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Showing SUPT3HSPT3 is a alias.

SUPT3H

Transcription initiation protein SPT3 homolog · UniProt O75486

Length
317 aa
Mass
35.8 kDa
Annotated
2026-06-10
32 papers in source corpus 16 papers cited in narrative 16 extracted findings
Cross-family judge faithfulness: 6/6 claims corpus-supported (100%)

Mechanistic narrative

Synthesis pass · prose summary of the discoveries below

SUPT3H/Spt3 is a conserved subunit of the SAGA/STAGA transcriptional coactivator complex that governs TBP recruitment and transcription initiation at a subset of RNA Pol II promoters (PMID:9726987, PMID:18981477, PMID:40637224). In yeast, Spt3 was first defined genetically as a positive regulator of Ty/delta element transcription (PMID:6096019) and shown to physically and functionally interact with TBP through allele-specific suppression of TBP mutations and coimmunoprecipitation (PMID:1628834); this contact was later resolved as a direct Spt3–TBP interface by site-specific photocrosslinking, with mutations on the Spt3-interacting surface of TBP impairing TBP recruitment and activated transcription at SAGA-dependent promoters (PMID:18981477, PMID:18073420). Within SAGA, Spt3 acts together with Spt8 as a context-dependent regulator of the TBP–TATA interaction — inhibiting TBP binding under non-induced conditions (PMID:10611242) — and operates within a cooperative network with the ATP-dependent TBP inhibitor Mot1 and TFIIA to control TBP distribution and TATA selection (PMID:8972209). Spt3 additionally drives nucleosome remodeling at induced promoters in a manner separable from its TBP-delivery role (PMID:15057269) and contributes to functions outside SAGA linked to the Ccr4-Not complex (PMID:17660549). Genome-wide, Spt3 (with Spt8) provides TBP recruitment at Gcn4 target genes that is non-redundant with TFIID (PMID:40637224). The human orthologue SUPT3H is only partially functionally conserved (PMID:9787080) and resides in the histone-acetyltransferase-containing STAGA complex with GCN5-L and TAF31 (PMID:9726987); in mammalian cells SAGA assembles without SUPT3H and global TBP recruitment and Pol II transcription are largely unaffected, yet SUPT3H is required for transcription of a specific gene subset and for mouse ESC growth and self-renewal, indicating divergence of the TBP-delivery mechanism between yeast and mammals (PMID:35871303).

Mechanistic history

Synthesis pass · year-by-year structured walk · 15 steps
  1. 1984 High

    Established SPT3 as a functional regulator of transcription initiation before its molecular role was known, by showing it is required for proper start-site usage at Ty/delta elements.

    Evidence Genetic null mutant analysis with transcript mapping in S. cerevisiae

    PMID:6096019

    Open questions at the time
    • No molecular partner or biochemical mechanism identified at this stage
    • Generality beyond Ty elements unaddressed
  2. 1992 High

    Connected SPT3 to the general transcription machinery by demonstrating physical and allele-specific genetic interaction with TBP, defining a functional Spt3–TBP relationship at specific promoters.

    Evidence Coimmunoprecipitation from yeast extracts plus allele-specific extragenic suppression of a TBP mutant

    PMID:1628834

    Open questions at the time
    • Did not resolve whether the interaction is direct or bridged
    • Mechanism of promoter selectivity unknown
  3. 1994 Medium

    Implicated SPT8 as a promoter of the Spt3–TBP interaction, showing the two subunits act jointly on TBP function.

    Evidence Allele-specific suppressor genetics with spt3/spt8 mutant combinations in yeast

    PMID:8088510

    Open questions at the time
    • Single lab, genetic inference without biochemical reconstitution
    • Molecular basis of SPT8 effect on Spt3 unclear
  4. 1997 Medium

    Placed SPT3 within a cooperative regulatory network controlling TBP distribution by defining genetic interactions with the TBP inhibitor MOT1 and with TFIIA.

