Regulaton of Gene Expression
Gene regulation is the process of promoting or suppressing the expression of genes. Regulation can occur anywhere during transcription or translation. Sometimes, gene regulation also happens even before transcription. This is called epigenetic modification. Epigenetic modifications occurs when compounds attach to DNA genes and alters gene expression. A good example of this is methylation. Methylation happens when methyl attaches to histones. This do not alter the DNA sequence. However, this gets the the DNA tightly wound around the histones. Transcription factors cannot bind to the DNA and the genes, therefore, cannot be expressed. Histone acetylation is another form of Epigenetic modifcation. This results in loosed packing of nucleosomes making it accessible for the transcription factors to bind enabling gene expression. Expression of genes regulated during transcription or translation results to either suppression or promotion of RNA or protein synthesis. A ...