The Regulation of Transcription in Eukaryotes Flashcards
What determines the identity and capability of a cell
relative abundance of gene products
Describe transcription - the basics
- first step in converting DNA to gene products
- first step in genotype to phenotype
- primary regulatory gateway for gene expression
Number of genes per cell:
40,000
Number of transcripts per cell:
300,000
Number of proteins per cell:
1,000,000,000
Describe the amplification of transcripts in a cell
~5x
What is the average transcript number per gene?
~10
Describe the amplification of proteins in a cell
~130x
amplification
What is the average protein number per gene?
~1,300
Transcription in eukaryotes is regulated at…
three temporally distinct stages
When is transcription in eukaryotes regulated?
- initiation
- elongation
- termination
Describe transcription regulation at initation
- transcription factors
- promoters
- pre-initiation complex
Describe transcription regulation at elongation
- TFIIS
- nucleosome/chromatin remodeling
Describe transcription regulation at termination
Cleavage and polyadenylation
Describe transcription factors
- the first step transcriptional regulation
- composed of one or more DNA binding domains and protein-protein interaction domains.
- bind to short DNA sequence elements (6-20bp)
- recruit (or block recruitment) of other proteins
- act as activators or repressors
What the humans genes coding for transcription factors
- 1600 genes
- 8%
Describe transcription factor gene families
- ~20
- ~50% of transcription factors in human genome are C2H2 zinc finger transcription factors
Describe the mechanics of transcription factors
- DNA binding domain binds to short sequences in the nucleosome
- recruit enzymes that alter nucleosomes
- recruit the PIC
- GTFs