Summary information and primary citation

PDB-id
8jh2; SNAP-derived features in text and JSON formats; DNAproDB
Class
transcription-DNA-RNA
Method
cryo-EM (5.7 Å)
Summary
RNA polymerase ii elongation complex bound with elf1, spt4-5 and foreign DNA, stalled at shl(-1) of the nucleosome
Reference
Akatsu M, Ehara H, Kujirai T, Fujita R, Ito T, Osumi K, Ogasawara M, Takizawa Y, Sekine SI, Kurumizaka H (2023): "Cryo-EM structures of RNA polymerase II-nucleosome complexes rewrapping transcribed DNA." J.Biol.Chem., 299, 105477. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.105477.
Abstract
RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) transcribes DNA wrapped in the nucleosome by stepwise pausing, especially at nucleosomal superhelical locations -5 and -1 (SHL(-5) and SHL(-1), respectively). In the present study, we performed cryo-electron microscopy analyses of RNAPII-nucleosome complexes paused at a major nucleosomal pausing site, SHL(-1). We determined two previously undetected structures, in which the transcribed DNA behind RNAPII is sharply kinked at the RNAPII exit tunnel and rewrapped around the nucleosomal histones in front of RNAPII by DNA looping. This DNA kink shifts the DNA orientation toward the nucleosome, and the transcribed DNA region interacts with basic amino acid residues of histones H2A, H2B, and H3 exposed by the RNAPII-mediated nucleosomal DNA peeling. The DNA loop structure was not observed in the presence of the transcription elongation factors Spt4/5 and Elf1. These RNAPII-nucleosome structures provide important information for understanding the functional relevance of DNA looping during transcription elongation in the nucleosome.

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