    Evidence Synthetic lethality screen and genetic suppressor analysis with in vivo transcription assays

    PMID:8972209

    Open questions at the time
    • No direct biochemical reconstitution of the three-way interaction
    • Mechanistic order of events not resolved
  5. 1998 High

    Identified the human orthologue and its complex context, showing hSPT3 resides in a HAT-containing STAGA complex with GCN5-L and TAF31 rather than with TBP/TFIID, establishing STAGA as the human SAGA counterpart.

    Evidence Immunoprecipitation from HeLa nuclear extracts, HAT activity assay, and molecular cloning

    PMID:9726987

    Open questions at the time
    • Functional role of human SUPT3H in transcription not yet tested
    • Whether human SUPT3H contacts TBP unaddressed
  6. 1998 Medium

    Demonstrated partial functional conservation of SUPT3H from yeast to human via a chimeric complementation strategy.

    Evidence Yeast spt3Δ complementation with full-length and human-yeast chimeric constructs

    PMID:9787080

    Open questions at the time
    • Full-length human protein cannot complement, leaving conserved versus divergent functions undefined
    • Single lab
  7. 2000 High

    Showed that Spt3/Spt8 act as inhibitory subunits for TBP recruitment under non-induced conditions and that SAGA composition is dynamic, reframing Spt3 as a context-dependent regulator rather than a purely positive factor.

    Evidence In vitro TBP-DNA binding with purified SAGA isoforms plus genetic analysis of deletions

    PMID:10611242

    Open questions at the time
    • How induction switches SAGA composition mechanistically not resolved
    • In vitro inhibition versus in vivo activation reconciliation incomplete
  8. 2004 Medium

    Revealed a TBP-independent chromatin remodeling function of Spt3 at induced promoters, coordinated with Mot1, distinct from its TBP-delivery role.

    Evidence ChIP and nucleosome remodeling assays with spt3/mot1 mutants and synthetic promoters

    PMID:15057269

    Open questions at the time
    • Molecular mechanism of remodeling by Spt3 not defined
    • Single lab
  9. 2007 Medium

    Defined a SAGA-independent function of SPT3 functionally linked to the Ccr4-Not complex, showing SPT3 acts outside the SAGA holocomplex.

    Evidence Genetic suppressor and epistasis analysis with SAGA and Ccr4-Not mutants

    PMID:17660549

    Open questions at the time
    • No biochemical reconstitution of the SAGA-independent activity
    • Physical basis of SPT3–Ccr4-Not link unknown
  10. 2007 Medium

    Mapped a conserved Spt3 region as the TBP-contacting interface using dominant-negative mutations that allele-specifically interact with TBP and affect TBP levels at Spt3-dependent promoters.

    Evidence Dominant-negative genetics, suppressor isolation, TBP ChIP, and SAGA–TBP Co-IP

    PMID:18073420

    Open questions at the time
    • Most mutations do not change bulk SAGA–TBP interaction, complicating interpretation
    • Single lab
  11. 2008 High

    Proved a direct physical Spt3–TBP contact required for activated transcription by mapping interacting surfaces and showing functional consequences for TBP recruitment.

    Evidence Site-specific BPA photocrosslinking in vivo and in vitro, mutagenesis, ChIP, and transcription assays

    PMID:18981477

    Open questions at the time
    • Structural model of the contact not determined
    • Whether the same interface operates in mammals untested
  12. 2020 Medium

    Linked the SAGA TBP-binding module to pre-spliceosome assembly, with Spt3 contributing genetically though Spt8 is the direct Prp5 contact.

    Evidence In vitro binding, genetic suppressor analysis, and ChIP/ChIP-seq in yeast

    PMID:32399566

    Open questions at the time
    • Spt3 itself does not directly bind Prp5; its role is inferred genetically
    • Mechanism of transcription-splicing coupling incompletely defined
  13. 2022 High

    Demonstrated mammalian divergence: SAGA assembles without SUPT3H and global TBP recruitment and Pol II transcription are largely intact, yet SUPT3H is required for a specific gene subset and for mESC self-renewal.

