title: A movie of the RNA polymerase nucleotide addition cycle.
abstract: During gene transcription, RNA polymerase (Pol) passes through repetitive cycles of adding a nucleotide to the growing mRNA chain. Here we obtained a movie of the nucleotide addition cycle by combining structural information on different functional states of the Pol II elongation complex (EC). The movie illustrates the two-step loading of the nucleoside triphosphate (NTP) substrate, closure of the active site for catalytic nucleotide incorporation, and the presumed two-step translocation of DNA and RNA, which is accompanied by coordinated conformational changes in the polymerase bridge helix and trigger loop. The movie facilitates teaching and a mechanistic analysis of transcription and can be downloaded from http://www.lmb.uni-muenchen.de/cramer/pr-materials.
authors.affiliation: Gene Center and Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich (CIPSM), Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Feodor-Lynen-Strasse 25, 81377 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brueckner
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cramer
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D003196:Computer Graphics; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism*; D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009040:Motion Pictures; D009711:Nucleotides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D035602:Transcriptional Elongation Factors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009711:Nucleotides; D035602:Transcriptional Elongation Factors; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases