Heart tissue from Nelf-b CreER mice. Mus musculus

Negative elongation factor (NELF) is known to enforce promoter-proximal pausing of RNA polymerase II (Pol II), a pervasive phenomenon observed across multicellular genomes. However, the physiological impact of NELF on tissue homeostasis remains unclear. Here we show for the first time that whole-body conditional deletion of the B subunit of NELF (NELF-B) in adult mice results in cardiomyopathy and impaired response to cardiac stress. Tissue-specific knockout of NELF-B confirms its cell-autonomous function in cardiomyocytes. NELF directly supports transcription of those genes encoding rate-limiting enzymes in fatty acid oxidation and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. NELF also shares extensively transcriptional target genes with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors alpha (PPARalpha), a master regulator of energy metabolism in myocardium. Mechanistically, NELF helps stablize the transcription initation complex at the metabolism-related genes. Our findings strongly indicate that NELF is part of the PPARalpha-mediated transcription regulatory network that maintains metabolic homeostasis in cardiomyocytes. Overall design: 3 Nelf-b f/f and 3 Nelf-b f/f; CreER female mice were injected with Tamoxifen at 8 wk old. Heart tissue were harvested at 20 wks old and used for RNA preparation.