RESUMO
In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, three genes, sir2(+), hst2(+), and hst4(+), encode members of the Sir2 family of conserved NAD(+)-dependent protein deacetylases. The S. pombe sir2(+) gene encodes a nuclear protein that is not essential for viability or for resistance to treatment with UV or a microtubule-destabilizing agent. However, sir2(+) is essential for full transcriptional silencing of centromeres, telomeres, and the cryptic mating-type loci. Chromatin immunoprecipitation results suggest that the Sir2 protein acts directly at these chromosomal regions. Enrichment of Sir2p at silenced regions does not require the HP1 homolog Swi6p; instead, Swi6-GFP localization to telomeres depends in part on Sir2p. The phenotype of sir2 swi6 double mutants supports a model whereby Sir2p functions prior to Swi6p at telomeres and the silent mating-type loci. However, Sir2p does not appear to be essential for the localization of Swi6p to centromeric foci. Cross-complementation experiments showed that the Saccharomyces cerevisiae SIR2 gene can function in place of S. pombe sir2(+), suggesting overlapping deacetylation substrates in both species. These results also suggest that, despite differences in most of the other molecules required, the two distantly related yeast species share a mechanism for targeting Sir2p homologs to silent chromatin.
Assuntos
Inativação Gênica , Proteínas de Schizosaccharomyces pombe/genética , Schizosaccharomyces/genética , Sirtuínas/genética , Processamento Alternativo , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Sequência de Bases , Cromatina/genética , Sequência Conservada , Primers do DNA , Éxons , Regulação Fúngica da Expressão Gênica , Genes Fúngicos , Genes Fúngicos Tipo Acasalamento , Genes Reporter , Proteínas de Fluorescência Verde/genética , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase , Alinhamento de Sequência , Homologia de Sequência de Aminoácidos , TransfecçãoRESUMO
Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sir4p plays important roles in silent chromatin at telomeric and silent mating type loci. The C terminus of Sir4p (Sir4CT) is critical for its functions in vivo because over-expression or deletion of Sir4CT fragments disrupts normal telomeric structure and abolishes the telomere position effect. The 2.5A resolution X-ray crystal structure of an Sir4CT fragment (Sir4p 1217-1358) reveals a 72 residue homodimeric, parallel coiled coil, burying an extensive 3600A(2) of surface area. The crystal structure is consistent with results of protein cross-linking and analytical ultracentrifugation results demonstrating that Sir4CT exists as a dimer in solution. Disruption of the coiled coil in vivo by point mutagenesis results in total derepression of telomeric and HML silent mating marker genes, suggesting that coiled coil dimerization is essential for Sir4p-mediated silencing. In addition to the coiled coil dimerization interface (Sir4CC interface), a crystallographic interface between pairs of coiled coils is significantly hydrophobic and buries 1228A(2) of surface area (interface II). Remarkably, interface II mutants are deficient in telomeric silencing but not in mating type silencing in vivo. However, point mutants of interface II do not affect the oligomerization state of Sir4CT in solution. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that interface II mimics a protein interface between Sir4p and one of its protein partners that is essential for telomeric silencing but not mating type silencing.