Transcriptional determinants of tolerogenic and immunogenic states during dendritic cell maturation.

Dendritic cells (DCs) promote either tolerogenic or immunogenic T cell responses, the latter upon sensing microbes. Using an in vitro system, we analyzed transcriptional determinants that enable mature DCs to direct these opposing T cell outcomes. In the absence of microbial products, the transcription factor interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4) promotes regulatory T cell (T) generation by enhancing expression of genes required for antigen presentation along with those for T cell tolerance.

Mapping and analysis of Caenorhabditis elegans transcription factor sequence specificities.

Caenorhabditis elegans is a powerful model for studying gene regulation, as it has a compact genome and a wealth of genomic tools. However, identification of regulatory elements has been limited, as DNA-binding motifs are known for only 71 of the estimated 763 sequence-specific transcription factors (TFs). To address this problem, we performed protein binding microarray experiments on representatives of canonical TF families in C.