Abstract
Recent data suggest that insulators organize chromatin architecture in the nucleus. The best characterized Drosophila insulator, found in the gypsy retrotransposon, contains 12 binding sites for the Su(Hw) protein. Enhancer blocking, along with Su(Hw), requires BTB/POZ domain proteins, Mod(mdg4)-67.2 and CP190. Inactivation of Mod(mdg4)-67.2 leads to a direct repression of the yellow gene promoter by the gypsy insulator. Here, we have shown that such repression is regulated by the level of the EAST protein, which is an essential component of the interchromatin compartment. Deletion of the EAST C-terminal domain suppresses Su(Hw)-mediated repression. Partial inactivation of EAST by mutations in the east gene suppresses the enhancer-blocking activity of the gypsy insulator. The binding of insulator proteins to chromatin is highly sensitive to the level of EAST expression. These results suggest that EAST, one of the main components of the interchromatin compartment, can regulate the activity of chromatin insulators.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to N.A. Gorgolyuk for his help in preparing the manuscript and to A. Parshikov for the injection of embryos. This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (http://www.rscf.ru) (project №14–14–01067). Experiments were performed using the equipment of IGB RAS facilities supported by the Ministry of Science and Education of the Russian Federation (grant no. 16.552.11.7067).
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This study was funded by the Russian Science Foundation (http://www.rscf.ru) (project №14–14–01067).
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Melnikova, L., Shapovalov, I., Kostyuchenko, M. et al. EAST affects the activity of Su(Hw) insulators by two different mechanisms in Drosophila melanogaster . Chromosoma 126, 299–311 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-016-0596-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-016-0596-3