title: Context is everything: activators can also repress.
abstract: Maintenance of genome integrity, cell division and gene expression have all been shown to be regulated by the condensation of DNA into heterochromatin. In a study published in this issue, Bulut-Karslioglu et al. reveal a new heterochromatin function for transcription factors in a mammalian system. They show that instead of activating gene expression, in the context of heterochromatic repeats, specific transcription factors are necessary for the maintenance of transcriptional repression and heterochromatin.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Sciences Centre, Department of Medicine, Imperial College, London, UK. r.festenstein@imperial.ac.uk
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Festenstein
authors.forename: Jackson P K
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006570:Heterochromatin / Q000378:metabolism*; D000072041:PAX3 Transcription Factor; D051764:PAX9 Transcription Factor; D051761:Paired Box Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006570:Heterochromatin; D000072041:PAX3 Transcription Factor; D051764:PAX9 Transcription Factor; D051761:Paired Box Transcription Factors; C488759:Pax9 protein, mouse; C068686:Pax3 protein, mouse