A pause site for RNA polymerase II is associated with termination of transcription - PubMed (original) (raw)

A pause site for RNA polymerase II is associated with termination of transcription

P Enriquez-Harris et al. EMBO J. 1991 Jul.

Abstract

Termination of transcription by RNA polymerase II has been postulated to involve a pausing process. We have identified such a pause signal, 350 bp into the 3' flanking region of the human alpha 2 globin gene at a position where termination is thought to occur. We show that this pause signal enhances the utilization of an upstream poly(A) site which is otherwise out-competed by a stronger downstream poly(A) site. We also demonstrate that the pause site rescues a poly(A) site that is inactive due to its location within an intron. Using nuclear run-on analysis we show that elongating RNA polymerase II molecules accumulate over this pause signal. Furthermore we show that when the pause site is positioned immediately downstream of a strong poly(A) signal, significant levels of transcription termination take place.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Cell. 1986 Dec 26;47(6):913-20 - PubMed
    1. Cell. 1986 Dec 26;47(6):901-11 - PubMed
    1. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Nov;6(11):4008-18 - PubMed
    1. J Biol Chem. 1987 Jul 5;262(19):9098-108 - PubMed
    1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Dec;84(23):8306-10 - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources