Canalizing cell fate by transcriptional repression.
Mol Syst Biol
; 20(3): 144-161, 2024 Mar.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38302581
ABSTRACT
Precision in the establishment and maintenance of cellular identities is crucial for the development of multicellular organisms and requires tight regulation of gene expression. While extensive research has focused on understanding cell type-specific gene activation, the complex mechanisms underlying the transcriptional repression of alternative fates are not fully understood. Here, we provide an overview of the repressive mechanisms involved in cell fate regulation. We discuss the molecular machinery responsible for suppressing alternative fates and highlight the crucial role of sequence-specific transcription factors (TFs) in this process. Depletion of these TFs can result in unwanted gene expression and increased cellular plasticity. We suggest that these TFs recruit cell type-specific repressive complexes to their cis-regulatory elements, enabling them to modulate chromatin accessibility in a context-dependent manner. This modulation effectively suppresses master regulators of alternative fate programs and their downstream targets. The modularity and dynamic behavior of these repressive complexes enables a limited number of repressors to canalize and maintain major and minor cell fate decisions at different stages of development.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Factores de Transcripción
/
Cromatina
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Mol Syst Biol
Asunto de la revista:
BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR
/
BIOTECNOLOGIA
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Alemania
Pais de publicación:
Reino Unido