Regulation of Estrogen Receptor-mediated Long Range Transcription via Evolutionarily Conserved Distal Response Elements

Nuclear signaling by estrogens rapidly induces the global recruitment of estrogen receptors (ERs) to thousands of highly specific locations in the genome. Here, we have examined whether ER binding sites that are located distal from the transcription start sites of estrogen target genes are functiona...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of biological chemistry 2008-11, Vol.283 (47), p.32977-32988
Main Authors: Pan, You Fu, Wansa, K. D. Senali Abayratna, Liu, Mei Hui, Zhao, Bing, Hong, Shu Zhen, Tan, Peck Yean, Lim, Kar Sian, Bourque, Guillaume, Liu, Edison T., Cheung, Edwin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Base Sequence
Binding Sites
Cell Line, Tumor
Chromatin - chemistry
Enhancer Elements, Genetic
Estrogens - metabolism
Evolution, Molecular
Genome
Histones - chemistry
Humans
Molecular Sequence Data
Protein Binding
Receptors, Estrogen - metabolism
Response Elements
Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
Transcription, Genetic
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Summary:Nuclear signaling by estrogens rapidly induces the global recruitment of estrogen receptors (ERs) to thousands of highly specific locations in the genome. Here, we have examined whether ER binding sites that are located distal from the transcription start sites of estrogen target genes are functionally relevant. Similar to ER binding sites near the proximal promoter region, ER binding sites located at distal locations are occupied by ERs after estrogen stimulation. And, like proximal bound ERs, ERs occupied at distal sites can recruit coactivators and the RNA polymerase transcription machinery and mediate specific structural changes to chromatin. Furthermore, ERs occupied at the distal sites are capable of communicating with ERs bound at the promoter region, possibly via long range chromosome looping. In functional analysis, disruption of the response elements in the distal ER binding sites abrogated ER binding and significantly reduced transcriptional response. Finally, sequence comparison of the response elements at the distal sites suggests a high level of conservation across different species. Together, our data indicate that distal ER binding sites are bona fide transcriptional enhancers that are involved in long range chromosomal interaction, transcription complex formation, and distinct structural modifications of chromatin across large genomic spans.
ISSN:0021-9258
1083-351X
DOI:10.1074/jbc.M802024200