Dynamic modulation of enhancer responsiveness by core promoter elements in living Drosophila embryos

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K15710
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 43010:Molecular biology-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Yokoshi Moe 東京大学, 定量生命科学研究所, 助教 (80791938)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 転写制御 / コアプロモーター

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim of this study was to elucidate the mechanism of specific transcriptional regulation in the nucleotide sequence of the core promoter region, which is composed of approximately 100 base pairs including the transcription start site. Firstly, we developed a novel live imaging technique to directly visualize the function of the core promoter in transcriptional regulation in living Drosophila embryos. Detailed quantitative image analysis revealed that the core promoter itself significantly contributes to the control of transcriptional bursts independently of enhancers. Furthermore, by using genome editing to modify the core promoter of an endogenous gene, we found that each mutation greatly disturbed the control of transcriptional bursts, resulting in abnormalities in the segmentation of early embryos.

Free Research Field

RNA生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

コアプロモーターの改変を通じて、個体体発生における遺伝子発現制御の基本原理の解明に留まらず、疾患原因となるコアプロモーター変異の同定や、遺伝子発現や細胞運命制御を制御する新たなゲノム技術の開発や新規医療技術の開発、疾患の発症メカニズムの解明に貢献できると期待されます。