Transcription, generally factors

Coactivators enhancing the transcriptional activity of steroid hormone receptors activators include SRC-1 (steroid-receptor co-activator 1) or TEF2 (transcriptional intermediary factor 2), which are recruited by the DNA/ steroid hormone receptor complex. Their main role is to attract other transcriptional coactivators with histone acetyltransferase activity in order to decondense chromatin and allow for the binding of components of the general transcription apparatus. 

The general topology of rubredoxins is also observed in the general zinc-ribbon motif in RNA polymerases or in transcription factors (59). The first published zinc-ribbon structure was that of the nucleic-acid binding domain of human transcriptional elongation factor TFIIS (PDB file ITFI) 40). These zinc binding domains and rubredoxins... 

TAF 250 TBP-Associated Factor II 250. Another direct connection between acetylation and transcriptional activation was demonstrated with the discovery that one of the TAFII (TATA-binding protein [TBP]-associated factor) subunits of the general transcription factor TFIID is itself a HAT. TFIID is one of the general factors required for the assembly of the RNA polymerase II transcription preinitiation... 

In eukaryotes, general transcription factors must bind to the promoter to allow RNA polymerase II to bind and form the initiation complex at the start site for transcription. General manscription factors are common to most genes. The general transcription factor TFIID (the TATA fector) must bind to the TATA box before RNA polymerase II can bind. Other examples delude SP-1 and NF-.l that modulate basal transcription of many genes. 

The purification and structural and functional characterization of the general initiation factors has proven extremely difficult. The specific function of the various factors, as well as their structural role in the entire complex, remains poorly resolved. According to the current model, the general transcription initiation factors, with which an exact start of transcription is possible in vitro, are required for the formation of a basal... 

A transcription-competent pre-initiation complex consisting of general transcription initiation factors and RNA polymerase II, can be reconstituted in the test tube from the individual components. As outlined in Fig. 1.31, efficient reconstitution requires a defined order for the addition of the individual components. 

The general transcription initiation factors can be assigned the role fulfilled by a single protein in procaryotes-namely the o-factor. This role includes the correct positioning of the RNA polymerase on the promoter and the preparation for the incorporation of the first nucleotide. 

General transcription initiation factors TFIIB, TFIIE, TFIIF and TFIIH have been identified as components of the RNA polymerase 11 holoenzyme of yeast. Various forms of the yeast holoenzyme contain further proteins, known as mediators or SRB proteins (SRB, suppressor of RNA polymerase B). The mediators fimction as coactivators (see 1.4.3.2). The holoenzyme is difficult to define structurally because the proteins accessory to the core enzyme (see table 1) may not be permanently associated with RNA polymerase II. 

The TATA binding protein and general transcription initiation factors. A slow basal level of transcription can be observed when all but a small part of the control region at the 5 end of a gene is deleted.325 This minimum promoter, which includes the TATA sequence, is the binding site of both the RNA... 

Park, C.H., Mu, D., Reardon, J.T., and Sancar, A. (1995) The general transcription-repair factor TFIIH is recruited to the excision repair complex by the XPA protein independent of the TFIIE transcription factor. /. Biol. Chem., 270, 4896-4902. 

TABLE 13.5 Human general transcription initiation factors for RNA polymerase II... 

The general transcription factor TFllD is believed to be the key link between specific transcription factors and the general preinitiation complex. However, the purification and molecular characterization of TFllD from higher eucaryotes have been hampered by its instability and heterogeneity. All preparations of TFllD contain the TATA box-binding protein in combination with a variety of different proteins called TBP-associated factors, TAFs. When the preinitiation complex has been assembled, strand separation of the DNA duplex occurs at the transcription start site, and RNA polymerase II is released from the promoter to initiate transcription. However, TFIID can remain bound to the core promoter and support rapid reinitiation of transcription by recruiting another molecule of RNA polymerase. 

DNA response elements are generally found a short distance upstream of promoters in selected genes. They are specific for selective transcription factors and... 

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