The many conformational states of RNA polymerase elongation complexes and their roles in the regulation of transcription.
Transcription is highly regulated both by protein factors and by specific RNA or DNA sequence elements. Central to this regulation is the ability of RNA polymerase (RNAP) to adopt multiple conformational states during elongation. This review focuses on the mechanism of transcription elongation and the role of different conformational states in the regulation of elongation and termination. The discussion centers primarily on data from structural and functional studies on Escherichia coli RNAP. To introduce the players, a brief introduction to the general mechanism of elongation, the regulatory proteins, and the conformational states is provided. The role of each of the conformational states in elongation is then discussed in detail. Finally, an integrated mechanism of elongation is presented, bringing together the panoply of experiments.
Erie
Dorothy A
DA
Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3290, USA. derie@unc.edu
D000495:Allosteric Site; D001483:Base Sequence; D002384:Catalysis; D018983:DNA Footprinting; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010441:Peptide Chain Elongation, Translational; D010443:Peptide Chain Termination, Translational; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D012319:RNA Polymerase II / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D012313:RNA; D012319:RNA Polymerase II; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases