New perspectives on connecting messenger RNA 3' end formation to transcription.

Recent advances in understanding the molecular mechanism of mRNA 3' end cleavage and polyadenylation have uncovered an unanticipated involvement of this process in the regulation of the transcriptional apparatus on its chromatin template. Thus, newly defined factors associated with mRNA 3' end formation are also connected with initiation of transcription, suggesting a close collaboration between the initiation and termination phases of transcription. Furthermore several of these factors are involved in setting up appropriate chromatin structure to facilitate efficient transcriptional elongation and termination.