Approach to Measuring the Effect of PARP1 on RNA Polymerase II Elongation Rates

Abstract

The rate of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) transcriptional elongation plays a critical role in mRNA biogenesis, from transcription initiation to alternative splicing. As RNAPII moves along the DNA, it must read the DNA sequences wrapped up as chromatin. Thus, the structure of chromatin impedes the movement and speed at which RNAPII moves, presenting a crucial regulation to gene expression. Therefore, factors that bind and regulate the structure of chromatin will impact the rate of RNAPII elongation. We previously showed that PARP1 (poly-ADP-ribose polymerase 1) is one of such factors that bind and alter chromatin dynamics. We also showed that its alteration of chromatin structure modulates RNAPII processivity during transcriptional elongation. Here, we aim to understand how PARP1 alters RNAPII elongation kinetics genome wide.

Keywords: Chromatin structure; Nascent RNA-Seq; RNA polymerase II elongation; RNA transcription; Splicing.