    Evidence SAGA purification from SUPT3H-knockout cells, TBP ChIP, RNA-seq, and mESC growth/self-renewal assays

    PMID:35871303

    Open questions at the time
    • Identity and common features of the SUPT3H-dependent gene subset not defined
    • Mechanism replacing Spt3-mediated TBP delivery in mammals unknown
  14. 2023 Medium

    Extended Spt3 function to chromatin boundary control, showing Spt3/Spt8 block spread of telomeric silencing in a TBP-interaction-dependent, sequence-independent manner.

    Evidence Microarray transcriptomics, RT-qPCR, and analysis of spt3–TBP interaction mutants in yeast

    PMID:37189367

    Open questions at the time
    • No direct biochemical reconstitution of the boundary mechanism
    • Single lab
  15. 2025 High

    Established that SAGA's Spt3/Spt8-mediated TBP recruitment is non-redundant with TFIID at Gcn4 target genes, separating Spt3-dependent TBP delivery from Gcn5-dependent histone eviction.

    Evidence TBP and Pol II ChIP-seq, auxin-inducible Taf1 depletion, and combinatorial SPT3/SPT8/GCN5 deletions in starved yeast

    PMID:40637224

    Open questions at the time
    • Whether this non-redundancy is conserved in mammals untested
    • Quantitative contribution of Spt3 versus Spt8 not fully separated

Open questions

Synthesis pass · forward-looking unresolved questions
  • The mechanistic basis for the divergent, gene-subset-restricted role of mammalian SUPT3H — and how TBP delivery is achieved at SUPT3H-independent promoters in mammals — remains unresolved.
  • No structural model of the SUPT3H–TBP interface in mammals
  • The shared regulatory logic of SUPT3H-dependent genes is undefined
  • Mechanism linking SUPT3H to mESC self-renewal unknown

Mechanism profile

Synthesis pass · controlled-vocabulary classification · explore literature graph →
Molecular activity
GO:0140110 transcription regulator activity 4 GO:0098772 molecular function regulator activity 3
Localization
GO:0005634 nucleus 3
Pathway
R-HSA-74160 Gene expression (Transcription) 4 R-HSA-4839726 Chromatin organization 2
Complex memberships
SAGASTAGA

