The interaction of RNA polymerase II with the adenovirus-2 major late promoter is precluded by phosphorylation of the C-terminal domain of subunit IIa.

Mammalian RNA polymerase II contains at the C terminus of its largest subunit an unusual domain consisting of 52 tandem repeats of the consensus sequence Tyr-Ser-Pro-Thr-Ser-Pro-Ser. The phosphorylation of this domain is thought to play an important role in the transition of RNA polymerase II from a preinitiation complex to an elongating complex. The unphosphorylated form of RNA polymerase II is designated IIA, whereas the phosphorylated form is designated IIO. In an effort to determine the consequence of C-terminal domain phosphorylation on complex formation, 32P-labeled RNA polymerases IIA and IIO were prepared and examined for their ability to form a stable preinitiation complex on the adenovirus-2 major late promoter in the presence of a reconstituted HeLa cell transcription extract. Preinitiation complexes were formed in the absence of ATP and purified from free RNA polymerase II by chromatography on Sepharose CL-4B. The state of phosphorylation of the largest subunit was monitored by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and the transcriptional activity was determined by assaying specific transcript formation upon the addition of nucleotides and a competing DNA template. RNA polymerase IIA was recovered in transcriptionally active complexes in reactions in which the input enzyme was RNA polymerase IIA. In reactions with RNA polymerase IIO as the input enzyme, no IIO was recovered in excluded fractions that normally contain preinitiation complex. In reactions with equimolar amounts of RNA polymerases IIO and IIA, purified preinitiation complexes contained almost exclusively RNA polymerase HA. These results support the idea that RNA polymerase II containing an unphosphorylated C-terminal domain preferentially associates with the adenovirus-2 major late promoter. The state of phosphorylation of the C-terminal domain can, therefore, directly influence preinitiation complex formation. We also report here the presence of an activity in HeLa cell extracts that catalyzes dephosphorylation of the C-terminal domain, thereby converting RNA polymerase IIO to IIA. This C-terminal domain phosphatase is specific in that it does not catalyze the dephosphorylation of a serine residue phosphorylated by casein kinase II. The presence of a C-terminal domain phosphatase in in vitro transcription reactions containing RNA polymerase IIO results in the formation of RNA polymerase IIA. This RNA polymerase IIA associates preferentially with preinitiation complexes.