title: Phosphorylation of the C-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II by the extracellular-signal-regulated protein kinase ERK2.
abstract: Rat ERK2, an extracellular-signal-regulated protein kinase family member, phosphorylates RNA polymerase II in vitro. Phosphorylation occurs within the heptapeptide repeats of the C-terminal domain of the largest subunit, in a region important for regulation of transcriptional activity. Analysis of deletion mutants and synthetic peptides showed that ERK2 phosphorylation occurs at multiple serine residues throughout the C-terminal domain, with no marked preference for consensus repeats versus naturally occurring variants. Our results are consistent with the idea that protein kinases in the extracellular-signal-regulated protein kinase family regulate transcription by direct phosphorylation of RNA polymerase II, but do not support a model where particular portions of the C-terminal domain are special targets of ERK phosphorylation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309.
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Markowitz
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Hermann
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anthony-Cahill
authors.forename: N G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Dynan
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000201:enzymology; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000235:genetics; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D012319:RNA Polymerase II / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D005982:Glutathione Transferase; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D012319:RNA Polymerase II