A high-resolution map of active promoters in the human genome

Our ability to understand the control logic embedded in the human genome is limited by a lack of accurate information of the promoter sequences for most genes. Promoters are a unique class of control sequences, serving as the binding sites for both sequence-specific factors and the general transcription machinery during transcription initiation. In order to obtain a comprehensive map of promoters in the human genome, we have determined the location of the RNA polymerase II preinitiation complex throughout the non-repeat sequences of the human genome in primary fibroblast cells. The resulting map defines 10,571 active promoters corresponding to 6,763 known genes and at least 1,199 un-annotated transcriptional units. The map indicates extensive usage of multiple promoters by the human genes and widespread clustering of active promoters in the genome. Further examination of the genome-wide expression profile reveals four general classes of promoters that define the transcriptome of the cell. Our results provide a global view of the functional relationship among the transcriptional machinery, chromatin structure, and gene expression in human cells. Keywords = GALA Keywords = gene expression Keywords = nimblegen Keywords = promoter profile Keywords = LICR renlab Keywords: other