"Transcription factors (TFs) [...] control the rate of transcription of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA, by binding to a specific DNA sequence."
Proteins that bind to DNA and regulate the expression of genes, often by activating or repressing transcription.
Gene regulation: Transcription factors (TFs) play a crucial role in the regulation of gene expression.
DNA binding: TFs bind to specific sequences in the DNA, allowing them to activate or repress target genes.
Promoter: A promoter is a sequence of DNA that initiates transcription of a particular gene. TFs can bind to the promoter region to regulate gene expression.
Enhancers and Silencers: Enhancers and silencers are DNA sequences that activate or repress gene expression, respectively. TFs bind to these regions to regulate gene expression.
Domains of transcription factors: Transcription factors contain various domains, such as DNA-binding domains, activation domains, and repression domains, that help them perform their functions.
Co-factors and Co-repressors: These are molecules that work in conjunction with transcription factors to regulate gene expression.
Post-translational modifications: Post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation, acetylation, methylation, and ubiquitination help activate or deactivate transcription factors.
Transcription factor families: There are several families of transcription factors, such as the homeobox, helix-loop-helix, and zinc finger families, each with unique DNA-binding domains.
Developmental biology: In developmental biology, transcription factors play a crucial role in regulating the differentiation of different cell types and the development of organs and tissues.
Stem cell differentiation: Transcription factors help to regulate the differentiation of stem cells into different cell types and tissues.
Epigenetics: The study of epigenetics focuses on how transcription factors and other molecules regulate gene expression through histone modification, DNA methylation, and other mechanisms.
Signaling pathways: Many signaling pathways, such as the Notch, Hedgehog, and Wnt pathways, regulate gene expression through transcription factors.
Diseases: Dysregulation of transcription factors can lead to various diseases, such as cancer, metabolic disorders, and developmental disorders.
CRISPR/Cas9: The revolutionary gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 can be used to manipulate the expression of transcription factors, providing a powerful tool for studying their functions.
Computational biology: Computational tools are increasingly being used to study transcription factors and their functions, such as predicting TF binding sites and analyzing gene expression data.
Activators: These transcription factors bind to enhancer sequences in DNA to increase transcription levels by recruiting co-activator proteins and RNA polymerase to the promoter region.
Repressors: These transcription factors bind to silencer sequences in DNA to decrease transcription levels by preventing activators from binding to enhancer sequences or by recruiting co-repressor proteins that interfere with RNA polymerase activity.
Co-activators: These proteins interact with activators and other transcription factors to promote the assembly of the transcriptional machinery and increase transcription output.
Co-repressors: These proteins interact with repressors and other transcription factors to inhibit the formation of the transcriptional machinery and decrease transcription output.
Pioneer factors: These transcription factors are the first to bind to specific DNA sequences, allowing other transcriptional regulators to bind and activate or repress gene expression.
Homeodomain proteins: These transcription factors are characterized by a specific structural domain, known as the homeodomain, that allows them to bind specific DNA sequences and regulate gene expression during development.
Nuclear receptors: These transcription factors bind to specific ligands, such as hormones, to activate or repress gene expression in response to changes in cellular or environmental conditions.
Signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs): These transcription factors are activated by signals from cytokines, growth factors, and hormones to regulate gene expression and cell function.
Zinc finger proteins: These transcription factors contain a specialized structural domain, known as the zinc finger, that allows them to bind specific DNA sequences and affect gene expression.
"The function of TFs is to regulate—turn on and off—genes in order to make sure that they are expressed in the desired cells at the right time and in the right amount."
"Groups of TFs function in a coordinated fashion to direct cell division, cell growth, and cell death throughout life; cell migration and organization (body plan) during embryonic development."
"Transcription factors function intermittently in response to signals from outside the cell, such as a hormone."
"There are 1500-1600 TFs in the human genome."
"Other proteins such as coactivators, chromatin remodelers, histone acetyltransferases, histone deacetylases, kinases, and methylases are also essential to gene regulation."
"A defining feature of TFs is that they contain at least one DNA-binding domain (DBD), which attaches to a specific sequence of DNA adjacent to the genes that they regulate."
"TFs work alone or with other proteins in a complex, by promoting (as an activator), or blocking (as a repressor) the recruitment of RNA polymerase to specific genes."
"Transcription factors [...] bind[ing] to a specific DNA sequence."
"TFs are grouped into classes based on their DBDs."
"Other proteins such as coactivators, chromatin remodelers, histone acetyltransferases, histone deacetylases, kinases, and methylases are also essential to gene regulation, but lack DNA-binding domains, and therefore are not TFs."
"TFs are of interest in medicine because TF mutations can cause specific diseases."
"Medications can be potentially targeted toward them."
"The function of TFs is to regulate—turn on and off—genes in order to make sure that they are expressed in the desired cells at the right time and in the right amount throughout the life of the cell and the organism."
"Groups of TFs function in a coordinated fashion to direct [...] cell migration and organization (body plan) during embryonic development."
"Transcription factors function by promoting or blocking the recruitment of RNA polymerase (the enzyme that performs the transcription of genetic information from DNA to RNA)."
"Transcription factors function intermittently in response to signals from outside the cell, such as a hormone."
"There are 1500-1600 TFs in the human genome, which regulate various genes."
"Other proteins such as coactivators, chromatin remodelers, histone acetyltransferases, histone deacetylases, kinases, and methylases are also essential to gene regulation."
"Groups of TFs function in a coordinated fashion to direct cell division, cell growth, and cell death throughout life."