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R Sandaltzopoulos

Publications and source records attributed to R Sandaltzopoulos.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

The bifunctional protein DCoH modulates interactions of the homeodomain transcription factor HNF1 with nucleic acids.

The hepatocyte nuclear factor-1 (HNF1) is a homeodomain transcription factor that binds DNA as a dimer. HNF1 dimers associate with two molecules of DCoH, a bifunctional protein that also has an enzymatic function in the tetrahydrobiopterin regeneration, to form stable heterotetramers also capable of DNA binding. Employing purified, recombinant HNF1, HNF1/DCoH heterotetramers and DCoH homotetramers we investigated whether DCoH affects interactions of HNF1 with nucleic acids. Although we detected no direct binding of DCoH to DNA or RNA, DCoH stabilized HNF1/DNA complexes and promoted interactions with sub-optimal DNA target sequences such as the human alpha1-antitrypsin TATA box region. Importantly, we also observed interactions of HNF1 with RNA, but these interactions were completely abolished when HNF1 was complexed with DCoH. Interestingly, DCoH retains its enzymatic activity while complexed with HNF1. Our results document intermolecular regulation of HNF1 binding to nucleic acids by DCoH.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Biochemical analysis of chromatin structure and function using Drosophila embryo extracts.

The biochemical analysis of chromatin structure and function is greatly facilitated by the availability of cell-free systems that assemble chromatin under physiological conditions. One such system that has shown great potential is derived from extracts of early Drosophila embryos. These embryos contain large maternal stocks of chromatin constituents, such as histones and assembly factors. Chromatin assembled in these extracts resembles native chromatin in many respects: it displays physiological nucleosome repeat lengths, it is complex, containing a wealth of nonhistone proteins as well as enzymatic activities, and it has dynamic properties that allow the interaction of DNA-binding proteins that regulate important cellular processes. Most importantly, chromatin with variant properties, e.g., with respect to the basic geometry of the nucleosomal array, histone modifications, and its content of linker histones or nonhistone proteins, can be obtained by manipulating the reconstitution conditions. The synthesis of uniform chromatin with specific characteristics should allow the analysis of the functional significance of the structural and biochemical heterogeneity observed in vivo.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Self-organization of microtubules into bipolar spindles around artificial chromosomes in Xenopus egg extracts.

Functional nuclei and mitotic spindles are shown to assemble around DNA-coated beads incubated in Xenopus egg extracts. Bipolar spindles assemble in the absence of centrosomes and kinetochores, indicating that bipolarity is an intrinsic property of microtubules assembling around chromatin in a mitotic cytoplasm. Microtubules nucleated at dispersed sites with random polarity rearrange into two arrays of uniform polarity. Spindle-pole formation requires cytoplasmic dynein-dependent translocation of microtubules across one another. It is proposed that spindles form in the absence of centrosomes by motor-dependent sorting of microtubules according to their polarity.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Dual regulation of the Drosophila hsp26 promoter in vitro.

Efficient heat shock induction of Drosophila hsp26 gene transcription in vivo requires binding sites for heat shock factor (HSF) and GAGA factor (GAF) close to the TATA box (proximal elements) as well as 350 bp upstream of the start site of transcription (distal elements). We have evaluated the contribution of hsp26 promoter sequences to transcriptional activity in extracts from either heat shocked or unstressed fly embryos. Efficient transcription in either extract was governed by distinct regulatory principles. Transcription in extracts from unstressed embryos relied solely on GAGA elements which efficiently counteracted repression by abundant non-specific DNA-binding proteins. Transcription in extracts from heat shocked embryos depended only a little on GAGA elements, relying mainly on functional HSEs. Constitutively active recombinant HSF or native factor in an extract from heat shocked embryos was able to truly activate transcription essentially via proximal HSEs, but not when bound to distal sites. These two modes of regulation in vitro may correspond to the two functional states of the promoter before and after heat shock in vivo.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Chromatin remodeling by GAGA factor and heat shock factor at the hypersensitive Drosophila hsp26 promoter in vitro.

The chromatin structure at the Drosophila hsp26 promoter in vivo is characterized by two DNase I-hypersensitive (DH) sites harboring regulatory elements. Proximal and distal DH sites are separated by a positioned nucleosome. To study the contribution of transcription factors to the establishment of this specific chromatin configuration we assembled nucleosomes on the hsp26 promoter using a cell-free reconstitution system derived from fly embryos. Both DH sites were readily reconstituted from extract components. They were separated by a nucleosome which was less strictly positioned than its in vivo counterpart. The interactions of GAGA factor and heat shock factor with their binding sites in chromatin occurred in two modes. Their interaction with binding sites in the nucleosome-free regions did not require ATP. In the presence of ATP both factors interacted also with nucleosomal binding sites, causing nucleosome rearrangements and a refinement of nucleosome positions. While chromatin remodeling upon transcription factor interaction has previously been interpreted to involve nucleosome disruption, the data suggest energy-dependent nucleosome sliding as main principle of chromatin reorganization.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Transcriptional repression by nucleosomes but not H1 in reconstituted preblastoderm Drosophila chromatin.

Chromatin reconstituted in an extract from preblastoderm Drosophila embryos represses transcription by RNA polymerase II. We have assembled regularly spaced nucleosomes on DNA attached to paramagnetic beads enabling the efficient purification of chromatin templates for transcription studies. We have used diagnostic salt extractions to establish that transcriptional repression of immobilized chromatin was largely due to nucleosome cores. When purified H1 was incorporated into chromatin, resulting in increased repeat lengths to 200-220 bp, the contribution of H1 to transcriptional repression was negligible. If more H1 was added no regularly spaced chromatin was obtained and only under these conditions was transcriptional inhibition by H1 apparent. We conclude that efficient repression of transcription by polymerase II in this system does not require the presence of histone H1.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Nonradioactive, solid-phase DNase I footprints analyzed on an A.L.F. DNA Sequencer.

Solid-phase DNase I footprinting provides a powerful tool for analyzing the sequence-specific interactions of DNA binding proteins. Classically this type of assay requires radioactively labeled DNA molecules. Substitution of the isotope by fluorescein labeling of the DNA fragments enables the analysis of footprint patterns on a standard automated laser fluorescent (A.L.F.) DNA Sequencer. The combination of solid-phase footprinting technology and fluorescence-based nonradioactive detection of fragments has unique advantages over established footprinting technologies.

DNA-Binding Proteins↗