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Function of TAFII-containing complex without TBP in transcription by RNA polymerase II

Nature volume 393, pages 187–191 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Initiation of transcription of a gene from a core promoter region by RNA polymerase II requires the assembly of several initiation factors to form a preinitiation complex. Assembly of this complex1,2 is thought to be nucleated exclusively by the sequence-specific binding of the TFIID transcription factor complex, which is composed of the TATA-binding protein (TBP) and TBP-associated factors (TAFIIs) (refs 3, 4), to the different promoters. Here we isolate and characterize a new multiprotein complex that does not contain either TBP or a TBP-like factor but is composed of several TAFIIs and other proteins. This complex can replace TFIID on both TATA-containing and TATA-lacking promoters in in vitro transcription assays. Moreover, an anti-TBP antibody that inhibits TBP- and TFIID-dependent transcription does not inhibit activity of this new complex. These results indicate that TBP-free RNA polymerase II mediated transcription may be able to occur in mammalian cells and that multiple preinitiation complexes may play an important role in regulating gene expression.

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Figure 1: Purification of TFTC.
Figure 2: TFTC functions in basal and activated Pol II mediated transcription.
Figure 3: TFTC recognizes the AdMLP.

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Acknowledgements

We thank P. Chambon for support; J. C. Dantonel for help in identification and cloning of hTLF; E. Scheer for technical assistance; Y. Lutz for antibodies; D. Boam, V. Dubrovskaya, A. C. Lavigne, G. Mengus, I. Davidson and the IMAGE Consortium for reagents; H. T. M. Timmers for antibodies and for discussing unpublished results; A. Bertolotti for discussions; D. J. Heard for discussions and reading the manuscript; P. Eberling for peptide synthesis; the cell culture group for HeLa cells; R.Buchert, J.-M. Lafontaine and B. Boulay for illustrations; and A. Ozyhar for his contribution to the training of E.W. E.W. was supported by a fellowship from the Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche. Research was supported by grants from the CNRS, the INSERM, the Hôpital Universitaire de Strasbourg, the Ministère de la Recherche et Technologie, the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale and the Association pour la Recherche contre le Cancer.

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  1. Elzbieta Wieczorek

    Present address: Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, 401 College Street, Richmond, Virginia, 23298, USA

  2. Xavier Jacq

    Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, 1212 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, New York, 10027, USA

  3. Elzbieta Wieczorek and Marjorie Brand: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, CNRS/INSERM/ULP, BP 163, Illkirch Cedex, F-67404, CU de Strasbourg, France

    Elzbieta Wieczorek, Marjorie Brand, Xavier Jacq & László Tora

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  1. Elzbieta Wieczorek
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Correspondence to László Tora.

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Wieczorek, E., Brand, M., Jacq, X. et al. Function of TAFII-containing complex without TBP in transcription by RNA polymerase II. Nature 393, 187–191 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/30283

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