Thr4 phosphorylation on RNA Pol II occurs at early transcription regulating 3′-end processing

Abstract

RNA polymerase II relies on a repetitive sequence domain (YSPTSPS) within its largest subunit to orchestrate transcription. While phosphorylation on serine-2/serine-5 of the carboxyl-terminal heptad repeats is well established, threonine-4’s role remains enigmatic. Paradoxically, threonine-4 phosphorylation was only detected after transcription end sites despite functionally implicated in pausing, elongation, termination, and messenger RNA processing. Our investigation revealed that threonine-4 phosphorylation detection was obstructed by flanking serine-5 phosphorylation at the onset of transcription, which can be removed selectively. Subsequent proteomic analyses identified many proteins recruited to transcription via threonine-4 phosphorylation, which previously were attributed to serine-2. Loss of threonine-4 phosphorylation greatly reduces serine-2 phosphorylation, revealing a cross-talk between the two marks. Last, the function analysis of the threonine-4 phosphorylation highlighted its role in alternative 3′-end processing within pro-proliferative genes. Our findings unveil the true genomic location of this evolutionarily conserved phosphorylation mark and prompt a reassessment of functional assignments of the carboxyl-terminal domain.