Ma. Sypes et Ds. Gilmour, PROTEIN-DNA CROSS-LINKING OF A TFIID COMPLEX REVEALS NOVEL INTERACTIONS DOWNSTREAM OF THE TRANSCRIPTION START, Nucleic acids research, 22(5), 1994, pp. 807-814
A protein - DNA complex containing TFIID has been analyzed by crosslin
king. The TBP subunit of TFIID crosslinked to the TATA element but not
to any of the regions further downstream which were tested. A 150 kd
polypeptide, which corresponds in size to one of the TBP-associated fa
ctors (TAFs), crosslinked to a region between +10 and +15 and a second
region between +35 and +47. Another polypeptide of greater than 205 k
d (also a potential TAF) crosslinked preferentially to the region betw
een +35 and +42. The +10 to +15 region has been recently implicated in
hsp70 promoter recognition by TFIID, and the most downstream contacts
overlap with the region where RNA polymerase II pauses on the hsp70 p
romoter in noninduced cells. Crosslinking revealed that as the salt co
ncentration was increased, the TBP interaction was largely unaffected
whereas the protein/DNA interactions downstream of the TATA element we
re disrupted. We propose that during the formation of a transcription
complex, TATA-dependent interactions could be disrupted in the vicinit
y of the start site and the region immediately downstream. A protein c
ontact downstream of +35 might function in pausing polymerase.