Liu Min and Chen Ruichuan’s team published a paper in Nucleic Acids Research, revealing the molecular mechanism of P-TEFb complex "resurrection" regulating gene transcription extension

Recently, Assistant Professor Liu Min and Professor Chen Ruichuan’s team published an online study titled "Disrupting the Cdk9/Cyclin T1 Heterodimer of 7SK snRNP for the Brd4 and AFF1/4 Guided Reconstitution of Active P-TEFb" in Nucleic Acids Research.

The transcription elongation of eukaryotic genes is tightly and finely regulated, and its core regulatory element is the positive transcription elongation factor P-TEFb complex

In this study, the team found for the first time that the P-TEFb released when the transcriptionally inactive 7SK snRNP complex dissociates during stress and cell cycle progression does not exist in the form of a complete heterodimer, but dissociates into T186 synchronously.

The most surprising finding in this study is the complete disintegration of the core P-TEFb, which has been dephosphorylated by T186 without transcriptional activity.

The co-first authors of the paper are doctoral students Zhou Kai, Zhuang Songkuan, Liu Fulong, and doctoral student Chen Yanheng from the University of Illinois.

Link to the paper: https://academic.

(Photo/Text Chen Ruichuan Research Group)