Project description:RNA polymerase II (Pol II) pauses downstream of the transcription initiation site before beginning productive elongation. This pause is a key component of metazoan gene expression regulation. Some promoters have a strong disposition for Pol II pausing and often mediate faster, more synchronous changes in expression. This requires multiple rounds of transcription and thus cannot rely solely on pause release. But it is unclear how pausing affects the initiation of new transcripts during consecutive rounds of transcription. Using our recently developed ChIP-nexus method, we find that Pol II pausing inhibits new initiation. We propose that paused Pol II helps prevent new initiation between transcription bursts, which may reduce noise.
Project description:RNA polymerase II (Pol II) pauses downstream of the transcription initiation site before beginning productive elongation. This pause is a key component of metazoan gene expression regulation. Some promoters have a strong disposition for Pol II pausing and often mediate faster, more synchronous changes in expression. This requires multiple rounds of transcription and thus cannot rely solely on pause release. But it is unclear how pausing affects the initiation of new transcripts during consecutive rounds of transcription. Using our recently developed ChIP-nexus method, we find that Pol II pausing inhibits new initiation. We propose that paused Pol II helps prevent new initiation between transcription bursts, which may reduce noise.
Project description:RNA polymerase II (Pol II) pauses downstream of the transcription initiation site before beginning productive elongation. This pause is a key component of metazoan gene expression regulation. Some promoters have a strong disposition for Pol II pausing and often mediate faster, more synchronous changes in expression. This requires multiple rounds of transcription and thus cannot rely solely on pause release. But it is unclear how pausing affects the initiation of new transcripts during consecutive rounds of transcription. Using our recently developed ChIP-nexus method, we find that Pol II pausing inhibits new initiation. We propose that paused Pol II helps prevent new initiation between transcription bursts, which may reduce noise.
Project description:RNA polymerase II (Pol II) pauses downstream of the transcription initiation site before beginning productive elongation. This pause is a key component of metazoan gene expression regulation. Some promoters have a strong disposition for Pol II pausing and often mediate faster, more synchronous changes in expression. This requires multiple rounds of transcription and thus cannot rely solely on pause release. But it is unclear how pausing affects the initiation of new transcripts during consecutive rounds of transcription. Using our recently developed ChIP-nexus method, we find that Pol II pausing inhibits new initiation. We propose that paused Pol II helps prevent new initiation between transcription bursts, which may reduce noise.
Project description:Transcription initiation entails chromatin opening followed by pre-initiation complex formation and RNA Polymerase II recruitment. Subsequent polymerase elongation requires additional signals, resulting in increased residence time downstream of the start site, a phenomenon referred to as pausing. Here we harnessed single molecule footprinting to quantify distinct steps of initiation in vivo throughout the drosophila genome. This identifies the impact of promoter structure on initiation dynamics in relation to nucleosomal occupancy. Additionally, perturbation of transcriptional initiation reveals an unexpected high turnover of polymerases at paused promoters--an observation confirmed at the level of nascent RNAs. These observations argue that absence of elongation is largely caused by premature termination rather than stable polymerase stalling. In support of this non-processive model, we observe that induction of the paused heat-shock promoter depends on continuous initiation. Our study provides a framework to quantify protein binding at single molecule resolution and refines concepts of transcriptional pausing.
Project description:Gene transcription can be activated by decreasing the duration of RNA polymerase II pausing in the promoter-proximal region, but how this is achieved remains unclear. Here we use a ‘multi-omics’ approach to show that the duration of polymerase pausing generally limits the frequency of transcription initiation in human cells (‘pause-initiation limit’). We further engineer a human cell line to allow for specific and rapid inhibition of the P-TEFb kinase CDK9, which is implicated in polymerase pause release. We show that CDK9 activity decreases the pause duration but also increases the initiation frequency. This shows that CDK9 stimulates release of paused polymerase and activates transcription by increasing the number of transcribing polymerases and thus the amount of mRNA synthesized per time. CDK9 activity is also associated with long-range chromatin interactions, suggesting that enhancers can influence the pause-initiation limit to regulate transcription.