Evidence

Reading pass · 16 per-paper findings extracted from the source corpus
Year Finding Method Journal Conf PMIDs
1992 Yeast SPT3 physically associates with TFIID (TBP) in yeast cell extracts, as demonstrated by coimmunoprecipitation. Allele-specific suppression of spt15-21 (a TBP mutation) by spt3 mutations indicates a direct functional interaction between SPT3 and TBP required for transcription at particular promoters in vivo. Coimmunoprecipitation from yeast extracts; allele-specific extragenic suppressor genetics Genes & development High 1628834
1984 SPT3 is required for normal transcription initiation from delta (Ty LTR) sequences in S. cerevisiae; in spt3 null mutants, Ty delta-delta transcripts are absent and initiation shifts ~800 bp into the epsilon region, establishing SPT3 as a positive regulator of Ty element transcription. Genetic null mutant analysis; Northern blot / transcript mapping Cell High 6096019
1998 Human SUPT3H (hSPT3) is not associated in vivo with human TBP/TFIID or with a TBP-free TAFII complex; instead, hSPT3 co-purifies in vivo with TAFII31 and the long form of human GCN5 (hGCN5-L) in a novel complex (STAGA) that possesses histone acetyltransferase activity. This established STAGA as the human homologue of yeast SAGA. Immunoprecipitation from HeLa cell nuclear extracts; histone acetyltransferase activity assay; molecular cloning and sequence analysis The Journal of biological chemistry High 9726987
2000 Within SAGA, Spt3 (and Spt8) inhibit TBP binding to the HIS3 promoter in vitro; SAGA lacking Spt3 or Spt8 loses this inhibitory activity. Two distinct forms of SAGA exist in cell extracts, one lacking Spt8, and conditions that induce transcription shift the balance toward the Spt8-lacking form, indicating that SAGA composition is dynamic and that Spt3/Spt8 function as inhibitory subunits for TBP recruitment under non-induced conditions. In vitro TBP-DNA binding assay with purified SAGA complexes; biochemical fractionation of SAGA isoforms; genetic analysis of spt3 and spt8 deletion effects on transcription Molecular and cellular biology High 10611242
1997 Genetic epistasis experiments show that SPT3 functionally interacts with MOT1 (an ATP-dependent TBP inhibitor) and TFIIA to regulate TBP-DNA interactions and TATA-box selection in vivo. Double mutant lethality (spt3Δ mot1) and suppression of spt3Δ by TFIIA overexpression define a cooperative pathway controlling TBP distribution at promoters. Synthetic lethality screen; genetic suppressor analysis; in vivo transcription assays Molecular and cellular biology Medium 8972209
1994 Genetic analysis shows that spt8 null mutations are suppressed by particular spt3 alleles, suggesting that SPT8 promotes a functional SPT3–TBP interaction. Both SPT8 and SPT3 are required for TBP function at specific promoters. Genetic suppressor analysis; null mutant combination phenotyping Genetics Medium 8088510
2008 Site-specific in vivo and in vitro cross-linking using the non-natural photoreactive amino acid BPA substituted onto TBP surface residues demonstrates a direct physical interaction between TBP and SAGA subunits Spt3 and Spt8. Mutations on the Spt3-interacting surface of TBP reduce TBP–SAGA interaction, decrease transcriptional activation, and impair TBP recruitment to a SAGA-dependent promoter, proving that a direct Spt3–TBP contact is required for activated transcription. Site-specific photocrosslinking with non-natural amino acid BPA in vivo and in vitro; chromatin immunoprecipitation; in vivo transcription assays; mutagenesis Genes & development High 18981477
2004 Spt3 (within SAGA) is required for nucleosome remodeling at the GAL1 promoter upon transcriptional induction, and this function is independent of TBP recruitment. Spt3 and Mot1 are both required for nucleosome remodeling and are recruited to GAL1 promoter (and a non-promoter nucleosome near an activator-binding site) in an interdependent manner, revealing a chromatin remodeling role for Spt3 distinct from its TBP-delivery role. Chromatin immunoprecipitation; nucleosome remodeling assays; genetic analysis of spt3 and mot1 mutants; synthetic promoter experiments The EMBO journal Medium 15057269
