title: Gene positioning and expression.
abstract: Within the nucleus, the genome is spatially organized. Individual chromosomes are non-randomly positioned with respect to each other and with respect to nuclear landmarks [1,2]. Furthermore, the position of individual genes can reflect their expression. Here we discuss two well-characterized examples of gene relocalization associated with transcriptional activation: 1) developmentally regulated genes that move from the nuclear periphery to transcription factories in the nucleoplasm upon induction and 2) genes that are targeted from the nucleoplasm to the nuclear periphery, through interactions with the nuclear pore complex (NPC), upon activation. Finally, we speculate as to the mechanistic and functional commonalities of these phenomena.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Defne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Egecioglu
authors.forename: Jason H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Brickner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D023061:Gene Order; D006801:Humans; D022022:Nuclear Pore / Q000378:metabolism; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
chemical_list: D009687:Nuclear Proteins