Molecular Cell
Volume 56, Issue 1, 2 October 2014, Pages 29-42
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Article
Enhancer RNA Facilitates NELF Release from Immediate Early Genes

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2014.08.023Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • eRNAs play a modulatory role in the expression of neuronal immediate early genes

  • eRNAs facilitate NELF release from the target promoter

  • The interaction between NELF-E and eRNAs is dependent on the RRM domain

  • The activity-induced enhancer-promoter interaction does not require eRNAs

Summary

Enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) are a class of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) expressed from active enhancers, whose function and action mechanism are yet to be firmly established. Here we show that eRNAs facilitate the transition of paused RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) into productive elongation by acting as a decoy for the negative elongation factor (NELF) complex upon induction of immediate early genes (IEGs) in neurons. eRNAs are synthesized prior to the culmination of target gene transcription and interact with the NELF complex. Knockdown of eRNAs expressed at neuronal enhancers impairs transient release of NELF from the specific target promoters during transcriptional activation, coinciding with a decrease in target mRNA induction. The enhancer-promoter interaction was unaffected by eRNA knockdown. Instead, chromatin looping might enable eRNAs to act locally at a specific promoter. Our findings highlight the spatiotemporally regulated action mechanism of eRNAs during early transcriptional elongation.

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Present address: Department of Chemistry and Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK