Video: Uncovering the complex roles of transcription factors in gene regulation

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Throughout their lifespan, cells must continuously activate and deactivate genes. This process is regulated by transcription factors, a class of proteins that control gene expression by binding to DNA. However, binding is complex due to the tightly compacted structure of DNA, which is wrapped around proteins to form nucleosomes.

Some transcription factors can displace nucleosomes, but FMI researchers have now found that these factors exhibit more varied behaviors than previously thought. For example, some transcription factors can displace nucleosomes only when binding at specific regions. The findings deepen our understanding of gene regulation and may ultimately help to develop new approaches for treating disease.

In this video, Marco Pregnolato—a former Ph.D. student in the Schübeler group—tells us about this work, done in collaboration with Ralph Grand, a former postdoc with Schübeler.

Grand has published the research in the journal Molecular Cell.

More information: Ralph Stefan Grand et al, Genome access is transcription factor-specific and defined by nucleosome position, Molecular Cell (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2024.08.009

Journal information: Molecular Cell

Provided by Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research