Transcription is tightly regulated and universal across all domains of life. A study proposes how, during eukaryotic evolution, the emergence of a regulatory mechanism consisting of a focused promoter-proximal pause of RNA polymerase II could have originated from a proto-pause with the acquisition of negative elongation factor (NELF) subunits.
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Acknowledgements
The work of the J.S. laboratory was funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, France (ANR-22-CE12-0001-01; ANR-24-CE92-0031-02), with financial support from ITMO Cancer of Aviesan within the framework of the 2021–2030 Cancer Control Strategy, on funds administered by Inserm (no. 22CP120-00).
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Soutourina, J. Promoter proximal pausing of RNA polymerase across evolution. Nat Struct Mol Biol 33, 195–197 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-026-01745-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-026-01745-3
