DNA·RNA triple helix formation can function as a cis-acting regulatory mechanism at the human β-globin locus.

ABSTRACT: We have identified regulatory mechanisms in which an RNA transcript forms a DNA duplex·RNA triple helix with a gene or one of its regulatory elements, suggesting potential auto-regulatory mechanisms in vivo. We describe an interaction at the human β-globin locus, in which an RNA segment embedded in the second intron of the β-globin gene forms a DNA·RNA triplex with the HS2 sequence within the β-globin locus control region, a major regulator of globin expression. We show in human K562 cells that the triplex is stable in vivo. Its formation causes displacement from HS2 of major transcription factors and RNA Polymerase II, and consequently in loss of factors and polymerase that bind to the human ε- and γ-globin promoters, which are activated by HS2 in

SUBMITTER: Zhou Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6442552 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature