RESUMO
The higher-order structural organization and dynamics of the chromosomes play a central role in gene regulation. To explore this structure-function relationship, it is necessary to directly visualize genomic elements in living cells. Genome imaging based on the CRISPR system is a powerful approach but has limited applicability due to background signals and nonspecific aggregation of fluorophores within nuclei. To address this issue, we developed a novel visualization scheme combining tripartite fluorescent proteins with the SunTag system and demonstrated that it strongly suppressed background fluorescence and amplified locus-specific signals, allowing long-term tracking of genomic loci. We integrated the multicomponent CRISPR system into stable cell lines to allow quantitative and reliable analysis of dynamic behaviors of genomic loci. Due to the greatly elevated signal-to-background ratio, target loci with only small numbers of sequence repeats could be successfully tracked, even under a conventional fluorescence microscope. This feature enables the application of CRISPR-based imaging to loci throughout the genome and opens up new possibilities for the study of nuclear processes in living cells.
Assuntos
Sistemas CRISPR-Cas , Proteínas de Fluorescência Verde/genética , Células Cultivadas , Repetições Palindrômicas Curtas Agrupadas e Regularmente Espaçadas , Estruturas Genéticas , Técnicas Genéticas , Proteínas de Fluorescência Verde/química , Células HEK293 , Humanos , Processamento de Imagem Assistida por ComputadorRESUMO
Controlling efficiency and fidelity in the early stage of mitochondrial DNA transcription is crucial for regulating cellular energy metabolism. Conformational transitions of the transcription initiation complex must be central for such control, but how the conformational dynamics progress throughout transcription initiation remains unknown. Here, we use single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer techniques to examine the conformational dynamics of the transcriptional system of yeast mitochondria with single-base resolution. We show that the yeast mitochondrial transcriptional complex dynamically transitions among closed, open, and scrunched states throughout the initiation stage. Then abruptly at position +8, the dynamic states of initiation make a sharp irreversible transition to an unbent conformation with associated promoter release. Remarkably, stalled initiation complexes remain in dynamic scrunching and unscrunching states without dissociating the RNA transcript, implying the existence of backtracking transitions with possible regulatory roles. The dynamic landscape of transcription initiation suggests a kinetically driven regulation of mitochondrial transcription.
Assuntos
Mitocôndrias/genética , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Iniciação da Transcrição Genética , Trifosfato de Adenosina , DNA Fúngico/genética , RNA Polimerases Dirigidas por DNA/genética , RNA Polimerases Dirigidas por DNA/metabolismo , Transferência Ressonante de Energia de Fluorescência , Mitocôndrias/metabolismo , Proteínas Mitocondriais/genética , Proteínas Mitocondriais/metabolismo , RNA Fúngico/genética , RNA Fúngico/metabolismo , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismo , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismo , Imagem Individual de Molécula/métodos , Elongação da Transcrição Genética , Fatores de Transcrição/genética , Fatores de Transcrição/metabolismoRESUMO
Mitochondrial RNA polymerases depend on initiation factors, such as TFB2M in humans and Mtf1 in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, for promoter-specific transcription. These factors drive the melting of promoter DNA, but how they support RNA priming and growth was not understood. We show that the flexible C-terminal tails of Mtf1 and TFB2M play a crucial role in RNA priming by aiding template strand alignment in the active site for high-affinity binding of the initiating nucleotides. Using single-molecule fluorescence approaches, we show that the Mtf1 C-tail promotes RNA growth during initiation by stabilizing the scrunched DNA conformation. Additionally, due to its location in the path of the nascent RNA, the C-tail of Mtf1 serves as a sensor of the RNA-DNA hybrid length. Initially, steric clashes of the Mtf1 C-tail with short RNA-DNA hybrids cause abortive synthesis but clashes with longer RNA-DNA trigger conformational changes for the timely release of the promoter DNA to commence the transition into elongation. The remarkable similarities in the functions of the C-tail and σ3.2 finger of the bacterial factor suggest mechanistic convergence of a flexible element in the transcription initiation factor that engages the DNA template for RNA priming and growth and disengages when needed to generate the elongation complex.
