gene regulation

The future of Gene Regulation at the JBC is bright.  The Journal is excited to receive papers describing the results of original research in various areas of gene regulation research, including studies in higher organisms, model systems and lower organisms, including microbes and viruses.

We are interested in research aimed at understanding basic mechanisms in transcriptional regulation and how transcription goes wrong in human disease. Other topics of interest in this affinity group include the core transcription machinery, RNA polymerases and associated factors, gene regulatory proteins, small RNAs that regulate gene expression, and the role of chromatin postsynthetic modifications, as well as DNA methylation in gene regulation.

The Journal has recently published a series of minireviews on “Epigenetics” and new minireviews are anticipated the areas of genome-wide mapping of epigenetic states and transcriptional regulatory proteins.

Recent notable papers that are now in press include studies of how a chromatin structural protein, HMGN1, regulates global gene expression by affecting the expression of the methyl-CpG-binding protein MeCP2 (see Abuhatzira et al., “The Chromatin-binding Protein HMGN1 Regulates the Expression of Methyl CpG-binding Protein 2 (MECP2) and Affects the Behavior of Mice,” J. Biol. Chem. 2011:286(49):42051–42062). Mutations in MeCP2 are involved in the autism spectrum disorder Rett Syndrome, and the current study shows that HMGN1 is a negative regulator of MeCP2, and that alterations in HMGN1 levels affect behavior in mice. Studies on the genomic promoter occupancy of essential transcription factors, such as members of the RUNX or Runt-related transcription factors, have identified key genes involved in multiple signaling pathways and cell adhesion and motility (see van der Deen et al., “Genomic promoter occupancy of runt-related transcription factor RUNX2 in osteosarcoma cells identifies genes involved in cell adhesion and motility,” J. Biol. Chem. 2011 Dec 9. [Epub ahead of print]), important aspects of cancer cell pathology leading to tumorigenesis. Other studies have focused on the roles of chromatin modifying enzymes, such as the histone acetyltransferases CBP and p300, and their roles in gene expression in normal and cancer cells. For example, Ianculescu et al (“Selective roles for CBP and p300 as coregulators for androgen-regulated gene expression in advanced prostate cancer cells,” J. Biol. Chem. 2011 Dec 15 [Epub ahead of print]) report selective roles for these enzymes as co-regulators of androgen-responsive genes in prostate cancer. Lastly, a recent paper from Zhang et al. (“Ssu72 phosphatase dependent erasure of phospho-Ser7 marks on the RNA Polymerase II C-terminal domain is essential for viability and transcription termination,” J. Biol. Chem. 2012 Jan 10 [Epub ahead of print]) focuses on basic mechanisms of transcription; in this case, the protein phosphatase Ssu72 in removing phosphates from the carboxyl-terminal domain of the large subunit of RNA polymerase II (at serine 7) is shown to play a key role in the transcription cycle and is required for viability in yeast.

These are but a few examples of the cutting-edge research recently reported in the Journal, and we look forward to receiving your submissions reporting exciting findings in this active area of biochemistry and molecular biology!

~Joel Gottesfeld, JBC Associate Editor