Mechanisms of Specificity for Hox Factor Activity.

J Dev Biol

Division of Developmental Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA.

Published: June 2016

Metazoans encode clusters of paralogous Hox genes that are critical for proper development of the body plan. However, there are a number of unresolved issues regarding how paralogous Hox factors achieve specificity to control distinct cell fates. First, how do Hox paralogs, which have very similar DNA binding preferences , drive different transcriptional programs ? Second, the number of potential Hox binding sites within the genome is vast compared to the number of sites bound. Hence, what determines where in the genome Hox factors bind? Third, what determines whether a Hox factor will activate or repress a specific target gene? Here, we review the current evidence that is beginning to shed light onto these questions. In particular, we highlight how cooperative interactions with other transcription factors (especially PBC and HMP proteins) and the sequences of -regulatory modules provide a basis for the mechanisms of Hox specificity. We conclude by integrating a number of the concepts described throughout the review in a case study of a highly interrogated Drosophila -regulatory module named "The Distal-less Conserved Regulatory Element" (DCRE).

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5003318PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jdb4020016DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

hox
8
hox factor
8
paralogous hox
8
hox factors
8
mechanisms specificity
4
specificity hox
4
factor activity
4
activity metazoans
4
metazoans encode
4
encode clusters
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!