ArticleNature structural & molecular biology2026
Evolution of promoter-proximal pausing enabled a new layer of transcription control.
Article in Nature structural & molecular biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
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17 citing papers in PubMed.
- Structural basis for P-TEFb association with BRD4.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Accurate de novo transcription unit annotation from run-on and sequencing data.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- Evolutionary analysis of transcription elongation factors reveals conserved and lineage-specific regulatory domains.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Promoter proximal pausing of RNA polymerase across evolution.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2026Article
- Evolutionary conservation and innovations of RNA polymerase II transcription elongation factors.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Mouse promoters are characterised by low occupancy and high turnover of RNA polymerase II.Molecular systems biology · 2025Article
- The chromatin landscape of the histone-possessingGenome research · 2025Article
- Toward structural understanding of eukaryotic transcription elongation.Proceedings of the Japan Academy. Series B, Physical and biological sciences · 2025Review
- The CDK9-SPT5 Axis in Control of Transcription Elongation by RNAPII.Journal of molecular biology · 2025Review
- The PNUTS phosphatase complex controls transcription pause release.Molecular cell · 2024Article
- Distinct negative elongation factor conformations regulate RNA polymerase II promoter-proximal pausing.Molecular cell · 2024Article
- Article
- DNA-sequence and epigenomic determinants of local rates of transcription elongation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- The landscape of the histone-organized chromatin of Bdellovibrionota bacteria.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- RNA polymerase II pausing temporally coordinates cell cycle progression and erythroid differentiation.Developmental cell · 2023Article
- RNA Polymerase II pausing temporally coordinates cell cycle progression and erythroid differentiation.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
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Abstract
Promoter-proximal pausing of RNA polymerase (Pol) II is a key regulatory step during transcription. Despite the central role of pausing in gene regulation, we do not understand the evolutionary processes that led to the emergence of Pol II pausing or its transition to a rate-limiting step actively controlled by transcription factors. Here, we analyzed transcription in species across the tree of life. Unicellular eukaryotes display an accumulation of Pol II near transcription start sites, which we propose transitioned to the longer-lived, focused pause observed in metazoans. This transition coincided with the evolution of new subunits in the negative elongation factor (NELF) and 7SK complexes. Depletion of NELF in mammals shifted the promoter-proximal buildup of Pol II from the pause site into the early gene body and compromised transcriptional activation for a set of heat-shock genes. Our work details the evolutionary history of Pol II pausing and sheds light on how new transcriptional regulatory mechanisms evolve.
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