Abstract

The long-term goal of our research program is to understand the mechanism(s) of gene activation in a eukaryotic system. The organism of choice for our work is Drosophila owing to the facility with which biochemical, cytological, and genetic techniques can be applied. This proposal concerns specifically the use of monoclonal antibodies to identify the nonhistone chromosomal proteins involved in gene activation. The antibodies obtained will be used to assess the amount and distribution of the protein and to carry out certain experiments to help delineate the role of the protein in gene activation and transcription. Further, the antibodies will be used either directly in, or as an assay for, protein purification, in work aimed at cloning the genes for these NHC proteins. Such recombinant DNA clones will permit studies on the structure, organization, expression, etc. of the genes. Our ultimate goal is to obtain conditional mutants of these proteins to permit a definitive analysis of their role in vivo and in vitro. Understanding of the process of gene activation should help us achieve greater understanding of differentiation and development, aiding in our analysis of related human health problems of cancer and aging.

  Funding Agency

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM031532-05
Application #
3279590
Study Section
Genetics Study Section (GEN)
Project Start
1983-03-01
Project End
1988-04-30
Budget Start
1987-03-01
Budget End
1988-04-30
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
1987
Total Cost
Indirect Cost

  Institution

Name
Washington University
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
062761671
City
Saint Louis
State
MO
Country
United States
Zip Code
63130

  Publications

Lopatto, D; Alvarez, C; Barnard, D et al. (2008) Undergraduate research. Genomics Education Partnership. Science 322:684-5
Riddle, Nicole C; Leung, Wilson; Haynes, Karmella A et al. (2008) An investigation of heterochromatin domains on the fourth chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 178:1177-91
Dellino, Gaetano I; Schwartz, Yuri B; Farkas, Gabriella et al. (2004) Polycomb silencing blocks transcription initiation. Mol Cell 13:887-93
Lu, Quinn; Teare, John M; Granok, Howard et al. (2003) The capacity to form H-DNA cannot substitute for GAGA factor binding to a (CT)n*(GA)n regulatory site. Nucleic Acids Res 31:2483-94
Leibovitch, Boris A; Lu, Quinn; Benjamin, Lawrence R et al. (2002) GAGA factor and the TFIID complex collaborate in generating an open chromatin structure at the Drosophila melanogaster hsp26 promoter. Mol Cell Biol 22:6148-57
Granok, H; Leibovitch, B A; Elgin, S C (2001) A heat-shock-activated cDNA encoding GAGA factor rescues some lethal mutations in the Drosophila melanogaster Trithorax-like gene. Genet Res 78:13-21
Farkas, G; Leibovitch, B A; Elgin, S C (2000) Chromatin organization and transcriptional control of gene expression in Drosophila. Gene 253:117-36
Kellum, R; Elgin, S C (1998) Chromatin boundaries: punctuating the genome. Curr Biol 8:R521-4
Benyajati, C; Mueller, L; Xu, N et al. (1997) Multiple isoforms of GAGA factor, a critical component of chromatin structure. Nucleic Acids Res 25:3345-53
Elgin, S C (1996) Heterochromatin and gene regulation in Drosophila. Curr Opin Genet Dev 6:193-202

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