scholarly journals Maize RAMOSA3 accumulates in nuclear condensates enriched in RNA POLYMERASE II isoforms during the establishment of axillary meristem determinacy.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgar Demesa-Arevalo ◽  
Maria Jazmin Abraham-Juarez ◽  
Xiaosa Xu ◽  
Madelaine Bartlett ◽  
David Jackson

Maize meristem determinacy is regulated by Trehalose-6-Phosphate Phosphatase (TPP) metabolic enzymes RAMOSA3 and TPP4. However, this function is independent of their enzymatic activity, suggesting they have an unpredicted, or moonlighting function. Using whole-mount double immunolabeling and imaging processing, we investigated the co-localization of RA3 nuclear speckles with markers for transcription, chromatin state and splicing. We find evidence for RA3 co-localization with RNA POL II, a transcription marker, and not with markers for promoter chromatin remodeling or mRNA processing, suggesting a function of nuclear RA3 in mediating a transcriptional response during meristem determinacy.

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 1043-1057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kannanganattu V. Prasanth ◽  
Paula A. Sacco-Bubulya ◽  
Supriya G. Prasanth ◽  
David L. Spector

In eukaryotic cells, RNA polymerase II (RNA pol II) transcription and pre-mRNA processing are coordinated events. We have addressed how individual components of the transcription and pre-mRNA processing machinery are organized during mitosis and subsequently recruited into the newly formed daughter nuclei. Interestingly, localization studies of numerous RNA pol II transcription and pre-mRNA processing factors revealed a nonrandom and sequential entry of these factors into daughter nuclei after nuclear envelope/lamina formation. The initiation competent form of RNA pol II and general transcription factors appeared in the daughter nuclei simultaneously, but prior to pre-mRNA processing factors, whereas the elongation competent form of RNA pol II was detected even later. The differential entry of these factors rules out the possibility that they are transported as a unitary complex. Telophase nuclei were competent for transcription and pre-mRNA splicing concomitant with the initial entry of the respective factors. In addition, our results revealed a low turnover rate of transcription and pre-mRNA splicing factors during mitosis. We provide evidence to support a model in which the entry of the RNA pol II gene expression machinery into newly forming daughter nuclei is a staged and ordered process.


Author(s):  
Emily Biernat ◽  
Jeena Kinney ◽  
Kyle Dunlap ◽  
Christian Rizza ◽  
Chhabi K Govind

RSC (Remodels the Structure of Chromatin) is a conserved ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complex that regulates many biological processes, including transcription by RNA polymerase II (Pol II). We report that not only RSC binds to nucleosomes in coding sequences (CDSs) but also remodels them to promote transcription. RSC MNase ChIP-seq data revealed that RSC-protected fragments were very heterogenous (~80 bp to 180 bp) compared to the sharper profile displayed by the MNase inputs (140 bp to 160 bp), supporting the idea that RSC activity promotes accessibility of nucleosomal DNA. Importantly, RSC binding to +1 nucleosomes and CDSs, but not with -1 nucleosomes, strongly correlated with Pol II occupancies suggesting that the RSC enrichment in CDSs is important for efficient transcription. This is further supported by a similar heterogenous distribution of Pol II-protected fragments. As such, the genes harboring high-levels of RSC in their CDSs were the most strongly affected by ablating RSC function. Altogether, this study provides a mechanism by which RSC-mediated remodeling aids in RNA Pol II traversal though coding sequence nucleosomes in vivo.


2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (46) ◽  
pp. 12172-12177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Malvezzi ◽  
Lucas Farnung ◽  
Claudia M. N. Aloisi ◽  
Todor Angelov ◽  
Patrick Cramer ◽  
...  

