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Editorial
. 2023 May 11:12:e88396.
doi: 10.7554/eLife.88396.

Getting off to a good start

Igor Martianov  1 , Irwin Davidson  1
Affiliations
Editorial

Getting off to a good start

Igor Martianov et al. Elife. .

Abstract

RNA polymerase II transcription can efficiently occur when mouse embryonic stem cells lack TBP and TBP-like proteins, confirming that this initiation factor may not be as essential as once thought.

Keywords: chromosomes; degron; embryonic stem cells; gene expression; genomics; mouse; transcription.

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Conflict of interest statement

IM, ID No competing interests declared

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Transcription can take place without TBP in mouse embryonic stem cells.
Before a gene can be transcribed (top panel), the preinitiation complex must assemble around the site where transcription begins (indicated by an arrow). The complex is made up of a number of components, including the enzyme RNA polymerase II (Pol II; purple), TBP (red), TFIIA (IIA; dark blue), TFIIB (IIB; light blue), TFIID (dark green), and other general transcription factors (GTFs; light green). Kwan, Nguyen et al. found that breaking down the protein TBP using an auxin-inducible degradation system (AID; lime green) did not impact the formation of the preinitiation complex or stop RNA polymerase II from transcribing genes (bottom panel). Abbreviations: TBP (TATA-element binding protein); TFIIA (transcription factor II A); TFIIA (transcription factor II B); TFIID (transcription factor II D).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

References

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