Abstract
Enhancers are transcribed by RNA polymerase II (Pol II). In order to study the regulation of enhancer transcription and its function in target gene control, methods are required that track genome transcription with high precision in vivo. Here, we provide step-by-step guidance for performing native elongating transcript sequencing (NET-Seq) in mammalian cells. NET-Seq allows quantitative measurements of transcription genome-wide, including enhancer transcription, with single-nucleotide and DNA strand resolution. The approach consists of capturing and efficiently converting the 3′-ends of the nascent RNA into a sequencing library followed by next-generation sequencing and computational data analysis. The protocol includes quality control measurements to monitor the success of the main steps. Following this protocol, a NET-Seq library is obtained within 5 days.
Keywords
- Transcription
- Nascent RNA
- Enhancer
- eRNA
- RNA polymerase II
- NET-Seq
- Genome-wide
- Library preparation
- Next-generation sequencing
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Acknowledgments
We thank all members of the Mayer group for critical comments on the manuscript. This work was funded by the Max Planck Society (to A.M.) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, grant no. 418415292 to A.M. and the International Research Training Group (IRTG) 2403 to A.M. and M.A.). O.J. was supported by a 2017 FEBS Long-Term Fellowship.
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Jasnovidova, O., Arnold, M., Mayer, A. (2021). Illuminating Enhancer Transcription at Nucleotide Resolution with Native Elongating Transcript Sequencing (NET-Seq) . In: Borggrefe, T., Giaimo, B.D. (eds) Enhancers and Promoters. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2351. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1597-3_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1597-3_3
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