Maldonado E, Reinberg D
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscataway 08854-5635, USA.
Curr Opin Cell Biol. 1995 Jun;7(3):352-61. doi: 10.1016/0955-0674(95)80090-5.
Transcription by RNA polymerase II is a complex process that requires additional factors to initiate transcription at the promoters. New developments in the past year have furthered our understanding of the functions of the transcription factors and provided more insights into the mechanisms involved in the regulation of initiation and elongation of transcription. One of the most significant advances of the past year was the discovery of the involvement of the general transcription factor TFIIH in DNA excision repair. Surprisingly, studies aimed at identifying the kinase activity within TFIIH responsible for phosphorylating the carboxy-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II revealed it to be the MO15/Cdk7 kinase and its partner, cyclin H. These exciting observations suggest a paradigm for linking transcription, DNA excision repair and cell cycle progression through one pivotal factor.
RNA聚合酶II的转录是一个复杂的过程，需要其他因子在启动子处起始转录。过去一年的新进展加深了我们对转录因子功能的理解，并为转录起始和延伸调控机制提供了更多见解。过去一年最重要的进展之一是发现通用转录因子TFIIH参与DNA切除修复。令人惊讶的是，旨在鉴定TFIIH中负责磷酸化RNA聚合酶II羧基末端结构域的激酶活性的研究表明，它是MO15/Cdk7激酶及其伴侣细胞周期蛋白H。这些令人兴奋的观察结果提示了一种通过一个关键因子将转录、DNA切除修复和细胞周期进程联系起来的模式。
