title: Regulation of gene expression in the genomic context.
abstract: Metazoan life is dependent on the proper temporal and spatial control of gene expression within the many cells-essentially all with the identical genome-that make up the organism. While much is understood about how individual gene regulatory elements function, many questions remain about how they interact to maintain correct regulation globally throughout the genome. In this review we summarize the basic features and functions of the crucial regulatory elements promoters, enhancers, and insulators and discuss some of the ways in which proper interactions between these elements is realized. We focus in particular on the role of core promoter sequences and propose explanations for some of the contradictory results seen in experiments aimed at understanding insulator function. We suggest that gene regulation depends on local genomic context and argue that more holistic in vivo investigations that take into account multiple local features will be necessary to understand how genome-wide gene regulation is maintained.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University at Buffalo-State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA ; NY State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA.
authors.forename: Taylor J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Atkinson
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University at Buffalo-State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA ; Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo-State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA ; NY State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA ; Molecular and Cellular Biology Department and Program in Cancer Genetics, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY 14263, USA.
authors.forename: Marc S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Halfon