The many roles of the transcriptional regulator CTCF

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine L Dunn ◽  
James R Davie

The nuclear factor CTCF was first identified as one of the factors binding to the regulatory regions of the c-myc gene. Further study of this protein revealed roles in transcriptional repression, insulator function, and imprinting genetic information. Recent studies have provided new insight into the mechanism through which this factor acts at various levels of gene regulation.Key words: CTCF, insulator, transcription.

Sexualities ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 136346072098169
Author(s):  
Aidan McKearney

This article focuses on the experiences of gay men in the rural west and northwest region of Ireland, during a period of transformational social and political change in Irish society. These changes have helped facilitate new forms of LGBTQI visibility, and local radicalism in the region. Same-sex weddings, establishment of rural LGBT groups and marching under an LGBT banner at St Patricks Day parades would have been unthinkable in the recent past; but they are now becoming a reality. The men report continuing challenges in their lives as gay men in the nonmetropolitan space, but the emergence of new visibility, voice and cultural acceptance of LGBT people is helping change their lived experiences. The study demonstrates the impact of local activist LGBT citizens. Through their testimonies we can gain an insight into the many, varied and interwoven factors that have interplayed to create the conditions necessary for the men to: increasingly define themselves as gay to greater numbers of people in their localities; to embrace greater visibility and eschew strategies of silence; and aspire to a host of legal, political, cultural and social rights including same-sex marriage. Organic forms of visibility and local radicalism have emerged in the region and through an analysis of their testimonies we can see how the men continue to be transformed by an ever-changing landscape.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haomiao Cheng ◽  
Zhanru Shao ◽  
Chang Lu ◽  
Delin Duan

Abstract Background The nitrogen-containing polysaccharide chitin is the second most abundant biopolymer on earth and is found in the cell walls of diatoms, where it serves as a scaffold for biosilica deposition. Diatom chitin is an important source of carbon and nitrogen in the marine environment, but surprisingly little is known about basic chitinase metabolism in diatoms. Results Here, we identify and fully characterize 24 chitinase genes from the model centric diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana. We demonstrate that their expression is broadly upregulated under abiotic stresses, despite the fact that chitinase activity itself remains unchanged, and we discuss several explanations for this result. We also examine the potential transcriptional complexity of the intron-rich T. pseudonana chitinase genes and provide evidence for two separate tandem duplication events during their evolution. Conclusions Given the many applications of chitin and chitin derivatives in suture production, wound healing, drug delivery, and other processes, new insight into diatom chitin metabolism has both theoretical and practical value.


Materials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 2557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seo Lee ◽  
Jae Kang ◽  
Dokyoung Kim

Porous silicon has been utilized within a wide spectrum of industries, as well as being used in basic research for engineering and biomedical fields. Recently, surface modification methods have been constantly coming under the spotlight, mostly in regard to maximizing its purpose of use. Within this review, we will introduce porous silicon, the experimentation preparatory methods, the properties of the surface of porous silicon, and both more conventional as well as newly developed surface modification methods that have assisted in attempting to overcome the many drawbacks we see in the existing methods. The main aim of this review is to highlight and give useful insight into improving the properties of porous silicon, and create a focused description of the surface modification methods.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 493-526
Author(s):  
JOAN C. BEAL ◽  
RANJAN SEN ◽  
NURIA YÁÑEZ-BOUZA ◽  
CHRISTINE WALLIS

Yod-coalescence involving alveolar consonants before Late Modern English /uː/ from earlier /iu > juː/ is still variable and diffusing in Present-day English. For example, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) gives both (/tj dj/) and (/ʧ ʤ/) British English pronunciations for tune (/tjuːn/, /tʃuːn/), mature (/mǝˈtjʊǝ/, /mǝˈʧʊǝ/), duke (/djuːk/, /dʒuːk/) and endure (/ᵻnˈdjʊə/, /ɛnˈdjʊə/, /ᵻnˈdʒʊə/, /ɛnˈdʒʊə/, /ᵻnˈdjɔː/, /ɛnˈdjɔː/, /ᵻnˈdʒɔː/, /ɛnˈdʒɔː/). Extensive variability in yod-coalescence and yod-dropping is not recent in origin, and we can already detect relevant patterns in the eighteenth century from the evidence of a range of pronouncing dictionaries. Beal (1996, 1999) notes a tendency for northern English and Scottish authors to be more conservative with regard to yod-coalescence. She concludes that we require ‘a comprehensive survey of the many pronouncing dictionaries and other works on pronunciation’ (1996: 379) to gain more insight into the historical variation patterns underlying Present-day English.This article presents some results from such a ‘comprehensive survey’: the Eighteenth-Century English Phonology Database (ECEP). Transcriptions of all relevant words located are compared across a range of eighteenth-century sources in order to determine the chronology of yod-coalescence and yod-dropping as well as internal (e.g. stress, phoneme type, presence of a following /r/) and external (e.g. prescriptive, geographical, social) motivations for these developments.


