Transcription factor
Transcription factors help to regulate genes. Each transcription factor binds to a specific DNA sequence. That is how they control the rate of transcription of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA.[1][2]
A transcription factor is sometimes called a 'sequence-specific DNA-binding factor'. Alone or with other proteins, they promote or block RNA polymerase. RNA polymerase is the enzyme that copies genetic information from DNA to RNA for specific genes.[3][4][5]
Transcription factors have one or more DNA-binding domains (DBDs). These attach to sequences of DNA next to the genes they regulate.[6][7] Other proteins (such as coactivators, chromatin remodellers, histone acetylases or deacetylases, kinases, and methylases) also play crucial roles in gene regulation. Because they lack DNA-binding domains, they are not called transcription factors.[8]
Glossary:
- gene expression – how information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product such as a protein
- transcription – the process of making messenger RNA (mRNA) from a DNA template by RNA polymerase
- transcription factor – a protein that binds to DNA and regulates gene expression by promoting or suppressing transcription
- 'transcriptional regulation' – controlling the rate of gene transcription for example by helping or hindering RNA polymerase binding to DNA
- 'upregulation', activation or promotion – increase the rate of gene transcription
- 'downregulation', repression or suppression – decrease the rate of gene transcription
- 'coactivator' – a protein that works with transcription factors to increase the rate of gene transcription
- 'corepressor' – a protein that works with transcription factors to decrease the rate of gene transcription
- 'response element' – a sequence of DNA to which a transcription factor binds
Transcription Factor Media
DNA contacts of different types of DNA-binding domains of transcription factors
References
- ↑ Latchman DS. Transcription factors: an overview. Int. J. Biochem. Cell Biol. 29 (12) (1997). p. 1305–12. doi:10.1016/S1357-2725(97)00085-X.
- ↑ Karin M. Too many transcription factors: positive and negative interactions. New Biol. 2 (2) (1990). p. 126–31.
- ↑ Roeder RG. The role of general initiation factors in transcription by RNA polymerase II. Trends Biochem. Sci. 21 (9) (1996). p. 327–35. doi:10.1016/0968-0004(96)10050-5.
- ↑ Nikolov DB, Burley SK. RNA polymerase II transcription initiation: A structural view. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 94 (1) (1997). p. 15–22. doi:10.1073/pnas.94.1.15.
- ↑ Lee TI, Young RA. Transcription of eukaryotic protein-coding genes. Annu. Rev. Genet. 34 (2000). p. 77–137. doi:10.1146/annurev.genet.34.1.77.
- ↑ Mitchell PJ, Tjian R. Transcriptional regulation in mammalian cells by sequence-specific DNA binding proteins. Science 245 (4916) (1989). p. 371–8. doi:10.1126/science.2667136.
- ↑ Ptashne M, Gann A. Transcriptional activation by recruitment. Nature 386 (6625) (1997). p. 569–77. doi:10.1038/386569a0.
- ↑ Brivanlou AH, Darnell JE. Signal transduction and the control of gene expression. Science 295 (5556) (2002). p. 813–8. doi:10.1126/science.1066355.