ArticleNature communications2026
A single cluster of RNA Polymerase II molecules is stably associated with active genes.
Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Mechanisms and functional implications of long-range enhancer-dependent gene regulation.Nature genetics · 2026Review
- Simulation of transcription factor clustering in nuclei from molecular kinetics.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Hallmarks of glucocorticoid receptor condensates involvement in transcription regulation.iScience · 2025Article
- Transcription factor hubs exhibit gene-specific properties that tune expression.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
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Abstract
In eukaryotic nuclei, transcription is associated with the clustering of RNA Polymerase II (RNAPII) molecules. The mechanisms underlying cluster formation, their interactions with genes, and their impact on transcriptional activity remain heavily debated. Here, we take advantage of the naturally occurring increase in transcriptional activity during Zygotic Genome Activation (ZGA) in Drosophila melanogaster embryos to characterize the functional roles of RNAPII clusters in a developmental context. Using single-molecule tracking and lattice light-sheet microscopy, we find that RNAPII cluster formation depends on transcription initiation and that cluster lifetimes depend on transcriptional activity when not constrained by interphase duration. We show that single clusters are stably associated with active gene loci during transcription and that cluster intensities are strongly correlated with transcriptional output. Collectively, our data and simulations on cluster formation kinetics show that RNAPII clusters reflect local accumulations of transcriptionally engaged polymerases and do not form through higher-order mechanisms such as phase separation.
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