GSE63712
Chromatin-wide profiling of the protein kinase DYRK1A reveals a role as a transcriptional activator of cell growth related genes
DYRK1A is a dosage-sensitive protein kinase that fulfills key roles during development and in tissue homeostasis, and its dysregulation results in human pathologies. DYRK1A is present in both the nucleus and cytoplasm of mammalian cells, although its nuclear function remains unclear. Genome-wide analysis of DYRK1A-associated loci reveals that the kinase is recruited preferentially to promoters of genes actively transcribed by RNA polymerase II (RNAPII), which are functionally associated with translation, RNA processing and cell cycle. DYRK1A-bound promoter sequences are highly enriched in a conserved palindromic motif, which is necessary to drive DYRK1A-dependent transcriptional activation. DYRK1A phosphorylates the carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of RNAPII at Ser2 and Ser5. Depletion of DYRK1A results in reduced association of RNAPII at the target promoters as well as hypophosphorylation of the CTD of RNAPII along the target gene bodies. Accordingly, we propose that DYRK1A acts as a transcriptional regulator by acting as a novel CTD kinase. Overall design: Occupancy of the kinase DYRK1A in two different cell lines and in two different growing conditions.