Dataset Information

Unraveling determinants of transcription factor binding outside the core binding site.

ABSTRACT: Binding of transcription factors (TFs) to regulatory sequences is a pivotal step in the control of gene expression. Despite many advances in the characterization of sequence motifs recognized by TFs, our ability to quantitatively predict TF binding to different regulatory sequences is still limited. Here, we present a novel experimental assay termed BunDLE-seq that provides quantitative measurements of TF binding to thousands of fully designed sequences of 200 bp in length within a single experiment. Applying this binding assay to two yeast TFs, we demonstrate that sequences outside the core TF binding site profoundly affect TF binding. We show that TF-specific models based on the sequence or DNA shape of the regions flanking the core binding site are highly predictive of the measured differential TF binding. We further characterize the dependence of TF binding, accounting for measurements of single and co-occurring binding events, on the number and location of binding sites and on the TF concentration. Finally, by coupling our in vitro TF binding measurements, and another application of our method probing nucleosome formation, to in vivo expression measurements carried out with the same template sequences serving as promoters, we offer insights into mechanisms that may determine the different expression outcomes observed. Our assay thus paves the way to a more comprehensive understanding of TF binding to regulatory sequences and allows the characterization of TF binding determinants within and outside of core binding sites.

SUBMITTER: Levo M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4484385 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Unraveling determinants of transcription factor binding outside the core binding site.

Levo Michal M Zalckvar Einat E Sharon Eilon E Dantas Machado Ana Carolina AC Kalma Yael Y Lotam-Pompan Maya M Weinberger Adina A Yakhini Zohar Z Rohs Remo R Segal Eran E

Genome research 20150311 7

Binding of transcription factors (TFs) to regulatory sequences is a pivotal step in the control of gene expression. Despite many advances in the characterization of sequence motifs recognized by TFs, our ability to quantitatively predict TF binding to different regulatory sequences is still limited. Here, we present a novel experimental assay termed BunDLE-seq that provides quantitative measurements of TF binding to thousands of fully designed sequences of 200 bp in length within a single experi ...[more]

PMID: 25762553

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Project description:Binding of transcription factors (TFs) to regulatory sequences is a pivotal step in the control of gene expression. Despite many advances in the characterization of sequence motifs recognized by TFs, our ability to quantitatively predict TF binding to different regulatory sequences is still limited. Here, we present a novel experimental assay termed BunDLE-seq that provides quantitative measurements of TF binding to thousands of fully designed sequences of 200 bp in length within a single experiment. Applying this binding assay to two yeast TFs we demonstrate that sequences outside the core TF binding site profoundly affect TF binding. We show that TF-specific models based on the sequence or DNA shape of the regions flanking the core binding site are highly predictive of the measured differential TF binding. We further characterize the dependence of TF binding, accounting for measurements of single and co-occurring binding events, on the number and location of binding sites and on the TF concentration. Finally, by coupling our in vitro TF binding measurements, and another application of our method probing nucleosome formation, to in vivo expression measurements carried out with the same template sequences now serving and promoters, we offer insights into mechanisms that may determine the different expression outcomes observed. Our assay thus paves the way to a more comprehensive understanding of TF binding to regulatory sequences, and allows the characterization of TF binding determinants within and outside of core binding sites. Binding experiments were carried out with one of two input libraries; Lib1 (also referred to as “main lib”) includes designed sequence variants of length 150bp, and Lib2 (also referred to as “constant flanks lib”) includes designed sequence variants of length 200bp. The sequences of the variants of interest can be found in the second column of the processed data file (BunDLE-seq_data, see 3 excel sheets). EXP1, EXP2 and EXP3 were carried out using Lib1, and EXP4 was carried out using Lib2. Binding experiments were carried out with different proteins (in different concentrations) – DNA was extracted from bound bands that were formed on the gel and amplified with a primer with a unique 5bp upstream tail specifying the identity of the originating band (also referred to as “band barcode”). Data from the following bands was used in the analysis: EXP1_band1, no-protein band – with band barcode “AACGA”, EXP1_band2, single Gcn4 (conc 1:8) bound band* – with band barcode “TCGTA” , EXP1_band3, histones bound band – with band barcode “AGATA”, EXP2_band1, no-protein band – with band barcode “AACGA”, EXP2_band2, single Gcn4 (conc 1:8) bound band* – with band barcode “AGATA”, EXP2_band2, single Gcn4 (conc 1:7) bound band – with band barcode “CACTT”, EXP2_band2, single Gcn4 (conc 1:6) bound band – with band barcode “TCGTA”, EXP2_band2, single Gcn4 (conc 1:5) bound band – with band barcode “CATCA”, EXP2_band2, single Gcn4 (conc 1:4) bound band – with band barcode “TATTA”, EXP2_band2, single Gcn4 (conc 1:3) bound band – with band barcode “AGTCA”, EXP2_band2, single Gcn4 (conc 1:2) bound band – with band barcode “ACGAA”, EXP2_band2, single Gcn4 (conc 1:1) bound band – with band barcode “ACAGA”, EXP2_band2, two Gcn4 (conc 1:1) bound band – barcoded with “GTAGA”, EXP3_band1, no-protein band – with band barcode “GCATA”, EXP3_band2, single Gal4 (conc 1:1) bound band – with band barcode “GATGT”, EXP3_band3, single Gal4 (conc 3:1) bound band – with band barcode “GTTCA”, EXP3_band4, two Gal4 (conc 3:1) bound band – with band barcode “CTCAA”, EXP4_band1, no-protein band – with band barcode “GAGTA”, EXP4_band2, single Gcn4 (conc 1:3) bound band – “TACCA”, EXP4_band3, no-protein band – with band barcode “TCGTT”, EXP4_band3, single Gal4 (conc 3:1) bound band – with band barcode “ACATC”, *biological replicates

