Search Results (2)

Ecdysone signaling in Drosophila remains a popular model for investigating the mechanisms of steroid action in eukaryotes. The ecdysone receptor EcR can effectively bind ecdysone-response elements with or without the presence of a hormone. For years, EcR enhancers were thought to respond to ecdysone via recruiting coactivator complexes, which replace corepressors and stimulate transcription. However, the exact mechanism of transcription activation by ecdysone remains unclear. Here, we present experimental data on 11 various coregulators at ecdysone-responsive loci of Drosophila S2 cells. We describe the regulatory elements where coregulators reside within these loci and assess changes in their binding levels following 20-hydroxyecdysone treatment. In the current study, we detected the presence of some coregulators at the TSSs (active and inactive) and boundaries marked with CP190 rather than enhancers of the ecdysone-responsive loci where EcR binds. We observed minor changes in the coregulators’ binding level. Most were present at inducible loci before and after 20-hydroxyecdysone treatment. Our findings suggest that: (1) coregulators can activate a particular TSS operating from some distal region (which could be an enhancer, boundary regulatory region, or inactive TSS); (2) coregulators are not recruited after 20-hydroxyecdysone treatment to the responsive loci; rather, their functional activity changes (shown as an increase in H3K27 acetylation marks generated by CBP/p300/Nejire acetyltransferase). Taken together, our findings imply that the 20-hydroxyecdysone signal enhances the functional activity of coregulators rather than promoting their binding to regulatory regions during the ecdysone response. Full article

Similar to genetic alterations, epigenetic aberrations contribute significantly to tumor initiation and progression. In many cases, these changes are caused by activation or inactivation of the regulators that maintain epigenetic states. Here we review our current knowledge on the KDM5/JARID1 family of histone demethylases. This family of enzymes contains a JmjC domain and is capable of removing tri- and di- methyl marks from lysine 4 on histone H3. Among these proteins, RBP2 mediates drug resistance while JARID1B is required for melanoma maintenance. Preclinical studies suggest inhibition of these enzymes can suppress tumorigenesis and provide strong rationale for development of their inhibitors for use in cancer therapy. Full article