Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

The human Pol III transcriptome and gene information flow

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 17, pages 539–541 (2010)Cite this article

Subjects

In this issue, three papers report the distribution of the RNA polymerase III (Pol III) machinery, including transcription factor IIIB, transcription factor IIIC and Pol III itself, across the human genome. These studies reveal cell type–specific expression of Pol III genes, functional interplay between the Pol II and Pol III transcriptional machineries and the potential involvement of Pol III genes in chromosome organization.

Eukaryotic transcription is mediated by three distinct RNA polymerases and regulated by several sequence-specific transcription factors. Pol I and Pol III are involved solely in the transcription of non–protein coding RNAs, whereas Pol II transcribes protein-coding genes as well as noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs)1. To better define the Pol III transcriptome and to understand the relationship with the Pol II transcriptome, multiple research groups have now mapped the distribution of Pol III transcription factors in human cells2,3,4,5. These data have led to the intriguing observation that there is a high degree of sharing of factors between Pol II and III, and cross-regulation between these systems may be possible.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Schematic representation of three typical loci exemplifying cross-regulation of Pol III and Pol II transcription.

References

  1. Paule, M.R. & White, R.J. Nucleic Acids Res. 28, 1283–1298 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Raha, D. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 107, 3639–3644 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Barski, A. et al. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 17, 629–634 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Oler, A.J. et al. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 17, 620–628 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Moqtaderi, Z. et al. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 17, 635–640 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Dieci, G., Fiorino, G., Castelnuovo, M., Teichmann, M. & Pagano, A. Trends Genet. 23, 614–622 (2007).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Geiduschek, E.P. & Kassavetis, G.A. J. Mol. Biol. 310, 1–26 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Moqtaderi, Z. & Struhl, K. Mol. Cell. Biol. 24, 4118–4127 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Roberts, D.N., Stewart, A.J., Huff, J.T. & Cairns, B.R. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 100, 14695–14700 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Harismendy, O. et al. EMBO J. 22, 4738–4747 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Stutz, F., Gouilloud, E. & Clarkson, S.G. Genes Dev. 3, 1190–1198 (1989).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Fairley, J.A., Scott, P.H. & White, R.J. EMBO J. 22, 5841–5850 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Dittmar, K.A., Goodenbour, J.M. & Pan, T. PLoS Genet. 2, e221 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Listerman, I., Bledau, A.S., Grishina, I. & Neugebauer, K.M. PLoS Genet. 3, e212 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Mertens, C. & Roeder, R.G. Mol. Cell. Biol. 28, 5764–5776 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Gomez-Roman, N. et al. Biochem. Soc. Symp. 73, 141–154 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Marshall, L., Kenneth, N.S. & White, R.J. Cell. 133, 78–89 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Simms, T.A. et al. Eukaryot. Cell. 7, 2078–2086 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Valenzuela, L., Dhillon, N. & Kamakaka, R.T. Genetics. 183, 131–148 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Noma, K., Cam, H.P., Maraia, R.J. & Grewal, S.I. Cell. 125, 859–872 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Iwasaki, O., Tanaka, A., Tanizawa, H., Grewal, S.I. & Noma, K. Mol. Biol. Cell. 21, 254–265 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Scott, K.C., Merrett, S.L. & Willard, H.F. Curr. Biol. 16, 119–129 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Donze, D., Adams, C.R., Rine, J. & Kamakaka, R.T. Genes Dev. 13, 698–708 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Lunyak, V.V. et al. Science. 317, 248–251 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Goodrich, J.A. & Kugel, J.F. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 7, 612–616 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ken-ichi Noma is at The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.,

    Ken-ichi Noma

  2. Rohinton T. Kamakaka is in the Department of Molecular Cell & Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, USA.,

    Rohinton T Kamakaka

Authors
  1. Ken-ichi Noma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rohinton T Kamakaka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Ken-ichi Noma or Rohinton T Kamakaka.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Noma, Ki., Kamakaka, R. The human Pol III transcriptome and gene information flow. Nat Struct Mol Biol 17, 539–541 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb0510-539

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb0510-539

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing