The 7SK/P-TEFb snRNP controls ultraviolet radiation-induced transcriptional reprogramming

Releasing promoter-proximally-paused RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) by the positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb) is a central regulatory step of eukaryotic mRNA synthesis. The nuclear activity of P-TEFb is controlled mainly by the 7SK small nuclear RNP (snRNP) which sequesters active P-TEFb into inactive 7SK/P-TEFb snRNP. Here we demonstrate that under normal culture conditions, the lack of 7SK snRNP has only a minor impact on global RNAPII transcription and promoter-proximal pausing without detectable consequences on cell growth and proliferation. However, upon ultraviolet (UV) light-induced DNA damage, cells lacking 7SK have a defective transcriptional response and highly reduced viability. Both UV-induced release of ‘lesion-scanning’ polymerases and activation of key early responsive genes are compromised in the absence of 7SK. We show that proper induction of 7SK-dependent UV-responsive genes, namely efficient release of paused RNAPII and recruitment of key elongation factors, requires P-TEFb activity directly mobilized from the nucleoplasmic 7SK/P-TEFb snRNP. ChIRP-seq of 7SK in HAP1 and HAP1-7SK-KO cells -/+ 1h UV, mNET-seq of total pol II in HAP1 and HAP1-7SK-KO cells -/+ 1h, 2h, or 4h UV.