Pol II phosphorylation regulates a switch between transcriptional and splicing condensates

The synthesis of pre-mRNA by RNA polymerase II (Pol II) involves the formation of a transcription initiation complex, and a transition to an elongation complex1–4. The large subunit of Pol II contains an intrinsically disordered C-terminal domain that is phosphorylated by cyclin-dependent kinases du...

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Main Authors: Manteiga, John Colonnese, Spille, Jan Hendrik, Afeyan, Lena K., Zamudio Montes de Oca, Alicia, Shrinivas, Krishna, Cisse, Ibrahim I, Sharp, Phillip A., Young, Richard A.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2020
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/124351
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author Manteiga, John Colonnese
Spille, Jan Hendrik
Afeyan, Lena K.
Zamudio Montes de Oca, Alicia
Shrinivas, Krishna
Cisse, Ibrahim I
Sharp, Phillip A.
Young, Richard A.
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
Manteiga, John Colonnese
Spille, Jan Hendrik
Afeyan, Lena K.
Zamudio Montes de Oca, Alicia
Shrinivas, Krishna
Cisse, Ibrahim I
Sharp, Phillip A.
Young, Richard A.
author_sort Manteiga, John Colonnese
collection MIT
description The synthesis of pre-mRNA by RNA polymerase II (Pol II) involves the formation of a transcription initiation complex, and a transition to an elongation complex1–4. The large subunit of Pol II contains an intrinsically disordered C-terminal domain that is phosphorylated by cyclin-dependent kinases during the transition from initiation to elongation, thus influencing the interaction of the C-terminal domain with different components of the initiation or the RNA-splicing apparatus5,6. Recent observations suggest that this model provides only a partial picture of the effects of phosphorylation of the C-terminal domain7–12. Both the transcription-initiation machinery and the splicing machinery can form phase-separated condensates that contain large numbers of component molecules: hundreds of molecules of Pol II and mediator are concentrated in condensates at super-enhancers7,8, and large numbers of splicing factors are concentrated in nuclear speckles, some of which occur at highly active transcription sites9–12. Here we investigate whether the phosphorylation of the Pol II C-terminal domain regulates the incorporation of Pol II into phase-separated condensates that are associated with transcription initiation and splicing. We find that the hypophosphorylated C-terminal domain of Pol II is incorporated into mediator condensates and that phosphorylation by regulatory cyclin-dependent kinases reduces this incorporation. We also find that the hyperphosphorylated C-terminal domain is preferentially incorporated into condensates that are formed by splicing factors. These results suggest that phosphorylation of the Pol II C-terminal domain drives an exchange from condensates that are involved in transcription initiation to those that are involved in RNA processing, and implicates phosphorylation as a mechanism that regulates condensate preference.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1243512022-09-26T13:45:09Z Pol II phosphorylation regulates a switch between transcriptional and splicing condensates Manteiga, John Colonnese Spille, Jan Hendrik Afeyan, Lena K. Zamudio Montes de Oca, Alicia Shrinivas, Krishna Cisse, Ibrahim I Sharp, Phillip A. Young, Richard A. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Medical Engineering & Science Multidisciplinary The synthesis of pre-mRNA by RNA polymerase II (Pol II) involves the formation of a transcription initiation complex, and a transition to an elongation complex1–4. The large subunit of Pol II contains an intrinsically disordered C-terminal domain that is phosphorylated by cyclin-dependent kinases during the transition from initiation to elongation, thus influencing the interaction of the C-terminal domain with different components of the initiation or the RNA-splicing apparatus5,6. Recent observations suggest that this model provides only a partial picture of the effects of phosphorylation of the C-terminal domain7–12. Both the transcription-initiation machinery and the splicing machinery can form phase-separated condensates that contain large numbers of component molecules: hundreds of molecules of Pol II and mediator are concentrated in condensates at super-enhancers7,8, and large numbers of splicing factors are concentrated in nuclear speckles, some of which occur at highly active transcription sites9–12. Here we investigate whether the phosphorylation of the Pol II C-terminal domain regulates the incorporation of Pol II into phase-separated condensates that are associated with transcription initiation and splicing. We find that the hypophosphorylated C-terminal domain of Pol II is incorporated into mediator condensates and that phosphorylation by regulatory cyclin-dependent kinases reduces this incorporation. We also find that the hyperphosphorylated C-terminal domain is preferentially incorporated into condensates that are formed by splicing factors. These results suggest that phosphorylation of the Pol II C-terminal domain drives an exchange from condensates that are involved in transcription initiation to those that are involved in RNA processing, and implicates phosphorylation as a mechanism that regulates condensate preference. National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant GM123511) National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grant PHY1743900) National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant grant R01-GM034277) German Research Foundation (Postdoctoral Fellowship SP 1680/1-1) 2020-03-26T12:17:58Z 2020-03-26T12:17:58Z 2019-08 2020-02-19T19:07:28Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0028-0836 1476-4687 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/124351 Yang Eric Guo et al. "Pol II phosphorylation regulates a switch between transcriptional and splicing condensates." Nature 572(2019): 543-548 © 2018 The Author(s) en 10.1038/s41586-019-1464-0 Nautre Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf Springer Science and Business Media LLC PMC
spellingShingle Multidisciplinary
Manteiga, John Colonnese
Spille, Jan Hendrik
Afeyan, Lena K.
Zamudio Montes de Oca, Alicia
Shrinivas, Krishna
Cisse, Ibrahim I
Sharp, Phillip A.
Young, Richard A.
Pol II phosphorylation regulates a switch between transcriptional and splicing condensates
title Pol II phosphorylation regulates a switch between transcriptional and splicing condensates
title_full Pol II phosphorylation regulates a switch between transcriptional and splicing condensates
title_fullStr Pol II phosphorylation regulates a switch between transcriptional and splicing condensates
title_full_unstemmed Pol II phosphorylation regulates a switch between transcriptional and splicing condensates
title_short Pol II phosphorylation regulates a switch between transcriptional and splicing condensates
title_sort pol ii phosphorylation regulates a switch between transcriptional and splicing condensates
topic Multidisciplinary
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/124351
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