Article
- The EMBO Journal (2003) 22, 4512 - 4522
- doi:10.1093/emboj/cdg427
Subject Category:
H2A.Z has a function reminiscent of an activator required for preferential binding to intergenic DNA
Marc Larochelle1 and Luc Gaudreau1
- Département de Biologie, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec J1K 2R1, Canada
Correspondence to:
Luc Gaudreau, E-mail: Luc.Gaudreau@USherbrooke.ca
Received 14 March 2003; Accepted 8 July 2003; Revised 23 June 2003
Abstract
H2A.Z has been shown to regulate transcription in yeast, and that function resides in its C-terminal region as the reciprocal portion of H2A cannot substitute for the latter. We show that fusion of a transcriptional activating region to the C-terminal region of H2A, which is substituted for that of H2A.Z, can allow the chimera to fulfil the special role of H2A.Z in positive gene regulation, as well as complement growth deficiencies of htz1
cells. We further show that the 'transcription' function of H2A.Z is linked to its ability to preferentially localize to certain intergenic DNA regions. Our results suggest that H2A.Z modulates functional interactions with transcription regulatory components, and thus increases its localization to promoters where it helps poise chromatin for gene activation.
Keywords:
- H2A.Z,
- PUR5,
- transcription,
- yeast
