TY - JOUR A1 - Meier, Daniel A1 - Schindler, Detlev T1 - Fanconi Anemia Core Complex Gene Promoters Harbor Conserved Transcription Regulatory Elements N2 - The Fanconi anemia (FA) gene family is a recent addition to the complex network of proteins that respond to and repair certain types of DNA damage in the human genome. Since little is known about the regulation of this novel group of genes at the DNA level, we characterized the promoters of the eight genes (FANCA, B, C, E, F, G, L and M) that compose the FA core complex. The promoters of these genes show the characteristic attributes of housekeeping genes, such as a high GC content and CpG islands, a lack of TATA boxes and a low conservation. The promoters functioned in a monodirectional way and were, in their most active regions, comparable in strength to the SV40 promoter in our reporter plasmids. They were also marked by a distinctive transcriptional start site (TSS). In the 59 region of each promoter, we identified a region that was able to negatively regulate the promoter activity in HeLa and HEK 293 cells in isolation. The central and 39 regions of the promoter sequences harbor binding sites for several common and rare transcription factors, including STAT, SMAD, E2F, AP1 and YY1, which indicates that there may be cross-connections to several established regulatory pathways. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays and siRNA experiments confirmed the shared regulatory responses between the prominent members of the TGF-b and JAK/STAT pathways and members of the FA core complex. Although the promoters are not well conserved, they share region and sequence specific regulatory motifs and transcription factor binding sites (TBFs), and we identified a bi-partite nature to these promoters. These results support a hypothesis based on the co-evolution of the FA core complex genes that was expanded to include their promoters. KW - Fanconi-Anämie Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-68917 ER - TY - THES A1 - Meier, Daniel T1 - Konservierte transkriptionelle Regulationsmechanismen der Fanconi Anämie core complex Gene T1 - Conserved regulatory mechanisms of the Fanconi anemia core complex genes N2 - Fanconi Anämie (FA) ist eine autosomal rezessive, im Falle der Untergruppe FA-B X-chromosomale Erbkrankheit, die mit chromosomaler und genomischer Instabilität verbunden ist und sich durch große phänotypische und genetische Heterogenität auszeichnet. Symptomatisch sind Knochenmarksversagen, eine Vielfalt angeborener Fehlbildungen, die weit überdurchschnittliche Disposition für akute myeloische Leukämie (AML), Plattenepithelkarzinome (SCC) sowie eine zelluläre Hypersensitivität gegenüber DNA Doppelstrangvernetzenden Substanzen. FA wird kompliziert durch ein progressives Knochenmarksversagen. Die FA Proteine sind essentiell für die interstrand crosslink (ICL) repair sowie an anderen DNA Reparatursystemen, beteiligt. Bisher wurden hauptsächlich Regulationsmechanismen untersucht, die die FA Proteine betreffen. Die Regulation der Transkripte war bisher nahezu unbekannt. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde die transkriptionelle Regulation der sogenannten FA core complex Gene untersucht. Dabei handelt es sich um acht Gene, deren Produkte im Falle eines DNA Schadens den ersten Proteinkomplex des FA/BRCA Signalweges bilden. Für diese acht Gene wurden in dieser Arbeit die Promotoren identifiziert und ihr Aktivierungspotential charakterisiert. Dabei stellte sich heraus, dass diese ein starkes Potential für die Transkriptionsinitiierung besitzen. Des Weiteren zeigten sich Gemeinsamkeiten in Form von Sequenzmotiven sowie Transkriptionsfaktorbindestellen, die in allen core complex Genen nahezu identisch waren. Durch diese Analysen ergaben sich Hinweise, dass die untersuchten Gene durch Mitglieder des JAK/ STAT (STAT1/4) sowie des TGF-b Signalwegs (SMAD1/4) reguliert werden. Funktionelle Untersuchungen mittels siRNA sowie Fibroblastenzelllinen, die biallelische FANCA Mutationen trugen, bestätigten diese Verbindungen. So hatte der knockdown der entsprechenden Transkriptionsfaktoren einen reduzierenden Einfluss auf die Transkriptmenge der core complex Gene. FANCA-mutierte Zelllinen weisen reduzierte mRNAs von STAT und SMAD auf. Darüber hinaus fanden sich signifikante Änderungen der Transkriptmenge in 112 verschiedenen Mitgliedern dieser Signalwege in den FA-A Zellinien. Eines dieser Mitglieder, IRF1, zeigte fast identische Ergebnisse wie sie bei STAT1/4 sowie SMAD1/4 beobachtet werden konnten. Die vorliegende Arbeit trägt dazu bei, die transkriptionelle Regulation der core complex Gene besser zu verstehen. Die auffälligen Gemeinsamkeiten ihrer Regulation liefern neue Argumente für eine Koevolution dieser Gene. N2 - Fanconi anemia (FA) is an autosomal recessive, in the case of subgroup B X-linked, disease that is characterized by chromosomal and genomic instability. FA reveals remarkable phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity. Clinical symptoms include the variable presence of typical congenital malformations, progressive bone marrow failure, and a pronounced predisposition for the occurrence of malignancies such as acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The FA proteins are essential for the repair of DNA-interstrand crosslinks and are members of the DNA damage response network. This is why FA cells are hypersensitive to agents inducing doublestrand lesions. In the past, a major topic of research was the interaction of the FA proteins. In this thesis work, transcriptional regulation of the FA core complex genes was investigated. These genes include eight members that form, in response to DNA damage, the first protein complex acting in the FA/BRCA pathway. As part of this thesis, the promoters of the FA core complex genes were identified, and their potential for transcriptional activation was studied. All of them revealed strong power for transcriptional activation. There were marked similarities among them including the presence of two shared sequence motifs, of transcription factor binding sites and in the presence of repressor elements defining them as bipartite in their nature. These analyses provided clues that these genes are regulated, in part, by components of theJAK/ STAT (STAT1/4) and the TGF-ß signaling pathways. Functional studies including knockdown experiments or using fibroblast lines with biallelic mutations in FANCA confirmed these connections. Down-regulation of the designated transcription factors decreased the transcript levels of the FA core complex genes. Likewise, FANCA-mutant cell lines showed reduced amounts of mRNA of STAT and SMAD. Moreover, there were significant changes in the expression of 112 members of the corresponding signaling pathways in FA-A cell lines. The present work contributes to a better overall understanding of the transcriptional regulation of the FA core complex genes. Shared similarities provide arguments in favor of a co-evolution of these genes. KW - Fanconi Anämie KW - Genregulation KW - DNS-Reparatur KW - Fanconi Anämie KW - Genregulation KW - DNA-Reparatur KW - Fanconi Anemia KW - Genregulation KW - DNA-Repair Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-65552 ER -