Cell
Volume 161, Issue 3, 23 April 2015, Pages 541-554
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Article
Native Elongating Transcript Sequencing Reveals Human Transcriptional Activity at Nucleotide Resolution

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2015.03.010Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Human NET-seq maps global RNA polymerase II (Pol II) density at high resolution

  • Widespread convergent transcription occurs near promoters of lower-expressed genes

  • Strong Pol II pausing at sites of occupied transcription factors, including YY1 and CTCF

  • NET-seq reveals pronounced Pol II pausing at the boundaries of retained exons

Summary

Major features of transcription by human RNA polymerase II (Pol II) remain poorly defined due to a lack of quantitative approaches for visualizing Pol II progress at nucleotide resolution. We developed a simple and powerful approach for performing native elongating transcript sequencing (NET-seq) in human cells that globally maps strand-specific Pol II density at nucleotide resolution. NET-seq exposes a mode of antisense transcription that originates downstream and converges on transcription from the canonical promoter. Convergent transcription is associated with a distinctive chromatin configuration and is characteristic of lower-expressed genes. Integration of NET-seq with genomic footprinting data reveals stereotypic Pol II pausing coincident with transcription factor occupancy. Finally, exons retained in mature transcripts display Pol II pausing signatures that differ markedly from skipped exons, indicating an intrinsic capacity for Pol II to recognize exons with different processing fates. Together, human NET-seq exposes the topography and regulatory complexity of human gene expression.

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