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Gene activation in 3D

By 2 de September de 2011November 18th, 2020No Comments
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 02.09.2011

Gene activation in 3D

Proteins are the building blocks that construct and perform most functions in all living beings. One of the keys to understanding life is knowing how genes transmit the information they contain to make proteins. The protein RNA polymerase is essential for the transmission of this information. It binds to specific regions of genes to initiate transcription of DNA into RNA and produce the proteins needed at any one time.


Researchers at IRB Barcelona have used Escherichia coli to study the binding of RNA polymerase to genes that are activated at specific times and require more complex regulation that permanently activated genes in cells. The study, led by Miquel Coll, CSIC researcher professor and Head of the Structural and Computational Biology programme at IRB Barcelona, shows that binding of RNA polymerase to these genes requires other proteins to stabilize the contacts with DNA. These stabilizing proteins are essential to promote transcription of these genes, the first step in the production of proteins.

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