Cloning and characterization of ELL-associated proteins EAP45 and EAP20. a role for yeast EAP-like proteins in regulation of gene expression by glucose.

RNA polymerase II elongation factor ELL was recently purified from rat liver as a component of a multiprotein complex containing ELL and three ELL-associated proteins (EAPs) of approximately 45 (EAP45), approximately 30 (EAP30), and approximately 20 (EAP20) kDa (Shilatifard, A. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 11212-11217). Cloning of cDNA encoding the EAP30 protein revealed that it shares significant sequence similarity with the product of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae SNF8 gene (Schmidt, A. E., Miller, T., Schmidt, S. L., Shiekhattar, R., and Shilatifard, A. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 21981-21985), which is required for efficient derepression of glucose-repressed genes. Here we report the cloning of cDNAs encoding the EAP45 and EAP20 proteins. In addition, we identify the S. cerevisiae VPS36 and YJR102c genes as potential orthologs of EAP45 and EAP20 and show that they are previously uncharacterized SNF genes with properties very similar to SNF8.