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Related Concept Videos

What is Gene Expression?01:42

What is Gene Expression?

Overview
Gene expression is the process in which DNA directs the synthesis of functional products, that is, proteins. Cells can regulate gene expression at various stages. It allows organisms to generate different cell types and enables cells to adapt to internal and external factors.
Genetic Information Flows from DNA to RNA to Protein
A gene is a stretch of DNA that serves as the blueprint for functional RNAs and proteins. Since DNA is made up of nucleotides and proteins consist of amino...
What is Gene Expression?01:36

What is Gene Expression?

A gene is a stretch of DNA that serves as the blueprint for functional RNAs and proteins. Since DNA is comprised  of nucleotides and proteins are comprised of amino acids, a mediator is required to convert the information encoded in DNA into proteins. This mediator is the messenger RNA (mRNA). mRNA copies the blueprint from DNA by a process called transcription. In eukaryotes, transcription occurs in the nucleus by complementary base-pairing with the DNA template. The mRNA is then processed and...
What is Gene Expression?01:42

What is Gene Expression?

Overview
Gene expression is the process in which DNA directs the synthesis of functional products, that is, proteins. Cells can regulate gene expression at various stages. It allows organisms to generate different cell types and enables cells to adapt to internal and external factors.
Genetic Information Flows from DNA to RNA to Protein
A gene is a stretch of DNA that serves as the blueprint for functional RNAs and proteins. Since DNA is made up of nucleotides and proteins consist of amino...
Structure of a Gene01:30

Structure of a Gene

A gene is the fundamental unit of heredity. Every individual has two copies of each gene, one inherited from each parent. Although most people contain the same genes, there is a small fraction that is slightly different amongst people. A gene with a small difference in its sequence of DNA bases forms different alleles, contributing to different phenotypes.
However, only 1% of the DNA is composed of genes that encode proteins; the rest, 99% is non-coding DNA. This non-coding DNA performs...
Constitutive and Regulated Gene Expression01:27

Constitutive and Regulated Gene Expression

Gene expression in prokaryotes is governed by constitutive and regulated systems, allowing cells to balance the production of essential proteins with adaptive responses to environmental changes.Constitutive Gene ExpressionConstitutive, or housekeeping, genes are continuously expressed as they encode proteins vital for fundamental cellular processes. These include enzymes for glycolysis, ribosomal components for protein synthesis, and proteins involved in DNA replication. Their constant...
Regulation of Expression at Multiple Steps01:23

Regulation of Expression at Multiple Steps

The gene expression in cells is regulated at different stages: (i) transcription, (ii) RNA processing, (iii) RNA localization, and (iv) translation. Transcriptional regulation is mediated by regulatory proteins such as transcription factors, activators, or repressors—these control gene expression by initiating or inhibiting the transcription of genes. Once a precursor or pre-mRNA is produced, it undergoes post-transcriptional modification, including 5' capping, splicing, and the addition of a...

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Using gene expression noise to understand gene regulation.

Brian Munsky1, Gregor Neuert, Alexander van Oudenaarden

  • 1Center for Nonlinear Studies, the National Flow Cytometry Resource, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA. munsky@lanl.gov

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|April 14, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Biological variability arises from gene expression noise, even in identical cells. Measuring this variability offers insights into gene regulation mechanisms and dynamics.

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Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Systems Biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Phenotypic variation is common in biology, stemming from genetic and environmental factors.
  • Even genetically identical cells in identical environments exhibit phenotypic differences.
  • Stochastic gene expression, or gene expression noise, is a key contributor to this variability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review how gene expression variability is used to understand gene regulation.
  • To highlight studies that quantitatively explore gene regulation mechanisms using noise.
  • To emphasize the role of noise in fundamental questions of gene regulation.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of cell-to-cell variability in protein and messenger RNA levels.
  • Integration of experimental measurements with discrete stochastic models.
  • Review of recent studies employing gene expression variability as a research tool.

Main Results:

  • Strong correlations found between gene expression noise and gene regulation mechanisms.
  • Variability measurements provide a sensitive method to probe gene regulation.
  • Quantitative understanding of gene regulation dynamics is advanced through noise analysis.

Conclusions:

  • Gene expression noise is a significant source of biological variability.
  • Measuring and modeling noise offers a powerful approach to studying gene regulation.
  • Further research integrating variability measurements and stochastic models will deepen our understanding of gene regulatory networks.