Transcriptional Burst Initiation and Polymerase Pause Release Are Key Control Points of Transcriptional Regulation (Molecular Cell)

Mammalian genes are transcribed in discontinuous bursts. Using experimental data and computational modeling, Bartman et al. show that the key control points of transcriptional regulation are burst initiation and the release of RNA polymerase II from a paused state, but, unexpectedly, not polymerase recruitment rate.