POLYMERASE INTERFERENCE: During gene expression, multiple RNA polymerase II enzymes commonly transcribe a gene simultaneously. But if a polymerase pauses on the gene, no new transcription is initiated until it restarts.
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The paper
W. Shao, J. Zeitlinger, “Paused RNA polymerase II inhibits new transcriptional initiation,” Nat Genet, 49:1045-51, 2017.
When it comes to regulating gene expression, transcriptional initiation tends to get a lot of attention. But it’s become clear in the past decade that RNA polymerase II, the enzyme that transcribes DNA to RNA, frequently pauses after reading just a few dozen base pairs. This break surely affects gene expression rates—though its impact has not been obvious. Julia Zeitlinger and graduate student Wanqing Shao of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, Missouri, recently found that as long as RNA polymerase remains stalled, very little new transcription is initiated.
Zeitlinger and Shao came to this conclusion by using a drug to freeze RNA polymerase ...
