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Association of human TFIID–promoter complexes with silenced mitotic chromatin in vivo

Nature Cell Biology volume 4, pages 79–82 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

When eukaryotic cells enter mitosis, transcription is abruptly silenced. Earlier studies indicated that most transcription factors and RNA polymerase II (RNAP II) are displaced when chromatin is condensed into mitotic chromosomes1,2. A more recent study suggested that hitherto unidentified factors might 'bookmark' previously active genes for rapid reactivation after cell division3. Here we used chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays to examine the association of TFIID, TFIIB, NC2 and RNAP II with various gene promoters in asynchronous and mitotic human cell populations. We show that TFIID and TFIIB can remain associated with active gene promoters during mitosis whereas RNA polymerase II is displaced, and also that NC2, originally identified as ubiquitous repressor of transcription4,5, is associated with active gene promoters in asynchronous cell populations and is displaced from some, but not all, genes in mitotic cells. Consistent with the remarkable stability of TFIID–promoter complexes observed in vitro6,7,8, our data suggest that these complexes can withstand condensation of chromatin into transcriptionally silent chromosomes. Stable TFIID–promoter complexes are therefore implicated in the propagation of cell-type-specific gene expression patterns through cell division.

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Figure 1: Formaldehyde crosslinking of TBP, TAFII100 and TFIIB to various gene promoters in human cells.
Figure 2: TFIID and TFIIB remain associated with active class II gene promoters during mitosis.
Figure 3: Association of RNAP II and NC2 with active class II gene promoters in asynchronous and mitotic HeLa suspension cells.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R. G. Roeder for antibodies against human TBP and against human TAFII100, S. Murphy for human 7SK genomic sequences and primer pairs, E. Castaño, J. Douglas and P. Gross for comments on the manuscript, and G. Curry for encouragement and support. This work was supported by MCRI core funding to T.O.

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  1. Eukaryotic Gene Regulation Laboratory, Marie Curie Research Institute, The Chart, Oxted, RH8 0TL, Surrey, UK

    Rossitza Christova & Thomas Oelgeschläger

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  1. Rossitza Christova
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  2. Thomas Oelgeschläger
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Correspondence to Thomas Oelgeschläger.

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Christova, R., Oelgeschläger, T. Association of human TFIID–promoter complexes with silenced mitotic chromatin in vivo. Nat Cell Biol 4, 79–82 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb733

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