Binding and unbinding of transcription regulators at operator sites constitute a primary mechanism for gene regulation. While many cellular factors are known to regulate their binding, little is known on how cells can modulate their unbinding for regulation. Using nanometer-precision single-molecule tracking, we study the unbinding kinetics from DNA of two metal-sensing transcription regulators in living Escherichia coli cells. We find that they show unusual concentration-dependent unbinding kinetics from chromosomal recognition sites in both their apo- and holo-forms. Unexpectedly, their unbinding kinetics further varies with the extent of chromosome condensation, and more surprisingly, varies in opposite ways for their apo-repressor vs. holo-activator forms. These findings suggest likely broadly relevant mechanisms for facile switching between transcription activation and deactivation in vivo and in coordinating transcription regulation of resistance genes with the cell cycle.

Metalloregulators regulate transcription in response to metal ions. Many studies have provided insights into how transcription is activated upon metal binding by MerR-family metalloregulators. In contrast, how transcription is turned off after activation is unclear. Turning off transcription promptly is important, however, as the cells would not want to continue expressing metal resistance genes and thus waste energy after metal stress is relieved. Using single-molecule FRET measurements we studied the dynamic interactions of the copper efflux regulator (CueR), a Cu þ -responsive MerR-family metalloregulator, with DNA. Besides quantifying its DNA binding and unbinding kinetics, we discovered that CueR spontaneously flips its binding orientation at the recognition site. CueR also has two different binding modes, corresponding to interactions with specific and nonspecific DNA sequences, which would facilitate recognition localization. Most strikingly, a CueR molecule coming from solution can directly substitute for a DNA-bound CueR or assist the dissociation of the incumbent CueR, both of which are unique examples for any DNA-binding protein. The kinetics of the direct protein substitution and assisted dissociation reactions indicate that these two unique processes can provide efficient pathways to replace a DNA-bound holo-CueR with apo-CueR, thus turning off transcription promptly and facilely.single-molecule imaging | protein-DNA interaction dynamics B acteria often dwell in environments with high concentrations of metals. Some of these metals are essential, but many are toxic. Even the essential metals, for example iron and copper, can become detrimental above a certain concentration inside cells. Many biological processes are thus present to regulate and maintain intracellular metal homeostasis (1-9). One of them is through metalloregulators, which respond to metal ions and regulate the transcription of genes that protect the bacteria from metal-induced stress (5-7, 10). The MerR-family metalloregulators respond to many metal ions with high selectivity and sensitivity, such as Hg 2þ and Cu 2þ (5,11,12).All MerR-family metalloregulators are homodimeric proteins. They regulate transcription via a DNA distortion mechanism (5, 13-16). They recognize specific dyad-symmetric DNA sequences within a promoter, and both their apo and holo forms bind DNA tightly. In the absence of metal, the metalloregulator bends the DNA; in this configuration RNA polymerase (RNAp) cannot interact with both −10 and −35 sequences properly and transcription is repressed. Upon binding metal, the metalloregulator changes its conformation and further unwinds the DNA slightly to allow proper RNAp interactions with the −10 and −35 sequences; transcription is then activated.Although the mechanisms of transcription activation by MerRfamily metalloregulators are well-studied (5, 13-16), little is yet known about how transcription activation is reversed. Turning off transcription promptly is important, however, as the cells would not want to conti...

Metalloregulators respond to metal ions to regulate transcription of metal homeostasis genes. MerR-family metalloregulators act on σ 70 -dependent suboptimal promoters and operate via a unique DNA distortion mechanism in which both the apo and holo forms of the regulators bind tightly to their operator sequence, distorting DNA structure and leading to transcription repression or activation, respectively. It remains unclear how these metalloregulator−DNA interactions are coupled dynamically to RNA polymerase (RNAP) interactions with DNA for transcription regulation. Using single-molecule FRET, we study how the copper efflux regulator (CueR)-a Cu + -responsive MerR-family metalloregulator-modulates RNAP interactions with CueR's cognate suboptimal promoter PcopA, and how RNAP affects CueR−PcopA interactions. We find that RNAP can form two noninterconverting complexes at PcopA in the absence of nucleotides: a dead-end complex and an open complex, constituting a branched interaction pathway that is distinct from the linear pathway prevalent for transcription initiation at optimal promoters. Capitalizing on this branched pathway, CueR operates via a "biased sampling" instead of "dynamic equilibrium shifting" mechanism in regulating transcription initiation; it modulates RNAP's binding-unbinding kinetics, without allowing interconversions between the deadend and open complexes. Instead, the apo-repressor form reinforces the dominance of the dead-end complex to repress transcription, and the holo-activator form shifts the interactions toward the open complex to activate transcription. RNAP, in turn, locks CueR binding at PcopA into its specific binding mode, likely helping amplify the differences between apo-and holo-CueR in imposing DNA structural changes. Therefore, RNAP and CueR work synergistically in regulating transcription.single-molecule FRET | protein-DNA interaction dynamics | MerR-family regulators | metal-responsive transcription regulation M aintaining cellular metal homeostasis is essential for bacteria, which often dwell in environments with high concentrations of metals. Some of these metals are purely toxic to bacteria, such as Cd and Hg. Many others are required for cellular function, such as Zn and Cu, but can be toxic in excess. Cells have thus developed many ways to regulate intracellular metal concentrations (1-9). Metal-responsive transcriptional regulation is one of them, where metalloregulators respond to intracellular metal ions and regulate transcription of metal efflux, uptake, or other metal homeostasis genes (4-9).In Gram-negative bacteria, MerR-family metalloregulators act on σ 70 -dependent suboptimal promoters to repress or activate transcription of metal resistance genes (7,8). These suboptimal promoters have elongated spacing, 19-20 bp (Fig. 1), compared with the optimal 17 ± 1 bp, between the −35 and −10 elements. This elongated spacing causes a misalignment of these two recognition elements, impairing proper interactions with the RNA polymerase (RNAP) and leading to a weak basal leve...

