Non-coding RNA in transcription initiation

2006 ◽  
Vol 73 ◽  
pp. 131-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
William O'Gorman ◽  
Kon Yew Kwek ◽  
Benjamin Thomas ◽  
Alexandre Akoulitchev

Diverse classes of non-coding RNAs, including snRNAs (small nuclear RNAs), play fundamental regulatory roles in gene expression. For example, 7SK RNA and the components of the splicing apparatus U1–U6 snRNAs are implicated in the regulation of transcriptional elongation. The first evidence for the involvement of RNA in the regulation of transcriptional initiation is now emerging. TFIIH (transcription factor IIH), a general transcription initiation factor, appears to associate specifically with U1 snRNA, a core splicing component. Reconstituted transcription in vitro demonstrates an increase in the rate of formation of the first phosphodiester bond by RNA polymerase II in presence of U1 snRNA. Reconstituted re-initiation is also stimulated by U1 snRNA. These results suggest that U1 snRNA functions in the regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II in addition to its role in RNA processing. The implications of these data extend to the development of new technologies that will allow the identification and analysis of diverse RNA species present as regulatory components in transcription-related ribonucleoprotein complexes.

1989 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 5750-5753
Author(s):  
M Moyle ◽  
J S Lee ◽  
W F Anderson ◽  
C J Ingles

Monoclonal antibodies specific for the evolutionarily conserved C-terminal heptapeptide repeat domain of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II inhibited the initiation of transcription from mammalian promoters in vitro. Since these antibodies did not inhibit elongation and randomly initiated transcription, the heptapeptide repeats may function by binding class II transcription initiation factor(s).


1989 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 5750-5753 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Moyle ◽  
J S Lee ◽  
W F Anderson ◽  
C J Ingles

Monoclonal antibodies specific for the evolutionarily conserved C-terminal heptapeptide repeat domain of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II inhibited the initiation of transcription from mammalian promoters in vitro. Since these antibodies did not inhibit elongation and randomly initiated transcription, the heptapeptide repeats may function by binding class II transcription initiation factor(s).


1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurice J. Ringuette ◽  
Karen Gordon ◽  
Jolanta Szyszko ◽  
Margarida O. Krause

Previous studies in our laboratory have implicated small nuclear RNAs (SnRNA) in the regulation of transcription in isolated mammalian cell nuclei. The present investigation was designed to develop a transcription assay system using isolated intact nuclei with optimized RNA polymerase II activity which would be capable of reinitiation in vitro to study the mode of action of the "active" RNA.We used nuclei isolated from either human WI38 or Balb 3T3 mouse cells to test the activity of SnRNA purified from SV40-transformed WI38 or 3T3 cell lines. These systems were found to support transcription up to 60 min, 40–60% of which was polymerase II dependent. In vitro initiations were detected by [γ-32P]ATP incorporation as well as by Hg-Sepharose chromatography using (γ-S)ATP as substrate. Results supported the following conclusions: (a) SnRNA from transformed cells stimulates the transcriptional activity of nontransformed nuclei while homologous SnRNA has little or no activity; (b) the stimulation is NaOH-sensitive and is dependent on RNA polymerase II since it is eliminated by 1 μg/mL α-amanitin; (c) the active subfraction of SnRNA from mouse cells was found to be of identical size (320–350 nucleotides) to that previously identified in human and monkey cells; and (d) analysis of the transcripts obtained from control and stimulated cell nuclei revealed that SnRNA activity is due primarily to an increase in the number of initiated chains.


1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 5433-5441
Author(s):  
B Y Ahn ◽  
P D Gershon ◽  
E V Jones ◽  
B Moss

Eucaryotic transcription factors that stimulate RNA polymerase II by increasing the efficiency of elongation of specifically or randomly initiated RNA chains have been isolated and characterized. We have identified a 30-kilodalton (kDa) vaccinia virus-encoded protein with apparent homology to SII, a 34-kDa mammalian transcriptional elongation factor. In addition to amino acid sequence similarities, both proteins contain C-terminal putative zinc finger domains. Identification of the gene, rpo30, encoding the vaccinia virus protein was achieved by using antibody to the purified viral RNA polymerase for immunoprecipitation of the in vitro translation products of in vivo-synthesized early mRNA selected by hybridization to cloned DNA fragments of the viral genome. Western immunoblot analysis using antiserum made to the vaccinia rpo30 protein expressed in bacteria indicated that the 30-kDa protein remains associated with highly purified viral RNA polymerase. Thus, the vaccinia virus protein, unlike its eucaryotic homolog, is an integral RNA polymerase subunit rather than a readily separable transcription factor. Further studies showed that the expression of rpo30 is regulated by dual early and later promoters.


