Week 7 Flashcards
Why do cells use mRNA as an intermediate rather than directly from DNA?
It helps protect the DNA from damage leading to deadly or inheritable mutations
What is the process of translation/transcription in prokaryotes?
Coupled transcription-translation in the cytoplasm
What is the process of translation/transcription in eukaryotes?
There are different RNA Pols with additional subunits
Transcription produces an pre-mRNA intermediate containing introns that need processing
Translation occurs in the nucleus after which the mRNA is transported to the cytoplasm for translation
Why arent all genes expressed at the same rate at the same place?
Its to do with promoter loading with RNA polymerase II (RNA PolII(2)), chromatin accessibility and interaction with transcription factors
What is a minimum fro RNA PolII to bind to a promoter in eukaryotes?
They require a minimim of seven general TFs in order for RNA PolII to bind to a promoter
What is common for regulatory elements to be located compared to the transcription start site?
It isnt unusual for a gene to have several regulatory elements such as enhancers located many Kb from the TSS?
What are the 3 regions of the classical TATA core minimal promoter required for gene expression?
TATA box
CAAT box
GC box
What are examples of enhancer binding protein that binds to each of the TATA core boxes?
TATA box- TBP
CAAT box- CBP, NF1 and C-EBP
GC box- Sp1
Where is the rough location of each core TATA binding box relative to TSS?
TATA box- ~25 bases upstream
CAAT box- ~80 bases upstream
GC box- ~100 to 200 bases upstream
What is TF II D?
Its a large multiprotein assembly complex that serves as a general TF for transcription initiation by eukaryotic RNA PolII
How does TF II D act as a general TF?
It recognises the core promoter sequences (TATA box) and associated chromatin marks, and interacts with gene-specific activators and repressors
How can proteins be post-translationally modified?
This can be done through the process of phosphorylation and methylation, this can serve many functions including regulation of protein activities
What organisms can post-translational modification of proteins occur?
This occurs in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes but it more extensive so has more regulatory opportunites in eukaryotes
What is the function of RNA polymerase I and III?
RNA polymerases I and III transcribe genes that code for ribosomal RNAs, transfer RNAs, and some small nuclear RNAs.
What is the function of RNA polymerase II?
RNAP II transcribes protein-coding genes and some noncoding RNAs.
How are the genes regulated by RNA polymerase I and III regulated differently than RNA polymerase II?
Promoters recognized by each type of RNA polymerase have different nucleotide sequences and bind different transcription factors.
Genes transcribed by each polymerase have different transcription termination signals and RNA processing mechanisms.
What are chromosome territories?
The area in which a chromosome occupies during interphase staying seperate from other chromosomes
What are interchromatin channels?
Channels between chromosomes that contain little or no DNA and are called interchromatin compartments
Where are transcriptionally active genes are located?
They are located at the edges of chromosomes territories next to the channels of the interchromatin compartments
What is the advatange of placing transcriptionally active genes at the edges of the chromosome territories?
This organization brings actively transcribed genes into closer association with each other and with the transcriptional machinery
What was the advantage of bringing transcribed genes closer to each other and other transcriptional machinery?
This helps facilitate their coordinated expression
What is the function of the interchromatin channels?
They house RNA processing machinery and they are adjacent to the nuclear pore. This helps faciliate capping and splicing and exporting of mRNAs.
How can transcription factories impact nuclear organisation?
Transcription factories impact nuclear organisation by clustering coregulated genes
How are nuclear architecture and transcriptional regulation interdependant?
Changes in nuclear architecture affect transcription, and changes in transcriptional activity necessitate changes in chromosome organization.
How many transcription factories are there?
~100 - 8000 depending on cell type
When and who discovered the first links between open chromatin and active transcription?
It was first 1976 by Harold Weintraub and Mark Groudine
How did Weintraub and Groudine prove the links between chromatin and active transcription?
Weintraub and Groudine isolated nuclei from chicken red blood cells, fibroblasts, and brain cells. They then treated the nuclei with low levels of the enzyme DNase I. This enzyme digests DNA to varying degrees, depending on the chromatin’s conformation. DNA within fully compacted chromatin is shielded or protected from DNase I, while DNA located in regions of more relaxed chromatin is rapidly digested.
What did Weintraub and Groudine do after they used DNase 1 to digest the DNA from red blood cells, fibroblast and brain cells?
They isolated DNA from the nuclei and probed it for the presence of sequences from three genes: betaglobin (transcribed only in red blood cells), avian tumor virus (transcribed in all three cell types), and ovalbumin (not transcribed in any of these cell types).
Betaglobin DNA –> digested in red blood cell nuclei treated with DNase I, but not in treated nuclei of fibroblasts or brain cells.