Several anticancer agents that form DNA adducts in the minor groove interfere with DNA replication and transcription to induce apoptosis. Therapeutic resistance can occur, however, when cells are proficient in the removal of drug-induced damage. Acylfulvenes are a class of experimental anticancer agents with a unique repair profile suggesting their capacity to stall RNA polymerase (Pol) II and trigger transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair. Here we show how different forms of DNA alkylation impair transcription by RNA Pol II in cells and with the isolated enzyme and unravel a mode of RNA Pol II stalling that is due to alkylation of DNA in the minor groove. We incorporated a model for acylfulvene adducts, the stable 3-deaza-3-methoxynaphtylethyl-adenosine analog (3d-Napht-A), and smaller 3-deaza-adenosine analogs, into DNA oligonucleotides to assess RNA Pol II transcription elongation in vitro. RNA Pol II was strongly blocked by a 3d-Napht-A analog but bypassed smaller analogs. Crystal structure analysis revealed that a DNA base containing 3d-Napht-A can occupy the +1 templating position and impair closing of the trigger loop in the Pol II active center and polymerase translocation into the next template position. These results show how RNA Pol II copes with minor-groove DNA alkylation and establishes a mechanism for drug resistance.


Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (11) ◽  
pp. 3161-3161
Author(s):  
Vicky Lock ◽  
Laurence Cooke ◽  
Murray Yule ◽  
Neil T Thompson ◽  
K. Della Croce ◽  
...  

Abstract Cyclin Dependent Kinases (CDKs) play a central role in the eukaryotic cell cycle. The activation of these kinases is modulated by the expression and binding of their regulatory cyclin partners. Their key role in cell cycle progression, coupled to evidence that pathways leading to their activation are deregulated in a number of human cancers makes them attractive therapeutic targets. More recently the role of CDKs 7, 8 and 9 in the regulation of transcription has been explored. CDK9 has been shown to play a role in the regulation of transcription via phosphorylation of RNA polymerase II (RNA pol II). The outcome of transcriptional inhibition via CDK9 exhibits significant variation between cell lines. B-Cell lymphoproliferative disorders, including CLL, rely on the expression of transcripts with a short half-life such as Mcl-1, Bcl-2 and XIAP for survival. In vitro studies have demonstrated that compounds with transcriptional inhibitory effects are effective pro-apoptotic agents in models of this disease. AT7519 is a potent inhibitor of cyclin dependent kinases 1, 2 and 9 and is currently in early phase clinical development. These studies profile the mechanism of action of AT7519 on CLL cells isolated from patients. Primary cell samples were isolated from a total of 15 patients with CLL with various stages of disease (8 Stage 0, 0/I or II and 7 Stage IV) and who were either treatment naïve or had received a variety of prior therapies. Patient samples were characterised for cytogenetic abnormalities (11q, 17p and 13q deletion or trisomy 12) as well IgVH mutation and ZAP70 expression. AT7519 was shown to induce apoptosis (by MTS, morphology and PARP cleavage) in these samples at concentrations of 100–700nM. AT7519 appears equally effective at inhibiting the survival of CLL cells harbouring a variety of mutations including those representative of patients that fall within poorer prognosis treatment groups. The amount of AT7519 required to induce cell death in 50% of the CLL cell population increased as exposure time was decreased but significant cell death was obtained at doses approximating to 1uM following 4–6h of treatment. These doses are equivalent to exposures achieved in ongoing AT7519 clinical studies indicating that cytotoxic doses can be achieved in patients on well tolerated schedules. The mechanism of AT7519 cytotoxic effects was investigated by western blotting for a variety of cell cycle and apoptotic markers following incubation with compound. Short term treatments (4–6h) resulted in inhibition of phosphorylation of the transcriptional marker RNA pol II and the downregulation of the anti-apoptotic protein Mcl-1. Additional antiapoptotic proteins including XIAP and Bcl-2 remained unchanged. The reduction in Mcl-1 protein levels was associated with an increase in the apoptotic marker cleaved PARP. No inhibition of cell cycle markers such as phospho-retinoblastoma protein was observed in the same samples suggesting that the cytotoxic effects of AT7519 in CLL patient samples is due to its transcriptional activity alone. Together the data suggest AT7519 offers a promising treatment strategy for patients with advanced B-cell leukemia and lymphoma.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yubo Cheng ◽  
Babita Gollen ◽  
Luke Saville ◽  
Christopher Isaac ◽  
Jogender Mehla ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTMore than 97% of the mammalian genome is non-protein coding, and repetitive elements account for more than 50% of noncoding space. However, the functional importance of many non-coding RNAs generated by these elements and their connection with pathologic processes remains elusive. We have previously shown that B2 RNAs, a class of non-coding RNAs that belong to the B2 family of SINE repeats, mediate the transcriptional activation of stress response genes (SRGs) upon application of a stimulus. Notably, B2 RNAs bind RNA Polymerase II (RNA Pol II) and suppress SRG transcription during pro-stimulation state. Upon application of a stimulus, B2 RNAs are processed into fragments and degraded, which in turn releases RNA Pol II from suppression and upregulates SRGs. Here, we demonstrate a novel role for B2 RNAs in transcriptome response to amyloid beta toxicity and pathology in the mouse hippocampus. In healthy hippocampi, activation of SRGs is followed by a transient upregulation of pro-apoptotic factors, such as p53 and miRNA-34c, which target SRGs creating a negative feedback loop that facilitates transition to the pro-stimulation state. Using an integrative RNA genomics approach, we show that in mouse hippocampi of an amyloid precursor protein knock-in mouse model and in an in vitro cell culture model of amyloid beta toxicity, this regulatory loop is dysfunctional due to increased levels of B2 RNA processing, constitutively elevated SRG expression and high p53 levels. Evidence indicates that Hsf1, a master regulator of stress response, mediates B2 RNA processing in cells, and is upregulated during amyloid toxicity accelerating the processing of SINE RNAs and SRG hyper-activation. Our study reveals that in mouse, SINE RNAs constitute a novel pathway deregulated in amyloid beta pathology, with potential implications for similar cases in the human brain, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This data attributes a role to SINE RNA processing in a pathological process as well as a new function to Hsf1 that is independent of its transcription factor activity.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anniina Vihervaara ◽  
Dig Bijay Mahat ◽  
Samu V. Himanen ◽  
Malin A.H. Blom ◽  
John T. Lis ◽  
...  

