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Molecular Motors pp 215–232Cite as

The Role of Supercoiling in the Motor Activity of RNA Polymerases

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Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1805))

Abstract

RNA polymerase (RNAP) is, in its elongation phase, an emblematic example of a molecular motor whose activity is highly sensitive to DNA supercoiling. After a review of DNA supercoiling basic features, we discuss how supercoiling controls polymerase velocity, while being itself modified by polymerase activity. This coupling is supported by single-molecule measurements. Physical modeling allows us to describe quantitatively how supercoiling and torsional constraints mediate a mechanical coupling between adjacent polymerases. On this basis, we obtain a description that may explain the existence and functioning of RNAP convoys.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge our team “Multiscale Modeling of Living Matter” at LPTMC, Thierry Forné, Christophe Lavelle, and Marc Nadal for stimulating discussions. This work was funded by the French Institut National du Cancer, grant INCa_5960, and the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche, grant ANR-13-BSV5-0010-03.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Physique Théorique de la Matière Condensée (LPTMC), UMR 7600 CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France

    Annick Lesne, Jean-Marc Victor & Maria Barbi

  2. Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, UMR 5535 CNRS, Montpellier, France

    Annick Lesne, Jean-Marc Victor, Edouard Bertrand & Eugenia Basyuk

  3. Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Annick Lesne, Jean-Marc Victor, Edouard Bertrand & Eugenia Basyuk

  4. GDR 3536 CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France

    Annick Lesne, Jean-Marc Victor & Maria Barbi

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  1. Annick Lesne
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  2. Jean-Marc Victor
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  3. Edouard Bertrand
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  4. Eugenia Basyuk
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  5. Maria Barbi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jean-Marc Victor .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Museum of Natural History, CNRS UMR7196 / INSERM U1154, Paris, France

    Christophe Lavelle

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Lesne, A., Victor, JM., Bertrand, E., Basyuk, E., Barbi, M. (2018). The Role of Supercoiling in the Motor Activity of RNA Polymerases. In: Lavelle, C. (eds) Molecular Motors. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1805. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8556-2_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8556-2_11

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