• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.169-177
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• 2017

Tissue-specific transcription is critical for normal development, and abnormalities causing undesirable gene expression may lead to diseases such as cancer. Such highly organized transcription is controlled by enhancers with specific DNA sequences recognized by transcription factors. Enhancers are associated with chromatin modifications that are distinct epigenetic features in a tissue-specific manner. Recently, super-enhancers comprising enhancer clusters co-occupied by lineage-specific factors have been identified in diverse cell types such as adipocytes, hair follicle stem cells, and mammary epithelial cells. In addition, noncoding RNAs, named eRNAs, are synthesized at super-enhancer regions before their target genes are transcribed. Many functional studies revealed that super-enhancers and eRNAs are essential for the regulation of tissue-specific gene expression. In this review, we summarize recent findings concerning enhancer function in tissue-specific gene regulation and cancer development.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.103-108
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• 2023

Enhancers are cis-elements to regulate transcription of cell/tissue-specific genes in multicellular organisms. These elements locate in upstream or downstream regions of target genes and are found in a long distance up to 100 Kb in some cases. Transcription factors and coactivators bind to enhancers in a chromatin environment. Enhancers appear to facilitate the transcription of target genes by communicating with promoters and activating them. As transcription activation mechanism of enhancers, chromatin looping between enhancers and promoters, tracking of enhancer activity to promoters along the intervening regions, and movement of enhancers and promoters into transcription condensates have been suggested based on various molecular and cellular biology studies. These mechanisms are likely to act together rather than exclusive each other for gene transcription. Understanding of enhancer action mechanism may provide a way to regulate the transcription of cell/tissue-specific genes relating with aging or various diseases.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.39 no.7
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• pp.524-529
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• 2016

Controlling the production of diverse cell/tissue types is essential for the development of multicellular organisms such as animals and plants. The Arabidopsis thaliana root, which contains distinct cells/tissues along longitudinal and radial axes, has served as an elegant model to investigate how genetic programs and environmental signals interact to produce different cell/tissue types. In the root, a series of asymmetric cell divisions (ACDs) give rise to three ground tissue layers at maturity (endodermis, middle cortex, and cortex). Because the middle cortex is formed by a periclinal (parallel to the axis) ACD of the endodermis around 7 to 14 days post-germination, middle cortex formation is used as a parameter to assess maturation of the root ground tissue. Molecular, genetic, and physiological studies have revealed that the control of the timing and extent of middle cortex formation during root maturation relies on the interaction of plant hormones and transcription factors. In particular, abscisic acid and gibberellin act synergistically to regulate the timing and extent of middle cortex formation, unlike their typical antagonism. The SHORT-ROOT, SCARECROW, SCARECROW-LIKE 3, and DELLA transcription factors, all of which belong to the plant-specific GRAS family, play key roles in the regulation of middle cortex formation. Recently, two additional transcription factors, SEUSS and GA- AND ABA-RESPONSIVE ZINC FINGER, have also been characterized during ground tissue maturation. In this review, we provide a detailed account of the regulatory networks that control the timing and extent of middle cortex formation during post-embryonic root development.

• Proceedings of the Korean Information Science Society Conference
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• 1999.10b
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• pp.12-14
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• 1999

Promoter는 transcript start site 앞부분에 위치하여 RNA polymerase가 높은 친화성을 보이며 바인당하는 DNA상의 특별한 부위로서 여기서부터 DNA transcription이 시작된다. function이나 tissue-specific gene들의 그룹별로 그 promoter들의 특이한 패턴들의 조합을 발견함으로써 Specific한 transcription을 조절하는 것으로 알려져 있어 promoter로 인한 그 gene의 정보를 어느 정도 알 수가 있다. 사람의 housekeeping gene promoter들을 EPD(eukaryotic promoter database)와 EMBL nucleic acid sequence database로부터 수집하여 이것들 간에 의미 있게 나타나는 모든 패턴들을 optimization algorithm으로 알려진 genetic algorithm을 이용해서 찾아보았다.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.250-255
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• 2011

In multicellular organisms, including humans, understanding expression specificity at the tissue level is essential for interpreting protein function, such as tissue differentiation. We developed a prediction approach via generated sequence features from overrepresented patterns in housekeeping (HK) and tissue-specific (TS) genes to classify TS expression in humans. Using TS domains and transcriptional factor binding sites (TFBSs), sequence characteristics were used as indices of expressed tissues in a Random Forest algorithm by scoring exclusive patterns considering the biological intuition; TFBSs regulate gene expression, and the domains reflect the functional specificity of a TS gene. Our proposed approach displayed better performance than previous attempts and was validated using computational and experimental methods.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.237-243
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• 1998

To understand the tissue specific expression pattern of S RNase genes associated with self-incompatibility in L. peruvianum, two promoter regions of $S_{11}$ and $S_{12}$ RNase genes were compared. Homologous sequences between two S RNase gene promoters were found within 300 bp upstream of transcription start site. Moreover short direct repeat sequences within $S_{11}$ RNase gene promoter existed in the vicinity of 350-500 bp upstream of transcription start site. To identify whether the unique promoter sequences of $S_{11}$ RNase gene confer the tissue specific expression, six deletion fragments for $S_{11}$ genomic gene promoter constructed by PCR were fused to $\beta$-glucuronidase gene, and introduced into various tissues of L. peruvianum by microprojectile bombardment. Transient expression assays indicated that $S_{11}$ RNase gene promoter contained the positive and negative regulatory sequences, which can control the floral tissue-specific expression in L. peruvianum.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.879-886
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• 2000

