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Updated: Aug 21, 2026
DNA-Tethered RNA Polymerase for Programmable In vitro Transcription and Molecular Computation
Published on: December 29, 2021
'Tango' or 'tangle' in transcriptional condensates
1Department of Histoembryology, Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Key Laboratory for Reproductive Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 201318, China.
None:
Transcription is organized through a continuum of protein-protein interactions spanning from highly specific, stoichiometric assemblies to dynamic, multivalent contacts. In this review, we summarize structural, biochemical, and functional evidence; discuss transcriptional regulation both within and beyond condensate-based models; and introduce a conceptual framework in which structured core complexes and intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) act in concert to choreograph the spatiotemporal control of RNA polymerase II (RNA Pol II). While transcriptional condensates represent one important mechanism, we discuss additional IDR-mediated allosteric regulation, context-dependent conformations, and post-translational-modification-sensitive tuning. We propose that initiation and splicing are shaped by a stochastic 'tangle', whereas elongation hubs rely on a precise molecular 'tango' between ordered and disordered elements within an RNA Pol II superassembly paradigm.
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