Transcription factories in the context of the nuclear and genome organization
S. V. Razin1,*, A. A. Gavrilov1, A. Pichugin2, M. Lipinski2, O. V. Iarovaia1 and Yegor S. Vassetzky2,*
Author Affiliations
1Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia and 2UMR8126, Univ. Paris-Sud 11, CNRS, Institut de cancérologie Gustave Roussy, 94805 Villejuif, France
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Yegor S. Vassetzky. Tel:+33 0 1 42 11 62 83; Fax: +33 01 42 11 54 94; Email: vassetzky@igr.fr
*Correspondence may also be addressed to Tel: +7 499 135 97 87; Fax: +7 499 135 41 05; Email: sergey.v.razin@usa.net
Received March 9, 2011.
Revision received August 3, 2011.
Accepted August 4, 2011.
Abstract
In the eukaryotic nucleus, genes are transcribed in transcription factories. In the present review, we re-evaluate the models of transcription factories in the light of recent and older data. Based on this analysis, we propose that transcription factories result from the aggregation of RNA polymerase II-containing pre-initiation complexes assembled next to each other in the nuclear space. Such an aggregation can be triggered by the phosphorylation of the C-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II molecules and their interaction with various transcription factors. Individual transcription factories would thus incorporate tissue-specific, co-regulated as well as housekeeping genes based only on their initial proximity to each other in the nuclear space. Targeting genes to be transcribed to protein-dense factories that contain all factors necessary for transcription initiation and elongation through chromatin templates clearly favors a more economical utilization and better recycling of the transcription machinery.
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