title: Molecular mechanisms of olfactory neuronal gene regulation.
abstract: The mammalian olfactory system utilizes a biochemical cascade mediated by specialized proteins to detect odorants with high sensitivity and specificity. The recent identification of olfactory neuron-specific components for each step in the signalling cascade suggests that expression of these proteins is coordinately controlled by cis-acting regulatory sequences and trans-acting transcriptional activators. We have used molecular genetic methods to characterize sequences encoding tissue-specific DNA-binding sites in the genes for components of the odorant transduction pathway and have identified a putative transcription factor, Olf-1, that functions at these sites to regulate gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Reed
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D005815:Genetic Code; D018034:Olfactory Receptor Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors