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Transcription Factors

Transcription Factors

Tissue-specific transcription factors contribute to diverse cellular functions in mammals. For example, the gene for beta globin, a major component of hemoglobin, is present in all cells of the body. However, it is only expressed in red blood cells because the transcription factors that can bind to the promoter sequences of the beta globin gene are only expressed in these cells. Tissue-specific transcription factors also ensure that mutations in these factors may impair only the function of...

Transcription Elongation Factors

Transcription Elongation Factors

Transcription elongation is a dynamic process that alters depending upon the sequence heterogeneity of the DNA being transcribed. Hence, it is not surprising that the elongation complex's composition also varies along the way while transcribing a gene.
The transcription elongation is regulated via pausing of RNA polymerase on several occasions during transcription. In bacteria, these halts are necessary because the transcription of DNA into mRNA is coupled to the translation of that mRNA...

Transcription Elongation Factors

Transcription Elongation Factors

Cooperative Binding of Transcription Regulators

Cooperative Binding of Transcription Regulators

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...

Cooperative Binding of Transcription Regulators

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General Transcription Factors

General Transcription Factors

Tissue-specific transcription factors contribute to diverse cellular functions in mammals. For example, the gene for beta globin, a major component of hemoglobin, is present in all cells of the body. However, it is only expressed in red blood cells because the transcription factors that can bind to the promoter sequences of the beta globin gene are only expressed in these cells. Tissue-specific transcription factors also ensure that mutations in these factors may impair only the function of...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Live Cell Imaging of Chromosome Segregation During Mitosis

Live Cell Imaging of Chromosome Segregation During Mitosis

Published on: March 14, 2018

Visualizing Transcription Factor Binding on Mitotic Chromosomes Using Single-Molecule Live-Cell Imaging.

James Z J Kwan¹, Thomas F Nguyen¹, Sheila S Teves²

¹Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)

|August 14, 2019

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Most transcription factors (TFs) do not leave mitotic chromosomes during cell division. Previous studies mistakenly concluded TFs were excluded due to formaldehyde cross-linking artifacts, not biological processes.

Keywords:

Diffusion Dynamics Mitotic chromosomes Mouse embryonic stem cells Residence time Single-molecule live-cell imaging Transcription factors

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Last Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Live Cell Imaging of Chromosome Segregation During Mitosis

Live Cell Imaging of Chromosome Segregation During Mitosis

Published on: March 14, 2018

Measuring the Kinetics of mRNA Transcription in Single Living Cells

Measuring the Kinetics of mRNA Transcription in Single Living Cells

Published on: August 25, 2011

Live Cell Imaging to Assess the Dynamics of Metaphase Timing and Cell Fate Following Mitotic Spindle Perturbations

Live Cell Imaging to Assess the Dynamics of Metaphase Timing and Cell Fate Following Mitotic Spindle Perturbations

Published on: September 20, 2019

Area of Science:

Cell Biology
Molecular Biology
Genetics

Background:

Transcription factors (TFs) were thought to be excluded from mitotic chromosomes in mammalian cells.
Mitotic bookmarkers, a few TFs remaining on chromosomes, were hypothesized to aid transcription reestablishment post-mitosis.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the true binding behavior of TFs during mitosis in mammalian cells.
To determine if formaldehyde cross-linking affects the observed localization of TFs during cell division.

Main Methods:

Live-cell imaging of endogenous TFs in mouse embryonic stem cells.
Single-molecule tracking to quantify TF diffusion and binding dynamics.
Development of analytical tools for high-resolution live-cell imaging data.

Main Results:

Most TFs remain bound to mitotic chromosomes throughout cell division.
Observed exclusion of TFs is an artifact of formaldehyde cross-linking.
Quantified TF diffusion and binding dynamics during mitosis.

Conclusions:

The exclusion of TFs from mitotic chromosomes is not a biological phenomenon but an artifact.
Most TFs are present on mitotic chromosomes, challenging previous assumptions.
This finding impacts our understanding of cell division and gene regulation.