title: Regulatory regions in DNA: promoters, enhancers, silencers, and insulators.
abstract: One of the mechanisms through which protein levels in the cell are controlled is through transcriptional regulation. Certain regions, called cis-regulatory elements, on the DNA are footprints for the trans-acting proteins involved in transcription, either for the positioning of the basic transcriptional machinery or for the regulation - in simple terms turn on or turn off - thereof. The basic transcriptional machinery is DNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RNAP) which synthesizes various types of RNA and core promoters on the DNA are used to position the RNAP. Other nearby regions will regulate the transcription: in prokaryotic organisms operators are involved; in eukaryotic organisms, proximal promoter regions, enhancers, silencers, and insulators are present. This chapter will describe the various DNA regions involved in transcription and transcriptional regulation.
authors.affiliation: Bioinformatics Core Research Facility, Center for Biotechnology and School for Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA. jriethoven@unl.edu
authors.forename: Jean-Jack M
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Riethoven
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D038101:Insulator Elements / Q000235:genetics; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics*; D037941:Silencer Elements, Transcriptional / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004247:DNA