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RNA polymerase II elongation through chromatin

Nature volume 407, pages 471–476 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

The machinery that transcribes protein-coding genes in eukaryotic cells must contend with repressive chromatin structures in order to find its target DNA sequences. Diverse arrays of proteins modify the structure of chromatin at gene promoters to help transcriptional regulatory proteins access their DNA recognition sites. The way in which disruption of chromatin structure at a promoter is transmitted through a whole gene has not been defined. Recent breakthroughs suggest that the passage of an RNA polymerase through a gene is coupled to mechanisms that propagate the breakdown of chromatin.

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Figure 1: Model for transcription through a nucleosome by a single-subunit prokaryotic RNA polymerase13,14.
Figure 2: Propagation of chromatin disruption by chromatin-modifying activities that track with elongating RNAP II.
Figure 3: Models for the order of events in the decompaction of transcribed chromatin.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Hampsey, D. Luse and S. Hahn for helpful comments, and R. Sternglanz, J. Workman and S. Hahn for communication of unpublished results. Work in D.R.'s laboratory is supported by grants from the NIH and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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  1. Zeneca Central Toxicology Laboratory , Alderley Park, SK10 4TJ, Cheshire, UK

    George Orphanides

  2. Division of Nucleic Acids Enzymology, Department of Biochemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, 08854, New Jersey, USA

    Danny Reinberg

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Correspondence to Danny Reinberg.

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Orphanides, G., Reinberg, D. RNA polymerase II elongation through chromatin. Nature 407, 471–476 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35035000

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