A protein-binding site in the c-myc promoter functions as a terminator of RNA polymerase II transcription.
Open Access
- 1 August 1992
- journal article
- Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Genes & Development
- Vol. 6 (8), 1562-1574
- https://doi.org/10.1101/gad.6.8.1562
Abstract
Termination of transcription not only allows polymerases that have completed RNA synthesis to recycle, but it also has important functions in transcriptional regulation and in preventing promoter interference. The molecular basis for termination by RNA polymerase II (pol II) is unclear, however. We have identified a termination site in the promoter region of the c-myc gene, whose function correlates with DNA binding by a nuclear factor. When the c-myc gene was transcribed in injected Xenopus oocytes or a HeLa nuclear extract, a fraction of RNA initiated at the first promoter, P1, terminated at two positions, T1A and T1B, which flank the TATA box of the second promoter, P2. T1B is a T-rich sequence that resembles previously identified attenuation sites, but T1A appears to represent a different class of termination site. T1A is situated approximately 10 bases upstream of an element that overlaps the P2 TATA box. Mutagenesis of this element affected both the efficiency and the position at which termination occurred. A 28-base sequence including this element caused a low level of termination when inserted into the alpha-globin gene in either orientation. This sequence bound a factor called TBF I (terminator-binding factor), whose binding specificity correlated with T1A terminator function. We suggest that TBF I may function as a pol II termination factor.Keywords
This publication has 39 references indexed in Scilit:
- Transcriptional deregulation ofmyc inlgH/myc 6;7 translocation carrying rat immunocytomasGenes, Chromosomes and Cancer, 1991
- Analysis of the signals for transcription termination by purified RNA polymerase IIBiochemistry, 1990
- The block to transcription elongation is promoter dependent in normal and Burkitt's lymphoma c-myc alleles.Genes & Development, 1990
- Accurate, TATA box-dependent polymerase III transcription from promoters of the c-myc gene in injected Xenopus oocytes.Genes & Development, 1989
- The promoter-proximal rDNA terminator augments initiation by preventing disruption of the stable transcription complex caused by polymerase read-in.Genes & Development, 1989
- A functional mRNA polyadenylation signal is required for transcription termination by RNA polymerase II.Genes & Development, 1988
- Mutations in the First Exon Are Associated with Altered Transcription of c- myc in Burkitt LymphomaScience, 1987
- Sequences Upstream from the Mousec-mosOncogene May Function as a Transcription Termination SignalDNA, 1986
- A block to elongation is largely responsible for decreased transcription of c-myc in differentiated HL60 cellsNature, 1986
- A repeated 18 bp sequence motif in the mouse rDNA spacer mediates binding of a nuclear factor and transcription terminationCell, 1986