This confirmed that
the gene regulatory switch is highly specific to one cell type, monocytes and that tumor cell invasion in the absence of this population had nothing to do with deregulated macrophage activity.
Not exact matches
More recently, it has become clear that slight variations in the
regulatory sequences that determine when a
gene is
switched on,...
Harris and Peter Ratcliffe, also at the IMM, discovered the genetic
switches, which they call «hypoxia - responsive elements» (HREs), in segments of DNA known as
regulatory genes.
With chronically infected mice as their model, the researchers used a new technology called ATAC - seq to map the
regulatory regions of the genome — the sections of DNA involved in
switching genes on and off — in the animals» exhausted and functional CD8 + T cells.
«The complexity of our biology resides not in the number of our
genes but in the
regulatory switches,» Eric Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute and collaborator on the ENCODE project, said in a press briefing September 5.
They also demonstrated significant advantages of editing
gene regulatory sequences in their native location to uncover new functionalities that could lead to a better understanding of how control
switches work to turn
genes on and off in the body.
The team studied the genomes of almost 8,000 child and parent trios, focusing on
genes that coded for proteins as well as non-coding parts of the genome that control the
switching on and off of
genes, known as
regulatory elements.
The advances even point to strategies for exploiting these
regulatory elements to treat disease, by
switching off disease
genes and turning up the activity of healthy ones.
What makes a horse different from a tiger, a mouse and a walrus is the set of
regulatory switches in the DNA that dictate where, when and for how long those
genes are active.
Developmental regulation proceeds through the sequential activation of a series of
regulatory switches that in turn activate networks of other
genes.
One suggestion that has generated considerable interest is the possibility that the risk polymorphisms located far from
genes could function as
gene regulatory elements or «
switches» that regulate the expression of
genes.
Bach2 represses plasma cell
gene regulatory network in B cells to promote antibody class
switch.
There may be
genes that influence where white shows up or
regulatory DNA that
switches those
genes on or off.