Understanding how cells regulate and transport metal ions is an important goal in the field of bioinorganic chemistry, a frontier research area that resides at the interfaces of chemistry and biology. This Current Topics article reviews recent advances from the authors' group in using single-molecule fluorescence imaging techniques to identify the mechanisms of metal homeostatic proteins, including metalloregulators and metallochaperones. It emphasizes the novel mechanistic insights into how dynamic protein–DNA and protein–protein interactions offer efficient pathways for MerR-family metalloregulators and copper chaperones to fulfill their functions. The article also summarizes other related single-molecule studies of bioinorganic systems, and gives an outlook toward single-molecule imaging of metalloprotein functions in living cells.

Metalloregulators regulate transcription in response to metal ion concentrations. How they interact with DNA and change the DNA structure dictates the regulation process. Many studies have provided insights into how transcription is activated upon metal binding by MerR-family metalloregulators. In contrast, how transcription is turned off after activation is unclear. Turning off transcription promptly is important, however, as the cells would not want to continue expressing metal resistance genes and thus waste energy after metal stress is relieved. Here we use single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET) measurements to probe the dynamic interactions between CueR, a Cu1þ-responsive MerR-family regulator, and a double-strand DNA in real time one event at a time. Besides seeing its DNA binding and unbinding kinetics, we discovered that CueR spontaneously flips its binding orientation at the recognition site. CueR also has two different binding modes, corresponding to interactions with specific and nonspecific DNA sequences, which would facilitate recognition localization. Most strikingly, a CueR molecule coming from solution can directly substitute for a DNA-bound CueR or assist the dissociation of the incumbent CueR, both of which are the first such examples for any DNA-binding protein. The kinetics of the direct protein substitution and assisted dissociation reactions indicate that these two novel processes can provide efficient pathways to replace a DNA-bound holo-CueR with apo-CueR, thus turning off transcription promptly and facilely. 902-Pos Board B671We present a complete toolbox for the internalization and single-molecule study of singly-or multiply-labeled fluorescent biomolecules (such as DNA and protein) into living E.coli cells. This technique allows use of organic fluorophores, which are much smaller, brighter and more photostable than genetically encoded fluorescent proteins (e.g. GFP), and provide better labeling flexibility (using in vitro site-specific labeling) and wider spectral range. As such, our methods enable experiments that have so far been precluded due to the inability to internalize fairly large molecules such as globular proteins through the cell membranes of micron-size bacterial cells. Our internalization method, based on electroporation, has allowed us to observe and track fluorescent molecules in living E.coli on the second-to-minute timescale providing >100-times longer observation spans compared to GFP. Aided by the quantized photobleaching of fluorophores, we have characterized the number of internalized molecules, which ranged from 1 to 1000, depending on the size and the amount of electroporated molecule. We also characterized the diffusion behaviour of the internalized molecules, obtaining information on diffusion coefficients, heterogeneity and paths. By internalising doubly-labeled DNA molecules, we observed single-molecule FRET in single bacteria for the first time. Systematic in vivo single-molecule FRET measurements with DNA standards (exhibiting FRET ...

The controlled release of promoter-proximal paused RNA polymerase II (Pol II) into productive elongation is a major step in gene regulation. However, functional analysis of Pol II pausing is difficult because factors that regulate pause release are almost all essential. In this study, we identified heterozygous loss-of-function mutations in SUPT5H, which encodes SPT5, in individuals with beta-thalassemia unlinked to HBB mutations. During erythropoiesis in healthy human cells, cell cycle genes were highly paused at the transition from progenitors to precursors. When the pathogenic mutations were recapitulated by SUPT5H editing, Pol II pause release was globally disrupted, and the transition from progenitors to precursors was delayed, marked by a transient lag in erythroid-specific gene expression and cell cycle kinetics. Despite this delay, cells terminally differentiate, and cell cycle phase distributions normalize. Therefore, hindering pause release perturbs proliferation and differentiation dynamics at a key transition during erythropoiesis, revealing a role for Pol II pausing in the temporal coordination between the cell cycle and differentiation.

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Quantifying crucial steps in gene regulation during transcription elongation, such as promoter-proximal pausing, requires high resolution methods to map the transcription machinery across the genome. Native Elongating Transcript sequencing (NET-seq) interrogates the 3' ends of nascent RNA through sequencing, providing a direct visualization of RNA Polymerase II (Pol II) positions genome-wide with strand specificity and single nucleotide resolution. NET-seq applied to human cells has uncovered regions of Pol II pausing at the boundaries of retained exons and convergent antisense transcription near transcription start sites (Mayer et al. 2015). It has also been used to investigate regulators of productive elongation (Winter et al. 2017), and the directionality of promoter regions (Jin et al. 2017). Here, we describe the experimental protocol for metazoan cells that includes a spike-in control enabling normalization across samples. We also report on an improved bioinformatics pipeline for NETseq. Together, the protocol yields a fast and non-perturbative method to map Pol II transcription genome-wide, revealing complex and global transcriptional events.