title: Transcriptional termination between the closely linked human complement genes C2 and factor B: common termination factor for C2 and c-myc?
abstract: We have demonstrated, using a combination of nuclear run-off and poly(A) site competition assays, that transcriptional termination occurs between the closely spaced human complement genes, C2 and Factor B, soon after the C2 poly(A) site. A comparison of the C2 termination signal with a functionally similar sequence downstream of the human alpha 2 globin gene reveals that both signals function in an orientation dependent manner, with subfragments of the whole signal displaying partial effects. In the case of the C2 termination sequence a protein binds within it, and is partially responsible for the termination effect. We further demonstrate that the same (or closely related) protein binds to the ME1a1 site in the murine c-myc promoter, which has been implicated in c-myc attenuation. We suggest that the termination/pause sequences positioned downstream of a gene's poly(A) site may constitute the general signals that elicit transcriptional termination in genes transcribed by RNA polymerase II.
authors.affiliation: Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ashfield
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Enriquez-Harris
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Proudfoot
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D003175:Complement C2 / Q000235:genetics*; D011415:Complement Factor B / Q000235:genetics*; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D005914:Globins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc / Q000235:genetics*; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013728:Terminator Regions, Genetic; D014162:Transfection; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D003175:Complement C2; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc; D005914:Globins; D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase; D001616:beta-Galactosidase; D011415:Complement Factor B