SummaryHeat shock triggers an instant reprogramming of gene and enhancer transcription, but whether cells encode a memory to stress, at the level of nascent transcription, has remained unknown. Here, we measured transcriptional response to acute heat stress in unconditioned cells and in daughters of cells that had been exposed to a single or multiple heat shocks. Tracking RNA Polymerase II (Pol II) genome-wide at nucleotide-resolution revealed that cells precisely remember their transcriptional identity throughout stress, restoring Pol II distribution at gene bodies and enhancers upon recovery. However, single heat shock primed faster gene-induction in the daughter cells by increasing promoter-proximal Pol II pausing, and accelerating the pause-release. In repeatedly stressed cells, both basal and inducible transcription was refined, and pre-mRNA processing decelerated, which retained transcripts on chromatin and reduced recycling of the transcription machinery. These results mechanistically uncovered how the steps of pause-release and termination maintain transcriptional memory over mitosis.Highlights-Cell type-specific transcription precisely recovers after heat-induced reprogramming-Single heat shock primes genes for accelerated induction over mitotic divisionsviaincreased promoter-proximal Pol II pausing and faster pause-release-Multiple heat shocks refine basal and inducible transcription over mitotic divisions to support survival of the daughter cells-Decelerated termination at active genes reduces recycling of Pol II to heat-activated promoters and enhancers-HSF1 increases the rate of promoter-proximal pause-releaseviadistal and proximal regulatory elements


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Perea-Resa ◽  
Leah Bury ◽  
Iain Cheeseman ◽  
Michael D. Blower

