1. The Sox2 transcription factor binds RNA
- Author
-
Deborah S. Wuttke, Robert T. Batey, Taeyoung Hwang, Desmond J. Hamilton, Zachariah E Holmes, Nicholas V. Parsonnet, and John L. Rinn
- Subjects
Male ,Models, Molecular ,0301 basic medicine ,Immunoprecipitation ,Science ,Static Electricity ,General Physics and Astronomy ,RNA-binding proteins ,Binding, Competitive ,Article ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Mice ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Protein Domains ,SOX2 ,DNA-binding proteins ,Transcription factors ,Animals ,lcsh:Science ,Transcription factor ,Sequence Deletion ,Regulation of gene expression ,Multidisciplinary ,Base Sequence ,Chemistry ,SOXB1 Transcription Factors ,Neurogenesis ,RNA ,Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells ,DNA ,General Chemistry ,Embryonic stem cell ,In vitro ,Cell biology ,030104 developmental biology ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,lcsh:Q ,RNA, Long Noncoding ,Protein Binding - Abstract
Certain transcription factors are proposed to form functional interactions with RNA to facilitate proper regulation of gene expression. Sox2, a transcription factor critical for maintenance of pluripotency and neurogenesis, has been found associated with several lncRNAs, although it is unknown whether these interactions are direct or via other proteins. Here we demonstrate that human Sox2 interacts directly with one of these lncRNAs with high affinity through its HMG DNA-binding domain in vitro. These interactions are primarily with double-stranded RNA in a non-sequence specific fashion, mediated by a similar but not identical interaction surface. We further determined that Sox2 directly binds RNA in mouse embryonic stem cells by UV-cross-linked immunoprecipitation of Sox2 and more than a thousand Sox2-RNA interactions in vivo were identified using fRIP-seq. Together, these data reveal that Sox2 employs a high-affinity/low-specificity paradigm for RNA binding in vitro and in vivo., Some transcription factors have been proposed to functionally interact with RNA to facilitate proper regulation of gene expression. Here the authors demonstrate that human Sox2 interact directly and with high affinity to RNAs through its HMG DNA-binding domain.
- Published
- 2020