Journal:Science:1

Structural basis of transcription activation

Yu Feng, Yu Zhang, Richard H. Ebright ^[1]

Molecular Tour
Class II transcription activators function by binding to a DNA site overlapping a core promoter and stimulating isomerization of an initial RNA polymerase (RNAP)–promoter closed complex into a catalytically competent RNAP-promoter open complex. Here, we report a 4.4 angstrom crystal structure of an intact bacterial class II transcription activation complex. The structure comprises Thermus thermophilus transcription activator protein TTHB099 (TAP) [homolog of Escherichia coli catabolite activator protein (CAP)], T. thermophilus RNAP σ^A holoenzyme, a class II TAP-dependent promoter, and a ribotetranucleotide primer. The structure reveals the interactions between RNAP holoenzyme and DNA responsible for transcription initiation and reveals the interactions between TAP and RNAP holoenzyme responsible for transcription activation. The structure indicates that TAP stimulates isomerization through simple, adhesive, stabilizing protein-protein interactions with RNAP holoenzyme.

To obtain a structure of TAP-RPo, we used a (-54 to +11 shown) of a class II TAP-dependent promoter (positions numbered relative to transcription start site). Pink, nontemplate strand; red, template strand. The scaffold contained a (TAP site: cyan, template strand; deeppink, nontemplate strand), a near-consensus (violet), a (blue), a (royalblue), a consensus core recognition element, a (maintained in the unwound state by having noncomplementary sequences on nontemplate and template strands), and UpCpGpA (in magenta).