Collaborators or competitors: the communication between RNA polymerase II and the nucleosome during eukaryotic transcription

Abstract

Decades of scientific research have been devoted to unraveling the intricacies of eukaryotic transcription since the groundbreaking discovery of eukaryotic RNA polymerases in the late 1960s. RNA polymerase II, the polymerase responsible for mRNA synthesis, has always attracted the most attention. Despite its structural resemblance to its bacterial counterpart, eukaryotic RNA polymerase II faces a unique challenge in progressing transcription due to the presence of nucleosomes that package DNA in the nuclei. In this review, we delve into the impact of RNA polymerase II and histone signaling on the progression of eukaryotic transcription. We explore the pivotal points of interactions that bridge the RNA polymerase II and histone signaling systems. Finally, we present an analysis of recent cryo-electron microscopy structures, which captured RNA polymerase II-nucleosome complexes at different stages of the transcription cycle. The combination of the signaling crosstalk and the direct visualization of RNA polymerase II-nucleosome complexes provides a deeper understanding of the communication between these two major players in eukaryotic transcription.

Keywords:

• Post-translational modification
• histone
• C-terminal domain of RPB1
• structural biology
• cryo-EM
• RNA polymerase II
• nucleosome
• chromatin
  

Acknowledgment

We thank the National Institutes of Health for supporting our research.

Disclosure statement

The authors do not have any competing interests to report.

Additional information

Funding

We thank the National Institutes of Health (R01CA281106, R01GM125882, and R35GM148356 to YJZ) for supporting our research.