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Fast transcription rates of RNA polymerase II in human cells
Author(s) -
Maiuri Paolo,
Knezevich Anna,
De Marco Alex,
Mazza Davide,
Kula Anna,
McNally Jim G,
Marcello Alessandro
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
embo reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.584
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1469-3178
pISSN - 1469-221X
DOI - 10.1038/embor.2011.196
Subject(s) - rna polymerase ii , transcription (linguistics) , polymerase , rna , fluorescence recovery after photobleaching , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , gene expression , genetics , dna , gene , promoter , linguistics , philosophy , membrane
Averaged estimates of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) elongation rates in mammalian cells have been shown to range between 1.3 and 4.3 kb min −1 . In this work, nascent RNAs from an integrated human immunodeficiency virus type 1‐derived vector were detectable at the single living cell level by fluorescent RNA tagging. At steady state, a constant number of RNAs was measured corresponding to a minimal density of polymerases with negligible fluctuations over time. Recovery of fluorescence after photobleaching was complete within seconds, indicating a high rate of RNA biogenesis. The calculated transcription rate above 50 kb min −1 points towards a wide dynamic range of RNAPII velocities in living cells.