factor, then observe. What you are expecting is that if the factor can bind to the promotor or to the sequence, the DNA will be delayed because it will be heavier in your electrophoresis.
if we have sick cells and the promotor in the sick cells is methylated, how can you check if the protein (reader) is binding or not to the non-methylated or to the methylated promotor?
do a chromatin immunoprecicitation assay followed by PCR to see if the sequence of interest is the one that has been bound, or follow through real time PCR
what are methyl binding proteins?
bind to methylated DNA and by binding they inhibit the binding of the transcriptional factor and therefore gene expression
what is the indirect model?
its not the methylation that directly blocks the binding of tfs, but methylation attracts readers, methyl binding proteins, and and the binding of these blocks the binding of transcription factors → same outcome (blocks transcription) but different method
what types of things would you get in a nuclear extract?
a huge amount of proteins which are going to bind to DNA (because they like DNA) - transcription factors, nucleosomes, DNA polymerase, RNA polymerase, etc
what does MeCP1 & 2 stand for?
methyl CpG binding protein 1 and 2 depending on the shift
what happens if we have more DNA than readers?
we will lose capacity to cover all the methylated DNA
when does chromatin assembly usually occur?
after DNA replication
describe the speed of chromatin assembly based on the structure of DNA:
if we have double stranded DNA this happens more slowly, if the DNA is single stranded it happens immediately
after experimentation was performed it was found that we have inhibited transcription only when chromatin is assembled onto our plasmid, what does this indicate?
methylation inhibits transcription through readers of methylation, but also using impart chromatin structure and nucleosome assembly
what is GAL4?
a transcription factor - this protein was already shown to be able to bind to its own sequence even if it was methylated (does not care about he nucleosome or methylation) → when its own sequence is assembled into chromatin it binds and activates
what is the reporter gene of thymidine kinase (TK) promotor?
CAT → if TK is methylated CAT is repressed, if TK is not CAT is expressed
what happens if you have a gene with only one single CpG methylation?
the gene is most likely expressed, maybe a little less than having nothing
what specific region was discovered when AB analyzed MeCP2, and what was its function?
MBD (methyl binding domain) → it is a region that is necessary and sufficient to bind to the DNA that contains at least one symmetrically methylated CpG dinucleotide
what is the function of MeCP2?
it is a reader of methylation because it contains a methyl binding domain but in addition its a transcriptional repressor because it contains a transcriptional repressor domain (TRD)
what are some general characteristics of MeCP2?
nuclear protein, highly abundant, ubiquitously expressed → through MBD it binds a single CpG dinucleotide symmetrically methylated
what genetic disorder is cause by MeCP2?
Rett Syndrome