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EMBO reports 6, 10, 956–960 (2005)
doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7400502
AOP Published online: 12 August 2005
Transcriptional activation by bidirectional RNA polymerase II elongation over a silent promoter
Olivier Leupin1*, Catia Attanasio1*, Samuel Marguerat2, Myriam Tapernoux2, Stylianos E Antonarakis1 & Bernard Conrad1, 2
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1 Department of Genetic Medicine & Development, University of Geneva Medical School, CMU, 1 rue Michel Servet, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
2 Department of Genetics & Microbiology, University of Geneva Medical School, CMU, 1 rue Michel Servet, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
To whom correspondence should be addressed
Bernard Conrad Tel: +41 22 379 57 19; Fax: +41 22 379 57 06; E-mail: bernard.conrad@medecine.unige.ch
* These authors contributed equally to this work
Received 20 January 2005; Accepted 7 July 2005; Published online 12 August 2005.
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Abstract
Transcriptional interference denotes negative cis effects between promoters. Here, we show that promoters can also interact positively. Bidirectional RNA polymerase II (Pol II) elongation over the silent human endogenous retrovirus (HERV)-K18 promoter (representative of 2.5  103 similar promoters genomewide) activates transcription. In tandem constructs, an upstream promoter activates HERV-K18 transcription. This is abolished by inversion of the upstream promoter, or by insertion of a poly(A) signal between the promoters; transcription is restored by poly(A) signal mutants. TATA-box mutants in the upstream promoter reduce HERV-K18 transcription. Experiments with the same promoters in a convergent orientation produce similar effects. A small promoter deletion partially restores HERV-K18 activity, consistent with activation resulting from repressor repulsion by the elongating Pol II. Transcriptional elongation over this class of intragenic promoters will generate co-regulated sense–antisense transcripts, or, alternatively initiating transcripts, thus expanding the diversity and complexity of the human transcriptome.
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