title: Regulatory Features for Odorant Receptor Genes in the Mouse Genome.
abstract: The odorant receptor genes, seven transmembrane receptor genes constituting the vastest mammalian gene multifamily, are expressed monogenically and monoallelicaly in each sensory neuron in the olfactory epithelium. This characteristic, often referred to as theone neuron-one receptorrule, is driven by mostly uncharacterized molecular dynamics, generally namedodorant receptor gene choice. Much attention has been paid by the scientific community to the identification of sequences regulating the expression of odorant receptor genes within theirloci, where related genes are usually arranged in genomic clusters. A number of studies identified transcription factor binding sites on odorant receptor promoter sequences. Similar binding sites were also found on a number of enhancers that regulatein cistheir transcription, but have been proposed to form interchromosomal networks. Odorant receptor gene choice seems to occur via the local removal of strongly repressive epigenetic markings, put in place during the maturation of the sensory neuron on each odorant receptorlocus. Here we review the fast-changing state of art for the study of regulatory features for odorant receptor genes.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of BiophysicsFrankfurt am Main, Germany; Cell and Developmental Biology Unit, Department of Biology, University of PisaPisa, Italy; Center for Micro-BioRobotics, Italian Institute of Technology, Sant'Anna School of Advanced StudiesPisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Degl'Innocenti
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Biophysics Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Errico
keywords: TFBS; allelic exclusion; element; enhancer; epigenetics; gene expression; odorant receptor gene choice; promoter