ArticleNature cell biology2024
The Polycomb system sustains promoters in a deep OFF state by limiting pre-initiation complex formation to counteract transcription.
Article in Nature cell biology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed.
- Polycomb Group Proteins inBiology · 2026Review
- Enhancer control of promoter activity and variability via frequency modulation of clustered transcriptional bursts.Nature genetics · 2026Article
- Selective interaction of SMCHD1 with chromatin is governed by LRIF1 and SMCHD1 ATPase activity.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Sustained PRC1.1 activity preserves gene repression independently of PRC2.2 and restrains leukemic cell differentiation.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Decoupling between activation time and steady-state level in input-output responses.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- Graded versus ON/OFF control in quantitative gene expression and epigenetic memory.The EMBO journal · 2026Review
- Polycomb-mediated 3D chromatin interactions in gene regulation.Current opinion in genetics & development · 2026Review
- Live-cell single-molecule dynamics of eukaryotic RNA polymerase machineries.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Article
- Polycomb repressive-deubiquitinase complex safeguards oocyte epigenome and female fertility by restraining Polycomb activity.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Distinct SOX9 single-molecule dynamics characterize adult differentiation and fetal-like reprogrammed states in intestinal organoids.Stem cell reports · 2026Article
- Genome-wide screenings identify BAP1 as a synthetic-lethality target with CDK4/6 inhibitors.Science advances · 2026Article
- Chromatin folding by the Polycomb group proteins and its elusive role in epigenetic repression.The FEBS journal · 2026Review
- Visualizing genetic information flow in space and time.Science China. Life sciences · 2025Review
- H3K27me3 chromatin heterogeneity reveals variable cell responses to estrogen and endocrine treatment.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Decoupling between activation time and steady-state level in input-output responses.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Timing is everything: transcription bursting in development.Genes & development · 2025Review
- Mapping early PRC2 nucleation sites upon Suz12 reintroduction reveals features ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Coordinated active repression operates via transcription factor cooperativity and multiple inactive promoter states in a developing organism.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Article
- Single-molecule analysis reveals the mechanism of chromatin ubiquitylation by variant PRC1 complexes.Science advances · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The Polycomb system has fundamental roles in regulating gene expression during mammalian development. However, how it controls transcription to enable gene repression has remained enigmatic. Here, using rapid degron-based depletion coupled with live-cell transcription imaging and single-particle tracking, we show how the Polycomb system controls transcription in single cells. We discover that the Polycomb system is not a constitutive block to transcription but instead sustains a long-lived deep promoter OFF state, which limits the frequency with which the promoter can enter into a transcribing state. We demonstrate that Polycomb sustains this deep promoter OFF state by counteracting the binding of factors that enable early transcription pre-initiation complex formation and show that this is necessary for gene repression. Together, these important discoveries provide a rationale for how the Polycomb system controls transcription and suggests a universal mechanism that could enable the Polycomb system to constrain transcription across diverse cellular contexts.
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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.