Polycomb sustains promoters in a deep OFF-state by limiting PIC formation to counteract transcription
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ABSTRACT: The Polycomb system plays fundamental roles in regulating gene expression during mammalian development. However, how it controls transcription to enable gene repression has remained enigmatic. Here we employ rapid degron-based depletion coupled with live-cell transcription imaging and single-particle tracking to uncover how the Polycomb system controls transcription in single cells. We discover that the Polycomb system is not a constitutive block to transcription but instead sustains a long-lived deep promoter OFF-state which limits the frequency with which the promoter can enter into a transcribing state. We demonstrate that Polycomb sustains this deep promoter OFF-state by counteracting the binding of factors that enable early transcription pre-initiation complex formation and show that this is necessary for gene repression. Together these important discoveries provide a new rationale for how the Polycomb system controls transcription and suggests a universal mechanism that could enable the Polycomb system to constrain transcription across diverse cellular contexts.
ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE216636 | GEO | 2024/05/29
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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