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A comparative genomics approach to identifying the plasticity transcriptome
BACKGROUND: Neuronal activity regulates gene expression to control learning and memory, homeostasis of neuronal function, and pathological disease states such as epilepsy. A great deal of experimental evidence supports the involvement of two particular transcription factors in shaping the genomic re...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
BioMed Central
2007
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1831778/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17355637 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2202-8-20 |
Sumario: | BACKGROUND: Neuronal activity regulates gene expression to control learning and memory, homeostasis of neuronal function, and pathological disease states such as epilepsy. A great deal of experimental evidence supports the involvement of two particular transcription factors in shaping the genomic response to neuronal activity and mediating plasticity: CREB and zif268 (egr-1, krox24, NGFI-A). The gene targets of these two transcription factors are of considerable interest, since they may help develop hypotheses about how neural activity is coupled to changes in neural function. RESULTS: We have developed a computational approach for identifying binding sites for these transcription factors within the promoter regions of annotated genes in the mouse, rat, and human genomes. By combining a robust search algorithm to identify discrete binding sites, a comparison of targets across species, and an analysis of binding site locations within promoter regions, we have defined a group of candidate genes that are strong CREB- or zif268 targets and are thus regulated by neural activity. Our analysis revealed that CREB and zif268 share a disproportionate number of targets in common and that these common targets are dominated by transcription factors. CONCLUSION: These observations may enable a more detailed understanding of the regulatory networks that are induced by neural activity and contribute to the plasticity transcriptome. The target genes identified in this study will be a valuable resource for investigators who hope to define the functions of specific genes that underlie activity-dependent changes in neuronal properties. |
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