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Updated: Jul 3, 2025

Artificial RNA Polymerase II Elongation Complexes for Dissecting Co-transcriptional RNA Processing Events
Published on: May 13, 2019
RNA polymerase collisions and their role in transcription
1Department of Chemical Biology, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.
Abstract:
RNA polymerases are the central enzymes of gene expression and function frequently in either a head-on or co-directional manner on the busy DNA track. Whether and how these collisions between RNA polymerases contribute to transcriptional regulation is mysterious. Increasing evidence from biochemical and single-molecule studies suggests that RNA polymerase collisions function as an important regulator to fine-tune transcription, rather than creating deleterious "traffic jams". This review summarizes the recent progress on elucidating the consequences of RNA polymerase collisions during transcription and highlights the significance of cooperation and coordination between RNA polymerases.
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