Work

Transcription factories are nuclear subcompartments that remain in the absence of transcription

Year: 2008

Type: preprint

Abstract: Nascent transcription occurs at nuclear foci of concentrated, hyperphosphorylated RNA polymerase II (RNAPII). We investigate RNAPII localization, distal gene co-association, and Hbb locus conformation during inhibition of transcription. Our results show distal active genes remain associated with RNAPII foci and each other in the absence of elongation. When initiation is inhibited, active genes dissociate from RNAPII foci and each other, suggesting initiation is necessary to tether distal active genes to shared foci. In the absence of transcription RNAPII foci remain, indicating they are not simple accumulations of RNAPII on transcribed genes but exist as independent nuclear subcompartments.

Source: Genes & Development

DOI: 10.1101/gad.454008

Authors: Jennifer A. Mitchell, Peter Fraser

Institution: Babraham Institute

Language: English

Topic: Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: Directorate for Biological Sciences, Medical Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Awards: Systems Biology of nuclear organization of the genome and non-coding RNAs, G5699101456