7 "Gene Switches" You Don't Know

"Gene switches" are like adding a promoter or a small barrier to the gene expression process chain, allowing genes that previously failed to work to work or the work that has already begun to work.
, for example, adding substances that allow certain genes that control growth or reproduction of cancer cells to die naturally, or to allow normal gene expression in cancer cells to become normal cells.
A British team of researchers who can suppress pulmonary hypertension have found that a gene is associated with pulmonary hypertension, and that effective treatments for this condition could be developed in the future based on its mechanism of action.
pulmonary hypertension refers to a hemodynamic and pathophysiological state in which pulmonary arterial pressure rises above a certain boundary value, which can lead to right heart failure, and clinical symptoms are mainly characterized by difficulty in snorting, fatigue, etc.
Imperial College team found this specific gene in mice associated with pulmonary hypertension.
further research has found that the gene is not active in the lungs of normal people, but it works very actively in those with pulmonary hypertension.
the current treatment of pulmonary hypertension can only alleviate the symptoms of patients, but it does not really work on the root of the disease, so it is often generally effective. Based on this finding, researchers
say that in the future, if drugs can be developed to inhibit the gene from working, it may be possible to find an effective treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension. Martin Wilkins, who led the study
, said it was only now found that this particular gene had a role to play in the condition, but that their deep relationships and mechanisms of action needed further study, and the results would help translate into effective therapies. Xu Huaqiang of the Shanghai Institute of Pharmaceutical Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Li Jiayang of the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, karsten Melcher of the Wenanlo Institute of science and technology world, found an important molecular mechanism in the plant that is very similar to the specific signal mechanism in the human body, which is closely related to early human embryonic development and cancer and other diseases.

complex molecular networks in plants regulate key biological functions, such as growth and stress response.
these molecular networks are regulated by a large number of "switches" and, if incorrectly turned on or off, gene expression is incorrectly turned on or off, leading to the occurrence of disease. "This study sheds light on the important protein 'Topless' in the plant signaling pathway, and this finding provides a common model for studying gene silencing,"
.
", Xu Huaqiang said, Topless is an indispensable factor in plant growth and development, interacting with key inhibitors to form gene silencing in plants.
the "gene switch" that opens up the aging process, scientists at Northwestern University in the United States have found that when an animal reaches reproductive maturity, a gene switch opens the aging process, turning off the cell's stress response mechanism, causing mature cells to begin to decline.
in animals, including nematodes and humans, heat shock response (i.e., a protective adaptation that the organism exhibits in a heat stress or other stress state) is essential for proper protein folding and protection of cell health.
researchers looked at the thermal shock response of nematodes, a species called caenorhabdisel-egans, which entered adulthood only eight hours into adulthood and reached the stage of maturation, responsible for making sperm and eggs of reproductive stem cells, and suddenly turned off the body's "gene switch" to end the mechanisms that were intended to protect the body's cells and accelerate aging.
a sharp drop in the first four hours of the protective heat shock reaction to the online worm's maturation, which is the precise beginning of reproductive maturation.
although nematodes still behave normally, scientists can see a decline in molecular changes and protein quality control.
results are based on 10 years of research.
gene switches occur between the biological's two major cellular systems, the reproductive system and the body system.
once the reproductive system has completed its task and produced eggs and sperm, it signals the cells of the body system, turns off the protective mechanism, and causes mature animals to age.
researchers point out that although they are looking at nematodes, the gene switch, which plays a key role in aging, is stored in animals, including humans. "
We see that in the early stages of maturation, the protective heat shock response begins to collapse rapidly. "Aging is not a continuous occurrence, " said Richard Murrimottto of Northwestern University, senior author of the
paper.
the online bug system, we found a very precise aging switch.
these gene switches gradually enter mature cells over an eight-hour time, suppressing both the heat shock response and other cellular stress reactions. in one experiment,
, the researchers blocked the closing signals sent by the reproductive system and found that the physical tissueof of mature animals remained strong and resistant to pressure.
researchers in the experiment, successfully blocked the nematode's reproductive cell system from sending signals, shutting down the mechanism sourcing the cells and delaying the nematode aging process. Professor Morimoto, who led the study
, points out that the mechanismins in the body of the scareworm are similar to those in humans and that he believes that in the future it will turn off the "switch" in humans, delay the occurrence of degenerative diseases associated with aging, and help make human cells stronger and delay the aging process.
the "gene switch" that determines the efficacy of a drug, imagine that one day all 3 billion bases (adenine A, ostrich G, cytosine C, thymus T) that are written in your genome are concentrated on a credit card-sized card, and when you visit a doctor, simply swipe the card and the doctor will know which drug is good for your condition, and what kind of drug is damaging to your health.
new research published by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States, the prospect of personalized medicine is one step closer to reality.
team found a strange phenomenon: a class of anti-diabetic drugs called pyrethroids (TZDs) was significant lying in some people, but 20 to 30 percent of patients were not only ineffective after taking the drug, but could even have serious side effects.
they predicted that this difference might be related to nuances in the region of the genome that controls gene switches.
these regions are called regulatory zones, and when the nuclear receptor molecules are attached to the DNA, the gene is turned on. many drugs on the
market, including pyrethroid, work by binding nuclear receptors.
team found that a variation in the sequence of base-to-sequence strain in the regulatory region may have ultimately determined the effect of the drug on a particular patient. "There is some form of risk for every drug," said Mitchell Lazar, senior author of the
study and a professor of medicine and genetics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and figuring out what the risks associated with an individual's genetic code are "one of the principles of personalized medicine."
" the cost of genome sequencing has dropped dramatically, and it is widely predicted that everyone can sequence their genomes within five to 10 years. "Epidemiologists and statisticians will be able to combine individual differences in the genome to determine whether drugs are effective, " says
Lazar. 'Finding the determining mutations is the hardest part, ' said Tim Reddy, an assistant professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics at Duke University who was not involved in the study, and the project identified genetic factors that can predict who will respond to drugs and who will not, the first step toward sedituate.

