Human mitochondrial transcription revisited: only TFAM and TFB2M are required for transcription of the mitochondrial genes in vitro.

ABSTRACT: Human mitochondrial transcription is driven by a single subunit RNA polymerase and a set of basal transcription factors. The development of a recombinant in vitro transcription system has allowed for a detailed molecular characterization of the individual components and their contribution to transcription initiation. We found that TFAM and TFB2M act synergistically and increase transcription efficiency 100-200-fold as compared with RNA polymerase alone. Both the light-strand promoter (LSP) and the HSP1 promoters displayed maximal levels of in vitro transcription when TFAM was present in an amount equimolar to the DNA template. Importantly, we did not detect any significant transcription activity in the presence of the TFB2M paralog, TFB1M, or when templates containing the putative HSP2 pro

SUBMITTER: Litonin D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2881736 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature