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Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Artificial RNA Polymerase II Elongation Complexes for Dissecting Co-transcriptional RNA Processing Events
Published on: May 13, 2019
Serine-7 of the RNA polymerase II CTD is specifically required for snRNA gene expression
Sylvain Egloff1, Dawn O'Reilly, Rob D Chapman
1Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RE, UK.
Abstract:
RNA polymerase II (Pol II) transcribes genes that encode proteins and noncoding small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs). The carboxyl-terminal repeat domain (CTD) of the largest subunit of mammalian RNA Pol II, comprising tandem repeats of the heptapeptide consensus Tyr1-Ser2-Pro3-Thr4-Ser5-Pro6-Ser7, is required for expression of both gene types. We show that mutation of serine-7 to alanine causes a specific defect in snRNA gene expression. We also present evidence that phosphorylation of serine-7 facilitates interaction with the snRNA gene-specific Integrator complex. These findings assign a biological function to this amino acid and highlight a gene type-specific requirement for a residue within the CTD heptapeptide, supporting the existence of a CTD code.
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