Editing Transcription factor (section)

{{Short description|Protein that regulates the rate of DNA transcription}}
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{{Transcription factor glossary}}
[[File:Transcription Factors.svg|thumb|upright=1.75|Illustration of an activator]]

In [[molecular biology]], a '''transcription factor''' ('''TF''') (or '''sequence-specific DNA-binding factor''') is a [[protein]] that controls the rate of [[transcription (genetics)|transcription]] of [[genetics|genetic]] information from [[DNA]] to [[messenger RNA]], by binding to a specific [[DNA sequence]].<ref name="pmid9570129">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Latchman DS |date=December 1997 |title=Transcription factors: an overview |journal=The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology |volume=29 |issue=12 |pages=1305–12 |doi=10.1016/S1357-2725(97)00085-X |pmc=2002184 |pmid=9570129}}</ref><ref name="pmid2128034">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Karin M |date=February 1990 |title=Too many transcription factors: positive and negative interactions |journal=The New Biologist |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=126–31 |pmid=2128034}}</ref> The function of TFs is to regulate—turn on and off—genes in order to make sure that they are [[Gene expression|expressed]] in the desired [[Cell (biology)|cells]] at the right time and in the right amount throughout the life of the cell and the organism. Groups of TFs function in a coordinated fashion to direct [[cell division]], [[cell growth]], and [[cell death]] throughout life; [[cell migration]] and organization ([[body plan]]) during embryonic development; and intermittently in response to signals from outside the cell, such as a [[hormone]].  There are approximately 1600 TFs in the [[human genome]].<ref name="pmid15193307">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Babu MM, Luscombe NM, Aravind L, Gerstein M, Teichmann SA |date=June 2004 |title=Structure and evolution of transcriptional regulatory networks |url=http://www.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/genomes/madanm/chalancon_chapter.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Current Opinion in Structural Biology |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=283–91 |doi=10.1016/j.sbi.2004.05.004 |pmid=15193307 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830175950/https://www.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/genomes/madanm/chalancon_chapter.pdf |archive-date=30 August 2019 |access-date=25 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="Lyons">{{ YouTube |title= How Genes are Regulated: Transcription Factors |id=MkUgkDLp2iE|time=2m16s}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Lambert S, Jolma A, Campitelli L, Pratyush Z, Das K, Yin Y, Albu M, Chen X, Taipae J, Hughes T, Weirauch M |year=2018 |title=The Human Transcription Factors |journal=Cell |volume=172 |issue=4 |pages=650–665 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2018.01.029 |pmid=29425488 |quote=The final tally encompasses 1,639 known or likely human TFs. |doi-access=free}}</ref> Transcription factors are members of the [[proteome]] as well as [[regulome]].

TFs work alone or with other proteins in a complex, by promoting (as an [[Activator (genetics)|activator]]), or blocking (as a [[repressor]]) the recruitment of [[RNA polymerase]] (the enzyme that performs the [[transcription (genetics)|transcription]] of genetic information from DNA to RNA) to specific genes.<ref name="pmid8870495">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Roeder RG |date=September 1996 |title=The role of general initiation factors in transcription by RNA polymerase II |journal=Trends in Biochemical Sciences |volume=21 |issue=9 |pages=327–35 |doi=10.1016/S0968-0004(96)10050-5 |pmid=8870495}}</ref><ref name="pmid8990153">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Nikolov DB, Burley SK |date=January 1997 |title=RNA polymerase II transcription initiation: a structural view |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=94 |issue=1 |pages=15–22 |bibcode=1997PNAS...94...15N |doi=10.1073/pnas.94.1.15 |pmc=33652 |pmid=8990153 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="pmid11092823">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Lee TI, Young RA |year=2000 |title=Transcription of eukaryotic protein-coding genes |journal=Annual Review of Genetics |volume=34 |pages=77–137 |doi=10.1146/annurev.genet.34.1.77 |pmid=11092823}}</ref>

A defining feature of TFs is that they contain at least one [[DNA-binding domain]] (DBD), which attaches to a specific sequence of DNA adjacent to the genes that they regulate.<ref name="pmid2667136">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Mitchell PJ, Tjian R |date=July 1989 |title=Transcriptional regulation in mammalian cells by sequence-specific DNA binding proteins |journal=Science |volume=245 |issue=4916 |pages=371–8 |bibcode=1989Sci...245..371M |doi=10.1126/science.2667136 |pmid=2667136}}</ref><ref name="pmid9121580">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Ptashne M, Gann A |date=April 1997 |title=Transcriptional activation by recruitment |journal=Nature |volume=386 |issue=6625 |pages=569–77 |bibcode=1997Natur.386..569P |doi=10.1038/386569a0 |pmid=9121580 |s2cid=6203915}}</ref>  TFs are grouped into classes based on their DBDs.<ref name="Jin_2014">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Jin J, Zhang H, Kong L, Gao G, Luo J |date=January 2014 |title=PlantTFDB 3.0: a portal for the functional and evolutionary study of plant transcription factors |journal=Nucleic Acids Research |volume=42 |issue=Database issue |pages=D1182-7 |doi=10.1093/nar/gkt1016 |pmc=3965000 |pmid=24174544}}</ref><ref name="Matys_2006" /> Other proteins such as [[coactivator (genetics)|coactivators]], [[Chromatin Structure Remodeling (RSC) Complex|chromatin remodelers]], [[histone acetyltransferase]]s, [[histone deacetylase]]s, [[kinase]]s, and [[methylase]]s are also essential to gene regulation, but lack DNA-binding domains, and therefore are not TFs.<ref name="pmid11823631">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Brivanlou AH, Darnell JE |date=February 2002 |title=Signal transduction and the control of gene expression |journal=Science |volume=295 |issue=5556 |pages=813–8 |bibcode=2002Sci...295..813B |doi=10.1126/science.1066355 |pmid=11823631 |s2cid=14954195}}</ref>

TFs are of interest in medicine because TF mutations can cause specific diseases, and medications can be potentially targeted toward them.