The impact of SWI/SNF and NuRD inactivation on gene expression is tightly coupled with levels of RNA polymerase II occupancy at promoters

NuRD modulate the rates of Pol II release into the gene body to paradoxically affect the expression of genes having average/high Pol II promoter occupancy levels. (A) Changes in Pol II initiation (left) and Pol II release (right) levels at gene promoters (N = 6387) in mESCs upon KD of Chd4 versus a scrambled control. Also shown are the changes in the nascent RNA levels of these genes upon Chd4 KD (far right). (B) Changes in Pol II initiation (top) and Pol II release (bottom) at genes stratified based on changes in their expression in mESCs upon KD of Chd4 versus a scrambled control. (C,D) Genome browser view for Cdk1, where KD of Chd4 leads to an increase in Pol II initiation at the promoter (C) and a decrease in Pol II release into the gene body (D).