Study Reveals Mechanics of Gene Transcription

Scientists have believed that the molecular machineries behind transcription, the process wherein the genetic information contained by a DNA strand is transferred to a messenger RNA, are stationed on discrete units that are clustered in the cell nucleus. These units, called “transcription factories”, are the sites of action of the RNA polymerase II (Pol II), the key enzyme in the process. However, a recent study conducted by scientists from Cornell University have shown that Pol II assemble at the actual site of an activated gene, unlike what was previously assumed.

The scientists employed multiphoton microscopy, a technique that allows 3D imaging in living cells, to monitor real-time gene transcription. They also tagged Pol II with a fluorescent dye to track its movements within the nucleus. They found out that instead of the activated genes collecting in the transcription factories, it is the transcription machineries that assemble at the activated locus, regardless of its position in the nucleus. The scientists are now looking at other molecules involved in transcription to see if they behave similarly.

 Read more at http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Jan08/Webb.Lis.htmlThe abstract of the paper published by Molecular Cell is available at http://www.molecule.org/content/article/abstract?uid=PIIS1097276507006995