Nascent RNA antagonises the interaction of regulatory proteins with chromatin

Abstract

Chromatin structure is responsive to changes in gene activity but the mechanisms responsible for this are unclear. Non-coding RNAs have been proposed to directly interact with chromatin and transcriptional regulators and recruit them to chromatin. In contrast, nascent pre-mRNA has primarily been viewed as a passive intermediary that lacks a regulatory role. We have discovered that the RNAs bound by polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) primarily comprise nascent pre-mRNAs and that this interaction serves to prevent PRC2 recruitment and silencing of active genes. Using proteomics methods, we have identified other transcription and chromatin regulators for which interaction with chromatin is antagonised by RNA. I will present our results from our studies on PRC2 and the other regulatory factors that we have discovered.