Chinese Journal of Nature ›› 2023, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (2): 79-88.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2023.02.001

• Invited Special Paper •     Next Articles

Assembly and promoter recognition mechanisms of pretranscriptional initiation complexes

CHEN Xizi, XU Yanhui   

  1. Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center/Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
  • Received:2022-12-19 Online:2023-04-23 Published:2023-04-23

Abstract: As the key step of the genetic central dogma, transcription generates RNA using DNA as template to control differential gene expression. The transcription initiation occurs in highly diverse promoter regions of tens of thousands of different genes. The preinitiation complex (PIC) assembly on core promoter is a key step of eukaryotic transcription initiation and requires precise regulation. Previous structural studies focused on PIC assembled on TATA box promoters with TFIID replaced by its subunit, TATA box-binding protein (TBP). However, the TFIID complex is essential for PIC assembly for almost all Pol II-mediated transcription, especially on the TATA-less promoters, which account for more than 85% of core promoters of human coding genes. The functions of TFIID could not be replaced by TBP. The recent breakthrough in structure determination of TFIID-based PIC complexes in different assembly stages and in complex of the +1 nucleosome revealed mechanistic insights into PIC assembly on core promotes and in the context of chromatin, providing a framework for further investigation of transcription initiation.