Chromatin architecture underpinning transcription elongation

RNA polymerase 2 (pol2) associates with enhancers and promoters, followed by transcription initiation and subsequent pausing. Upon release, pol2 proceeds into productive elongation. A wide spread view of transcription holds that during elongation, pol2 and associated factors clear the promoter proximal region to track along the chromatin fiber until a termination site is encountered. However, several studies are compatible with alternative models. One common feature among these models is that transcription elongation results from movement of the gene along a complex consisting of pol2 and associated factors. Such a scenario predicts that active enhancers and promoters that are bound by transcription complexes, including pol2 are in dynamic physical proximity with the gene body in a manner paralleling pol2 processivity. This has indeed been observed by chromosome conformation capture under conditions of synchronous transcription. Here we discuss these observations and their implication for architectural models of transcription elongation.