2018 ◽  
Vol 200 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Taylor I. Herring ◽  
Tiffany N. Harris ◽  
Chiranjit Chowdhury ◽  
Sujit Kumar Mohanty ◽  
Thomas A. Bobik

ABSTRACTBacterial choline degradation in the human gut has been associated with cancer and heart disease. In addition, recent studies found that a bacterial microcompartment is involved in choline utilization byProteusandDesulfovibriospecies. However, many aspects of this process have not been fully defined. Here, we investigate choline degradation by the uropathogenEscherichia coli536. Growth studies indicatedE. coli536 degrades choline primarily by fermentation. Electron microscopy indicated that a bacterial microcompartment was used for this process. Bioinformatic analyses suggested that the choline utilization (cut) gene cluster ofE. coli536 includes two operons, one containing three genes and a main operon of 13 genes. Regulatory studies indicate that thecutXgene encodes a positive transcriptional regulator required for induction of the maincutoperon in response to choline supplementation. Each of the 16 genes in thecutcluster was individually deleted, and phenotypes were examined. ThecutX,cutY,cutF,cutO,cutC,cutD,cutU, andcutVgenes were required for choline degradation, but the remaining genes of thecutcluster were not essential under the conditions used. The reasons for these varied phenotypes are discussed.IMPORTANCEHere, we investigate choline degradation inE. coli536. These studies provide a basis for understanding a new type of bacterial microcompartment and may provide deeper insight into the link between choline degradation in the human gut and cancer and heart disease. These are also the first studies of choline degradation inE. coli536, an organism for which sophisticated genetic analysis methods are available. In addition, thecutgene cluster ofE. coli536 is located in pathogenicity island II (PAI-II536) and hence might contribute to pathogenesis.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Martin ◽  
Kyleigh Leddy ◽  
Liane Young ◽  
Katherine McAuliffe

Among the many factors that influence our moral judgments, two are especially important: whether the person caused a bad outcome and whether they intended for it to happen. Notably, the weight accorded to these factors in adulthood varies by the type of judgment being made. For punishment decisions, intentions and outcomes carry relatively equal weight; for partner choice decisions (i.e., deciding whether or not to interact with someone again), intentions are weighted much more heavily. These behavioral differences in punishment and partner choice judgments may also reflect more fundamental differences in the cognitive processes supporting these decisions. Exploring how punishment and partner choice emerge in development provides important and unique insight into these processes as they emerge and mature. Here, we explore the developmental emergence of punishment and partner choice decisions in 4- to 9-year-old children. Given the importance of intentions for partner choice decisions¬–from both theoretical and empirical perspectives–we targeted the sensitivity of these two responses to others’ intentions as well as outcomes caused. Our punishment results replicate past work: young children are more focused on outcomes caused and become increasingly sensitive to intentions with age. In contrast, partner choice judgments exhibit sensitivity to intentions at an earlier age than punishment judgments, manifesting as earlier partner choice in cases of attempted violations. These results reveal distinct developmental trajectories for punishment and partner choice judgments, with implications for our understanding of the processes underlying these two responses as well as the development of moral judgment more broadly.


4open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Björn L.D.M. Brücher ◽  
Florian Lang ◽  
Ijaz S. Jamall

Transcription factors (TFs) are proteins that control the transcription of genetic information from DNA to mRNA by binding to specific DNA sequences either on their own or with other proteins as a complex. TFs thus support or suppress the recruitment of the corresponding RNA polymerase. In general, TFs are classified by structure or function. The TF, Nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), is expressed in all cell types and tissues. NF-κB signaling and crosstalk are involved in several steps of carcinogenesis including in sequences involving pathogenic stimulus, chronic inflammation, fibrosis, establishment of its remodeling to the precancerous niche (PCN) and transition of a normal cell to a cancer cell. Triggered by various inflammatory cytokines, NF-κB is activated along with other TFs with subsequent stimulation of cell proliferation and inhibition of apoptosis. The involvement of NF-κB in carcinogenesis provides an opportunity to develop anti-NF-κB therapies. The complexity of these interactions requires that we elucidate those aspects of NF-κB interactions that play a role in carcinogenesis, the sequence of events leading to cancer.


Author(s):  
Carey K. Morewedge ◽  
Daniella M. Kupor

Intuitions, attitudes, images, mind-wandering, dreams, and religious messages are just a few of the many kinds of uncontrolled thoughts that intrude on consciousness spontaneously without a clear reason. Logic suggests that people might thus interpret spontaneous thoughts as meaningless and be uninfluenced by them. By contrast, our survey of this literature indicates that the lack of an obvious external source or motive leads people to attribute considerable meaning and importance to spontaneous thoughts. Spontaneous thoughts are perceived to provide meaningful insight into the self, others, and the world. As a result of these metacognitive appraisals, spontaneous thoughts substantially affect the beliefs, attitudes, decisions, and behavior of the thinker. We present illustrative examples of the metacognitive appraisals by which people attribute meaning to spontaneous secular and religious thoughts, and the influence of these thoughts on judgment and decision-making, attitude formation and change, dream interpretation, and prayer discernment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. A1-A15
Author(s):  
Ronald J. Daigle ◽  
David C. Hayes ◽  
Dwayne N. McSwain

ABSTRACT Students learn about the many different aspects of occupational fraud by reading the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse (Report) and applying what they learn to one of two episodes of the television show Mystery Diners, which features an undercover fraud investigation in a restaurant setting. Applying the ACFE Report to a setting generally familiar to students helps them gain insight into occupational fraud. Pre-/post-test and survey results reveal that students significantly increased their knowledge of how occupational fraud is committed and detected, traits of victim organizations, characteristics of perpetrators, and case results (what actions are or are not taken against perpetrators) across two different episodes and two editions of the ACFE Report. Feedback shows students found the case valuable and enjoyable and would find more cases like this beneficial. Instructors can modify the case for other episodes (more than 100 are available) and further editions of the ACFE Report to help students learn about occupational fraud.


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