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Related Concept Videos

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...
Reporter Genes02:11

Reporter Genes

Reporter genes are a type of protein-coding gene that are often tagged to a gene of interest. Once inside a target cell, reporter genes usually produce visually identifiable characteristics like fluorescence and luminescence when expressed along with the gene of interest. Thus, reporter genes “report” the presence or absence of genes of interest in an organism, determine the gene expression pattern, or track the physical location of a DNA segment or protein in the cell.
Commonly used reporter...
Combinatorial Gene Control02:33

Combinatorial Gene Control

Combinatorial gene control is the synergistic action of several transcriptional factors to regulate the expression of a single gene. The absence of one or more of these factors may lead to a significant difference in the level of gene expression or repression.
The expression of more than 30,000 genes is controlled by approximately 2000-3000 transcription factors. This is possible because a single transcription factor can recognize more than one regulatory sequence. The specificity in gene...
Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps02:24

Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps

Gene expression can be regulated at almost every step from gene to protein. Transcription is the step that is most commonly regulated. This involves the binding of proteins to short regulatory sequences on the DNA. This association can either promote or inhibit the transcription of a gene associated with the respective sequence.
Transcription results in the generation of precursor (pre-mRNA) that consists of both exons and introns, which needs further processing before being translated to a...
Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps02:24

Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps

Gene expression can be regulated at almost every step from gene to protein. Transcription is the step that is most commonly regulated. This involves the binding of proteins to short regulatory sequences on the DNA. This association can either promote or inhibit the transcription of a gene associated with the respective sequence.
Transcription results in the generation of precursor (pre-mRNA) that consists of both exons and introns, which needs further processing before being translated to a...

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Rapid Synthesis and Screening of Chemically Activated Transcription Factors with GFP-based Reporters
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Functionalization of a protosynaptic gene expression network.

Cecilia Conaco1, Danielle S Bassett, Hongjun Zhou

  • 1Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|June 23, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The evolution of neuronal synapses involved ancient gene networks. These networks, present even before functional synapses, were repurposed and refined over time, suggesting a gradual assembly of this complex cellular machine.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Neuroscience
  • Genomics

Background:

  • Synapse assembly requires complex protein synthesis.
  • Understanding synapse evolution offers insights into nervous system development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the evolutionary origins of the neuronal synapse.
  • To analyze the developmental expression patterns of conserved synaptic genes across the animal kingdom.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative analysis of gene expression patterns.
  • Network analysis techniques applied to genomic and expression data.
  • Tracking core synaptic genes across diverse animal phyla.

Main Results:

  • Gene coregulation increased significantly with the emergence of functional nervous systems.
  • In early animals (Porifera), "protosynaptic" genes lacked global coregulation but showed small coexpressed modules.
  • Ancient gene modules are conserved within modern animal synapses.

Conclusions:

  • Functional synapses likely evolved by exapting pre-existing cellular machinery.
  • Regulatory circuitry modifications played a key role in synapse evolution.
  • Network analysis of genomic data illuminates the evolution of complex cellular systems.