Journal
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Volume 412, Issue 5, Pages 772-781Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2011.06.015
Keywords
RNA polymerase; small RNA; priming of transcription initiation with small RNAs; high-throughput sequencing; nanoRNA
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Funding
- National Institutes of Health [GM096454]
- Pew Scholars Award
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It has been widely assumed that all transcription in cells occur using NTPs only (i.e., de novo). However, it has been known for several decades that both prokaryotic and eukaryotic RNA polymerases can utilize small (2 to similar to 5 nt) RNAs to prime transcription initiation in vitro, raising the possibility that small RNAs might also prime transcription initiation in vivo. A new study by Goldman et al. has now provided the first evidence that priming with so-called nanoRNAs (i.e., 2 to similar to 5 nt RNAs) can, in fact, occur in vivo. Furthermore, this study provides evidence that altering the extent of nanoRNA-mediated priming of transcription initiation can profoundly influence global gene expression. In this perspective, we summarize the findings of Goldman et al. and discuss the prospect that nanoRNA-mediated priming of transcription initiation represents an underappreciated aspect of gene expression in vivo. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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