Exam 2 Control of Gene Expression Flashcards
for proks, gene expression is often regulated through _
operons; group of genes that function together and are activated as a group
define structural genes
physically are structural (ex tubulin) or do perform a function (ex enzyme)
define regulatory genes
genes that encode products that interact with other sequences and affect the transcription and translation of the sequences (ex TFs)
define regulatory elements
dna seqs that are not transcribed but play a role in regulating other nucleotide sequences (regulate transcription of gene seqs at other locations in the genome)
define constitutive expression
genes active all the time; continuously expressed under normal cellular conditions (ex housekeeping genes, every cell type has these genes)
define positive control
stimulate gene expression
define negative control
inhibit gene expression
t/f: gene expression can be controlled at multiple levels
true
what is the initial level of gene control
chromatin condensation = genes are inaccessible to transcription machinery
encoded in the flanking seq around the dna are information that cause:
biochemical changes (histones) in order to favor transcription and TFs can identify the relaxed dna to initiate transcription (binding sites)
what are domains
dna-binding protein has domains; roughly 60-90 aas, responsible for binding to dna (very specific to dna seqs) and forms hydrogen bonds w/ dna. has many members so subtle variation in nucleotides for specificity
what is a motif:
dna-binding protein has a motif w/in binding domain; simple structure that fits into major groove of the dna (H+ bonds); physical interaction btwn structure of protein and structure of dna
dna-binding proteins can be grouped into several types based off of their _
structures, or motifs
operon structure
promoter + additional seqs that control transcription (operator) + structural genes
linear seq of genes w/ no intervening seq to stop transcription
what is a promoter
a region of dna that initiates transcription of a particular gene, located near the transcription start site of a gene, on the same strand and upstream of the start codon
typically, how long is a promoter
100-1000 base pairs long
define regulator gene
dna seq encoding products that affect the operon function but are not part of the operon
what helps produce the large phenotypic differences between humans and chimpanzees
changes in a relatively small number of regulatory seqs
euks differ from proks how?
- each structural gene has its own promoter and is transcribed separately
- dna must unwind from the histone proteins before transcription
- transcription (nucleus) and translation (cytoplasm) are separated in time and space
DNase I hypersensitivity
sites that are unwound and separate from histone proteins are sensitive to DNase bc these sites are relaxed; DNase I hypersensitive sites: more open chromatin configuration site, upstream of the transcription start site
histone modification
- addition of methyl groups to the histone protein tails (inhibitory)
- addition of acetyl groups to histone proteins (relax)
what does histone acetylation accomplish
changes the charge and loosens histone interaction with DNA for transcription to occur
DNase sensitive regions have been shown to include many types of cis-regulatory elements including:
promoters, enhancers, insulators, silencers, and locus control regions (non-coding)
_ protects DNA from the nuclease
protein binding
chromatin remodeling complexes accomplish:
reposition the nucleosomes, allowing TFs and RNA polymerase to bind to promoters and initiate transcription
_ changes histone properties
biochemical modification
the _ of histone proteins alters chromatin structure and permits some TFs to bind to dna
acetylation (acetyl groups to tails of histone proteins)
positively charged tails of nucleosomal histone proteins interact w/ the negatively charged phosphate groups of dna, so when acetylation of histones occurs, what happens?
alters the charge and therefore chromatin structure and permits some TFs to bind to DNA
define chromatin remodeling
chromatin remodeling complexes: bind directly to DNA sites and reposition nucleosomes