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. 2012:4:8.
doi: 10.3410/B4-8. Epub 2012 Apr 2.

The context of gene expression regulation

Johan H Gibcus  1 , Job Dekker
Affiliations

The context of gene expression regulation

Johan H Gibcus et al. F1000 Biol Rep. 2012.

Abstract

Recent advances in sequencing technologies have uncovered a world of RNAs that do not code for proteins, known as non-protein coding RNAs, that play important roles in gene regulation. Along with histone modifications and transcription factors, non-coding RNA is part of a layer of transcriptional control on top of the DNA code. This layer of components and their interactions specifically enables (or disables) the modulation of three-dimensional folding of chromatin to create a context for transcriptional regulation that underlies cell-specific transcription. In this perspective, we propose a structural and functional hierarchy, in which the DNA code, proteins and non-coding RNAs act as context creators to fold chromosomes and regulate genes.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. The context model
(a) The context model of gene expression consists of three layers of regulation, each representing a level of interactions that allows the transition from code to context. (b) DNA, the first layer, interacts with non-coding RNA (arbitrary sequence in blue), TFs (green) and histone modifications (red). The third layer is the resulting 3D folding (dotted line), which creates the final context for gene transcription. Abbreviations: ncRNA, non-coding RNA; TF, transcription factor; 3D, three-dimensional.
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