Regulation of Gene Expression Flashcards
What did the human genome project reveal about the human genome?
- it has fewer genes than was previously thought, less than rice and corn
- number of genes is less important in determining complexity than how expression of genes is regulated
- network of interactions
What do transcription factors do once activated?
turn on expression of a set of genes that all have its binding site in their promoter/regulatory regions
Positive feedback loop in expression? What can this contribute to?
transcription factors activate expression of their own genes, contributes to cell memory
What is transcriptional regulation?
regulation of availability or activity of transcription factors
What regulates epigenetic signals?
- histone/chromatin modifications
- DNA methylation
What is the rate limiting step in transcription?
initiation
What does the rate of transcription affect in terms of proteins?
affects the amount of protein produced from a gene
What mediates responses to environmental signals in regulation of transcription?
signal transduction pathways that can influence the availability and activity of transcription activators
What are some external factors that influence transcription?
- steroids
- growth factor
- hormones
- calcium
- cytokines
- UV light
Epigenetic signals are maintained during what process?
DNA replication
How does epigenetic signals influence gene expression through effects on chromatin structure?
by regulating the accessibility of DNA to transcription factors, making chromatin too tight or too loose
Why are most epigenetic signals not passed on to the next generation?
most are erased during production of germ cells, but there is evidence to suggest that some can be passed through multiple generations
What does mitotically heritable mean?
passed on in somatic cells during mitosis, but not passed in germ cells
What types of post translational modifications of histones regulate gene expression? How?
- acetylation (activation)
- methylation, (di and tri)
- monoubiquitination
- phosphorylation
- context dependent
- chemical groups can be added to histone tails
- they affect the strength of interactions between histones in different nucleosomes, between histones and DNA, and between histones and other proteins
- the affects on chromatin structure determine how easy or hard it is for transcription factors to access DNA
DNA methylation is associated with mitotically heritable gene _________.
inactivation
DNA methylation is required for what processes?
- normal development
- X chromosome inactivation- one copy off
- imprinting
- reinforces gene regulatory decisions brought about by other mechanisms
What is imprinting?
one allele is turned off
Why is DNA methylation important?
- cellular differentiation
- determining tissue specific patterns of gene expression
- maintain chromosomal stability, tissue specific
- involved in more dynamic types of gene regulation (sparse CpG in TSF binding sites)
How does DNA methylation maintain chromosomal stability?
by keeping repetitive sequences in non coding regions in a repressed state
What are DNA methyltransferases?
enzymes that add methyl groups to CpG
What is DNMT 1?
- maintenance methylase
- responsible for maintaining established methylation patterns during DNA replication
What are DNMT3a and DMNT3b? Function?
- de novo DNA methylation
- methylate promoter regions of genes to turn off expression when their proteins are no longer needed as cells differentiate
- can sometimes be recruited to promoters by TFs to play more dynamic role in gene regulation at sparse CpG sites
How do DNMT3a and 3b help with a more complete turn off of gene expression?
turns off ones already not expressed which shuts down basal TFs for a more complete turn off
Methylated promoters are active or inactive? explain.
- inactive
- active promoters cannot be densely methylated
How do methyltransferases and histone modifying proteins have reciprocal interactions?
De novo DMNTs are recruited by histone modifying proteins, and histone modifying proteins are recruited by proteins that bind methylated DNA
What enzyme are involved in demethylation?
Ten eleven translocation enzymes (TETs)
-led to belief that methylation is more dynamic than previously thought
How do TETs remove DNA methylation? Passive vs active?
- remove it by successive oxidation of 5-methyl cytosine
- passive= create versions not recognized by DMNT1, failed maintenance
- active= form versions that are recognized as damage and removed by base excision repair enzyme, methyl removed
Where are TET enzymes more abundant?
in early embryonic stem cells and germ cells, also found in low levels in somatic cells
What is the first intermediate in demethylation? where does it play a more active role in gene regulation?
- 5 hydroxymethylcytosine
- brain
- may protect cells from abnormal DNA methylation
DNA methylation works together with repressive histone modifications to create what?
a more stable form of heterochromatin inaccessible to TFs
When the cell divides, what maintains repressed chromatin and the methylation pattern? What does this create in terms of stability?
- DMNT1 (maintenance) and the histone reader writer complex
- create a meta-stable state, over time, can be changed
DNA methylation correlates with ______ of histones, and the formation of _____chromatin.
deacetylation
hetero
What is the process of histones becoming more methylated and meta stable? What genes are heavily methylated?
