RESUMO
For the initiation of transcription, RNA polymerase II (Pol II) assembles with general transcription factors on promoter DNA to form the pre-initiation complex (PIC). Here we report cryo-electron microscopy structures of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae PIC and PIC-core Mediator complex at nominal resolutions of 4.7 Å and 5.8 Å, respectively. The structures reveal transcription factor IIH (TFIIH), and suggest how the core and kinase TFIIH modules function in the opening of promoter DNA and the phosphorylation of Pol II, respectively. The TFIIH core subunit Ssl2 (a homologue of human XPB) is positioned on downstream DNA by the 'E-bridge' helix in TFIIE, consistent with TFIIE-stimulated DNA opening. The TFIIH kinase module subunit Tfb3 (MAT1 in human) anchors the kinase Kin28 (CDK7), which is mobile in the PIC but preferentially located between the Mediator hook and shoulder in the PIC-core Mediator complex. Open spaces between the Mediator head and middle modules may allow access of the kinase to its substrate, the C-terminal domain of Pol II.
Assuntos
Microscopia Crioeletrônica , Complexo Mediador/química , Complexo Mediador/ultraestrutura , Saccharomyces cerevisiae , Fatores de Transcrição TFII/química , Fatores de Transcrição TFII/ultraestrutura , Iniciação da Transcrição Genética , DNA/química , DNA/genética , DNA/metabolismo , Complexo Mediador/metabolismo , Modelos Moleculares , Fosforilação , Regiões Promotoras Genéticas , Ligação Proteica , Subunidades Proteicas/química , Subunidades Proteicas/metabolismo , RNA Polimerase II/metabolismo , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/química , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/enzimologia , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/ultraestrutura , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/química , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismo , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/ultraestrutura , Fatores de Transcrição TFII/metabolismoRESUMO
Transcription of eukaryotic protein-coding genes begins with assembly of the RNA polymerase (Pol) II initiation complex and promoter DNA opening. Here we report cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of yeast initiation complexes containing closed and open DNA at resolutions of 8.8 Å and 3.6 Å, respectively. DNA is positioned and retained over the Pol II cleft by a network of interactions between the TATA-box-binding protein TBP and transcription factors TFIIA, TFIIB, TFIIE, and TFIIF. DNA opening occurs around the tip of the Pol II clamp and the TFIIE 'extended winged helix' domain, and can occur in the absence of TFIIH. Loading of the DNA template strand into the active centre may be facilitated by movements of obstructing protein elements triggered by allosteric binding of the TFIIE 'E-ribbon' domain. The results suggest a unified model for transcription initiation with a key event, the trapping of open promoter DNA by extended protein-protein and protein-DNA contacts.