Avian tumor virus DNA –> digested in nuclei treated with DNase I from all three cell types
Ovalbumin DNA –> not digested in any of the cell nuclei.
How can nucleosomes can be modified?
By changing their histone complex, mostly contain H2A but using varient histones such as H2A.Z influence transcription
How does the introduction of the histone H2A.Z to the nucleosomes impact its function?
Nucleosomes are generally a physical barrier to RNA polymerases and DNA-binding transcriptional regulators, nucleosomes containing the H2A.Z variant are not as stable and thus are less of a barrier.
What is method for chromatin alteration?
Chromatin alteration involves histone modification. Histone modification refers to the covalent addition of functional groups to the N-terminal tails of histone proteins. The most common histone modifications are added acetyl, methyl, or phosphate groups.
How does acetylation allow for binding of transcription regulatory proteins to DNA?
Acetylation decreases the positive charge on histones, resulting in a reduced affinity of the histone for the negative charges on the backbone phosphates of DNA. This in turn may assist the formation of open chromatin conformations.
What catalyses histone acetylation?
Histone acetyltransferase (HAT) enzymes
How are HAT enzymes recruited?
HATs are recruited to genes by the presence of certain transcriptional activator proteins that bind to transcription regulatory regions.
Transcriptional activator proteins themselves have HAT activity.
What are histone deacetylases (HDACs)?
They remove acetyl groups from histone tails
What recruits HDACs?
HDACs can be recruited to genes by some transcriptional repressor proteins that bind to gene regulatory sequences.
What is chromatin remodelling?
The repositioning or removal of nucleosomes on DNA, this is bought about by chromatin remodelling complexes
What are chromatin remodelling complexes?
Chromatin remodeling complexes are large multi-subunit enzymes that use the energy of ATP hydrolysis to move and rearrange nucleosomes.
What is the impact of repositioning of nucleosomes?
Repositioning of nucleosomes makes regions of the chromosome accessible to transcription regulatory proteins, such as transcriptional activators, and RNAP II.
What is an example of remodelling complexes?
SWU/SNF
How do remodelling complexes work?
They can act in several different ways:
Loosen the association between histones and DNA, resulting in the nucleosome sliding along the DNA and exposing regulatory regions.
Loosen the DNA strand from the nucleosome core, or they may cause reorganization of the internal nucleosome components such as swapping in and out histone variants.
Where does DNA methylation most often occur in eukaryotes?
Position 5 of cytosine. Methylation occurs most often in the cystine of CG doublets in DNA, usually on both strands
What happens with the Methyl group and DNA?
The methyl group protrudes into the major groove of the DNA helix.
What is the distrubution of CpG sequences?
They are not randomly distrubuted but tend to be concerntrated in CpG-rich region called CpG islands. Roughly 70% of promoters in human genes have a CpG island in the promoter sequence
What is the first evidence for relationship for methylation in eukaryotic gene expression?
Inverse relationship exists between the degree of methylation and the dregree of expression
Large transcriptionally inactive regions like the X chromosomes in female mammalian cells are heavily methylated
What is the second evidence for relationship for methylation in eukaryotic gene expression?
Methylation patterns are tissue specific and once established are maintained for all cells of that tissue
Proper patterns of DNA methylation are essential for normal mammalian development, which can be altered by methylation and demethylation enzymes in order to silence or activate the transcription of genes in such region
What is the most direct evidence of a role for methylation in gene expression?
Using base analogs such as 5-azacytidine being incorporated into DNA in place of cytidine during DNA replication.
Base analogs can’t be methylated causing undermethylated of the sites where it is incorporated. The introduction of base analogs changes the pattern of gene expression and stimulates the expression of alleles on inactivated X chromosomes.
The prescence of 5-azacytidine in DNA can induce the expression the expression of genes that would normally be silent in certain differentiated cells
What is the % of methalyed cystine in key species?
14%- Arabidopsis thaliana
4%- Mice
1%- Humans
Absent in Caenorhabditis elegans
What are core promoters?
The minimum part of the promoter needed for accurate initiation of transcrption of RNAPII.
~80 base pairs long and include transcription start site
What are proximal promoter elements?
Generally located up to ~250 nucleotides upstream of the transcription start site and contain binding sites for sequence-specific DNA binding proteins that modulate the effciency of trancription
What are the 2 types of core promoters?
Focused core promoters- specify transcription initiation at a single specific start site
Dispersed core promoters- direct initiation from a number of weak transcription start sites located over a 50 to 100 nucleotide region
What is thedifference in promoters between lower eukaryotes and verterbrates?
Most genes of lower eukaryotes use focus transcription intitation where as 70% of verterbrate genes use dispersed promoters