Lecture 18 Flashcards
How does eukaryotic and prokaryotic transcription differ?
- Eukaryotes have a nucleus so transcription and translation are not coupled
- Eukaryotes have chromatin - the transcription machinery must work around nucleosomes. (DNAse I “hypersensitivity” is used to identify transcriptionally activeregions of interphase chromatin – identifies regions that are not protected byregularly-spaced nucleosomes.)
- Eukaryotes have more complex processing of mRNAs:5’ capping, 3’ poly A tails, splicing out of intron sequences
How many different RNA polymerases (RNAPs) do Eukaryotes have?
3
Fxn of RNA pol I
(RNAP I) synthesizes rRNA ( 18S, 5.8S, and 28S) ➞ part of ribosomes
Fxn of RNA pol 2
synthesizes mRNA ➞ proteins
Fxn of RNA pol 3
synthesizes tRNA (adaptor for protein synthesis), 5S RNA (part of ribosomes)
How much of total RNA is rRNA, tRNA, mRNA?
~80% of the total RNAin rapidly growing mammalian cells is rRNA and 15% is tRNA;protein-coding mRNA constitutes only a smallportion of the total RNA but is very diverse.
Where are RNAP I, II, III found?
- I is in nucleolus
- II and III is in nucleoplasm
Effects of alpha-amanitin on RNAP I,III, III?
- I is insensitive
- II is strongly inhibited
- III is inhibited by high concentrations
Effect of alpha-amanitin on RNAP II during transcription?
arrests RNAP II
during the elongation phase of transcription.
How is using alpha-amanitin useful?
can be used to determinewhich RNA polymerase is responsible for transcribing a given RNA in vivo
What do eukaryotic RNAPs need in order to bind DNA promoters?
Transcription factors
Role of various TFs?
- Some bind DNA and help RNA pol to bind (i.e., they stabilize RNA polymerase binding, like CRP in prokaryotes);
- Some enhance transcription via protein-protein interactions
- Different TFs often act together to influence transcription.
What does it mean that TFs are species-specific?
recognize
promoters in their
own species
In eukaryotes, what provides specificity? How does this differ compared to prokaryotes?
TFs, rather than the
RNAPs, provide
specificity for a given
promoter
What is the nucleolus?
a large non-membrane bound structure within the nucleus that synthesizes and assembles ribosomes
How many subunits does RNA pol I have? How big is it?
- large complex, contains 13 subunits, 600 kDa
How many ribosomes does RNA pol I need to make for each cell generation?
10,000,000
All 3 rRNAs (18S, 5.8S, 28S) are transcribed as what first?
- transcribed as a single “45S” precursor RNA
When is 45S cleaved and where?
during ribosome
assembly - multi-step processing
- occurs in
the nucleolus
How many subunits does RNA III have? How big is it?
- largest, 700 kDa
- most complex of the RNAPs: 14 subunits
How many 5S rRNA gene in cell?
500-20,000 copies
What do 5S rRNA and all tRNAs have in common?
small, do not encode proteins,and have unique regulatory sequences
What rRNA makes up 60S subunit of ribosome?
- 5S, 5.8S, 28S
All cellular proteins are derived from?
- mRNAs
Initially mRNA in eukaryotes are transcribed as what?
- hnRNA (heterogenous nuclear RNA) aka pre-mRNA aka primary RNA transcript
- unprocessed form of mRNA
pre-mRNA needs to have what done before it becomes mRNA?
- 5’ capping, intron splicing, 3’poly-adenylation
Eukaryotic and prokaryotic transcribed as monocistronic or polycistronic msgs?
- Eukaryotic = polycistonic; eukaryotic cells are generally not organized into operons: one promoter/one gene
- Prokaryotic cells are organized into operons (one promoter for many genes)
Steps to eukaryotic transcription?
- The TFIID complex binds to the TATA box via the TATA binding protein (TBP)
- Binding of TFIID enables TFIIA and TFIIB to bind.
- RNAP II and additional transcription factors, some of which are already associated with RNAP II, bind to the DNA-TF complex
-> closed complex. TFIIH is an ATP-dependent helicase that unwinds
the DNA at the Inr site for polymerization -> open complex. - TFIIH also phosphorylates the C-terminal domain (CTD) of RNAP II, which then clears the promoter and polymerization is initiated, with most of the TFs falling off. Phosphorylation regulates additional
factors (e.g., 5’-capping, splicing enzymes) binding to the CTD.
RNAP II-mediated transcription is normally regulated by?
2 control elements in the DNA:
- “promoter–proximal” are upstream (5’) of and close to the gene to be transcribed
- enhancer elements: DNA sequences distant from the promoter and gene
Promotor-proximal regions contain what?
- TATA box at -25 position (a core promoter element) with consensus sequence TATA(A)/(T)A
- CAAT box (consensus GCCCAATCT) 100-200 bp upstream of the transcription start site
First step in formation of transcription complex?
TATA box is bound by the RNAP II TF, TFIID via its TATA binding protein (TBP)
Where is DNA unwound?
- Initiator (Inr) sequence at +1 (transcription start site)
How many TFs bind to RNAP II promotor region and why?
multiple TFs bind to RNAP II promoter region and together affect the level of gene
expression, resulting in coordinated and effective regulation of transcription