Chromatin and DNA sequences in defining promoters for transcription initiation

Ferenc Müller, Làszlò Tora

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

39 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

One of the key events in eukaryotic gene regulation and consequent transcription is the assembly of general transcription factors and RNA polymerase II into a functional pre-initiation complex at core promoters. An emerging view of complexity arising from a variety of promoter associated DNA motifs, their binding factors and recent discoveries in characterising promoter associated chromatin properties brings an old question back into the limelight: how is a promoter defined? In addition to position-dependent DNA sequence motifs, accumulating evidence suggests that several parallel acting mechanisms are involved in orchestrating a pattern marked by the state of chromatin and general transcription factor binding in preparation for defining transcription start sites. In this review we attempt to summarise these promoter features and discuss the available evidence pointing at their interactions in defining transcription initiation in developmental contexts. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Chromatin and epigenetic regulation of animal development.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)118-28
Number of pages11
JournalBiochimica et Biophysica Acta
Volume1839
Issue number3
Early online date22 Nov 2013
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2014

Keywords

  • Epigenetic mark
  • Nucleosome depleted region
  • CpG island
  • Core promoter
  • RNA polymerase II
  • Transcription initiation

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