Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, MB, Canada.
Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, MB, Canada.
Eur J Cell Biol. 2022 Jun-Aug;101(3):151237. doi: 10.1016/j.ejcb.2022.151237. Epub 2022 May 13.
Eukaryotic gene expression is controlled at multiple steps that work in harmony to ensure proper maintenance of cellular morphology and function. Such regulatory mechanisms would include transcriptional gene regulation, which is in turn controlled by chromatin remodeling, distinct topologically associating domains of the chromatin structure, cis-regulatory elements such as enhancers and promoters, action of trans-acting factors, DNA methylation, RNA modifications, and post-translational modification of histones. These guiding mechanisms of gene expression play critical roles in the epigenetic setting of individual cells within the eukaryotic systems. Some epigenetic factors may play multiple functional roles in guarding the accurate gene expression program of the eukaryotic cells, especially within the central nervous system. A well-studied example of such multi-functional factors is the methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2), a nuclear protein that is encoded by the X-linked MECP2 gene. Here, we aim to provide an overview of eukaryotic gene regulation, the three-dimensional chromatin organization, standard techniques to study newly synthesized RNA transcripts, and the role of MeCP2 as an important transcriptional regulator in eukaryotes.
真核生物的基因表达是在多个步骤中进行调控的，这些步骤协同工作以确保细胞形态和功能的正常维持。这种调控机制包括转录基因调控，而转录基因调控又受到染色质重塑、染色质结构的独特拓扑关联域、顺式调控元件（如增强子和启动子）、反式作用因子的作用、DNA 甲基化、RNA 修饰以及组蛋白的翻译后修饰的控制。这些基因表达的指导机制在真核系统中单个细胞的表观遗传环境中起着关键作用。一些表观遗传因素可能在保护真核细胞的精确基因表达程序方面发挥多种功能作用，特别是在中枢神经系统中。这种多功能因子的一个很好的例子是甲基化 CpG 结合蛋白 2（MeCP2），它是一种核蛋白，由 X 连锁的 MECP2 基因编码。在这里，我们旨在提供真核生物基因调控、三维染色质组织、研究新合成 RNA 转录本的标准技术以及 MeCP2 作为真核生物中重要转录调节剂的作用的概述。
