Gene activation in higher eukaryotes is often under the control of regulatory elements quite distant from their target promoters. It is unclear how such long-range control is mediated. Here we show that a single determinant of the human growth hormone locus control region (hGH LCR) located 14.5 kb 5prime prime or minute to the hGH-N promoter has a critical, specific, and nonredundant role in facilitating promoter trans factor binding and activating hGH-N transcription. Significantly, this same determinant plays an essential role in establishing a 32 kb acetylated domain that encompasses the entire hGH LCR and the contiguous hGH-N promoter. These data support a model for long-range gene activation via LCR-mediated targeting and extensive spreading of core histone acetylation.

We have screened a collection of approximately 400 GAL4 enhancer trap lines for useful patterns of expression in the embryo, larval brain, imaginal discs, and ovary using a UAS‐lacZ reporter construct. Although similar patterns of expression have previously been reported in the original P[lacZ] enhancer trap screens, these lines are useful for directing ectopic expression of genes in discrete patterns during these stages. In addition, we have identified some unique patterns of expression that have not been previously reported. Dev. Dyn. 209:310–322, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Locus control regions (LCRs) are capable of activating target genes over substantial distances and establishing autonomously regulated chromatin domains. The basis for this action is poorly defined. Human growth hormone gene (hGH-N) expression is activated by an LCR marked by a series of DNase I-hypersensitive sites (HSI-III and HSV) in pituitary chromatin. These HSs are located between -15 and -32 kilobases (kb) relative to the hGH transcription start site. To establish a mechanistic basis for hGH LCR function, we carried out acetylation mapping of core histones H3 and H4 in chromatin encompassing the hGH cluster. These studies revealed that the entire LCR was selectively enriched for acetylation in chromatin isolated from a human pituitary somatotrope adenoma and in pituitaries of mice transgenic for the hGH locus, but not in hepatic or erythroid cells. Quantification of histone modification in the pituitary revealed a dramatic peak at HSI/II, the major pituitary-specific hGH LCR determinant (-15 kb), with gradually decreasing levels of modification extending from this site in both 5'- and 3'-directions. The 5'-border of the acetylated domain coincided with the 5' most hGH LCR element, HSV (-34 kb); and the 3'-border included the expressed hGH-N gene, but did not extend farther 3' into the placenta-specific region of the gene cluster. These data support a model of LCR function involving targeted recruitment and subsequent spreading of histone acetyltransferase activity to encompass and activate a remote target gene.

Histone acetylation of chromatin promotes dynamic transcriptional responses in neurons that influence neuroplasticity critical for cognitive ability. It has been demonstrated that Tip60 histone acetyltransferase (HAT) activity is involved in the transcriptional regulation of genes enriched for neuronal function as well as the control of synaptic plasticity. Accordingly, Tip60 has been implicated in the neurodegenerative disorder Alzheimer's disease (AD) via transcriptional regulatory complex formation with the AD linked amyloid precursor protein (APP) intracellular domain (AICD). As such, inappropriate complex formation may contribute to AD-linked neurodegeneration by misregulation of target genes involved in neurogenesis; however, a direct and causative epigenetic based role for Tip60 HAT activity in this process during neuronal development in vivo remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that nervous system specific loss of Tip60 HAT activity enhances APP mediated lethality and neuronal apoptotic cell death in the central nervous system (CNS) of a transgenic AD fly model while remarkably, overexpression of Tip60 diminishes these defects. Notably, all of these effects are dependent upon the C-terminus of APP that is required for transcriptional regulatory complex formation with Tip60. Importantly, we show that the expression of certain AD linked Tip60 gene targets critical for regulating apoptotic pathways are modified in the presence of APP. Our results are the first to demonstrate a functional interaction between Tip60 and APP in mediating nervous system development and apoptotic neuronal cell death in the CNS of an AD fly model in vivo, and support a novel neuroprotective role for Tip60 HAT activity in AD neurodegenerative pathology.