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Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, June 1999, p. 457-478, Vol. 63, No. 2
1092-2172/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

DNA Bending and Wrapping around RNA Polymerase: a "Revolutionary" Model Describing Transcriptional Mechanisms

Benoit Coulombe1 and Zachary F. Burton2,*

Département de biologie, Faculté des sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada J1K 2R1,1 and Department of Biochemistry, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, Michigan 48824-13192

A model is proposed in which bending and wrapping of DNA around RNA polymerase causes untwisting of the DNA helix at the RNA polymerase catalytic center to stimulate strand separation prior to initiation. During elongation, DNA bending through the RNA polymerase active site is proposed to lower the energetic barrier to the advance of the transcription bubble. Recent experiments with mammalian RNA polymerase II along with accumulating evidence from studies of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase indicate the importance of DNA bending and wrapping in transcriptional mechanisms. The DNA-wrapping model describes specific roles for general RNA polymerase II transcription factors (TATA-binding protein [TBP], TFIIB, TFIIF, TFIIE, and TFIIH), provides a plausible explanation for preinitiation complex isomerization, suggests mechanisms underlying the synergy between transcriptional activators, and suggests an unforseen role for TBP-associating factors in transcription.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochemistry, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI 48824-1319. Phone: (517) 353-0859. Fax: (517) 353-9334. E-mail: burton{at}pilot.msu.edu.

Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, June 1999, p. 457-478, Vol. 63, No. 2
1092-2172/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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