Published In
eLife
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-2018
Subjects
Transcription factors, Multivalent molecules, Genetic transcription -- Regulation
Abstract
The transcription factor ASCIZ (ATMIN, ZNF822) has an unusually high number of recognition motifs for the product of its main target gene, the hub protein LC8 (DYNLL1). Using a combination of biophysical methods, structural analysis by NMR and electron microscopy, and cellular transcription assays, we developed a model that proposes a concerted role of intrinsic disorder and multiple LC8 binding events in regulating LC8 transcription. We demonstrate that the long intrinsically disordered C-terminal domain of ASCIZ binds LC8 to form a dynamic ensemble of complexes with a gradient of transcriptional activity that is inversely proportional to LC8 occupancy. The preference for low occupancy complexes at saturating LC8 concentrations with both human and Drosophila ASCIZ indicates that negative cooperativity is an important feature of ASCIZ-LC8 interactions. The prevalence of intrinsic disorder and multivalency among transcription factors suggests that formation of heterogeneous, dynamic complexes is a widespread mechanism for tuning transcriptional regulation.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.7554/eLife.36258
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/25252
Citation Details
Clark, S., Myers, J. B., King, A., Fiala, R., Novacek, J., Pearce, G., ... & Barbar, E. J. (2018). Multivalency regulates activity in an intrinsically disordered transcription factor. eLife, 7, e36258.
Description
Copyright Clark et al. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.