2007 New dominant-negative spt3 mutations cluster in a conserved region of Spt3 and allele-specifically interact with spt15 (TBP) mutations, confirming a direct Spt3–TBP interface in vivo. One spt3 mutation (spt3-401) greatly increases SAGA–TBP physical association, while most spt3, spt8, and spt15 mutations do not alter bulk SAGA–TBP interaction, suggesting that direct Spt3–TBP contact is required for normal TBP levels at Spt3-dependent promoters. Dominant-negative overexpression genetics; extragenic suppressor isolation; TBP ChIP; SAGA–TBP co-immunoprecipitation Genetics Medium 18073420
2007 A SAGA-independent function of SPT3 is identified: deletion of SPT3, but not deletion of other SAGA subunits (SPT7), suppresses transcriptional defects of a not1-2 (Ccr4-Not scaffold) mutant, and spt3Δ shows synthetic phenotypes with spt7Δ. This indicates SPT3 has functions outside the SAGA complex that are functionally linked to the Ccr4-Not complex. Genetic suppressor analysis; transcriptional assays; genetic epistasis with SAGA and Ccr4-Not mutants Genetics Medium 17660549
1998 The human SUPT3H cDNA encodes a protein sharing 30% identity with yeast Spt3 across three conserved domains. Full-length SUPT3H cannot complement yeast spt3Δ, but a human-yeast chimeric gene containing 42% human sequences can partially complement, indicating partial functional conservation of transcriptional control from yeast to human. Molecular cloning; yeast complementation assay with full-length and chimeric constructs Genomics Medium 9787080
2022 In mammalian cells (human U2OS and mouse ESCs), SAGA can assemble without SUPT3H. Loss of SUPT3H does not cause major changes in TBP accumulation at gene promoters and does not globally impair RNA Pol II transcription; instead, SUPT3H affects transcription of only a specific gene subset and is required for mESC growth and self-renewal. This contrasts with yeast where Spt3 broadly controls TBP recruitment. Biochemical purification of SAGA from SUPT3H-knockout cells; ChIP for TBP; RNA-seq; mESC growth/self-renewal assays Nucleic acids research High 35871303
2020 The spliceosomal ATPase Prp5p directly interacts with SAGA subunit Spt8p (but not Spt3p) in vitro. However, both spt8Δ and spt3Δ rescue Prp5 splicing defects and restore Pol II recruitment to an intron-containing gene. This interaction mediates reciprocal coupling between transcription initiation/elongation (via the SAGA TBP-binding module containing Spt3/Spt8) and pre-spliceosome assembly. In vitro binding assay (Prp5–Spt8 direct interaction); genetic suppressor analysis; chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP and ChIP-seq) Nucleic acids research Medium 32399566
2023 In S. cerevisiae, Spt3 and Spt8 (SAGA subunits) block the spread of telomeric silencing regions at the right arm of chromosome III in a TBP-interaction-dependent manner; mutants altering the Spt3–TBP interaction impair boundary formation. Spt3 has a greater genome-wide transcriptional effect than Spt8, and boundary formation is DNA sequence-independent. Microarray transcriptome analysis; RT-qPCR of subtelomeric genes; genetic analysis of spt3–TBP interaction mutants Biomolecules Medium 37189367
2025 ChIP-seq in amino acid-starved S. cerevisiae shows that deleting SPT3 or SPT8 (but not GCN5) reduces TBP binding at many Gcn4 target genes, while deleting GCN5 (but not SPT3 or SPT8) impairs promoter histone eviction. Nuclear depletion of TFIID subunit Taf1 further reduces TBP recruitment at SAGA-dependent genes only when Spt3 or Spt8 are absent, demonstrating that SAGA's TBP-recruitment function via Spt3/Spt8 is non-redundant with TFIID in the Gcn4 transcriptome. ChIP-seq for TBP and Pol II; auxin-inducible degron nuclear depletion of Taf1; genetic deletion of SPT3, SPT8, GCN5 Nucleic acids research High 40637224
2014 In murine pre-osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells, the Supt3h promoter physically contacts the bone-specific Runx2-P1 promoter (located in the first intron of which Supt3h resides) with increased contact frequency during osteoblast differentiation. RUNX2 and CTCF bind the Supt3h promoter, and interplasmid-3C plus luciferase reporter assays show that the Supt3h promoter can modulate Runx2-P1 transcriptional activity via direct association. Chromosome conformation capture (3C); DNaseI hypersensitivity assay; ChIP for RUNX2 and CTCF; luciferase reporter assay Nucleic acids research Medium 25120271

