Open AccessRegulation of Transcription by DNA‐Bound Non‐histone Nuclear Proteins
Author(s) -
CREPIN Michel,
DASTUGUE Bernard
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
european journal of biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1432-1033
pISSN - 0014-2956
DOI - 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1979.tb13281.x
Subject(s) - rna polymerase ii , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , histone h2a , chromatin , rna polymerase ii holoenzyme , histone h1 , rna polymerase , rna polymerase i , transcription (linguistics) , transcription factor ii d , polymerase , rna dependent rna polymerase , rna , dna , biochemistry , promoter , gene expression , gene , linguistics , philosophy
Purified non‐histone proteins from mouse mammary cells bind specifically to homologous DNA or chromatin. Complexes of non‐histone protein with DNA or chromatin, isolated on agarose columns, were transcribed with both Escherichia coli RNA polymerase and RNA polymerase B from calf thymus. The fact that complexing of DNA with non‐histone proteins increases transcription by E. coli RNA polymerase but not by RNA polymerase B suggests different mechanisms of transcription by these two enzymes. Similar experiments with mouse and Drosophila chromatin indicate that non‐histone proteins specifically stimulate the transcription of mouse chromatin by RNA polymerase B. Non‐histone proteins stimulate the transcription of mouse mammary tumor virus sequences in chromatin by RNA polymerase B but not by E. coli RNA polymerase. We conclude that those non‐histone proteins bound specifically to chromatin are able to activate the transcription of specific genes by eukaryotic RNA polymerase.