Pausing and termination of human RNA polymerase II transcription at a procaryotic terminator

1983 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 1687-1693
Author(s):  
G W Hatfield ◽  
J A Sharp ◽  
M Rosenberg

Kinetic analyses of runoff transcription in a cell-free eucaryotic transcription system revealed that the bacteriophage lambda 4S RNA terminator caused human RNA polymerase II to pause on the template and partially terminate transcription of transcripts initiated by the adenovirus 2 major late promoter. Analogous to the procaryotic RNA polymerase, the eucaryotic enzyme terminated just beyond the guanine-plus-cytosine-rich region of dyad symmetry in the terminator sequence. These results suggest that the eucaryotic RNA polymerase II may respond to transcription termination sequences similar to those used by the procaryotic enzyme. However, similar templates containing lambda tint or lambda tR1 terminators did not elicit pausing or termination, suggesting that other features, such as sequence specificity, may also be involved.

1983 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 1687-1693 ◽  
Author(s):  
G W Hatfield ◽  
J A Sharp ◽  
M Rosenberg

Kinetic analyses of runoff transcription in a cell-free eucaryotic transcription system revealed that the bacteriophage lambda 4S RNA terminator caused human RNA polymerase II to pause on the template and partially terminate transcription of transcripts initiated by the adenovirus 2 major late promoter. Analogous to the procaryotic RNA polymerase, the eucaryotic enzyme terminated just beyond the guanine-plus-cytosine-rich region of dyad symmetry in the terminator sequence. These results suggest that the eucaryotic RNA polymerase II may respond to transcription termination sequences similar to those used by the procaryotic enzyme. However, similar templates containing lambda tint or lambda tR1 terminators did not elicit pausing or termination, suggesting that other features, such as sequence specificity, may also be involved.


1998 ◽  
Vol 95 (16) ◽  
pp. 9232-9237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer F. Kugel ◽  
James A. Goodrich

To measure rate constants for discrete steps of single-round transcription (preinitiation complex formation, promoter escape, and transcript elongation), kinetic studies were performed in a well defined human RNA polymerase II transcription system. These experiments revealed that promoter escape limits the rate of transcription from the adenovirus major late promoter (AdMLP) contained on negatively supercoiled DNA. TFIIE and TFIIH were found to significantly increase fractional template usage during a single round of transcription in an ATP-dependent reaction. The observed rate constant for promoter escape, however, was not greatly affected by TFIIE and TFIIH. Our results are explained by a model in which transcription branches into at least two pathways: one that results in functional promoter escape and full-length RNA synthesis, and another in which preinitiation complexes abort during promoter escape and do not produce full-length RNA transcripts. These results with negatively supercoiled templates agree with our earlier conclusion that TFIIE, TFIIH, and ATP direct promoter escape and support a model in which the TFIIH helicases stimulate promoter escape in an ATP-dependent reaction.


1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 5398-5409
Author(s):  
J W Innis ◽  
R E Kellems

An elongation block to RNA polymerase II transcription in exon 1 is a major regulatory step in expression of the murine adenosine deaminase (ADA) gene. Previous work in the laboratory identified abundant short transcripts with 3' termini in exon 1 in steady-state RNA from injected oocytes. Using a cell-free system to investigate the mechanism of premature 3' end formation, we found that polymerase II generates prominent ADA transcripts approximately 96 to 100 nucleotides in length which are similar to the major short transcripts found in steady-state RNA from oocytes injected with ADA templates. We have determined that these transcripts are the processed products of 108- to 112-nucleotide precursors. Precursor formation is (i) favored in reactions using circular templates, (ii) not the result of a posttranscriptional processing event, (iii) sensitive to low concentrations of Sarkosyl, and (iv) dependent on a factor(s) which is inactivated in crude extracts at 47 degrees C for 15 min. The cell-free system will allow further characterization of the template and factor requirements involved in the control of premature 3' end formation by RNA polymerase II.


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.


1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1195-1206 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Bengal ◽  
O Flores ◽  
A Krauskopf ◽  
D Reinberg ◽  
Y Aloni

We have used a recently developed system that allows the isolation of complexes competent for RNA polymerase II elongation (E. Bengal, A. Goldring, and Y. Aloni, J. Biol. Chem. 264:18926-18932, 1989). Pulse-labeled transcription complexes were formed at the adenovirus major late promoter with use of HeLa cell extracts. Elongation-competent complexes were purified from most of the proteins present in the extract, as well as from loosely bound elongation factors, by high-salt gel filtration chromatography. We found that under these conditions the nascent RNA was displaced from the DNA during elongation. These column-purified complexes were used to analyze the activities of different transcription factors during elongation by RNA polymerase II. We found that transcription factor IIS (TFIIS), TFIIF, and TFIIX affected the efficiency of elongation through the adenovirus major late promoter attenuation site and a synthetic attenuation site composed of eight T residues. These factors have distinct activities that depend on whether they are added before RNA polymerase has reached the attenuation site or at the time when the polymerase is pausing at the attenuation site. TFIIS was found to have antiattenuation activity, while TFIIF and TFIIX stimulated the rate of elongation. In comparison with TFIIF, TFIIS is loosely bound to the elongation complex. We also found that the activities of the factors are dependent on the nature of the attenuator. These results indicate that at least three factors play a major role during elongation by RNA polymerase II.


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