title: The dual lives of bidirectional promoters.
abstract: The sequencing of the human genome led to many insights into gene organization and structure. One interesting observation was the high frequency of bidirectional promoters characterized by two protein encoding genes whose promoters are arranged in a divergent or "head-to-head" configuration with less than 2000 base pairs of intervening sequence. Computational estimates published by various groups indicate that nearly 10% of the coding gene promoters are arranged in such a manner and the extent of this bias is a unique feature of mammalian genomes. Moreover, as a class, head-to-head promoters appear to be enriched in specific categories of gene function. Here we review the structure, composition, genomic properties and functional classifications of genes controlled by bidirectional promoters and explore the biological implication of these features. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Chromatin in time and space.
authors.affiliation: Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Clay
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wakano
authors.forename: Jung S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Byun
authors.forename: Li-Jun
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Di
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gardner
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D002843:Chromatin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011485:Protein Binding; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D014157:Transcription Factors