DNA methylation generally functions as a repressive transcriptional signal, but it is also known to activate gene expression. In either case, the downstream factors remain largely unknown. By using comparative interactomics, we isolated proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana that associate with methylated DNA. Two SU(VAR)3–9 homologs, the transcriptional anti-silencing factor SUVH1, and SUVH3, were among the methyl reader candidates. SUVH1 and SUVH3 bound methylated DNA in vitro, were associated with euchromatic methylation in vivo, and formed a complex with two DNAJ domain-containing homologs, DNAJ1 and DNAJ2. Ectopic recruitment of DNAJ1 enhanced gene transcription in plants, yeast, and mammals. Thus, the SUVH proteins bind to methylated DNA and recruit the DNAJ proteins to enhance proximal gene expression, thereby counteracting the repressive effects of transposon insertion near genes.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as a major regulator of cell physiology, but many of which have no known function. CDKN1A/p21 is an important inhibitor of the cell-cycle, regulator of the DNA damage response and effector of the tumor suppressor p53, playing a crucial role in tumor development and prevention. In order to identify a regulator for tumor progression, we performed an siRNA screen of human lncRNAs required for cell proliferation, and identified a novel lncRNA, APTR, that acts in trans to repress the CDKN1A/p21 promoter independent of p53 to promote cell proliferation. APTR associates with the promoter of CDKN1A/p21 and this association requires a complementary-Alu sequence encoded in APTR. A different module of APTR associates with and recruits the Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) to epigenetically repress the p21 promoter. A decrease in APTR is necessary for the induction of p21 after heat stress and DNA damage by doxorubicin, and the levels of APTR and p21 are anti-correlated in human glioblastomas. Our data identify a new regulator of the cell-cycle inhibitor CDKN1A/p21 that acts as a proliferative factor in cancer cell lines and in glioblastomas and demonstrate that Alu elements present in lncRNAs can contribute to targeting regulatory lncRNAs to promoters.

The pairing of 59 and 39 splice sites across an intron is a critical step in spliceosome formation and its regulation. Interactions that bring the two splice sites together during spliceosome assembly must occur with a high degree of specificity and fidelity to allow expression of functional mRNAs and make particular alternative splicing choices. Here, we report a new interaction between stem-loop 4 (SL4) of the U1 snRNA, which recognizes the 59 splice site, and a component of the U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle (snRNP) complex, which assembles across the intron at the 39 splice site. Using a U1 snRNP complementation assay, we found that SL4 is essential for splicing in vivo. The addition of free U1-SL4 to a splicing reaction in vitro inhibits splicing and blocks complex assembly prior to formation of the prespliceosomal A complex, indicating a requirement for a SL4 contact in spliceosome assembly. To characterize the interactions of this RNA structure, we used a combination of stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC), biotin/Neutravidin affinity pull-down, and mass spectrometry. We show that U1-SL4 interacts with the SF3A1 protein of the U2 snRNP. We found that this interaction between the U1 snRNA and SF3A1 occurs within prespliceosomal complexes assembled on the pre-mRNA. Thus, SL4 of the U1 snRNA is important for splicing, and its interaction with SF3A1 mediates contact between the 59 and 39 splice site complexes within the assembling spliceosome.[Keywords: RNA-protein interaction; alternative splicing; gene expression; pre-mRNA splicing; ribonucleoprotein; snRNA; spliceosome] Supplemental material is available for this article. Intron removal is catalyzed by an ;40S RNP complex called the spliceosome, which consists of five small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles (snRNPs) (U1, U2, U4, U5, and U6) and ;150 auxiliary proteins . In vitro, the spliceosome assembles onto an intron through the sequential binding of the snRNPs Hoskins et al. 2011). The 59 splice site is recognized by the U1 snRNP through base-pairing between the pre-mRNA and the snRNA. At the 39 end of the intron, the U2 auxiliary factor (U2AF) and splicing factor 1 (SF1) bind to the 39 splice site and branch point sequence, respectively. Initial association of the U2 snRNP can be ATP-independent and has been proposed to occur through interactions with the U2AF65 protein (Gozani et al. 1998;Das et al. 2000). This ATP-independent complex is referred to as the E complex. However, the stable association of U2 with the pre-mRNA requires ATP hydrolysis and formation of a base-pairing interaction between U2 snRNA and the branch point sequence with displacement of SF1. This pre-mRNP complex containing both the U1 and U2 snRNPs is called the prespliceosomal A complex. Recruitment of the U4/U6-U5 tri-snRNP forms the precatalytic B complex. In another mode of B complex formation, the U4/U6-U5 trisnRNP binds with the U2 snRNP to the 39 splice site, Ó 2014 Sharma et al. This article is distributed exclusively by Cold Spring...

Highlights d Caenorhabditis elegans MORC-1 traps DNA loops d Recruitment of additional MORC-1s cause further loop trapping and DNA compaction d MORC-1 assemblages become topologically entrapped on DNA d MORC-1 forms discrete foci in vivo and can phase transition in vitro