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Related Concept Videos

RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins02:36

RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins

Proteins that regulate transcription can do so either via direct contact with RNA Polymerase or through indirect interactions facilitated by adaptors, mediators, histone-modifying proteins, and nucleosome remodelers. Direct interactions to activate transcription is seen in bacteria as well as in some eukaryotic genes. In these cases, upstream activation sequences are adjacent to the promoters, and the activator proteins interact directly with the transcriptional machinery. For example, in...
RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins02:36

RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins

Proteins that regulate transcription can do so either via direct contact with RNA Polymerase or through indirect interactions facilitated by adaptors, mediators, histone-modifying proteins, and nucleosome remodelers. Direct interactions to activate transcription is seen in bacteria as well as in some eukaryotic genes. In these cases, upstream activation sequences are adjacent to the promoters, and the activator proteins interact directly with the transcriptional machinery. For example, in...
Cooperative Binding of Transcription Regulators02:13

Cooperative Binding of Transcription Regulators

Transcriptional regulators bind to specific cis-regulatory sequences in the DNA to regulate gene transcription. These cis-regulatory sequences are very short, usually less than ten nucleotide pairs in length. The short length means that there is a high probability of the exact same sequence randomly occurring throughout the genome.  Since regulators can also bind to groups of similar sequences, this further increases the chances of random binding. Transcriptional regulators form dimers that...
Cooperative Binding of Transcription Regulators02:13

Cooperative Binding of Transcription Regulators

Transcriptional regulators bind to specific cis-regulatory sequences in the DNA to regulate gene transcription. These cis-regulatory sequences are very short, usually less than ten nucleotide pairs in length. The short length means that there is a high probability of the exact same sequence randomly occurring throughout the genome.  Since regulators can also bind to groups of similar sequences, this further increases the chances of random binding. Transcriptional regulators form dimers that...
Co-activators and Co-repressors02:04

Co-activators and Co-repressors

Gene transcription is regulated by the synergistic action of several proteins that form a complex at a gene regulatory site. This is observed in eukaryotes, where the regulation of gene expression is a complex process. Regulatory proteins in eukaryotes can broadly be classified into two types – regulators that bind directly to specific DNA sequences and co-regulators that associate with regulatory proteins but cannot directly bind to the DNA. These co-regulators are further divided into...
Co-activators and Co-repressors02:04

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Gene transcription is regulated by the synergistic action of several proteins that form a complex at a gene regulatory site. This is observed in eukaryotes, where the regulation of gene expression is a complex process. Regulatory proteins in eukaryotes can broadly be classified into two types – regulators that bind directly to specific DNA sequences and co-regulators that associate with regulatory proteins but cannot directly bind to the DNA. These co-regulators are further divided into...

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Artificial RNA Polymerase II Elongation Complexes for Dissecting Co-transcriptional RNA Processing Events
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Published on: May 13, 2019

Promiscuous RNA binding by Polycomb repressive complex 2.

Chen Davidovich1, Leon Zheng, Karen J Goodrich

  • 11] Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA. [2] BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA.

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
|October 1, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) binds promiscuously to various RNAs, not just specific long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). This broad RNA binding helps PRC2 maintain epigenetic silencing by scanning for and re-engaging escaped genes.

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Desthiobiotin-Streptavidin-Affinity Mediated Purification of RNA-Interacting Proteins in Mesothelioma Cells
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Desthiobiotin-Streptavidin-Affinity Mediated Purification of RNA-Interacting Proteins in Mesothelioma Cells

Published on: April 25, 2018

Area of Science:

  • Epigenetics
  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) is crucial for epigenetic gene silencing during development and in diseases like cancer.
  • Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are known to recruit PRC2 to specific genomic locations.
  • The broader role of RNA in maintaining the overall repressed chromatin state is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the binding affinities of human PRC2 to different RNA molecules.
  • To determine the general role of RNA in the maintenance of repressed chromatin by PRC2.
  • To explore the mechanism by which PRC2 maintains gene silencing.

Main Methods:

  • Measurement of binding constants between human PRC2 and various RNA transcripts, including human lncRNAs, bacterial, and ciliate RNAs.
  • Assessment of PRC2 occupancy on active and repressed genes in vivo.
  • Analysis of RNA size dependency on PRC2 binding affinity.

Main Results:

  • Human PRC2 exhibits comparable binding affinities for targeted human lncRNAs and non-specific bacterial or ciliate transcripts.
  • PRC2 binding affinity to RNA is dependent on RNA size, with shorter RNAs showing lower affinity.
  • In vivo, PRC2 is primarily found on repressed genes, but also associates with active genes not under PRC2 regulation.

Conclusions:

  • PRC2's promiscuous binding to RNA transcripts facilitates scanning for and re-engaging genes that have escaped repression, thereby maintaining the silenced state.
  • RNA transcripts may act as decoys for PRC2, contributing to the dynamic regulation of chromatin.
  • This RNA-mediated scanning mechanism provides a general strategy for PRC2 to ensure stable epigenetic silencing.