UNUSUAL CHARGE CONFIGURATIONS IN TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS OF THE BASIC RNA POLYMERASE-II INITIATION COMPLEX

A systematic analysis of the primary sequences of the polymerase II in itiation complex has revealed unusual charge features in the TFII fami ly proteins. In particular, the proteins TFIIAalpha, TFIIEalpha, and T FIIF carry multiple charge clusters and hyper charge runs, sequence fe atures occurring in <4% of all (available) eukaryotic proteins. Possib le implications for these charge structures are discussed in relation to the assembly and function of the polymerase II transcriptional comp lex.