Structural insights into assembly of transcription preinitiation complex

Xizi Chen; Yanhui Xu

doi:10.1016/j.sbi.2022.102404

Structural insights into assembly of transcription preinitiation complex

Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2022 Aug:75:102404. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2022.102404. Epub 2022 Jun 11.

Authors

Xizi Chen¹, Yanhui Xu²

Affiliations

¹ Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Radiation Oncology, and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenetics, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
² Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Radiation Oncology, and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenetics, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; The International Co-laboratory of Medical Epigenetics and Metabolism, Ministry of Science and Technology, China; Department of Systems Biology for Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Human Phenome Institute, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China. Electronic address: xuyh@fudan.edu.cn.

PMID: 35700575
DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2022.102404

Abstract

RNA polymerase II (Pol II)-mediated transcription in eukaryotic cells starts with assembly of preinitiation complex (PIC) on core promoter, a DNA sequence of ∼100 base pairs. The transcription PIC consists of Pol II and general transcription factors TFIID, TFIIA, TFIIB, TFIIF, TFIIE, and TFIIH. Previous structural studies focused on PIC assembled on TATA box promoters with TFIID replaced by its subunit, TATA box-binding protein (TBP). However, the megadalton TFIID complex is essential for promoter recognition, TBP loading onto promoter, and PIC assembly for almost all Pol II-mediated transcription, especially on the TATA-less promoters, which account for ∼85% of core promoters of human coding genes. The functions of TFIID could not be replaced by TBP. The recent breakthrough in structure determination of TFIID-based PIC complexes in different assembly stages revealed mechanistic insights into PIC assembly on TATA box and TATA-less promotes and provided a framework for further investigation of transcription initiation.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Humans
RNA Polymerase II* / chemistry
TATA Box
TATA-Box Binding Protein / chemistry
Transcription Factor TFIIA / chemistry
Transcription Factor TFIID* / chemistry
Transcription Initiation, Genetic*

Substances

TATA-Box Binding Protein
Transcription Factor TFIIA
Transcription Factor TFIID
RNA Polymerase II