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PMID: 9566901 Published · ppublish English Comparative Study Journal Article Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

The Drosophila esc and E(z) proteins are direct partners in polycomb group-mediated repression.

Molecular and cellular biology ·Vol. 18 ·No. 5 ·1998-05-00 ·Pages 2825-34

Jones CA, Ng J, Peterson AJ, Morgan K, Simon J, Jones RS

Abstract

The extra sex combs (esc) and Enhancer of zeste [E(z)] proteins are members of the Drosophila Polycomb group (Pc-G) of transcriptional repressors. Here we present evidence for direct physical interaction between the esc and E(z) proteins using yeast two-hybrid and in vitro binding assays. In addition, coimmunoprecipitation from embryo extracts demonstrates association of esc and E(z) in vivo. We have delimited the esc-binding domain of E(z) to an N-terminal 33-amino-acid region. Furthermore, we demonstrate that site-directed mutations in the esc protein previously shown to impair esc function in vivo disrupt esc-E(z) interactions in vitro. We also show an in vitro interaction between the heed and EZH1 proteins, which are human homologs of esc and E(z), respectively. These results suggest that the esc-E(z) molecular partnership has been conserved in evolution. Previous studies suggested that esc is primarily involved in the early stages of Pc-G-mediated silencing during embryogenesis. However, E(z) is continuously required in order to maintain chromosome binding by other Pc-G proteins. In light of these earlier observations and the molecular data presented here, we discuss how esc-E(z) protein complexes may contribute to transcriptional silencing by the Pc-G.

MeSH Terms
Amino Acid Sequence Animals Binding Sites Conserved Sequence Drosophila/embryology,genetics Drosophila Proteins Evolution, Molecular Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase Humans Insect Proteins/genetics,metabolism Molecular Sequence Data Nuclear Proteins/genetics,metabolism Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 Precipitin Tests Protein Binding Recombinant Fusion Proteins/metabolism Repressor Proteins/genetics,metabolism Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
Chemicals
Drosophila Proteins EED protein, human Insect Proteins Nuclear Proteins Pc protein, Drosophila Recombinant Fusion Proteins Repressor Proteins E(z) protein, Drosophila Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 esc protein, Drosophila Polycomb Repressive Complex 1
Authors & Affiliations
6 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Jones C A
Department of Biological Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275-0376, USA.
Ng J
Peterson A J
Morgan K
Simon J
Jones R S
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Article Info
Journal
Molecular and cellular biology
Abbr.
Mol Cell Biol
ISSN
0270-7306
DOI
10.1128/MCB.18.5.2825
Published
1998-05-00
Pages
2825-34
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
8109087
PMCID
PMC110661
Subset
IM
Grants
NIGMS NIH HHS · GM46567 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · GM49850 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1128/MCB.18.5.2825 PMC Full Text View journal details
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