Active RNA Polymerases: Mobile or Immobile Molecular Machines?

作者:Papantonis Argyris*; Larkin Joshua D; Wada Youichiro; Ohta Yoshihiro; Ihara Sigeo; Kodama Tatsuhiko; Cook Peter R
来源:PLoS Biology, 2010, 8(7): e1000419.
DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000419

摘要

It is widely assumed that active RNA polymerases track along their templates to produce a transcript. We test this using chromosome conformation capture and human genes switched on rapidly and synchronously by tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha); one is 221 kbp SAMD4A, which a polymerase takes more than 1 h to transcribe. Ten minutes after stimulation, the SAMD4A promoter comes together with other TNF alpha-responsive promoters. Subsequently, these contacts are lost as new downstream ones appear; contacts are invariably between sequences being transcribed. Super-resolution microscopy confirms that nascent transcripts (detected by RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization) co-localize at relevant times. Results are consistent with an alternative view of transcription: polymerases fixed in factories reel in their respective templates, so different parts of the templates transiently lie together.

  • 出版日期2010-7