- DMNT is attracted by histone reader writer protein
- methyl binding protein makes the repressed state more stable
- methylated CpG become very tight and protected
-only inactive genes are heavily methylated and more permanently inactivated this way
Meta stability?
maintained long term, but retains the potential to be modified
What does the deamination of methyl cytosine create?
thymine
What are CpG islands? Are CpG sequences represented well in the genome?
- regions rich in CpG sequences, 1 to 4 kbs long usually in promoter region of first introns of genes
- CpG have become underrepresented in the genome, not spread evenly throughout
Where are CpG islands normally found? Are they normally methylated?
- 5’ regulatory regions of some genes, especially housekeeping genes that constitutively expressed
- promoter regions or first introns of genes
- 90% are not normally methylated, maintained through evolution
- some are methylated in a tissue or differentiation stage specific manner
What happens with the inappropriate methylation of CpG in the promoter regions of certain genes?
- cancer
- tumor suppressor genes shut off
- genes encoding proteins involved in DNA repair or apoptosis shut off
During the course of evolution, most CpG sequences in the genome have been mutated to what?
TpG
What are CG rich areas in other genes used for?
- involved in regulating expression by DNA methylation
- affects whether or not certain TFs can bind due to recruitment of de novo methylases to promoters
What is genomic imprinting? How many genes does it affect? Most of the genes affected are involved in what? Where are they often found?
- mono allelic gene expression in diploid cells- limit dosage of certain genes, turn one allele off
- specific to parent of origin
- affects only a few hundred genes
- involved in regulating embryonic and neonatal growth
- often clustered with non coding RNA, which are involved in regulating imprinting process
- Insulin type 2- maternally imprinted, turned off
Maternal vs Paternal imprint?
- maternal- fetal growth, moms genes turned off
- paternal- distribution of resources, dads genes turned off
Passing imprints to the next generation happens during gametogenesis in two phases, describe them? What does the incomplete methylation say about epigenetic being passed down?
- in primordial germline, demethylation is followed by methylation to establish sex specific imprint patterns
- after fertilization, there is global demethylation in the embryo before implantation, and then global methylation after implantation
- most imprinted genes, 2nd phase of demethylation in zygote doesn’t occur, pattern in gametes is maintained
- methylation is incomplete which means that epigenetic patterns can be passed down due to environmental factors
How many generations is needed to observe transgenerational inheritance of epigenetic signals?
three
-nonimprinted genes can sometimes escape reprogramming in embryo
Explain the concept of developmental plasticity? Dutch hunger study?
- DNA methylation of non imprinted genes occurs in embryo as cells differentiate which turns off expression of genes whose products are no longer needed, cell and tissue specific changes occur
- in utero environment influences epigenetic signals which allows modification of certain phenotypes to make offspring better adapted to the situation it will be born into
- dutch study- starved women in first trimester of pregnancy, then returned back to normal diet, this established pattern of methylation in-utero, the offspring were more prone to obesity, cardiovascular disease and insulin resistance
- Leningrad famine- people had lower risk of heart disease because famine persisted
What is the fetal basis of adult disease theory or thrifty phenotype hypothesis?
- metabolic disorders have a developmental origin related to early nutrition during gestation and lactation
- fetal under nutrition and low birth weight are associated with increased risk of diabetes, congestive heart failure and stroke
- effects accompanied by epigenetic signals
- increased insulin resistance
- advantage if famine conditions persists, but if abundance of food it is a disadvantage
Why would malnutrition during pregnancy cause children to have problems when food is abundant?
- causes increased insulin resistance which is a survival advantage during malnutrition, but a problem when food is abundant
- insulin is not able to lower blood sugar enough, causes heart problems
Epigenetic drift? Twins? Why does this happen?
- levels of DNA methylation change with age (tend towards demethylation)
- twins have similar levels of methylation at birth, but become different as they age or spend time apart
- partly due to imperfect maintenance of DNA methylation over time, environmental influences
What can be used to predict the biological age of individuals?
- methylation status of a set of particular CpGs in peripheral blood
- rate of epigenetic drift correlates to increased mortality
DNA methylation is erased where? Then reestablished where? Cell type specific changes in methylation are linked to what?
- germ line and blastocysts
- early in development
- cellular differentiation
Major changes in DNA methylation are associated with cancer, smaller changes are associated with what?
chronic inflammation or obesity
What does it mean that epigenetic signals are metastable?
- although, methylation is mitotically heritable and regarded as a way to shut off gene expression, it can be reversible in some patterns over time
- fewer changes in methylation = epigenetically young and healthier
What is SAM (s-adenosyl methionine)? Where is it found and how is it synthesized?
- universal methyl donor, used to methylate both DNA and histones
- made from methionine through a process called one carbon metabolism which requires Folate and B vitamins (might be feeding established tumors)