TAF10 Interacts with the GATA1 Transcription Factor and Controls Mouse Erythropoiesis

Abstract

The ordered assembly of a functional preinitiation complex (PIC), composed of general transcription factors (GTFs), is a prerequisite for the transcription of protein-coding genes by RNA polymerase II. TFIID, comprised of the TATA binding protein (TBP) and 13 TBP-associated factors (TAFs), is the GTF that is thought to recognize the promoter sequences allowing site-specific PIC assembly. Transcriptional cofactors, such as SAGA, are also necessary for tightly regulated transcription initiation. The contribution of the two TAF10-containing complexes (TFIID, SAGA) to erythropoiesis remains elusive. By ablating TAF10 specifically in erythroid cells in vivo, we observed a differentiation block accompanied by deregulated GATA1 target genes, including Gata1 itself, suggesting functional cross talk between GATA1 and TAF10. Additionally, we analyzed by mass spectrometry the composition of TFIID and SAGA complexes in mouse and human cells and found that their global integrity is maintained, with minor changes, during erythroid cell differentiation and development. In agreement with our functional data, we show that TAF10 interacts directly with GATA1 and that TAF10 is enriched on the GATA1 locus in human fetal erythroid cells. Thus, our findings demonstrate a cross talk between canonical TFIID and SAGA complexes and cell-specific transcription activators during development and differentiation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank the PRIDE team for their help and support regarding the deposition of the mass spectrometry data. The GST and GST-GATA1 plasmids were a generous gift from K. Freson at KU Leuven (Molecular and Vascular Biology). We are also grateful to the members of T. Economou lab (Molecular Bacteriology) at KU Leuven and especially to N. Famelis and K. Tsolis for helping with the purification of the GST fusion proteins and Petros Kolovos from Erasmus MC for technical support.

This work has been partially supported by EMBO short-term fellowship ASTF 15-2010 (to P.P.), The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO-VENI 863.09.012 to L.G.), The Netherlands Genomics Initiative (NGI Zenith 93511036), The Netherlands Proteomics Center (NPC), The Netherlands Initiative of Regenerative Medicine (NIRM), EU integrated project EuTRACC (to F.G. and L.T.), the Landsteiner Foundation for Blood Transfusion Research (LSBR; 1040 to F.G. and S.P.); ZonMw (TOP 40-00812-98-12128 and DN 82-301), EU FP7 Specific Cooperation Research Project THALAMOSS (306201 to S.P.), and ERC Advanced (Birtoaction, grant no. 340551 to L.T.).

P.P, F.G., and L.T. designed the study; P.P., L.G., J.D., D.N.P., E.K., R.V.D.L., F.P., and E.S. performed the experiments; P.P., L.G., J.D., H.J.G.V.D.W., D.H.W.D., P.V., J.S., S.P., F.G., and L.T. analyzed the data; and P.P., L.G., S.P., F.G., and L.T. wrote the paper.