Interaction of Tip60 histone acetyltransferase
with Abnormal-A, Hunchback, Squeeze and Zeste transcription factors
John Gilligan, Songjun Xu, Felice Elefant
Department of Biology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, 19104
Tip60 is an important histone acetyltransferase which modulates the packaging of DNA by histone proteins that have an important role in epigenetic gene regulation. A group of proteins called transcription factors have the ability to recruit Tip60 to the promoter regions of DNA. This influences what parts of the DNA strands go through transcription and what proteins will be expressed. In the presence of amyloid precursor protein (APP), Tip60 plays an important role in neuronal development. If Tip60 levels increase in AD mice, APP is overproduced in neurons. This may cause Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases in humans.
In this project we test the hypothesis that Tip60 specifically interacts with the Hunchback, Squeeze, Abnormal-A and the Zeste transcription factors. We studied these transcription factors experimentally by performing western blots analyses and by researching related scientific articles through databases such as PubMed. We also studied whether Tip60 and these proteins have similar sequences called motifs. Based on our research, it appears that Zeste transcription factor may manipulate how DNA is wrapped by histones. This suggests that there is a potential interaction between Zeste and Tip 60. This information could provide valuable insight into the discovery of medicines that could promote regular gene expression.
John Gilligan, Songjun Xu, Felice Elefant
Department of Biology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, 19104
Tip60 is an important histone acetyltransferase which modulates the packaging of DNA by histone proteins that have an important role in epigenetic gene regulation. A group of proteins called transcription factors have the ability to recruit Tip60 to the promoter regions of DNA. This influences what parts of the DNA strands go through transcription and what proteins will be expressed. In the presence of amyloid precursor protein (APP), Tip60 plays an important role in neuronal development. If Tip60 levels increase in AD mice, APP is overproduced in neurons. This may cause Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases in humans.
In this project we test the hypothesis that Tip60 specifically interacts with the Hunchback, Squeeze, Abnormal-A and the Zeste transcription factors. We studied these transcription factors experimentally by performing western blots analyses and by researching related scientific articles through databases such as PubMed. We also studied whether Tip60 and these proteins have similar sequences called motifs. Based on our research, it appears that Zeste transcription factor may manipulate how DNA is wrapped by histones. This suggests that there is a potential interaction between Zeste and Tip 60. This information could provide valuable insight into the discovery of medicines that could promote regular gene expression.