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Updated: Feb 8, 2026

Artificial RNA Polymerase II Elongation Complexes for Dissecting Co-transcriptional RNA Processing Events
Published on: May 13, 2019
Spt6 Association with RNA Polymerase II Directs mRNA Turnover During Transcription
Raghuvar Dronamraju1, Austin J Hepperla2, Yoichiro Shibata3
1Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Abstract:
Spt6 is an essential histone chaperone that mediates nucleosome reassembly during gene transcription. Spt6 also associates with RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) via a tandem Src2 homology domain. However, the significance of Spt6-RNAPII interaction is not well understood. Here, we show that Spt6 recruitment to genes and the nucleosome reassembly functions of Spt6 can still occur in the absence of its association with RNAPII. Surprisingly, we found that Spt6-RNAPII association is required for efficient recruitment of the Ccr4-Not de-adenylation complex to transcribed genes for essential degradation of a range of mRNAs, including mRNAs required for cell-cycle progression. These findings reveal an unexpected control mechanism for mRNA turnover during transcription facilitated by a histone chaperone.
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