Transcriptional elongation control by RNA polymerase II: a new frontier

The transcription elongation complex, once thought to be composed of merely the DNA template, RNA polymerase II and the nascent RNA transcript, is now burgeoning as a unit as multifaceted and complicated as the transcription initiation complex. Studies concentrated in defining the elongation stage of transcription during the past recent years have resulted in the discovery of a diverse collection of transcription elongation factors that are either directly involved in the regulation of the rate of the elongating RNA polymerase II or can modulate messenger RNA (mRNA) processing and transport. Such studies have demonstrated that the elongation stage of transcription is highly regulated and has opened a new era of studies defining the molecular role of such transcription elongation factors in cellular development, differentiation and disease progression. Recent studies on the role of RNA polymerase II elongation factors in regulating of the overall rate of transcription both in vitro and in vivo, histone modification by methylation and organismal development will be reviewed here.