Eukaryotic gene transcription is often controlled at the level of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) pausing in the promoter-proximal region. Pausing Pol II limits the frequency of transcription initiation (pause-initiation limit), predicting that the pause duration must be decreased for transcriptional activation. To test this prediction, we conducted a genome-wide kinetic analysis of the heat shock response in human cells. We show that the pause-initiation limit restricts transcriptional activation at most genes. Gene activation generally requires the activity of the P-TEFb kinase CDK9, which decreases the duration of Pol II pausing and thereby enables an increase in the productive initiation frequency. The transcription of enhancer elements is generally not pause-limited and can be activated without CDK9 activity. Our results define the kinetics of Pol II transcriptional regulation in human cells at all gene classes during a natural transcription response. SOURCE: Björn Schwalb (bschwal@gwdg.de) -  MPI

Pluto Bioinformatics

GSE123980: The pause-initiation limit restricts transcription activation in human cells