Project description:Empirical studies have revealed that regulatory DNA sequences such as enhancers or promoters often harbor multiple binding sites for the same transcription factor. Such "homotypic site clustering" has been hypothesized as arising out of functional requirements of the sequences. Here, we propose an alternative explanation of this phenomenon that multisite enhancers are common because they are favored by evolutionary sampling of the genotype-phenotype landscape. To test this hypothesis, we developed a new computational framework specialized for population genetic simulations of enhancer evolution. It uses a thermodynamics-based model of enhancer function, integrating information from strong as well as weak binding sites, to determine the strength of selection. Using this framework, we found that even when simpler genotypes exist for a desired strength of regulation, relatively complex genotypes (enhancers with more sites) are more readily reached by the simulated evolutionary process. We show that there are more ways to "build" a fit genotype with many weak sites than with a few strong sites, and this is why evolution finds complex genotypes more often. Our claims are consistent with an empirical analysis of binding site content in enhancers characterized in Drosophila melanogaster and their orthologs in other Drosophila species. We also characterized a subtle but significant difference between genotypes likely to be sampled by evolution and equally fit genotypes one would obtain by uniform sampling of the fitness landscape, that is, an "evolutionary signature" in enhancer sequences. Finally, we investigated potential effects of other factors, such as rugged fitness landscapes, short local duplications, and noise characteristics of enhancers, on the emergence of homotypic site clustering. Homotypic site clustering is an important contributor to the complexity and function of cis-regulatory sequences. This work provides a simple null hypothesis for its origin, against which alternative adaptationist explanations may be evaluated, and cautions against "evolutionary mirages" present in common features of genomic sequence. The quantitative framework we develop here can be used more generally to understand how mechanisms of enhancer action influence their composition and evolution.

Project description:Finding where transcription factors (TFs) bind to the DNA is of key importance to decipher gene regulation at a transcriptional level. Classically, computational prediction of TF binding sites (TFBSs) is based on basic position weight matrices (PWMs) which quantitatively score binding motifs based on the observed nucleotide patterns in a set of TFBSs for the corresponding TF. Such models make the strong assumption that each nucleotide participates independently in the corresponding DNA-protein interaction and do not account for flexible length motifs. We introduce transcription factor flexible models (TFFMs) to represent TF binding properties. Based on hidden Markov models, TFFMs are flexible, and can model both position interdependence within TFBSs and variable length motifs within a single dedicated framework. The availability of thousands of experimentally validated DNA-TF interaction sequences from ChIP-seq allows for the generation of models that perform as well as PWMs for stereotypical TFs and can improve performance for TFs with flexible binding characteristics. We present a new graphical representation of the motifs that convey properties of position interdependence. TFFMs have been assessed on ChIP-seq data sets coming from the ENCODE project, revealing that they can perform better than both PWMs and the dinucleotide weight matrix extension in discriminating ChIP-seq from background sequences. Under the assumption that ChIP-seq signal values are correlated with the affinity of the TF-DNA binding, we find that TFFM scores correlate with ChIP-seq peak signals. Moreover, using available TF-DNA affinity measurements for the Max TF, we demonstrate that TFFMs constructed from ChIP-seq data correlate with published experimentally measured DNA-binding affinities. Finally, TFFMs allow for the straightforward computation of an integrated TF occupancy score across a sequence. These results demonstrate the capacity of TFFMs to accurately model DNA-protein interactions, while providing a single unified framework suitable for the next generation of TFBS prediction.

Dataset Information

Unraveling determinants of transcription factor binding outside the core binding site.

Publications

Unraveling determinants of transcription factor binding outside the core binding site.

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