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Absence of a simple code: how transcription factors read the genome.

ABSTRACT: Transcription factors (TFs) influence cell fate by interpreting the regulatory DNA within a genome. TFs recognize DNA in a specific manner; the mechanisms underlying this specificity have been identified for many TFs based on 3D structures of protein-DNA complexes. More recently, structural views have been complemented with data from high-throughput in vitro and in vivo explorations of the DNA-binding preferences of many TFs. Together, these approaches have greatly expanded our understanding of TF-DNA interactions. However, the mechanisms by which TFs select in vivo binding sites and alter gene expression remain unclear. Recent work has highlighted the many variables that influence TF-DNA binding, while demonstrating that a biophysical understanding of these many factors will be central to understanding TF function.

SUBMITTER: Slattery M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4149858 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Absence of a simple code: how transcription factors read the genome.

Slattery Matthew M Zhou Tianyin T Yang Lin L Dantas Machado Ana Carolina AC Gordân Raluca R Rohs Remo R

Trends in biochemical sciences 20140814 9

Transcription factors (TFs) influence cell fate by interpreting the regulatory DNA within a genome. TFs recognize DNA in a specific manner; the mechanisms underlying this specificity have been identified for many TFs based on 3D structures of protein-DNA complexes. More recently, structural views have been complemented with data from high-throughput in vitro and in vivo explorations of the DNA-binding preferences of many TFs. Together, these approaches have greatly expanded our understanding of ...[more]

PMID: 25129887

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