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. 2014;5(3):e28636.
doi: 10.4161/trns.28636.

Interplay between DNA supercoiling and transcription elongation

Jie Ma  1 , Michelle Wang
Affiliations

Interplay between DNA supercoiling and transcription elongation

Jie Ma et al. Transcription. 2014.

Abstract

Transcription-coupled DNA supercoiling has been shown to be an important regulator of transcription that is broadly present in the cell. Here we review experimental work which shows that RNA polymerase is a powerful torsional motor that can alter DNA topology and structure, and DNA supercoiling in turn directly affects transcription elongation.

Keywords: DNA supercoiling; E. coli RNA polymerase; angular optical trap; single molecule; torque; torsional motor; transcription; twin supercoiled domain model.

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Figures

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Figure 1. Examples of regulatory roles of transcription-coupled DNA supercoiling. (A) (−) supercoiling facilitates promoter coupling and divergent transcription. (B) (−) supercoiling contributes to the melting of the same promoter and encourages subsequent transcription. (C) (−) supercoiling promotes the formation of an R-Loop (extensive RNA-DNA hybrid). (D) Accumulated (−) supercoiling upstream and (+) supercoiling downstream can cause RNAP to stall. (E) (−) supercoiling upstream facilitates the formation of non-B DNA structures which can attract regulatory proteins. (F) (+) supercoiling downstream can destabilize nucleosome structures and (−) supercoiling upstream can facilitate the re-assembly of nucleosome.
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References

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