Source papers

Stage 0 corpus · 32 papers · ranked by NIH iCite citations
Year Title Journal Citations PMID
1992 SPT3 interacts with TFIID to allow normal transcription in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genes & development 204 1628834
1984 The SPT3 gene is required for normal transcription of Ty elements in S. cerevisiae. Cell 189 6096019
1998 A human SPT3-TAFII31-GCN5-L acetylase complex distinct from transcription factor IID. The Journal of biological chemistry 166 9726987
2000 Inhibition of TATA-binding protein function by SAGA subunits Spt3 and Spt8 at Gcn4-activated promoters. Molecular and cellular biology 114 10611242
1997 Evidence that Spt3 functionally interacts with Mot1, TFIIA, and TATA-binding protein to confer promoter-specific transcriptional control in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Molecular and cellular biology 102 8972209
1996 The NOT, SPT3, and MOT1 genes functionally interact to regulate transcription at core promoters. Molecular and cellular biology 102 8943321
1986 Saccharomyces cerevisiae SPT3 gene is required for transposition and transpositional recombination of chromosomal Ty elements. Molecular and cellular biology 102 3025601
1994 The Saccharomyces cerevisiae SPT8 gene encodes a very acidic protein that is functionally related to SPT3 and TATA-binding protein. Genetics 82 8088510
2008 Site-specific cross-linking of TBP in vivo and in vitro reveals a direct functional interaction with the SAGA subunit Spt3. Genes & development 80 18981477
2012 Identification of pathogenesis-associated genes by T-DNA-mediated insertional mutagenesis in Botrytis cinerea: a type 2A phosphoprotein phosphatase and an SPT3 transcription factor have significant impact on virulence. Molecular plant-microbe interactions : MPMI 50 22112214
2018 Parathyroid hormone-stimulation of Runx2 during osteoblast differentiation via the regulation of lnc-SUPT3H-1:16 (RUNX2-AS1:32) and miR-6797-5p. Biochimie 44 30562548
2002 Spt3 plays opposite roles in filamentous growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans and is required for C. albicans virulence. Genetics 41 12072450
2007 Characterization of new Spt3 and TATA-binding protein mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Spt3 TBP allele-specific interactions and bypass of Spt8. Genetics 37 18073420
2004 Spt3 and Mot1 cooperate in nucleosome remodeling independently of TBP recruitment. The EMBO journal 32 15057269
1986 Analysis of the yeast SPT3 gene and identification of its product, a positive regulator of Ty transcription. Nucleic acids research 30 3020500
2014 The bone-specific Runx2-P1 promoter displays conserved three-dimensional chromatin structure with the syntenic Supt3h promoter. Nucleic acids research 27 25120271
1988 SPT3 is required for normal levels of a-factor and alpha-factor expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Molecular and cellular biology 25 3127692
1998 Characterization of a human homologue of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae transcription factor spt3 (SUPT3H). Genomics 18 9787080
2019 EDAR, LYPLAL1, PRDM16, PAX3, DKK1, TNFSF12, CACNA2D3, and SUPT3H gene variants influence facial morphology in a Eurasian population. Human genetics 17 31025105
2007 A SAGA-independent function of SPT3 mediates transcriptional deregulation in a mutant of the Ccr4-not complex in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics 16 17660549
2020 Prp5-Spt8/Spt3 interaction mediates a reciprocal coupling between splicing and transcription. Nucleic acids research 13 32399566
2013 Transcription factors spt3 and spt8 are associated with conidiation, mycelium growth, and pathogenicity in Fusarium graminearum. FEMS microbiology letters 12 24289742
1998 Identification and analysis of homologues of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Spt3 suggest conserved functional domains. Yeast (Chichester, England) 6 9559549
2023 Spt3 and Spt8 Are Involved in the Formation of a Silencing Boundary by Interacting with TATA-Binding Protein. Biomolecules 5 37189367
2022 SUPT3H-less SAGA coactivator can assemble and function without significantly perturbing RNA polymerase II transcription in mammalian cells. Nucleic acids research 5 35871303
2010 [Improving ethanol tolerance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae industrial strain by directed evolution of SPT3]. Sheng wu gong cheng xue bao = Chinese journal of biotechnology 4 20432932
2017 Improvement of Lead Tolerance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by Random Mutagenesis of Transcription Regulator SPT3. Applied biochemistry and biotechnology 3 28656551
1993 [Effects of treatments (heat and fermentation by Rhizopus oligosporus sp-T3) of sweet white lupin seeds on certain factors of its nutritional use]. Reproduction, nutrition, development 3 8363741
2021 Functional characterization of the developmental genes asm2, asm3, and spt3 required for fruiting body formation in the filamentous ascomycete Sordaria macrospora. Genetics 2 34849873
2025 SAGA subunits Spt3 and Spt8 act directly and non-redundantly with TFIID in TBP recruitment in the Gcn4 transcriptome. Nucleic acids research 1 40637224
2020 The function of Spt3, a subunit of the SAGA complex, in PGK1 transcription is restored only partially when reintroduced by plasmid into taf1 spt3 double mutant yeast strains. Genes & genetic systems 1 32624556
2023 TFIID dependency of steady-state mRNA transcription altered epigenetically by simultaneous functional loss of Taf1 and Spt3 is Hsp104-dependent. PloS one 0 36757926

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