SummaryEntering mitosis, the genome is restructured to facilitate chromosome segregation, accompanied by dramatic changes in gene expression. However, the mechanisms that underlie mitotic transcriptional regulation are unclear. In contrast to transcribed genes, centromere regions retain transcriptionally active RNA Polymerase II (RNAPII) in mitosis. Here, we demonstrate that chromatin-bound cohesin is sufficient to retain RNAPII at centromeres while WAPL-mediated removal of cohesin during prophase is required for RNAPII dissociation from chromosome arms. Failure to remove cohesin from chromosome arms results in a failure to release elongating RNAPII and nascent transcripts from mitotic chromosomes and dramatically alters gene expression. We propose that prophase cohesin removal is the key step in reprogramming gene expression as cells transition from G2 to mitosis, and is temporally coupled with chromosome condensation to coordinate chromosome segregation with changes in gene expression.HighlightsMitotic centromere transcription requires cohesinCohesin removal releases elongating RNA Pol II and nascent RNA from chromatinThe prophase pathway reprograms gene expression during mitosis


2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (30) ◽  
pp. 7777-7782 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hemanth Tummala ◽  
Arran D. Dokal ◽  
Amanda Walne ◽  
Alicia Ellison ◽  
Shirleny Cardoso ◽  
...  

Biallelic variants in the ERCC excision repair 6 like 2 gene (ERCC6L2) are known to cause bone marrow failure (BMF) due to defects in DNA repair and mitochondrial function. Here, we report on eight cases of BMF from five families harboring biallelic variants in ERCC6L2, two of whom present with myelodysplasia. We confirm that ERCC6L2 patients’ lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) are hypersensitive to DNA-damaging agents that specifically activate the transcription coupled nucleotide excision repair (TCNER) pathway. Interestingly, patients’ LCLs are also hypersensitive to transcription inhibitors that interfere with RNA polymerase II (RNA Pol II) and display an abnormal delay in transcription recovery. Using affinity-based mass spectrometry we found that ERCC6L2 interacts with DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), a regulatory component of the RNA Pol II transcription complex. Chromatin immunoprecipitation PCR studies revealed ERCC6L2 occupancy on gene bodies along with RNA Pol II and DNA-PK. Patients’ LCLs fail to terminate transcript elongation accurately upon DNA damage and display a significant increase in nuclear DNA–RNA hybrids (R loops). Collectively, we conclude that ERCC6L2 is involved in regulating RNA Pol II-mediated transcription via its interaction with DNA-PK to resolve R loops and minimize transcription-associated genome instability. The inherited BMF syndrome caused by biallelic variants in ERCC6L2 can be considered as a primary transcription deficiency rather than a DNA repair defect.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibraheem Ali ◽  
Diego Garrido Ruiz ◽  
Zuyao Ni ◽  
Jeffrey R. Johnson ◽  
Heng Zhang ◽  
...  

SUMMARYPost-translational modifications of the RNA polymerase II C-terminal domain (CTD) coordinate the transcription cycle. Crosstalk between different modifications is poorly understood. Here, we show how acetylation of lysine residues at position 7 of characteristic heptad repeats (K7ac)—only found in higher eukaryotes—regulates phosphorylation of serines at position 5 (S5p), a conserved mark of polymerases initiating transcription. We identified the regulator of pre-mRNA domain-containing (RPRD) proteins as reader proteins of K7ac. K7ac enhanced CTD peptide binding to the CTD-interacting domain (CID) of RPRD1A and RPRD1B proteins in isothermal calorimetry and molecular modeling experiments. Deacetylase inhibitors increased K7ac- and decreased S5-phosphorylated polymerases, consistent with acetylation-dependent S5 dephosphorylation by an RPRD-associated S5 phosphatase. Consistent with this model, RPRD1B knockdown increased S5p, but enhanced K7ac, indicating RPRD proteins recruit K7 deacetylases, including HDAC1. We also report auto-regulatory crosstalk between K7ac and S5p via RPRD proteins and their interactions with acetyl- and phospho-eraser proteins.


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