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Review
. 2010 Sep;2(9):a000729.
doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a000729. Epub 2010 Jul 28.

Organization of transcription

Lyubomira Chakalova  1 , Peter Fraser
Affiliations
Review

Organization of transcription

Lyubomira Chakalova et al. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2010 Sep.

Abstract

Investigations into the organization of transcription have their origins in cell biology. Early studies characterized nascent transcription in relation to discernable nuclear structures and components. Advances in light microscopy, immunofluorescence, and in situ hybridization helped to begin the difficult task of naming the countless individual players and components of transcription and placing them in context. With the completion of mammalian genome sequences, the seemingly boundless task of understanding transcription of the genome became finite and began a new period of rapid advance. Here we focus on the organization of transcription in mammals drawing upon information from lower organisms where necessary. The emerging picture is one of a highly organized nucleus with specific conformations of the genome adapted for tissue-specific programs of transcription and gene expression.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
(A) Schematic diagram of transcription of multiple genes at a nuclear RNAPII transcription factory. RNAPII factory shown as central blue circle with three transcribing genes and their associated transcription factors (small colored circles). Nascent transcripts are shown in red, chromatin is dark blue, and splicing components are depicted as small black circles with orange halo. (B) Electron spectroscopic imaging of HeLa cell nucleus. Phosphorous-rich structures are colored red and nitrogen green. Arrows point to nitrogen-rich transcription factory. White dots are immunogold detection of BrdU pulse-labeled nascent transcripts. Asterisks outline a small region of interchromatin granules (IG) and ch denotes regions of relatively compact chromatin. Image courtesy of Dr. Christopher Eskiw.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Maximum intensity projections of Ser5-RNAPII factories in splenic B cell (left) and primary mouse embryo fibroblast (right) nuclei. From Osborne et al., 2004.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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