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Cited by 88Genomics and Chromatin DynamicsDevelopmental Biology and Gene RegulationGene Regulatory Network Analysis

The Drosophila Pioneer Factor Zelda Modulates the Nuclear Microenvironment of a Dorsal Target Enhancer to Potentiate Transcriptional Output

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Yamada, Shigehiro, Whitney, Peter H., Huang, Shao-Kuei, Eck, Elizabeth C., Garcia, Hernan G., Rushlow, Christine A.·2019·Current Biology
DOI 10.1016/j.cub.2019.03.019PMC PMC6702943

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Abstract

Connecting the developmental patterning of tissues to the mechanistic control of RNA polymerase II remains a long-term goal of developmental biology. Many key elements have been identified in the establishment of spatial-temporal control of transcription in the early Drosophila embryo, a model system for transcriptional regulation. The dorsal-ventral axis of the Drosophila embryo is determined by the graded distribution of Dorsal (Dl), a homolog of the nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) family of transcriptional activators found in humans [1, 2]. A second maternally deposited factor, Zelda (Zld), is uniformly distributed in the embryo and is thought to act as a pioneer factor, increasing enhancer accessibility for transcription factors, such as Dl [3-9]. Here, we utilized the MS2 live imaging system to evaluate the expression of the Dl target gene short gastrulation (sog) to better understand how a pioneer factor affects the kinetic parameters of transcription. Our experiments indicate that Zld modifies probability of activation, the timing of this activation, and the rate at which transcription occurs. Our results further show that this effective rate increase is due to an increased accumulation of Dl at the site of transcription, suggesting that transcription factor "hubs" induced by Zld [10] functionally regulate transcription.

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  • Zelda promotes the formation of local transcription factor hubs involving transcription factors required for developmental patterning, such as Bicoid and Dorsal.

    “For instance, Zelda promotes the formation of local TF hubs involving important transcription factors required for developmental patterning, such as Bicoid and Dorsal [51–54].”

    From Transcriptional enhancers and their communication with gene promoters (2021) · cites this paper as [54]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Yamada, S., Whitney, P. H., Huang, S.-K., Eck, E. C., Garcia, H. G., & Rushlow, C. A.
Affiliations
  • New York University (US)
  • University of California, Berkeley (US)
Corresponding author
Rushlow, Christine A.
ORCID
Venue
Current Biology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-04
Volume
29
Issue
8
Pages
1387-1393.e5
ISSN
0960-9822 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.cub.2019.03.019
PMC
PMC6702943
OpenAlex
W2951271895
Cited by
88
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 9
FWCI
3.61
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Current Biology (publishedVersion)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (1652236)
  • National Institutes of Health (GM63024, 5T32HD007520-20)
  • Burroughs Wellcome Fund
  • Human Frontier Science Program
  • Hellman Foundation
  • Searle Scholars Program
  • Shurl and Kay Curci Foundation
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gene Regulatory Network Analysis
Keywords
Zelda, pioneer factors, Dorsal, short gastrulation, enhancer accessibility, transcriptional regulation, RNA polymerase II, transcriptional kinetics, dorsal-ventral axis, Drosophila embryo
MeSH terms
Animals, Cell Nucleus, Drosophila melanogaster, Enhancer Elements, Genetic, Nuclear Proteins, Transcription Factors, Transcription, Genetic, Transcriptional Activation, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Drosophila Proteins

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