TFIIH Kinase Places Bivalent Marks on the Carboxy-Terminal Domain of RNA Polymerase II

Posttranslational modifications of the carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) specify a molecular recognition code that is deciphered by proteins involved in RNA biogenesis. The CTD is comprised of a repeating heptapeptide (Y 1S 2P 3T 4S 5P 6S 7). Recently...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular cell 2009-05, Vol.34 (3), p.387-393
Main Authors: Akhtar, Md. Sohail, Heidemann, Martin, Tietjen, Joshua R., Zhang, David W., Chapman, Rob D., Eick, Dirk, Ansari, Aseem Z.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cyclin-Dependent Kinases - genetics
Cyclin-Dependent Kinases - metabolism
DNA
Humans
Phosphorylation
Protein Structure, Tertiary
Protein Subunits - chemistry
Protein Subunits - genetics
Protein Subunits - metabolism
PROTEINS
RNA
RNA Polymerase II - chemistry
RNA Polymerase II - genetics
RNA Polymerase II - metabolism
RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional
Saccharomyces cerevisiae - metabolism
Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins - chemistry
Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins - genetics
Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins - metabolism
Serine - metabolism
Transcription, Genetic
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Summary:Posttranslational modifications of the carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) specify a molecular recognition code that is deciphered by proteins involved in RNA biogenesis. The CTD is comprised of a repeating heptapeptide (Y 1S 2P 3T 4S 5P 6S 7). Recently, phosphorylation of serine 7 was shown to be important for cotranscriptional processing of two snRNAs in mammalian cells. Here we report that Kin28/Cdk7, a subunit of the evolutionarily conserved TFIIH complex, is a Ser7 kinase. The ability of Kin28/Cdk7 to phosphorylate Ser7 is particularly surprising because this kinase functions at promoters of protein-coding genes, rather than being restricted to promoter-distal regions of snRNA genes. Kin28/Cdk7 is also known to phosphorylate Ser5 residues of the CTD at gene promoters. Taken together, our results implicate the TFIIH kinase in placing bivalent Ser5 and Ser7 marks early in gene transcription. These bivalent CTD marks, in concert with cues within nascent transcripts, specify the cotranscriptional engagement of the relevant RNA processing machinery.
ISSN:1097-2765
1097-4164
DOI:10.1016/j.molcel.2009.04.016