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HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY article

Front. Epigenet. Epigenom.
Sec. Chromatin Epigenomics
Volume 2 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/freae.2024.1439973
This article is part of the Research Topic Studies in RNA-Chromatin Interactions View all articles

A hypothetical model: Chromatin Remodelers Couple with Acetyltransferases to Trigger the Elongation of RNA Polymerase II (Pol II)

Provisionally accepted
Gongyi Zhang Gongyi Zhang *
  • National Jewish Health (United States), Denver, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Transcription is one of the central dogmas of life. Most genes in eukaryotes are transcribed by RNA polymerase II (Pol II). For Pol II to transcribe along the gene body, it must overcome nucleosomes, which are barriers for Pol II. It is still a mystery how Pol II ejects nucleosomes during transcription elongation. I hypothesize that a group of chromatin remodelers (SWI/SNF, RSC, SWR1, INO80) carry a group of histone acetyltransferases (NuA4, SAGA, NuA3) to deposit acetyl-groups on histone tails to generate pan-acetylated nucleosomes or fragile nucleosomes along gene bodies for Pol II to transcribe. Specifically, for the first round of transcription, the RSC complex works with NuA4 to acetylate histone tails of H2A and H4; the SWI/SNF complex carries SAGA to add acetyl-groups to histone tails of H2B and H3. For the second and subsequent rounds, SWR1 pairs with a piccolo NuA4 to acetylate the histone tails of H2A and H4 of newly inserted nucleosomes, while INO80 pairs with NuA3 to acetylate the histone tails of H2B and H3 within newly inserted nucleosomes along the gene body. After the mission is accomplished, ISW1b couples with Rpd3s to remove acetyl groups on H2A and H4, while CHD1 carries HDA1 along the gene body to remove acetyl groups on H2B and H3.

    Keywords: RNA polymerase II (Pol II), transcription, SWI/SNF, RSC, INO80, SWR1, CHD1/3/4, Spt4/5

    Received: 28 May 2024; Accepted: 10 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Gongyi Zhang, National Jewish Health (United States), Denver, United States

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