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Human promoters are intrinsically directional.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Duttke, SHC; Lacadie, SA; Ibrahim, MM; Glass, CK; Corcoran, DL; Benner, C; Heinz, S; Kadonaga, JT; Ohler, U
Published in: Mol Cell
February 19, 2015

Divergent transcription, in which reverse-oriented transcripts occur upstream of eukaryotic promoters in regions devoid of annotated genes, has been suggested to be a general property of active promoters. Here we show that the human basal RNA polymerase II transcriptional machinery and core promoter are inherently unidirectional and that reverse-oriented transcripts originate from their own cognate reverse-directed core promoters. In vitro transcription analysis and mapping of nascent transcripts in HeLa cells revealed that sequences at reverse start sites are similar to those of their forward counterparts. The use of DNase I accessibility to define proximal promoter borders revealed that about half of promoters are unidirectional and that unidirectional promoters are depleted at their upstream edges of reverse core promoter sequences and their associated chromatin features. Divergent transcription is thus not an inherent property of the transcription process but rather the consequence of the presence of both forward- and reverse-directed core promoters.

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Published In

Mol Cell

DOI

EISSN

1097-4164

Publication Date

February 19, 2015

Volume

57

Issue

4

Start / End Page

674 / 684

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Transcription, Genetic
  • Transcription Initiation Site
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • RNA Polymerase II
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic
  • Models, Genetic
  • Humans
  • Hela Cells
  • HeLa Cells
  • Developmental Biology
 

Citation

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Duttke, S. H. C., Lacadie, S. A., Ibrahim, M. M., Glass, C. K., Corcoran, D. L., Benner, C., … Ohler, U. (2015). Human promoters are intrinsically directional. Mol Cell, 57(4), 674–684. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2014.12.029
Duttke, Sascha H. C., Scott A. Lacadie, Mahmoud M. Ibrahim, Christopher K. Glass, David L. Corcoran, Christopher Benner, Sven Heinz, James T. Kadonaga, and Uwe Ohler. “Human promoters are intrinsically directional.Mol Cell 57, no. 4 (February 19, 2015): 674–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2014.12.029.
Duttke SHC, Lacadie SA, Ibrahim MM, Glass CK, Corcoran DL, Benner C, et al. Human promoters are intrinsically directional. Mol Cell. 2015 Feb 19;57(4):674–84.
Duttke, Sascha H. C., et al. “Human promoters are intrinsically directional.Mol Cell, vol. 57, no. 4, Feb. 2015, pp. 674–84. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2014.12.029.
Duttke SHC, Lacadie SA, Ibrahim MM, Glass CK, Corcoran DL, Benner C, Heinz S, Kadonaga JT, Ohler U. Human promoters are intrinsically directional. Mol Cell. 2015 Feb 19;57(4):674–684.
Journal cover image

Published In

Mol Cell

DOI

EISSN

1097-4164

Publication Date

February 19, 2015

Volume

57

Issue

4

Start / End Page

674 / 684

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Transcription, Genetic
  • Transcription Initiation Site
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • RNA Polymerase II
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic
  • Models, Genetic
  • Humans
  • Hela Cells
  • HeLa Cells
  • Developmental Biology