Transcriptional termination in mammals: Stopping the RNA polymerase II juggernaut

Terminating transcription is a highly intricate process for mammalian protein-coding genes. First, the chromatin template slows down transcription at the gene end. Then, the transcript is cleaved at the poly(A) signal to release the messenger RNA. The remaining transcript is selectively unraveled an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2016-06, Vol.352 (6291), p.1291-1291
Main Author: Proudfoot, Nick J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aberration
Animals
Chromatin - metabolism
Coding
Disasters
Formations
Gene Expression Regulation
Genes
Government regulations
Humans
Mammals
Peptide Chain Elongation, Translational - genetics
Peptide Chain Termination, Translational - genetics
Poly A - metabolism
REVIEW SUMMARY
Ribonucleic acids
RNA polymerase
RNA polymerase II
RNA Polymerase II - metabolism
RNA, Messenger - biosynthesis
RNA, Messenger - genetics
Stress, Physiological - genetics
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Summary:Terminating transcription is a highly intricate process for mammalian protein-coding genes. First, the chromatin template slows down transcription at the gene end. Then, the transcript is cleaved at the poly(A) signal to release the messenger RNA. The remaining transcript is selectively unraveled and degraded. This induces critical conformational changes in the heart of the enzyme that trigger termination. Termination can also occur at variable positions along the gene and so prevent aberrant transcript formation or intentionally make different transcripts. These may form multiple messenger RNAs with altered regulatory properties or encode different proteins. Finally, termination can be perturbed to achieve particular cellular needs or blocked in cancer or virally infected cells. In such cases, failure to terminate transcription can spell disaster for the cell.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aad9926