How Integrator ends transcription early
Transcription is the central process that activates the genetic information in cells, but our understanding of how gene transcription is regulated is incomplete. The so-called Integrator can stop the transcribing enzyme RNA polymerase II at the beginning of genes, but how such downregulation of transcription occurs is unclear. Fianu
et al
. present the three-dimensional structure of Integrator bound to the transcribing polymerase complex, providing molecular and mechanistic insights into how Integrator mediates transcription regulation. —DJ
Nuclear import of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) involves the conserved factor RPAP2. Here we report the cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of mammalian Pol II in complex with human RPAP2 at 2.8 Å resolution. The structure shows that RPAP2 binds between the jaw domains of the polymerase subunits RPB1 and RPB5. RPAP2 is incompatible with binding of downstream DNA during transcription and is displaced upon formation of a transcription pre-initiation complex.
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