Background : Thyroid Transcription Factor-1(TTF-1) acts as a tissue specific transcription factor in the regulation of lung specific gene expression and as morphogenic protein during lung organogenesis. Currently, there is very little information on the cis-acting sequences and transcription factors that direct the TTF-1 gene expression. DNAse 1 hypersensitive (DH) sites represent a marker for active or potentially active chromatin and are likely to be especially important in gene regulation, being associated with many DNA sequences that regulate gene expression. It is clear that DH regions correlate with genetic regulatory loci and binding for sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins. Methods : We have used DH site assays to identify putative distal regulatory elements in H441 lung adenocarcinoma cells, which express the TTF-1 gene and HeLa cells. Results : There are four DH sites 5' of the TTF-1 gene. These sites are located at base pair approximately +150, -450, -800, and -1500 from the start of transcription. Conclusion : These data suggest that there may be at least one intragenic site and regulatory region 5' prime to the promotor region.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.331-342
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• 1992

The chicken major histocompatibility complex (MHC), the B complex, is beginning to be analyzed at the DNA level. Inbred lines of chickens have been reported to possess 3~5 MHC class II genes. To further analyzed the molecular structure of the chicken MHC class II genes, cDNA clones coding for chicken MHC class II (B-L) ${\beta}$ chain molecules were isolated from chicken spleen and liver. Tissue-specific transcription of B-L ${\beta}$genes was studied by Northern blot analysis. A high level of expression was detected for spleen poly(A)$^+$ RNA whereas a faint signal was detected for liver poly(A)$^+$ RNA. Twenty-nine cDNA clones were isolated from the spleen and eight cDNA clones were isolated from the liver. Based on restriction maps, most clones could be clustered into one family of genes. Four cDNA clones were sequenced (S7, S10 and S19 from the spleen and L1, which was identical to S19, from the liver). Complete amino acid sequences of B-L ${\beta}$ chain molecules were predicated from the nucleotide sequences of the cDNA clones. Although both the nature and the location of the conserved residues were similar in chicken and mammalian sequences, some species-specific differences were found, suggesting that the structures of the B-L molecules are similar, but not identical to their mammalian counterparts.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.1348-1354
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• 2008

mi transcription factor (MITF) is important in regulating the differentiation of mast cells. In particular, MITF regulates the transcription of the mouse mast cell-specific serine protease (mMCP)-6 gene, which is generally expressed by the connective tissue-type of mast cells. In this study, we investigated alternative isoforms of MITF that regulate transcription of the mMCP-6 gene in bone marrow-derived cultured mast cells in mice. The expression of MITF isoforms was examined by RT-PCR. We observed that MITF-A, -E, -H and -Mc were expressed by mucosal-type mast cells cultured in the presence of IL-3, whereas the connective tissue-type mast cells cultured in the presence of stem cell factor (SCF) expressed MITF-A. Overexpression of MITF isoforms increased luciferase activity through the mMCP-6 promoter in NIH-3T3 cells and elevated the level of mMCP-6 expression in the MC/9 mast cell line. Moreover, mMCP-6 expression in mast cells was significantly inhibited by the depletion of MITF. The transcriptional activity and DNA binding of MITF-A was comparable to that of MITF isoforms, including MITF-E, -H, and -Mc. Our results therefore suggest that MITF-A may be an important isoform of MITF in regulating the transcription of mMCP-6 in mouse connective tissue mast cells.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.105-113
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• 2009

Dentin, a major component of teeth, is formed by odontoblasts which produce the dentin matrix beneath the dental epithelium and induce the mineralization of dentin. To date, the biochemical properties of dentin matrix proteins have been well characterized, but upstream regulators of these proteins are not yet well known. Recently in this regard, several transcription factors have been identified as potential regulators of matrix proteins. Most transcription factors are generally involved in diverse biological processes and it is essential to identify those that are odontoblast-specific transactivators to further understand the process of dentin formation. We thus analyzed the expression pattern of dentin matrix proteins and the activities of established transactivators containing a Cre-locus. Expression analyses using in situ hybridization showed that dentin matrix proteins are sequentially expressed in differentiating odontoblasts, including type-I collagen, Dmp-1 and Dspp. The activities of the transactivators were evaluated using ${\beta}$-galactosidase following the generation of double transgenic mice with each transactivator and the ROSA26R reporter line. The ${\beta}$-galactosidase activity of each transactivator paralled the expression of the matrix proteins. These results thus showed that these transactivators could be utilized for odontoblastspecific conditional gene targeting. In addition, time- and tissue-specific conditional gene targeting might also be achieved using a combination of these transactivators. Odontoblast-specific conditional gene targeting with these transactivators will likely also provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying dentin formation.