Predictions for gene transcription products
Transcriptional regulation lies at the very core of sustainable development and differentiation. Recent high-tech genomic research tools have unearthed transcription factors, regulatory DNA elements and other building blocks involved in several specific systems. However, the description of pathways and chemical players has been on a qualitative basis. The TRANSCRIPTION_REG (A combined experimental and computational approach for quantitative and mechanistic understanding of transcriptional regulation) project has developed a mechanistic understanding of the whole process. Results from application of the model demonstrated a predictive ability. Given human genotypic information only, results were successfully translated into expression level profiles. Dissecting the regulation process encompasses a pathway of crucial events. The basis for this is that every regulatory sequence has a unique set of molecular binding configurations and transcription products. Processes include initial expression of the factors, cis-regulatory binding to the appropriate sequence and the expression patterns that follow. Project researchers went beyond a qualitative description of factors involved and gained a quantitative understanding of how transcriptional programmes are encoded in the DNA sequence. Applications are far-reaching as an understanding of different phenotypes resulting from genetic variation has broad implications in the fields of medical genetics, agriculture and biotech in general.
Keywords
Gene transcription, regulation, binding configurations, medical genetics
