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Y Lorch

Publications and source records attributed to Y Lorch.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

RSC unravels the nucleosome.

RSC and SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complexes were previously reported to generate a stably altered nucleosome. We now describe the formation of hybrids between nucleosomes of different sizes, showing that the stably altered structure is a noncovalent dimer. A basis for dimer formation is suggested by an effect of RSC on the supercoiling of closed, circular arrays of nucleosomes. The effect may be explained by the interaction of RSC with DNA at the ends of the nucleosome, which could lead to the release 60--80 bp or more from the ends. DNA released in this way may be trapped in the stable dimer or lead to alternative fates such as histone octamer transfer to another DNA or sliding along the same DNA molecule.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Mediator-nucleosome interaction.

Mediator, a multiprotein complex involved in the regulation of RNA polymerase II transcription, binds to nucleosomes and acetylates histones. Three lines of evidence identify the Nut1 subunit of Mediator as responsible for the histone acetyltransferase (HAT) activity. An "in-gel" HAT assay reveals a single band of the appropriate size. Sequence alignment shows significant similarity of Nut1 to the GCN5-related N-acetyltransferase superfamily. Finally, recombinant Nut1 exhibits HAT activity in an in-gel assay.

Acetyltransferases↗
PubMed1999

Histone octamer transfer by a chromatin-remodeling complex.

RSC, an abundant, essential chromatin-remodeling complex related to SWI/SNF complex, catalyzes the transfer of a histone octamer from a nucleosome core particle to naked DNA. The newly formed octamer-DNA complex is identical with a nucleosome in all respects. The reaction requires ATP and involves an activated RSC-nucleosome intermediate. The mechanism may entail formation of a duplex displacement loop on the nucleosome, facilitating the entry of exogeneous DNA and the release of the endogenous molecule.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Chromatin-modifying and -remodeling complexes.

Nucleosomes have long been known to inhibit DNA transactions on chromosomes and a remarkable abundance of multiprotein complexes that either enhance or relieve this inhibition have been described. Most is known about chromatin-remodeling complexes that perturb nucleosome structure.

Chromatin↗
PubMed1998

Activated RSC-nucleosome complex and persistently altered form of the nucleosome.

RSC, an abundant, essential chromatin-remodeling complex, related to SWI/SNF complex, binds nucleosomes and naked DNA with comparable affinities, as shown by gel shift analysis. The RSC-nucleosome complex is converted in the presence of ATP to a slower migrating form. This activated complex exhibits greatly increased susceptibility to endo- and exonucleases but retains a full complement of histones. Activation persists in the absence of ATP, and on removal of RSC, the nucleosome is released in an altered form, with a diminished electrophoretic mobility, greater sedimentation rate, and marked instability at elevated ionic strength. The reaction is reversible in the presence of RSC and ATP, with conversion of the altered form back to the nucleosome.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1996

RSC, an essential, abundant chromatin-remodeling complex.

A novel 15-subunit complex with the capacity to remodel the structure of chromatin, termed RSC, has been isolated from S. cerevisiae on the basis of homology to the SWI/SNF complex. At least three RSC subunits are related to SWI/SNF polypeptides: Sth1p, Rsc6p, and Rsc8p are significantly similar to Swi2/Snf2p, Swp73p, and Swi3p, respectively, and were identified by mass spectrometric and sequence analysis of peptide fragments. Like SWI/SNF, RSC exhibits a DNA-dependent ATPase activity stimulated by both free and nucleosomal DNA and a capacity to perturb nucleosome structure. RSC is, however, at least 10-fold more abundant than SWI/SNF complex and is essential for mitotic growth. Contrary to a report for SWII/SNF complex, no association of RSC (nor of SWI/SNF complex) with RNA polymerase II holoenzyme was detected.

Acetyltransferases↗
PubMed1995

Interplay between chromatin structure and transcription.

