Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 20, 2026

A Murine Cell Line Based Model of Chronic CDK9 Inhibition to Study Widespread Non-Genetic Transcriptional Elongation Defects (TEdeff) in Cancers
10:49

A Murine Cell Line Based Model of Chronic CDK9 Inhibition to Study Widespread Non-Genetic Transcriptional Elongation Defects (TEdeff) in Cancers

Published on: September 26, 2019

AID targeting is dependent on RNA polymerase II pausing

Amy L Kenter1

  • 1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Illinois College of Medicine, 835 S. Wolcott, Chicago, IL 60612-7344, USA. star1@uic.edu

Seminars in Immunology
|July 13, 2012
PubMed

Activation induced deaminase (AID) is globally targeted to immunoglobulin loci, preferentially focused to switch (S) regions and variable (V) regions, and prone to attack hotspot motifs. Nevertheless, AID deamination is not exclusive to Ig loci and the rules regulating AID targeting remain unclear. Transcription is critically required for class switch recombination and somatic hypermutation. Here, I consider the unique features associated with S region transcription leading to RNA polymerase II pausing, that in turn promote the introduction of activating chromatin remodeling, histone modifications and recruitment of AID to targeted S regions. These findings allow for a better understanding of the interplay between transcription, AID targeting and mistargeting to Ig and non-Ig loci.

More Related Videos

Artificial RNA Polymerase II Elongation Complexes for Dissecting Co-transcriptional RNA Processing Events10:59

Artificial RNA Polymerase II Elongation Complexes for Dissecting Co-transcriptional RNA Processing Events

Published on: May 13, 2019

Aptamer-Based Target Detection Facilitated by a 3-Stage G-Quadruplex Isothermal Exponential Amplification Reaction03:38

Aptamer-Based Target Detection Facilitated by a 3-Stage G-Quadruplex Isothermal Exponential Amplification Reaction

Published on: October 6, 2022

Related Concept Videos

Eukaryotic RNA Polymerases00:58

Eukaryotic RNA Polymerases

RNA Polymerase (RNAP) is conserved in all animals, with bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryotic RNAPs sharing significant sequence, structural, and functional similarities. Among the three eukaryotic RNAPs, RNA Polymerase II is most similar to bacterial RNAP in terms of both structural organization and folding topologies of the enzyme subunits. However, these similarities are not reflected in their mechanism of action.
All three eukaryotic RNAPs require specific transcription factors, of which the...
Eukaryotic RNA Polymerases00:58

Eukaryotic RNA Polymerases

RNA Polymerase (RNAP) is conserved in all animals, with bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryotic RNAPs sharing significant sequence, structural, and functional similarities. Among the three eukaryotic RNAPs, RNA Polymerase II is most similar to bacterial RNAP in terms of both structural organization and folding topologies of the enzyme subunits. However, these similarities are not reflected in their mechanism of action.
All three eukaryotic RNAPs require specific transcription factors, of which the...
Transcription Elongation Factors02:35

Transcription Elongation Factors

Transcription elongation is a dynamic process that alters depending upon the sequence heterogeneity of the DNA being transcribed. Hence, it is not surprising that the elongation complex's composition also varies along the way while transcribing a gene.
The transcription elongation is regulated via pausing of RNA polymerase on several occasions during transcription. In bacteria, these halts are necessary because the transcription of DNA into mRNA is coupled to the translation of that mRNA into a...
Transcription Attenuation in Prokaryotes02:42

Transcription Attenuation in Prokaryotes

Transcriptional attenuation occurs when RNA transcription is prematurely terminated due to the formation of a terminator mRNA hairpin structure.  Bacteria use these hairpins to regulate the transcription process and control the synthesis of several amino acids including histidine, lysine, threonine, and phenylalanine. Transcription attenuation takes place in the non-coding regions of mRNA.
There are several different mechanisms used to attenuate transcription. In ribosome mediated...
Transcription Initiation01:47

Transcription Initiation

Initiation is the first step of transcription in eukaryotes. Prokaryotic RNA Polymerase (RNAP) can bind to the template DNA and start transcribing. On the other hand, transcription in eukaryotes requires additional proteins, called transcription factors, to first bind to the promoter region in the DNA template. This binding helps recruit the specific RNAP that can assemble on the DNA and start transcription.
The promoters and enhancers and their accessory proteins allow tight regulation of...
Bacterial Transcription01:53

Bacterial Transcription

RNA polymerase (RNAP) carries out DNA-dependent RNA synthesis in both bacteria and eukaryotes. Bacteria do not have a membrane-bound nucleus. So, transcription and translation occur simultaneously, on the same DNA template.
Transcription can be divided into three main stages, each involving distinct DNA sequences to guide the polymerase. These are: