Enzymes that chemically modify DNA, known as DNA methyltranferases, play critical roles
in regulating gene expression during development, but their role in cancer formation is less clear.
Now researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg show robust evidence that not only the inherited DNA itself but also the inherited epigenetic instructions
contribute in regulating gene expression in the offspring.
While the role that DNA - binding proteins play
in regulating gene expression at the transcriptional level is well studied, how RNA - binding proteins control gene expression at the post-transcriptional level is less clear.
The team's work provides one of the first quantitative global analyses of the role RNA - binding proteins
play in regulating gene expression and makes a significant contribution to knowledge of this regulatory process.
Beachy continues research on virus resistance for crops for developing countries, as well as fundamental research in cell and molecular mechanisms in plant virology, and
in regulating gene expression in plants.
«MicroRNAs, or miRNAs, are short RNA molecules that play a prominent role
in regulating gene expression.
DNA is wrapped around proteins called histones, which serve to package the DNA inside the cell nucleus and play an important role
in regulating gene expression.
In the first study to run a genome - wide analysis of Short Tandem Repeats (STRs) in gene expression, a large team of computational geneticists led by investigators from Columbia Engineering and the New York Genome Center have shown that STRs, thought to be just neutral, or «junk,» actually play an important role
in regulating gene expression.
More recently, some small RNAs have been found to be involved
in regulating gene expression.
Single - stranded, noncoding micro-ribonucleic acids (microRNAs), consisting of 18 - 23 nucleotides, play a key role
in regulating gene expression.
The second group, headed by John Mattick, a molecular biologist at University of Queensland, St. Lucia, in Australia, identified a new class of short RNAs that also seem to be involved
in regulating gene expression, though their function needs to be confirmed.
Deciphering the processes involved
in regulating gene expression is not only essential for understanding normal development, but also for comprehension of the molecular changes that occur in inborn errors of embryonic development as well as in somatic mutations that lead to cancer.
Both mRNA and small RNAs play important roles
in regulating gene expression, Dr. Zhang explained.
Other types of RNA play important roles
in regulating gene expression (microRNAs), RNA processing by the spliceosome (small nuclear RNAs or snRNA), and protein translation (tRNAs).