Research on the interplay between chromatin and transcription has progressed along three lines during the past year. Evidence has been reported for disruption of nucleosomes by transcriptional regulatory proteins in cell-free systems; displacement of the histone octamer during transcription has been conclusively demonstrated; and insights into transcriptional repression by heterochromatin have been gained from studies of silent mating loci and telomeres in yeast.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Isolation of the yeast histone octamer.

Procedures for the extraction and purification of the yeast histone octamer are described. Either mechanical disruption, yielding chromatin fragments, or spheroplast formation with subsequent nuclear isolation was employed. A hexahistidine tag was inserted in the N-terminal region of histone H2B, permitting resolution of the histone octamer from high-salt extracts of nuclei or chromatin to near homogeneity. The histone octamer purified in this way was fully active in reconstitution of nucleosomes.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Near-zero linking difference upon transcription factor IID binding to promoter DNA.

Binding of yeast transcription factor IID (TFIID) to the adenoviral major late promoter in circular DNA molecules caused a linking number change of less than 0.1. TFIID on its own therefore fails to unwind DNA appreciably, or else it causes both unwinding and compensatory writhing. Highly purified, recombinant yeast TFIID relaxed supercoiled DNA, because of a contaminant of bacterial topoisomerase I. Relaxing activity of topoisomerase I was enhanced by the adenoviral major late promoter, suggesting an instability of the TATA sequence or a destabilizing effect on flanking DNA.

Adenoviridae↗
PubMed1992

Initiation on chromatin templates in a yeast RNA polymerase II transcription system.

Templates were prepared with either the TATA box or transcription start sites of the yeast CYC1 promoter in a nucleosome. In both cases, initiation in an unfractionated yeast RNA polymerase II transcription system was abolished by the nucleosome. The inhibition appeared to be relieved by the activator protein Gal4-VP16 binding to a site upstream of the promoter. Inhibition was not relieved, however, in a transcription system reconstituted from purified components, indicating a requirement for additional factors for the effect of Gal4-VP16.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Interchangeable RNA polymerase I and II enhancers.

The RNA polymerase I (pol I) enhancer of Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains at least three elements commonly associated with RNA polymerase II (pol II) enhancers, binding sites for the transcriptional activators general regulatory factor 2 and autonomously replicating sequence-binding factor I, and a thymidine-rich element. When the particular form of the thymidine-rich element found in the pol I enhancer was placed in front of a pol II promoter, transcription was stimulated 43-fold, comparable to the effect of a powerful pol II activator such as Gal4. Conversely, when two copies of a thymidine-rich element from a pol II enhancer were placed upstream of a pol I promoter, transcription was stimulated 38-fold. This functional reciprocity of pol I and II enhancers may reflect similarities in the mechanisms of transcriptional activation. The pol I enhancer also contains an element that appears to be pol I-specific and prevent the activation of pol II.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1990

A yeast protein that influences the chromatin structure of UASG and functions as a powerful auxiliary gene activator.

GRF2, an abundant yeast protein of Mr approximately 127,000, binds to the GAL upstream activating sequence (UASG) and creates a nucleosome-free region of approximately 230 bp. Purified GRF2 binds to sequences found in many other UASs, in the 35S rRNA enhancer, at centromeres, and at telomeres. Although GRF2 stimulates transcription only slightly on its own, it combines with a neighboring weak activator to give as much as a 170-fold enhancement. This effect of GRF2 is strongly distance-dependent, declining by 85% when 22 bp is interposed between the GRF2 and neighboring activator sites.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1987

Nucleosomes inhibit the initiation of transcription but allow chain elongation with the displacement of histones.

Promoters were assembled in nucleosomes or ligated to nucleosomes and transcribed with SP6 RNA polymerase or with mammalian RNA polymerase II and accessory factors. Neither polymerase would initiate transcription at a promoter in a nucleosome, but once engaged in transcription, both polymerases were capable of reading through a nucleosome. In the course of readthrough transcription, the histones were displaced from the DNA, as shown by the exposure of restriction sites and by a shift of the template to the position of naked DNA in a gel. It may be true, in general, that processive enzymes will traverse regions of DNA organized in nucleosomes and displace histones.

Animals↗