Eukaryotic Control Elements

Abstract

As you attempt to express genes transferred into cells or into an animal, you must deal intelligently with a plethora of information about cis-acting DNA elements that, either directly or indirectly, affect gene expression. Each gene appears to have not only a promoter but in many cases a matched enhancer, as well as splice signals, polyadenylation signals, and signals that determine the messenger RNA half-life. These elements exert their influence in concert in a cell-type-specific manner and serve to determine where and when in an organism the gene is expressed. These elements can also be experimentally mixed and matched with each other, resulting in recombinant elements that manifest new biologies. Thus, before a single test tube is raised, you must familiarize yourself with these elements. Despite the apparent complexity of the interaction of these cis-acting elements during the regulation of gene expression, there are a number of rules you should keep in mind to guide genetic design.