Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 23, 2026

Promoter Capture Hi-C: High-resolution, Genome-wide Profiling of Promoter Interactions
Published on: June 28, 2018
PAF1 regulation of promoter-proximal pause release via enhancer activation
Fei Xavier Chen1, Peng Xie2, Clayton K Collings1
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Abstract:
Gene expression in metazoans is regulated by RNA polymerase II (Pol II) promoter-proximal pausing and its release. Previously, we showed that Pol II-associated factor 1 (PAF1) modulates the release of paused Pol II into productive elongation. Here, we found that PAF1 occupies transcriptional enhancers and restrains hyperactivation of a subset of these enhancers. Enhancer activation as the result of PAF1 loss releases Pol II from paused promoters of nearby PAF1 target genes. Knockout of PAF1-regulated enhancers attenuates the release of paused Pol II on PAF1 target genes without major interference in the establishment of pausing at their cognate promoters. Thus, a subset of enhancers can primarily modulate gene expression by controlling the release of paused Pol II in a PAF1-dependent manner.
Related Concept Videos
RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins
RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins
The Eukaryotic Promoter Region
The Eukaryotic Promoter Region
Transcription Elongation Factors
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...
Chromatin Structure Regulates pre-mRNA Processing
The chromatin structure, especially...

