Nucleosomes unwrapped: Structural perspectives on transcription through chromatin

Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2023 Aug 24;82:102690. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2023.102690. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTTranscription of most protein-coding genes requires the passage of RNA polymerase II through chromatin. Chromatin with its fundamental unit, the nucleosome, represents a barrier to transcription. How RNA polymerase II and associated factors traverse through nucleosomes and how chromatin architecture is maintained have remained largely enigmatic. Only recently, cryo-EM structures have visualized the transcription process through chromatin. These structures have elucidated how transcription initiation and transcription elongation influence and are influenced by a chromatinized DNA substrate. This review provides a summary of our current structural understanding of transcription through chromatin, highlighting common mechanisms during nucleosomal traversal and novel regulatory mechanisms that have emerged in the last five years.PMID:37633188 | DOI:10.1016/j.sbi.2023.102690

Source: Current Opinion in Structural Biology - August 26, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Lucas Farnung Source Type: research