a light-controlled "gene switch" researchers at the Broad Institute of The Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that using light-controlled switches to feel light can quickly initiate or stop gene expression.
use this technology to understand the function of certain genes, especially those involved in learning and memory.
the technique can also be applied to the study of epigenetic modification.
although there are about 20,000 genes in the human genome, only a small fraction of them are continuously transcribed and translated.
this is determined by the state of the cell, which is constantly changing.
researchers hope to find switches that quickly control genes to explore gene expression.
researchers at MIT's Broad Institute, using a new technology to find a way to quickly initiate or terminate gene expression by irradiating the cells' light.
the current study, published July 22 in the journal Nature.
this work is based on a study called optogenetics. the principle of
optogenetics is that light can alter the function of photosensitive proteins.
almost at the same time as light appears, light-sensitive proteins receive light signals that quickly promote or inhibit gene expression.
gene expression is a rapid and dynamic process, and so far, the methods used to interfere with gene expression have been non-dynamic.
If you want to better understand the dynamics of gene expression, we must intervene in gene expression by using some dynamic natural means that are consistent with this process.
if we can precisely control gene expression and duration, we can understand the function of certain genes, especially those involved in learning and memory.
it can also be applied to the study of epigenetic modification.
optical-controlled switching system consists of several associated components, transcription activators (TALE), CRY2 (a light-sensitive protein) and CIB1 (the natural binding protein of CRY2).
DNA binding protein TALE is combined into specific forms of binding to DNA.
TALE and CRY2.
when CRY2 encounters light, it changes the structure and the combination of CIB1.
these parts of the synergy, the cell's genetic instructions are exercised - regulating THE transcription of DNA into mRNA.
using this principle, researchers transformed CIB1 into a form that could be combined with another protein to participate in gene expression regulation.
light switching system enters the cell, TALE binds to the target DNA.
when light hits the cells, the CRY2 protein is combined with CIB1, which was originally free in the cell.
the gene activated protein sein carried by CIB1 initiates the replication or transcription of DNA.
or, the gene-suppressing protein seinidon seamount seinidos carried by CIB1, inhibits the replication or transcription of DNA.
a single light pulse is enough to induce protein binding, initiate DNA replication and transcription.
researchers found that the most effective frequency for continuous transcription is achieved by a pulse of light about once per minute.
in addition, the level of the target gene transcription mRNA increased significantly for 30 minutes in a row, while once the light pulse stopped, the level of mRNA began to drop within about 30 minutes. Karl Deisseroth, a professor of bioengineering and optogenetics at Stanford University at
, said the innovation in the study was that its photocontrolled switching system controlled not synthetic genes but genes derived from cells.
based on this technique, the expression of specific genes at specific points in time can be observed. Another role of
epigenetic modification gene expression regulatory switch is to study epigenetic modification. An important area of
epigenetics is the chemical modification of histones.
histones can be combined with DNA to control the expression of related genes.
researchers found that epigenetic modification can be altered by TALE fusion with histones.
epigenetic modification plays an important role in learning and memory formation, but due to the lack of effective ways to interfere with histone modification, the subject has not been further studied. the application of
new technology can accurately interfere with the expression of a single gene, thus providing the possibility for the study of this subject.
now, researchers have confirmed that some histones can bind to photosensitive proteins, and they are expanding the types of histone modifications that can be applied to gene regulatory systems. Mark Brigham, a member of the
research team, said: "Expanding the number of controlled epigenetic markers is very useful, and hopefully we can take advantage of this technology.
" Source: Decoding Medicine.