Transcription factor II H (TFIIH) is a multi-subunit protein complex involved in both the transcription of protein-coding genes and the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway. TFIIH was first identified in 1989 as general transcription factor-δ or basic transcription factor 2, an essential factor for transcription in vitro. It was subsequently isolated from yeast and officially named TFIIH in 1992.
TFIIH is composed of ten subunits. Seven of these—ERCC2/XPD, ERCC3/XPB, GTF2H1/p62, GTF2H4/p52, GTF2H2/p44, GTF2H3/p34, and GTF2H5/TTDA—constitute the core complex. The remaining three subunits—CDK7, MAT1, and cyclin H—form the cyclin-activating kinase (CAK) subcomplex, which is tethered to the core via the XPD protein. Among the core subunits, ERCC2/XPD and ERCC3/XPB possess helicase and ATPase activities and are essential for unwinding DNA to form the transcription bubble. These activities are necessary during transcription in vitro only when the DNA template is not already denatured or is supercoiled.
The CAK subunits, CDK7 and cyclin H, are responsible for the phosphorylation of serine residues in the C-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II, as well as potentially other targets involved in the cell cycle. In addition to its essential role in transcription initiation, TFIIH also plays a critical part in nucleotide excision repair.