Mediator Complex Subunit 6 (MED6)

One type of intermediary is the mediator complex, which consists of approximately 20 polypeptides. It is physically associated with RNA polymerase II and is essential for transcriptional activation. Lee et al. (1997) found that the S. cerevisiae Med6 protein, a component of the mediator complex, was absolutely required for transcriptional activation of most of the RNA polymerase II-transcribed genes tested; it had no effect on uninduced or repressed transcription, transcription of constitutively expressed genes, or transcription by RNA polymerases I or III. By searching sequence databases with the yeast Med6 protein, Lee et al. (1997) identified an expressed sequence tag containing the complete human MED6 coding sequence. The predicted 157-amino acid human MED6 protein is 30% similar to yeast Med6.