title: Role of the mammalian RNA polymerase II C-terminal domain (CTD) nonconsensus repeats in CTD stability and cell proliferation.
abstract: The C-terminal domain (CTD) of mammalian RNA polymerase II (Pol II) consists of 52 repeats of the consensus heptapeptide YSPTSPS and links transcription to the processing of pre-mRNA. The length of the CTD and the number of repeats diverging from the consensus sequence have increased through evolution, but their functional importance remains unknown. Here, we show that the deletion of repeats 1 to 3 or 52 leads to cleavage and degradation of the CTD from Pol II in vivo. Including these repeats, however, allowed the construction of stable, synthetic CTDs. To our surprise, polymerases consisting of just consensus repeats could support normal growth and viability of cells. We conclude that all other nonconsensus CTD repeats are dispensable for the transcription and pre-mRNA processing of genes essential for proliferation.
authors.affiliation: GSF-Research Centre for Environment and Health, Institute for Clinical Molecular Biology and Tumour Genetics, Munich, Germany. rob.chapman@gsf.de
authors.forename: Rob D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Conrad
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Eick
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D004795:Enzyme Stability; D017353:Gene Deletion; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008322:Mammals; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012319:RNA Polymerase II / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020449:Repetitive Sequences, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012319:RNA Polymerase II