The corepressor N-CoR and its variants RIP13a and RIP13Delta1 directly interact with the basal transcription factors TFIIB, TAFII32 and TAFII70.

Repression of transcription by the classical nuclear receptors (e.g. TR, RAR), the orphan nuclear receptors (e.g. Rev-erbAalpha/beta), Mxi-1 and Mad bHLH-zip proteins and the oncoproteins PLZF and LAZ3/BCL6 is mediated by the corepressors N-CoR and SMRT. The interaction of the corepressors with the components involved in chromatin remodelling, such as the recruiting proteins Sin3A/B and the histone deacteylases HDAc-1 and RPD3, has been analysed in detail. The N-CoR/Sin3/HDAc complexes have a key role in the regulation of cellular proliferation and differentiation. However, the interaction of these corepressors with the basal transcriptional machinery has remained obscure. In this study we demonstrated that the N-terminalrepression domains and the receptor interactiondomains (RID) of N-CoR and its splice variants, RIP13a and RIP13Delta1, directly interact with TAFII32 in vivo and in vitro . We show that interaction domain II within the N-CoR and RIP13a RID is required for the interaction with TAFII32. We also observed that N-CoR directly interacts with each of the basal factors, TFIIB and TAFII70, and can simultaneously interact with all three basal factors in a non-competitive manner. Furthermore, we provide evidence that suggests the RVR/Rev-erbbeta-corepressor complex also interacts with the general transcriptional machinery, and that the physicalassociation of TFIIB with N-CoR also occurs in the presence of Sin3B and HDAc-1. Interestingly, we observed that N-CoR expression ablated the functional interaction between TFIIB and TAFII32 that is critical to the initiation of transcription. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that the N-terminal repressor region and the C-terminal RIDs are part of the corepressor contact interface that mediates the interaction with the general transcription factors, and demonstrates that TAFs can also directly interact with corepressors to mediate signals from repressors to the basal machinery. We also suggest that N-CoR interacts with the central components of the transcriptional initiation process (TFIIB, TAFs) and locks them into a non-functional complex or conformation that is not conducive to transcription.