Regulation of neuronal gene expression.

Humans as multicellular organisms contain a variety of different cell types where each cell population must fulfill a distinct function in the interest of the whole organism. The molecular basis for the variations in morphology, biochemistry, molecular biology, and function of the various cell types is the cell-type specific expression of genes. These genes encode proteins necessary for executing the specialized functions of each cell type within an organism. We describe here a regulatory mechanism for the expression of neuronal genes. The zinc finger protein REST binds to the regulatory region of many neuronal genes and represses neuronal gene expression in nonneuronal tissues. A negative regulatory mechanism, involving a transcriptional repressor, seems to play an important role in establishing the neuronal phenotype.