Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Inducible Operons: lac Operon01:25

Inducible Operons: lac Operon

3.0K
The lac operon in Escherichia coli is a model for understanding inducible gene regulation and metabolic flexibility. It integrates local control by lactose and global regulation through catabolite repression, enabling E. coli to preferentially metabolize glucose when available and switch to lactose utilization when glucose is scarce.Structure and Function of the lac OperonThe lac operon contains three structural genes: lacZ (β-galactosidase), lacY (lactose permease), and lacA...
3.0K
Cooperative Binding of Transcription Regulators02:13

Cooperative Binding of Transcription Regulators

7.6K
Transcriptional regulators bind to specific cis-regulatory sequences in the DNA to regulate gene transcription. These cis-regulatory sequences are very short, usually less than ten nucleotide pairs in length. The short length means that there is a high probability of the exact same sequence randomly occurring throughout the genome.  Since regulators can also bind to groups of similar sequences, this further increases the chances of random binding. Transcriptional regulators form...
7.6K
Operons02:09

Operons

57.1K
Prokaryotes can control gene expression through operons—DNA sequences consisting of regulatory elements and clustered, functionally related protein-coding genes. Operons use a single promoter sequence to initiate transcription of a gene cluster (i.e., a group of structural genes) into a single mRNA molecule. The terminator sequence ends transcription. An operator sequence, located between the promoter and structural genes, prohibits the operon’s transcriptional activity if bound by...
57.1K
Operon Model01:23

Operon Model

2.3K
The operon model represents a fundamental mechanism of gene regulation in prokaryotes, enabling coordinated expression of genes involved in related metabolic or functional pathways. Operons consist of structural genes, a promoter, and an operator, with transcription regulated by repressors, activators, and small effector molecules.Structure and Function of OperonsAn operon is a cluster of structural genes transcribed together under the control of a single promoter. The promoter region...
2.3K
Co-activators and Co-repressors02:04

Co-activators and Co-repressors

9.1K
Gene transcription is regulated by the synergistic action of several proteins that form a complex at a gene regulatory site. This is observed in eukaryotes, where the regulation of gene expression is a complex process. Regulatory proteins in eukaryotes can broadly be classified into two types – regulators that bind directly to specific DNA sequences and co-regulators that associate with regulatory proteins but cannot directly bind to the DNA. These co-regulators are further divided into...
9.1K
Prokaryotic Transcriptional Activators and Repressors01:58

Prokaryotic Transcriptional Activators and Repressors

27.5K
The organization of prokaryotic genes in their genome is notably different from that of eukaryotes. Prokaryotic genes are organized, such that the genes for proteins involved in the same biochemical process or function are located together in groups. This group of genes, along with their regulatory elements, are collectively known as an operon. The functional genes in an operon are transcribed together to give a single strand of mRNA known as polycistronic mRNA.
Transcription of prokaryotic...
27.5K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Targeting Lcn2 to Inhibit Myocardial Cell Ferroptosis is a Potential Therapy for Alleviating Septic Cardiomyopathy.

Inflammation·2025
Same author

Development and validation of a screening tool for sepsis without laboratory results in the emergency department: a machine learning study.

EClinicalMedicine·2025
Same author

UPLC-MS metabolite profiling and antioxidant activity of <i>Sanghuangporus sanghuang</i> extract.

PeerJ·2025
Same author

Mechanical properties and mechanisms of soda residue and fly ash stabilized soil.

Scientific reports·2025
Same author

Angelica gigas Nakai (Korean Dang-gui) Root Alcoholic Extracts in Health Promotion and Disease Therapy - active Phytochemicals and In Vivo Molecular Targets.

Pharmaceutical research·2025
Same author

Extension of an ICU-based noninvasive model to predict latent shock in the emergency department: an exploratory study.

Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 18, 2026

Combining Single-molecule Manipulation and Imaging for the Study of Protein-DNA Interactions
14:43

Combining Single-molecule Manipulation and Imaging for the Study of Protein-DNA Interactions

Published on: August 27, 2014

12.2K

Recognition mechanism between Lac repressor and DNA with correlation network analysis.

Lishi Xu1, Wei Ye, Cheng Jiang

  • 1State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiaotong University , 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, China.

The Journal of Physical Chemistry. B
|January 31, 2015
PubMed
Summary

Lac repressor protein recognizes specific DNA sequences through a unique translocation mechanism. Molecular dynamics reveal distinct interaction networks and binding modes crucial for this process.

More Related Videos

Analyzing and Building Nucleic Acid Structures with 3DNA
16:24

Analyzing and Building Nucleic Acid Structures with 3DNA

Published on: April 26, 2013

21.4K
DNA-affinity-purified Chip DAP-chip Method to Determine Gene Targets for Bacterial Two component Regulatory Systems
12:24

DNA-affinity-purified Chip DAP-chip Method to Determine Gene Targets for Bacterial Two component Regulatory Systems

Published on: July 21, 2014

17.4K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 18, 2026

Combining Single-molecule Manipulation and Imaging for the Study of Protein-DNA Interactions
14:43

Combining Single-molecule Manipulation and Imaging for the Study of Protein-DNA Interactions

Published on: August 27, 2014

12.2K
Analyzing and Building Nucleic Acid Structures with 3DNA
16:24

Analyzing and Building Nucleic Acid Structures with 3DNA

Published on: April 26, 2013

21.4K
DNA-affinity-purified Chip DAP-chip Method to Determine Gene Targets for Bacterial Two component Regulatory Systems
12:24

DNA-affinity-purified Chip DAP-chip Method to Determine Gene Targets for Bacterial Two component Regulatory Systems

Published on: July 21, 2014

17.4K

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Biophysics
  • Structural Biology

Background:

  • Lac repressor protein regulates lactose metabolism gene expression.
  • DNA-binding proteins utilize nonspecific and specific interactions for target recognition.
  • Understanding transcription factor-DNA interactions is fundamental to gene regulation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the molecular mechanism of Lac repressor-DNA recognition.
  • To differentiate between specific and nonspecific binding modes.
  • To identify key interactions and DNA structural changes during binding.

Main Methods:

  • Molecular dynamics simulations.
  • Correlation network analyses.
  • Analysis of electrostatic, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interactions.
  • Evaluation using designed DNA-protein systems.

Main Results:

  • Specific and nonspecific binding exhibit distinct correlation network properties (centralized, dense networks in specific binding).
  • Interaction modes differ: stronger electrostatic/hydrogen bonding in nonspecific, hydrophobic interactions in specific binding.
  • Hinge helix induces DNA bending in specific complexes; a common DNA sequence motif identified.

Conclusions:

  • The study reveals distinct molecular mechanisms underlying specific and nonspecific Lac repressor-DNA binding.
  • Differences in interaction networks and binding modes are key to sequence recognition.
  • The employed computational methods can be applied to study other transcription factor-DNA interactions.