Talk:Cis-regulatory element

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There is a lot of overlap between the entries cis-regulatory element cis-acting element and regulatory element they could all be merged with cis-regulatory element which has the best sources and evidence.

Suggestion for merged article follows, with modifications.

Jason-pi 09:26, 10 April 2007 (UTC) But first, a reaction on this suggested merge from someone else (sorry for posting in between but it seems to make most sense to me). My opinion: it's a little unclear and ambiguous, for example what does 'species' refer to?. Main point should be:

Consider gene X. This gene should be regulated. DNA sequences play an important role in this. Cis-elements are parts of the DNA located IN or CLOSE TO gene X which are directly necceccary for a proper expression of this gene X (e.g. its promotor area, if you mess it up, so will be the expression levels of gene X).

Trans-elements are parts of the DNA located remote from X which are indirectly necceccary for a proper expression level of X (e.g. a promotor area of a gene Y which codes for a transcription factor for our gene X, if you mess up this promotor area, so will be the expression levels of transcription factor Y, which inderectly has an influence on X's expression levels).

Notes: in my view the 'direct' vs 'indirect' is more important than the 'close by' vs 'remote'. I can imagine pieces of not-so-close DNA still being directly involved in regulating a gene.

Notes: The actual mechanism by which the cis- and trans- regions have an (in)direct effect on expression are very versatile and probably new mechanisms will be discovered in the future - for example: genes also have elements which are not recognized by binding-things until they are transcriped to RNA. The same reasoning still yields in this case however: messing up these sites in the DNA will have an effect on the translation of that same gene.

Notes: I did't spell check this, sorry, I'm not english but I think others are better at correcting texts, even in my native language :)

TransControl 08:54, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Regulation of gene expression must be gene specific. Regulatory systems therefore require targeting sequences physically linked to the target gene as an address to tell the trans-acting factors that the particular genes should be regulated. These sequences, which can be in the DNA, the RNA are called cis-acting elements (or cis-regulatory elements) if their action depends on their being physically linked to the target.

A cis-regulatory element, cis-element, or cis-sequence is a region of DNA or RNA which regulates the expression of genes located nearby on the same strand. This term is constructed from the Latin root -cis, which means "on the same side as". These cis-regulatory elements are often binding sites of one or more trans-acting factors, usually proteins. A cis-element may be located in the promoter region 5' to the gene it controls, in the mRNA, in the introns, or in the 3' flanking region.


Trans factors or regulatory proteins such as transcription factors bind preferentially. They control gene expression and thus protein expression.

In contrast, trans-regulatory factors are species which may modify the expression of genes distant from the gene that was originally transcribed to create them. To demonstrate the concept, a transcription factor for example GATA1which binds to an element in a promoter for the globin gene on chromosome 11 is transcribed from a gene on the X chromosome. This term is constructed from the Latin root -trans, which means "across from".

Regulatory sequences or elements can also be found in messenger RNA, but they are generally not as well studied as those in DNA. They may be bound by RNA-binding proteins or RNAs (eg miRNAs) and are often found in the 3'UTR.


regulatory elements can, of course, be cis- or trans- acting. and that is disregarding several other important mechanisms. is there any particular reason you're pushing to merge cis-acting elements and regulatory elements? Opposed Lesotho 04:20, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] External References

Recent articles over cis-regulation of gene expression
Gompel et al. 2005. Chance caught on the wing: cis regulation evolution and the origin of pigmentation patterns in Drosophila. Nature 433: 481-487.
Prud'homme et al. 2006. Repeated morphological evolution through cis regulatory changes in a pleiotropic gene. Nature 440: 1050-1053.
Stern, D.L. 2000. Perspective: Evolutionary developmental biology and the problem of variation. Evolution 54: 1079-1091.
Carroll, S.B., Grenier, J.K. and Weatherbee, S.D. 2005. "From DNA to diversity: Molecular genetics and the evolution of animal design" Blackwell publishing.

[edit] See also

DNA

RNA

[edit] See also


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