Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Hallson, Graham
• Syrzycka, Monika
• Beck, Samantha A
• Kennison, James A
• Dorsett, Dale
• Page, Scott L
• Hunter, Sally M
• Keall, Rebecca
• Warren, William D
• Brock, Hugh W
• Sinclair, Donald A.R
• Honda, Barry M

Titel

Drosophila cohesin subunit Rad21 is a trithorax group (trxG) protein

Ist Teil von

• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, 2008-08, Vol.105 (34), p.12405-12410

Ort / Verlag

United States: National Academy of Sciences

Erscheinungsjahr

2008

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The cohesin complex is a key player in regulating cell division. Cohesin proteins SMC1, SMC3, Rad21, and stromalin (SA), along with associated proteins Nipped-B, Pds5, and EcoI, maintain sister chromatid cohesion before segregation to daughter cells during anaphase. Recent chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) data reveal extensive overlap of Nipped-B and cohesin components with RNA polymerase II binding at active genes in DROSOPHILA: These and other data strongly suggest a role for cohesion in transcription; however, there is no clear evidence for any specific mechanisms by which cohesin and associated proteins regulate transcription. We report here a link between cohesin components and trithorax group (trxG) function, thus implicating these proteins in transcription activation and/or elongation. We show that the Drosophila Rad21 protein is encoded by verthandi (vtd), a member of the trxG gene family that is also involved in regulating the hedgehog (hh) gene. In addition, mutations in the associated protein Nipped-B show similar trxG activity i.e., like vtd, they act as dominant suppressors of Pc and hhMrt without impairing cell division. Our results provide a framework to further investigate how cohesin and associated components might regulate transcription.