1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 1940-1946
Author(s):  
E Bateman ◽  
M R Paule

Chemical footprinting and topological analysis were carried out on the Acanthamoeba castellanii rRNA transcription initiation factor (TIF) and RNA polymerase I complexes with DNA during transcription initiation and elongation. The results show that the binding of TIF and polymerase to the promoter does not alter the supercoiling of the DNA template and the template does not become sensitive to modification by diethylpyrocarbonate, which can identify melted DNA regions. Thus, in contrast to bacterial RNA polymerase, the eucaryotic RNA polymerase I-promoter complex is in a closed configuration preceding addition of nucleotides in vitro. Initiation and 3'-O-methyl CTP-limited translocation by RNA polymerase I results in separation of the polymerase-TIF footprints, leaving the TIF footprint unaltered. In contrast, initiation and translocation result in a significant change in the conformation of the polymerase-DNA complex, culminating in an unwound DNA region of at least 10 base pairs.


1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 5562-5564
Author(s):  
S Buratowski ◽  
P A Sharp

RNA polymerase II assembles with other factors on the adenovirus type 2 major late promoter to generate pairs of transcription initiation complexes resolvable by nondenaturing gel electrophoresis. The pairing of the complexes is caused by the presence or absence of the C-terminal domain of the largest subunit. This domain is not required for transcription stimulation by the major late transcription factor in vitro.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (11) ◽  
pp. 6068-6080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolás Nieto Moreno ◽  
Florencia Villafañez ◽  
Luciana E Giono ◽  
Carmen Cuenca ◽  
Gastón Soria ◽  
...  

Abstract We have previously found that UV-induced DNA damage causes hyperphosphorylation of the carboxy terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII), inhibition of transcriptional elongation and changes in alternative splicing (AS) due to kinetic coupling between transcription and splicing. In an unbiased search for protein kinases involved in the AS response to DNA damage, we have identified glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) as an unforeseen participant. Unlike Cdk9 inhibition, GSK-3 inhibition only prevents CTD hyperphosphorylation triggered by UV but not basal phosphorylation. This effect is not due to differential degradation of the phospho-CTD isoforms and can be reproduced, at the AS level, by overexpression of a kinase-dead GSK-3 dominant negative mutant. GSK-3 inhibition abrogates both the reduction in RNAPII elongation and changes in AS elicited by UV. We show that GSK-3 phosphorylates the CTD in vitro, but preferentially when the substrate is previously phosphorylated, consistently with the requirement of a priming phosphorylation reported for GSK-3 efficacy. In line with a role for GSK-3 in the response to DNA damage, GSK-3 inhibition prevents UV-induced apoptosis. In summary, we uncover a novel role for a widely studied kinase in key steps of eukaryotic transcription and pre-mRNA processing.


2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 2863-2874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas C. Tubon ◽  
William P. Tansey ◽  
Winship Herr

ABSTRACT The general transcription factor TFIIB is a highly conserved and essential component of the eukaryotic RNA polymerase II (pol II) transcription initiation machinery. It consists of a single polypeptide with two conserved structural domains: an amino-terminal zinc ribbon structure (TFIIBZR) and a carboxy-terminal core (TFIIBCORE). We have analyzed the role of the amino-terminal region of human TFIIB in transcription in vivo and in vitro. We identified a small nonconserved surface of the TFIIBZR that is required for pol II transcription in vivo and for different types of basal pol II transcription in vitro. Consistent with a general role in transcription, this TFIIBZR surface is directly involved in the recruitment of pol II to a TATA box-containing promoter. Curiously, although the amino-terminal human TFIIBZR domain can recruit both human pol II and yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) pol II, the yeast TFIIB amino-terminal region recruits yeast pol II but not human pol II. Thus, a critical process in transcription from many different promoters—pol II recruitment—has changed in sequence specificity during eukaryotic evolution.


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