Damage control: DNA repair, transcription, and the ubiquitin-proteasome system.
The presence of DNA damage within an actively transcribed gene poses an immediate threat to cellular viability. Bulky DNA adducts, such as those induced by ultraviolet light, can profoundly influence patterns of gene expression by causing the irreversible arrest of RNA polymerase II at sites of DNA damage. It is critical that processes exist to either specifically repair transcribed genes or clear stalled RNA polymerase, so that general repair can occur and transcription resume. A growing body of evidence indicates that clearance of stalled polymerase is achieved, in part, by ubiquitin-mediated destruction of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II. In this review, we shall discuss how an intimate connection between RNA polymerase II and the ubiquitylation machinery acts to restore normal transcription after DNA damage, and other forms of transcriptional arrest, has occurred.
Daulny
Anne
A
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA.
Tansey
William P
WP
D018736:DNA Adducts / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D004249:DNA Damage; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex / Q000378:metabolism*; D012319:RNA Polymerase II / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D025801:Ubiquitin / Q000378:metabolism; D054875:Ubiquitination / Q000502:physiology*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
D018736:DNA Adducts; D025801:Ubiquitin; D012319:RNA Polymerase II; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex