Abstract
Loopy Chromatin Brings Distant DNA to Bear on Silencing Promoter Genes
Highlights
What makes an unspecialized cell become heart or skin or brain or tumor? The answer—or at least part of it—lies in the presence of proteins that attach to DNA and act like switches to turn on transcription in genes that are involved in guiding that cell toward one destiny or another
The researchers focused on Polycomb group (PcG) proteins, which attach to large stretches of DNA in early embryonic cells to help keep key developmental regulatory genes at a low level of expression, but disappear when the cells begin to differentiate
Studies in fruit flies and mammals suggest that PcG proteins are involved in regulating the transcription of these regulatory genes
Summary
The answer—or at least part of it—lies in the presence of proteins that attach to DNA and act like switches to turn on transcription in genes that are involved in guiding that cell toward one destiny or another. The researchers focused on Polycomb group (PcG) proteins, which attach to large stretches of DNA in early embryonic cells to help keep key developmental regulatory genes at a low level of expression, but disappear when the cells begin to differentiate.
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