RNA polymerase II-binding aptamers in human ACRO1 satellites disrupt transcription in cis

Jennifer L Boots, Frederike von Pelchrzim, Adam Weiss, Bob Zimmermann, Theres Friesacher, Maximilian Radtke, Marek Żywicki, Doris Chen, Katarzyna Matylla-Kulińska, Bojan Zagrovic, Renée Schroeder (Corresponding author)

Publications: Contribution to journalArticlePeer Reviewed

Abstract

Transcription elongation is a highly regulated process affected by many proteins, RNAs and the underlying DNA. Here we show that the nascent RNA can interfere with transcription in human cells, extending our previous findings from bacteria and yeast. We identified a variety of Pol II-binding aptamers (RAPs), prominent in repeat elements such as ACRO1 satellites, LINE1 retrotransposons and CA simple repeats, and also in several protein-coding genes. ACRO1 repeat, when translated in silico, exhibits ~50% identity with the Pol II CTD sequence. Taken together with the observation that proteins in general tend to interact with RNAs similar to their cognate mRNAs, this suggests a mechanism for RAP binding. Using a reporter construct, we show that ACRO1 potently inhibits Pol II elongation in cis. We propose a novel mode of transcriptional regulation in humans, in which the nascent RNA binds Pol II to silence its own expression.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)217-229
Number of pages13
JournalTranscription
Volume11
Issue number5
Early online date14 Jul 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

  • 106013 Genetics
  • 106052 Cell biology

Keywords

  • COGNATE PROTEINS
  • COLI
  • COMPLEMENTARY INTERACTIONS
  • ELONGATION
  • EVOLUTION
  • MESSENGER-RNAS
  • RNA aptamers
  • RNA polymerase II
  • Transcription
  • regulatory RNAs
  • repeats
  • silencing

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