ArticleNature2011
Structural basis of RNA polymerase II backtracking, arrest and reactivation.
Article in Nature, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 225 papers.
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Who cites it
225 citing papers in PubMed, 383 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Structural Characterization of Native RNA Polymerase II Transcription Complexes and Nucleosomes in Drosophila melanogaster.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Structure of cytoplasmic RNA polymerase II.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Polymerase face-off: emerging concepts in transcription-replication coordination.EMBO reports · 2026Review
- The Promoter-Proximal Pause: A Decision Point Governing RNA Polymerase II Fate.Annual review of biochemistry · 2026Review
- KAS-CUT&Tag for direct mapping of transcription bubbles.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Orchestrated and dynamic nucleotide addition cycle during respiratory syncytial virus early-stage elongation.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Multiscale modeling and simulation for anomalous and nonergodic dynamics: From statistics to mathematics.Fundamental research · 2026Review
- Structural basis of pausing during transcription initiation in mycobacterium tuberculosis.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Structural basis of multitasking by the apicoplast DNA polymerase from Plasmodium falciparum.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- RNA polymerase II is a polar roadblock to a progressing DNA fork.Nature communications · 2025Article
- The paradox of R-loops: guardians of the genome or drivers of disease?Genome research · 2025Review
- Structural basis of RECQL5-induced RNA polymerase II transcription braking and subsequent reactivation.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2025Article
- Structural insights into transcriptional regulation by the helicase RECQL5.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2025Article
- Widespread epistasis shapes RNA polymerase II active site function and evolution.Nature communications · 2025Article
- The molecular basis of human transcription-coupled DNA repair.Nature cell biology · 2025Review
- Cryo-EM uncovers a sequential mechanism for RNA polymerase I pausing and stalling at abasic DNA lesions.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Domain acquisition enabled functional expansion of the TFIIS transcription factor family.Cell & bioscience · 2025Review
- Structural insights into CDF1 accumulation on the CONSTANS promoter via a plant-specific DNA-binding domain.Nature plants · 2025Article
165 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
During gene transcription, RNA polymerase (Pol) II moves forwards along DNA and synthesizes messenger RNA. However, at certain DNA sequences, Pol II moves backwards, and such backtracking can arrest transcription. Arrested Pol II is reactivated by transcription factor IIS (TFIIS), which induces RNA cleavage that is required for cell viability. Pol II arrest and reactivation are involved in transcription through nucleosomes and in promoter-proximal gene regulation. Here we present X-ray structures at 3.3 Å resolution of an arrested Saccharomyces cerevisiae Pol II complex with DNA and RNA, and of a reactivation intermediate that additionally contains TFIIS. In the arrested complex, eight nucleotides of backtracked RNA bind a conserved 'backtrack site' in the Pol II pore and funnel, trapping the active centre trigger loop and inhibiting mRNA elongation. In the reactivation intermediate, TFIIS locks the trigger loop away from backtracked RNA, displaces RNA from the backtrack site, and complements the polymerase active site with a basic and two acidic residues that may catalyse proton transfers during RNA cleavage. The active site is demarcated from the backtrack site by a 'gating tyrosine' residue that probably delimits backtracking. These results establish the structural basis of Pol II backtracking, arrest and reactivation, and provide a framework for analysing gene regulation during transcription elongation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.