Description:

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics Invites faculty,
staff, and students to our Guest Seminar Speaker presentation:

“The Drosophila TDP-43 and Lark RNA-binding Proteins Control Binding of Cohesion and Nipped-B to Genes and Enhancers”

Dale Dorsett, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Missouri

Monday, November 30th
Lurie-Searle Seminar Room
4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Presentation Abstract:

The cohesion complex mediates sister chromatid cohesion and plays multiple roles in the transcription of genes that control growth and development. Moderate reductions in cohesion activity alter organismal development and transcription of hundreds of genes without affecting sister chromatid cohesion. The Nipped‑B protein loads cohesion topologically onto chromosomes and they co-occupy active transcriptional enhancers and a large subset of transcribed genes. Nipped‑B and cohesion preferentially associate with genes in which RNA polymerase II pauses just downstream of the transcription start site. However, pausing factors are not required for Nipped-B and cohesion binding, and Nipped‑B and cohesion are not required for pausing. Active genes that bind Nipped-B and cohesion are highly enriched for TG repeats downstream of the transcription start site in the non-template strand, raising the possibility that RNA-binding proteins aid Nipped-B and cohesion binding. We find that the TDP-43 (TBPH) RNA binding protein that binds UG repeats facilitates association of Nipped-B and cohesion with active genes and transcriptional enhancers genome-wide, and that the Lark RNA-binding protein aids Nipped-B and cohesion association with specific large enhancers. TBPH and Lark interact with Nipped‑B, and Nipped-B influences their association with genes and enhancers. Thus sequence-specific RNA-binding proteins are a significant factor in determining which genes and regulatory sequences associate with sister chromatid cohesion proteins.
Please e-mail Carson Nestle at carson.nestler@northwestern.edu if you are have any questions.