Yilmaz Alper, Grotewold Erich
Plant Biotechnology Center and Department of Plant Cellular and Molecular Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2010;674:23-32. doi: 10.1007/978-1-60761-854-6_2.
The control of gene expression is a biological process essential to all organisms. This is accomplished through the interaction of regulatory proteins with specific DNA motifs in the control regions of the genes that they regulate. Upon binding to DNA, and through specific protein-protein interactions, these regulatory proteins convey signals to the basal transcriptional machinery, containing the respective RNA polymerases, resulting in particular rates of gene expression. In eukaryotes, in addition and complementary to the binding of regulatory proteins to DNA, chromatin structure plays a role in modulating gene expression. Small RNAs are emerging as key components in this process. This chapter provides an introduction to some of the basic players participating in these processes, the transcription factors and co-regulators, the cis-regulatory elements that often function as transcription factor docking sites, and the emerging role of small RNAs in the regulation of gene expression.
基因表达的调控是所有生物体必不可少的生物学过程。这是通过调控蛋白与它们所调控基因的控制区域中的特定DNA基序相互作用来实现的。这些调控蛋白与DNA结合后，通过特定的蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用，将信号传递给包含各自RNA聚合酶的基础转录机制，从而导致特定的基因表达速率。在真核生物中，除了调控蛋白与DNA的结合之外，染色质结构在调节基因表达中也发挥作用。小RNA正在成为这一过程中的关键组成部分。本章介绍了参与这些过程的一些基本要素，即转录因子和共调节因子、通常作为转录因子停靠位点的顺式调控元件，以及小RNA在基因表达调控中的新作用。
