Nucleosome interactions with a human Alu element. Transcriptional repression and effects of template methylation

Alu interspersed repetitive elements possess internal RNA polymerase III promoters which are strongly transcribed in vitro, yet these elements are nearly silent in somatic cells. To examine whether repression by chromatin proteins could contribute to the low level of Alu expression, a conserved Alu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of biological chemistry 1993-09, Vol.268 (26), p.19565-19573
Main Authors: ENGLANDER, E. W, WOLFFE, A. P, HOWARD, B. H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alu sequence
Animals
Base Sequence
Biological and medical sciences
Chickens
Cloning, Molecular
Deoxyribonuclease I
Erythrocytes - metabolism
Exodeoxyribonucleases
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Histones - blood
Histones - isolation & purification
Histones - metabolism
Humans
interaction
Macromolecular Substances
man
Methylation
Molecular and cellular biology
Molecular genetics
Molecular Sequence Data
nucleosomes
Nucleosomes - metabolism
Oligodeoxyribonucleotides
Promoter Regions, Genetic
repeated sequence
Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid
Restriction Mapping
RNA Polymerase III - biosynthesis
RNA Polymerase III - genetics
Templates, Genetic
transcription
Transcription, Genetic
Transcription. Transcription factor. Splicing. Rna processing
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Summary:Alu interspersed repetitive elements possess internal RNA polymerase III promoters which are strongly transcribed in vitro, yet these elements are nearly silent in somatic cells. To examine whether repression by chromatin proteins could contribute to the low level of Alu expression, a conserved Alu element from the fourth intron of the human alpha-fetoprotein gene was reconstituted with purified octamer or tetramer particles. Analysis of reconstitutes revealed that this Alu element directed translational and rotational positioning of octamers as well as tetramers. In vitro transcription experiments with reconstituted templates demonstrated that RNA polymerase III-dependent transcription of the Alu element was profoundly repressed by positioned octamer particles. Furthermore, complete CpG methylation of this template enhanced the capacity of tetramers to repress transcription.
ISSN:0021-9258
1083-351X
DOI:10.1016/S0021-9258(19)36553-6