Project description:Release of promoter-proximal paused RNA polymerase II (Pol II) during early elongation is a critical step in transcriptional regulation in metazoan cells. Paused Pol II release is thought to require the kinase activity of cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) for the phosphorylation of DRB sensitivity-inducing factor, negative elongation factor, and C-terminal domain (CTD) serine-2 of Pol II. We found that Pol II-associated factor 1 (PAF1) is a critical regulator of paused Pol II release, that positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb) directly regulates the initial recruitment of PAF1 complex (PAF1C) to genes, and that the subsequent recruitment of CDK12 is dependent on PAF1C. These findings reveal cooperativity among P-TEFb, PAF1C, and CDK12 in pausing release and Pol II CTD phosphorylation. Comparison of the chromatin occupancy of [1] PAF1, CDC73, LEO1, CTR9, total Pol II, and CTD serine 2-phosphorylated Pol II by ChIP-seq in THP1 cells; [2] PAF1, Pol II, Pol II (ser-5p), CDK12, and CDK9 by ChIP-seq in control and PAF1 knockdown cells; [3] LEO1 and Pol II by ChIP-seq in control and flavopiridol treated THP1 cells.
Project description:Transcription by RNA Polymerase II (Pol II) in metazoan is regulated in several steps, including preinitiation complex (PIC) formation, initiation, Pol II escape, productive elongation, cotranscriptional RNA-processing and termination. Genome-wide studies have demonstrated that the phenomenon of promoter-bound Pol II pausing is widespread, especially for genes involved in developmental and stimulus-responsive pathways. However, a mechanistic understanding of the paused Pol II states at promoters is limited. For example, at a global level, it’s unclear to what extent the engaged paused Pol II is stably tethered to the promoter or undergoes rapid cycles of initiation and termination. Here we used the small molecule Triptolide (TPL), an XPB/TFIIH inhibitor, to block transcriptional initiation followed by measuring Pol II occupancy by ChIP-seq. This inhibition of initiation enables us to investigate different states of paused Pol II. Specifically, our global analysis reveals that most genes with paused Pol II, as defined by pausing index, show significant clearance of Pol II during the period of TPL treatment. Our study further identifies a group of genes with unexpectedly stably-paused Pol II, with unchanged Pol II occupancy even after one hour of inhibition of initiation. This group of genes constitutes a small portion of all paused genes defined by the conventional criterion of pausing index. These findings could pave the way for evaluating the contribution of different elongation/pausing factors on different states of Pol II pausing in developmental and other stimulus-responsive pathways. ChIP-Seq of total/Ser5P Pol II in HCT116 cells treated with DMSO or TPL in serum starvation/activation or normal conditions. Nascent RNA-seq in HCT116 cells treated with DMSO or TPL in starved condition.
Project description:Release of promoter-proximal paused RNA polymerase II (Pol II) during early elongation is a critical step in transcriptional regulation in metazoan cells. Paused Pol II release is thought to require the kinase activity of cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) for the phosphorylation of DRB sensitivity-inducing factor, negative elongation factor, and C-terminal domain (CTD) serine-2 of Pol II. We found that Pol II-associated factor 1 (PAF1) is a critical regulator of paused Pol II release, that positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb) directly regulates the initial recruitment of PAF1 complex (PAF1C) to genes, and that the subsequent recruitment of CDK12 is dependent on PAF1C. These findings reveal cooperativity among P-TEFb, PAF1C, and CDK12 in pausing release and Pol II CTD phosphorylation.
Project description:Transcription by RNA Polymerase II (Pol II) in metazoan is regulated in several steps, including preinitiation complex (PIC) formation, initiation, Pol II escape, productive elongation, cotranscriptional RNA-processing and termination. Genome-wide studies have demonstrated that the phenomenon of promoter-bound Pol II pausing is widespread, especially for genes involved in developmental and stimulus-responsive pathways. However, a mechanistic understanding of the paused Pol II states at promoters is limited. For example, at a global level, it’s unclear to what extent the engaged paused Pol II is stably tethered to the promoter or undergoes rapid cycles of initiation and termination. Here we used the small molecule Triptolide (TPL), an XPB/TFIIH inhibitor, to block transcriptional initiation followed by measuring Pol II occupancy by ChIP-seq. This inhibition of initiation enables us to investigate different states of paused Pol II. Specifically, our global analysis reveals that most genes with paused Pol II, as defined by pausing index, show significant clearance of Pol II during the period of TPL treatment. Our study further identifies a group of genes with unexpectedly stably-paused Pol II, with unchanged Pol II occupancy even after one hour of inhibition of initiation. This group of genes constitutes a small portion of all paused genes defined by the conventional criterion of pausing index. These findings could pave the way for evaluating the contribution of different elongation/pausing factors on different states of Pol II pausing in developmental and other stimulus-responsive pathways.