According to the transcription factory model, localized transcription sites composed of immobilized polymerase molecules transcribe chromatin by reeling it through the transcription site and extruding it to form a surrounding domain of recently transcribed decondensed chromatin. Although transcription sites have been identified in various cells, surrounding domains of recently transcribed decondensed chromatin have not. We report evidence that transcription sites associated with a tandem gene array in mouse cells are indeed surrounded by or adjacent to a domain of decondensed chromatin composed of sequences from the gene array. Formation of this decondensed domain requires transcription and topoisomerase IIα activity. The decondensed domain is enriched for the trimethyl H3K36 mark that is associated with recently transcribed chromatin in yeast and several mammalian systems. Consistent with this, chromatin immunoprecipitation demonstrates a comparable enrichment of this mark in transcribed sequences at the tandem gene array. These results provide new support for the pol II factory model, in which an immobilized polymerase molecule extrudes decondensed, transcribed sequences into its surroundings.
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18 June 2007
Article|
June 18 2007
Organization of chromatin and histone modifications at a transcription site
Waltraud G. Müller,
Waltraud G. Müller
1Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892
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Dietmar Rieder,
Dietmar Rieder
2Christian Doppler Laboratory for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Institute for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Graz University of Technology, 8010 Graz, Austria
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Tatiana S. Karpova,
Tatiana S. Karpova
1Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892
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Sam John,
Sam John
1Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892
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Zlatko Trajanoski,
Zlatko Trajanoski
2Christian Doppler Laboratory for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Institute for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Graz University of Technology, 8010 Graz, Austria
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James G. McNally
James G. McNally
1Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892
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Waltraud G. Müller
1Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892
Dietmar Rieder
2Christian Doppler Laboratory for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Institute for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Graz University of Technology, 8010 Graz, Austria
Tatiana S. Karpova
1Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892
Sam John
1Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892
Zlatko Trajanoski
2Christian Doppler Laboratory for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Institute for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Graz University of Technology, 8010 Graz, Austria
James G. McNally
1Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892
Correspondence to James G. McNally: [email protected]
Abbreviations used in this paper: BrUTP, bromo-UTP; ChIP, chromatin immunoprecipitation; GR, glucocorticoid receptor; MMTV, mouse mammary tumor virus.
Received:
March 26 2007
Accepted:
May 17 2007
Online ISSN: 1540-8140
Print ISSN: 0021-9525
The Rockefeller University Press
2007
J Cell Biol (2007) 177 (6): 957–967.
Article history
Received:
March 26 2007
Accepted:
May 17 2007
Citation
Waltraud G. Müller, Dietmar Rieder, Tatiana S. Karpova, Sam John, Zlatko Trajanoski, James G. McNally; Organization of chromatin and histone modifications at a transcription site . J Cell Biol 18 June 2007; 177 (6): 957–967. doi: https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200703157
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