Regulatory sequence

A regulatory sequence is a segment of a nucleic acid molecule which is capable of increasing or decreasing the expression of specific genes within an organism. Regulation of gene expression is an essential feature of all living organisms and viruses.

Description

Regulatory sequence Regulatory sequence Enhancer /silencer Promoter 5'UTR Open reading frame 3'UTR Enhancer /silencer Proximal Core Start Stop Terminator Transcription DNA Exon Exon Exon Intron Intron Post-transcriptional modification Pre- mRNA Protein coding region + 5' cap + Poly-A tail Translation Maure mRNA Protein The structure of a eukaryotic protein-coding gene. Regulatory sequence controls when and where expression occurs for the protein coding region (red). Promoter and enhancer regions (yellow) regulate the transcription of the gene into a pre-mRNA which is modified to add a 5' cap and poly-A tail (grey) and remove introns. The mRNA 5' and 3' untranslated regions (blue) regulate translation into the final protein product. Polycistronic operon Regulatory sequence Regulatory sequence Enhancer /silencer Operator Promoter 5'UTR ORF UTR ORF 3'UTR Enhancer /silencer Start Stop Start Stop Terminator Transcription DNA RBS Protein coding region RBS Protein coding region Translation mRNA Protein The structure of a prokaryotic operon of protein-coding genes. Regulatory sequence controls when expression occurs for the multiple protein coding regions (red). Promoter, operator and enhancer regions (yellow) regulate the transcription of the gene into an mRNA. The mRNA untranslated regions (blue) regulate translation into the final protein products.

In DNA, regulation of gene expression normally happens at the level of RNA biosynthesis (transcription), and is accomplished through the sequence-specific binding of proteins (transcription factors) that activate or inhibit transcription. Transcription factors may act as activators, repressors, or both. Repressors often act by preventing RNA polymerase from forming a productive complex with the transcriptional initiation region (promoter), while activators facilitate formation of a productive complex. Furthermore, DNA motifs have been shown to be predictive of epigenomic modifications, suggesting that transcription factors play a role in regulating the epigenome.

In RNA, regulation may occur at the level of protein biosynthesis (translation), RNA cleavage, RNA splicing, or transcriptional termination. Regulatory sequences are frequently associated with messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules, where they are used to control mRNA biogenesis or translation. A variety of biological molecules may bind to the RNA to accomplish this regulation, including proteins (e.g. translational repressors and splicing factors), other RNA molecules (e.g. miRNA) and small molecules, in the case of riboswitches.

Research to find all regulatory regions in the genomes of all sorts of organisms is under way. Conserved non-coding sequences often contain regulatory regions, and so they are often the subject of these analyses.

Examples

• CAAT box
• CCAAT box
• Operator (biology)
• Pribnow box
• TATA box
• SECIS element, mRNA
• Polyadenylation signals, mRNA
• A-box
• Z-box
• C-box
• E-box
• G-box

Insulin gene

Regulatory sequences for the insulin gene are:

• A5
• Z
• negative regulatory element (NRE)
• C2
• E2
• A3
• cAMP response element
• A2
• CAAT enhancer binding (CEB)
• C1
• E1
• G1

See also

• Regulator gene
• Regulation of gene expression
• Cis-acting element
• Gene regulatory network
• Operon
• DNA binding site
• Promoter
• Trans-acting factor
• ORegAnno

External links

• ORegAnno - Open Regulatory Annotation Database