6. RNAP2
The Geis portrait of eukaryotic RNA Polymerase II preinitiation complex includes an artist’s impression of RNA polymerase II (green ellipse), which predated the availability of atomic coordinates for the multi-subunit enzyme. In 2001, Kornberg and colleagues published the first structure of RNA Polymerase II.
Used with permission from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (www.hhmi.org). All rights reserved.
Related PDB Entry: 1I50
Experimental Structure Citation
Cramer, P., Bushnell, D. A., & Kornberg, R. D. (2001). Structural basis of transcription: RNA polymerase II at 2.8 Ångstrom resolution. Science, 292, 1863-1876.
About RNAP2
RNA Polymerase (RNAP) II is an enzyme that transcribes DNA into mRNA. On its own, RNAP II cannot recognize and bind to DNA. Therefore, it needs the binding of the TBP(TFIID)•TFIIB•DNA complex to the promoter as well as other factors to find its position on DNA and begin transcription.
