E presence of at least 4 PcG states [15], fully repressed (with just PcG proteins bound to the PRE), fully active (with just trxG proteins bound to the PRE), `balanced’ (with PcG and trxG proteins bound to the PRE), and void (with neither PcG nor trxG proteins bound to the PRE). Of particular interest for this study, the engrailed (en) and invected (inv) genes exist in a fully repressed state in Sg4 cells (a line originally derived from late embryos), but are in a balanced state, with trxG and PcG proteins bound to the PREs, and H3K27me3 extending over the two transcription units in BG3 cells (a line derived from neuronal tissue) where they are also bound by RNA Polymerase II and are transcribed [15,16]. These results indicate that at en and inv, at least in BG3 cells, transcription and PcG protein binding are not mutually exclusive. It has been proposed that transcription 58-49-1 biological activity through PREs antagonizes PcG protein complex activity and plays a key role in setting up the “ON” transcriptional state [17?1]. At the Bithorax complex (BC-X), which includes the genes Ubx, Abd-A, and Abd-B, there are at least 
a dozen ncRNAs transcribed inPcG Proteins Bind Constitutively to the en Geneembryos [22]. Numerous studies show that transcription through PREs of the BC-X can interfere with maintenance of PcGmediated silencing [17?9]. In reporter gene experiments, transcription through a PRE was not only shown to inactivate it, but to change its activity to a transcriptional activator order Hypericin instead of a silencer [20]. At the en gene, it was reported that the en PRE was transcribed in embryos, but not in larvae, suggesting that en PRE activity could be regulated by different mechanisms in different developmental stages [20]. The PcG targets en and inv are adjoining, co-regulated genes, that share regulatory DNA [23]. There are four major en/inv PREs, two upstream of inv and two closely spaced PREs just upstream of the en transcription unit [24,25]. The two wellcharacterized en PREs are within 1 kb of each other and often appear as a single binding peak for PcG proteins in chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments. en 
and inv PREs are bound by PcG proteins in tissue culture cells, embryos, larvae, and adults [26?8]. Further, inv and en comprise a H3K27me3 domain that covers a 115kb region, ending abruptly at the 39 ends of the Enhancer of Polycomb (E(Pc)) and toutatis (tou), the transcription units that flank the region [29]. We used in situ hybridization to embryos to examine how much of the en/inv domain is transcribed and in what pattern. Unlike the BX-C with its abundant ncRNA, ncRNAs are relatively rare in the en/inv domain. Further, we found no evidence for transcription of the inv or en PREs. Genomewide PcG-binding studies in embryos, larvae, and adults show the locations of PcG binding to en in mixed cell populations [26?8]. However, it was not known whether PcG proteins are bound to the PRE in vivo in cells where en is expressed. In order to examine this, we expressed FLAG-tagged PcG proteins specifically in cells where En is “ON” or “OFF”, and used chromatin immunoprecipitation with FLAG antibodies to determine FLAG-PcG protein binding to the en PRE. Our results show that PcG proteins are bound to the en PRE both in cells that express en and those that don’t. This shows that PcG binding per se is not sufficient to silence en/inv expression.shown). Further upstream of the en transcript, probes yielded an enlike expression pattern (Fig. 1B, panel 9), and.E presence of at least 4 PcG states [15], fully repressed (with just PcG proteins bound to the PRE), fully active (with just trxG proteins bound to the PRE), `balanced’ (with PcG and trxG proteins bound to the PRE), and void (with neither PcG nor trxG proteins bound to the PRE). Of particular interest for this study, the engrailed (en) and invected (inv) genes exist in a fully repressed state in Sg4 cells (a line originally derived from late embryos), but are in a balanced state, with trxG and PcG proteins bound to the PREs, and H3K27me3 extending over the two transcription units in BG3 cells (a line derived from neuronal tissue) where they are also bound by RNA Polymerase II and are transcribed [15,16]. These results indicate that at en and inv, at least in BG3 cells, transcription and PcG protein binding are not mutually exclusive. It has been proposed that transcription through PREs antagonizes PcG protein complex activity and plays a key role in setting up the “ON” transcriptional state [17?1]. At the Bithorax complex (BC-X), which includes the genes Ubx, Abd-A, and Abd-B, there are at least a dozen ncRNAs transcribed inPcG Proteins Bind Constitutively to the en Geneembryos [22]. Numerous studies show that transcription through PREs of the BC-X can interfere with maintenance of PcGmediated silencing [17?9]. In reporter gene experiments, transcription through a PRE was not only shown to inactivate it, but to change its activity to a transcriptional activator instead of a silencer [20]. At the en gene, it was reported that the en PRE was transcribed in embryos, but not in larvae, suggesting that en PRE activity could be regulated by different mechanisms in different developmental stages [20]. The PcG targets en and inv are adjoining, co-regulated genes, that share regulatory DNA [23]. There are four major en/inv PREs, two upstream of inv and two closely spaced PREs just upstream of the en transcription unit [24,25]. The two wellcharacterized en PREs are within 1 kb of each other and often appear as a single binding peak for PcG proteins in chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments. en and inv PREs are bound by PcG proteins in tissue culture cells, embryos, larvae, and adults [26?8]. Further, inv and en comprise a H3K27me3 domain that covers a 115kb region, ending abruptly at the 39 ends of the Enhancer of Polycomb (E(Pc)) and toutatis (tou), the transcription units that flank the region [29]. We used in situ hybridization to embryos to examine how much of the en/inv domain is transcribed and in what pattern. Unlike the BX-C with its abundant ncRNA, ncRNAs are relatively rare in the en/inv domain. Further, we found no evidence for transcription of the inv or en PREs. Genomewide PcG-binding studies in embryos, larvae, and adults show the locations of PcG binding to en in mixed cell populations [26?8]. However, it was not known whether PcG proteins are bound to the PRE in vivo in cells where en is expressed. In order to examine this, we expressed FLAG-tagged PcG proteins specifically in cells where En is “ON” or “OFF”, and used chromatin immunoprecipitation with FLAG antibodies to determine FLAG-PcG protein binding to the en PRE. Our results show that PcG proteins are bound to the en PRE both in cells that express en and those that don’t. This shows that PcG binding per se is not sufficient to silence en/inv expression.shown). Further upstream of the en transcript, probes yielded an enlike expression pattern (Fig. 1B, panel 9), and.
