Molecular Chaperone RUVBL2 Activates Oncogenes by Modulation of Transcriptional Condensates [ChIP-Seq]

Transcription regulators and apparatuses compartmentalize into transcriptional condensates in part through molecular interactions among intrinsically disordered regions. To better understand how these fundamental condensates are regulated, we performed time-series analyses of transcriptome, genome and imaging to show that the previously characterized molecular chaperone RUVBL2 assembles Pol II condensates by its ATPase activity and prevalently interacting with diverse oncogenic transcription factors at promoters, thereby maintaining active transcription in mammalian cells. Besides, RUVBL2 is overexpressed in various cancers, has higher expression levels and preferential chromatin binding compared with RUVBL1. Remarkably, acute protein degradation and chemical perturbations of RUVBL2 with the nucleoside compound cordycepin result in the repression of oncogenes in embryonic stem cells and breast cancer cells, respectively. Our results suggest that molecular chaperone RUVBL2 safeguards the hemostasis of transcriptional condensates at promoters. Thus, pharmacological perturbations of RUVBL2 is a promising strategy to restore these condensates in breast cancers. Overall design: We performed ChIP-Seq, PRO-Seq and RNA-Seq to explore the mechanism of RUVBL2 regulating transcription