Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Using an Automated Cell Counter to Simplify Gene Expression Studies: siRNA Knockdown of IL-4 Dependent Gene Expression in Namalwa Cells
Published on: April 14, 2010
Gordon Dixon, protamines, and the atypical patterns of gene expression in spermatogenic cells
1a Biology , University of Massachusetts Boston , Boston , MA , USA.
Abstract:
Gordon Dixon's pioneering work on the replacement of histones by protamines during spermatogenesis inspired research as recombinant DNA became widely used to analyze gene expression in mammalian spermatogenic cells. The impact of recombinant DNA began immediately with the identification of mouse protamine 1 as a haploid-expressed mRNA, resolving a decades-long controversy whether gene expression in haploid spermatogenic cells distorts transmission of alleles to progeny. Numerous insights into the biology of spermatogenesis followed as the sequences of many mRNAs revealed that the patterns of gene expression in spermatogenic cells are astonishingly different from those in other cells in the mammalian body. Studies of these phenomena have generated fundamental insights across reproductive, molecular and evolutionary biology. Abbreviations: PRM1: protamine 1; PRM2: protamine 2; TCE: translation control element.
Related Concept Videos
Cell Specific Gene Expression
Cell Specific Gene Expression
What is Gene Expression?
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?
Chromatin Position Affects Gene Expression
Topologically Associated Domains (TADs)
The 3-dimensional positioning of chromatin in the nucleus influences the...
mRNA Stability and Gene Expression
Cis-acting Elements involved in mRNA stability

