Polycomb (PcG) complexes maintain the silent state of target genes. The mechanism of silencing is not known but has been inferred to involve chromatin packaging to block the access of transcription factors. We have studied the effect of PcG silencing on the hsp26 heat shock promoter. While silencing does decrease the accessibility of some restriction enzyme sites to some extent, it does not prevent the binding of TBP, RNA polymerase, or the heat shock factor to the hsp26 promoter, as shown by chromatin immunoprecipitation. However, we find that in the repressed state, the RNA polymerase cannot initiate transcription. We conclude that, rather than altering chromatin structure to block accessibility, PcG silencing in this construct targets directly the activity of the transcriptional machinery at the promoter.

Polycomb silencing blocks transcription initiation / G.I. Dellino, Y.B. Schwartz, G. Farkas, D. Mccabe, S.C.R. Elgin, V. Pirrotta. - In: MOLECULAR CELL. - ISSN 1097-2765. - 13:6(2004 Mar 26), pp. 887-893. [10.1016/S1097-2765(04)00128-5]

Polycomb silencing blocks transcription initiation

G.I. Dellino
Primo
;
2004

Abstract

Polycomb (PcG) complexes maintain the silent state of target genes. The mechanism of silencing is not known but has been inferred to involve chromatin packaging to block the access of transcription factors. We have studied the effect of PcG silencing on the hsp26 heat shock promoter. While silencing does decrease the accessibility of some restriction enzyme sites to some extent, it does not prevent the binding of TBP, RNA polymerase, or the heat shock factor to the hsp26 promoter, as shown by chromatin immunoprecipitation. However, we find that in the repressed state, the RNA polymerase cannot initiate transcription. We conclude that, rather than altering chromatin structure to block accessibility, PcG silencing in this construct targets directly the activity of the transcriptional machinery at the promoter.
RNA-polymerase-II; melanogaster HSP26 promoter; drosophila-melanogaster; response element; gaga factor; heat-shock; chromatin-structure; tata box; complex; gene
Settore BIO/11 - Biologia Molecolare
26-mar-2004
Article (author)
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/552367
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