Phosphorylated MED1 Links Transcription Recycling and Cancer Growth

Mammalian RNA polymerase II (Pol II) initiation, elongation, termination and reinitiation are well studied, but how Pol II dynamically recycles after the transcription cycle remains unclear. By establishing in vitro and in vivo transcription recycling systems, we find that human Mediator 1 (MED1), when phosphorylated at the mammal-specific threonine 1032 by cyclin-dependent kinase 9, dynamically travels with Pol II throughout the transcribed genes to drive Pol II recycling. Mechanistically, MED1 phosphorylation leads to an increase of recycled Pol II via the molecular bridge of MED31, enhancing mRNA output during the transcription recycling process. Importantly, MED1 phosphorylation increases during prostate cancer progression to the lethal phase, and pharmacological inhibition of CDK9 decreases prostate tumor growth through decreasing MED1 phosphorylation and Pol II recycling. Our findings reveal essential mechanisms underlying Pol II recycling and suggest a neglected, yet fundamental Pol II transcription process for therapeutic intervention. We have performed time-resolved ChIP-seq of pMED1, Pol2 and histone marks. We have performed RNA-seq and analyzed transcriptome changes in LNCaP-abl cells treated with vehicle or a CDK9 inhibitor (Atuveciclib).