Hormone Pulses and Transcription Bursting
Glucocorticoid receptors (GR, yellow spheres) bind to DNA in response to pulses of the hormone cortisol, causing bursts of RNA transcription by polymerases (purple, top right). These pulses occur in the morning hours, as indicated by the clock face overlying the illustration of the nucleus (bottom), and GRs transiently locate to the transcription site (yellow highlight within nucleus).
Illustration by Falconieri Visuals in NCI’s Center for Cancer Research (CCR) News Advanced imaging technology reveals pulsed hormone release regulates gene transcription, based on research by the Hager Lab:
Stavreva DA, Garcia DA, Fettweis G, Gudla PR, Zaki GF, Soni V, et al. Transcriptional Bursting and Co-bursting Regulation by Steroid Hormone Release Pattern and Transcription Factor Mobility. Mol Cell. 2019 Sep 19;75(6):1161-1177.e11.