Project description:The RNA polymerase II (POLII) driven transcription cycle is tightly regulated at distinct checkpoints through cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs) and their cognate Cyclins. The molecular events underpinning transcriptional elongation and processivity and CDK-Cyclins involved remain poorly understood. Using CRISPR-CAS9 homology-directed-repair we generated analog-sensitive-kinase variants of CDK12 and CDK13 to probe their individual and shared biological and molecular roles. Single inhibition of CDK12 or CDK13 induced transcriptional responses associated with DNA-damage and cellular growth signaling pathways respectively, with minimal effects on cell viability. In contrast, dual-kinase inhibition potently induced cell death, which was associated with extensive genome-wide transcriptional changes including wide-spread use of alternative 3’ polyadenylation sites. At the molecular level dual-kinase inhibition resulted in the loss of POLII CTD phosphorylation and greatly reduced POLII elongation rates and processivity. These data define significant redundancy between CDK12 and CDK13, and identify both as fundamental regulators of global POLII processivity and transcription elongation.
Project description:Phf5a regulates transcription elongation in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs), through regulation of the Paf1 complex. In this study we assayed for genome-wide localization of Ser-5-phosphorylated RNA polymerase II and Ser-2-phosphorylated RNA polymerase II in mouse ESCs under conditions of shControl and shPhf5a knockdown. These results revealed that downregualtion of Phf5a results in the increase of the initiating form of RNA polymerase II (Ser5-phosphorylated) and in the aberrant loss of the elongating form of RNA polymerase II (Ser2-phosphorylated) of pluripotency genes in ESCs.
Project description:Programmed mutagenesis of the immunoglobulin locus of B-lymphocytes during class switch recombination and somatic hypermutation requires RNA polymerase II (RNA polII) transcription complex dependent targeting of the DNA mutator, Activation Induced cytidine Deaminase (AID). AID deaminates cytidine residues on substrate sequences in the immunoglobulin (Ig) locus via a transcription-dependent mechanism and this activity is stimulated by the RNA polII stalling co-factor Spt5 and the eleven-subunit cellular non-coding RNA 3’-5’ exonucleolytic processing complex, RNA exosome. The mechanism by which the RNA exosome recognizes immunoglobulin locus RNA substrates to stimulate AID DNA deamination activity on its in vivo substrate sequences is an important question. Here we report that E3-ubiquitin ligase Nedd4 destabilizes AID-associated RNA polII by a ubiquitination event leading to generation of 3’-end free RNA exosome RNA substrates at the Ig locus and other AID target sequences genome-wide. Using highthrough-out RNA sequencing technology, we find that lack of Nedd4 activity in B cells leads to accumulation of RNA exosome substrates at AID target genes. Moreover, we find that Nedd4-deficient B cells are inefficient in undergoing class switch recombination. Taken together, our study links non-coding RNA processing following RNA polymerase II pausing with regulation of the mutator AID protein. Our study also identifies Nedd4 as a regulator of non-coding RNA that are generated by stalled RNA polII genome-wide.
Project description:RNA polymerase II (POLR2A; POLII) was localized via ChIP-chip using N20 Ab-mediated pull-down of POLII Classical design; ChIP-chip of POLII in ENCODE regions