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Regulation of gene expression by a hormone receptor Diagram showing at which stages in the DNA-mRNA-protein pathway expression can be controlled. Regulation of gene expression, or gene regulation, [1] includes a wide range of mechanisms that are used by cells to increase or decrease the production of specific gene products (protein or RNA).
[4] [5] Genetic regulatory circuits are analogous in many ways to electronic circuits in how they use signal inputs and outputs to determine gene regulation. [4] [5] Like electronic circuits, their organization determines their efficiency, and this has been demonstrated in circuits working in series to have a greater sensitivity of gene regulation.
Structure of a gene regulatory network Control process of a gene regulatory network. A gene (or genetic) regulatory network (GRN) is a collection of molecular regulators that interact with each other and with other substances in the cell to govern the gene expression levels of mRNA and proteins which, in turn, determine the function of the cell.
A regulator gene may encode a protein, or it may work at the level of RNA, as in the case of genes encoding microRNAs. An example of a regulator gene is a gene that codes for a repressor protein that inhibits the activity of an operator (a gene which binds repressor proteins thus inhibiting the translation of RNA to protein via RNA polymerase). [1]
Cis-regulatory DNA sequences that are located in DNA regions distant from the promoters of genes can have very large effects on gene expression, with some genes undergoing up to 100-fold increased expression due to such a cis-regulatory sequence. [3] These cis-regulatory sequences include enhancers, silencers, insulators and tethering elements. [4]
[3] Gene regulation is an essential part of developmental processes. During development, genes are turned on and off in different tissues, changes in regulatory mechanisms may result in genetic switching in a bistable system, the gene switches serve as regulatory molecule binding sites.
The Binary response model acts like an on/off switch for transcription. This model will increase or decrease the amount of cells that transcribe a gene, but it does not affect the rate of transcription. [4] Rheostatic response model describes cis-regulatory modules as regulators of the initiation rate of transcription of its associated gene. [4]
The regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes is achieved through the interaction of several levels of control that acts both locally to turn on or off individual genes in response to a specific cellular need and globally to maintain a chromatin-wide gene expression pattern that shapes cell identity.