General transcription factor

Transcription factors. In the middle part above the promoter, the pink color part of the transcription factors are the General Transcription Factors.

General transcription factors (GTFs), also known as basal transcriptional factors, are a class of protein transcription factors that bind to specific sites (promoter) on DNA to activate transcription of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA. GTFs, RNA polymerase, and the mediator (a multi-protein complex) constitute the basic transcriptional apparatus that first bind to the promoter, then start transcription.[1] GTFs are also intimately involved in the process of gene regulation, and most are required for life.[2]

A transcription factor is a protein that binds to specific DNA sequences (enhancer or promoter), either alone or with other proteins in a complex, to control the rate of transcription of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA by promoting (serving as an activator) or blocking (serving as a repressor) the recruitment of RNA polymerase.[3][4][5][6][7] As a class of protein, general transcription factors bind to promoters along the DNA sequence or form a large transcription preinitiation complex to activate transcription. General transcription factors are necessary for transcription to occur.[8][9][10]

  1. ^ Pierce, Benjamin A. (2012). Genetics a conceptual approach (4th ed.). New York: W.H. Freeman. pp. 364–367. ISBN 978-1-4292-3250-0.
  2. ^ Dillon, Niall (2006). "Gene regulation and large-scale chromatin organization in the nucleus". Chromosome Research. 14 (1): 117–26. doi:10.1007/s10577-006-1027-8. PMID 16506101. S2CID 28667905.
  3. ^ Latchman, David S. (December 1997). "Transcription factors: an overview". The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology. 29 (12): 1305–12. doi:10.1016/S1357-2725(97)00085-X. PMC 2002184. PMID 9570129.
  4. ^ Karin, M. (February 1990). "Too many transcription factors: positive and negative interactions". The New Biologist. 2 (2): 126–31. PMID 2128034.
  5. ^ Roeder, Robert G. (September 1996). "The role of general initiation factors in transcription by RNA polymerase II". Trends in Biochemical Sciences. 21 (9): 327–35. doi:10.1016/S0968-0004(96)10050-5. PMID 8870495.
  6. ^ Nikolov, D.B.; Burley, S.K. (1997). "RNA polymerase II transcription initiation: A structural view". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 94 (1): 15–22. Bibcode:1997PNAS...94...15N. doi:10.1073/pnas.94.1.15. PMC 33652. PMID 8990153.
  7. ^ Lee, Tong Ihn; Young, Richard A. (2000). "Transcription of eukaryotic protein-coding genes". Annual Review of Genetics. 34 (1): 77–137. doi:10.1146/annurev.genet.34.1.77. PMID 11092823.
  8. ^ Weinzierl, Robert O.J. (1999). Mechanisms of Gene Expression: Structure, Function and Evolution of the Basal Transcriptional Machinery. London: Imperial College Press. ISBN 978-1-86094-126-9.
  9. ^ Reese, Joseph C. (April 2003). "Basal transcription factors". Current Opinion in Genetics & Development. 13 (2): 114–8. doi:10.1016/S0959-437X(03)00013-3. PMID 12672487.
  10. ^ Shilatifard, Ali; Conaway, Ronald C.; Conaway, Joan Weliky (2003). "The RNA polymerase II elongation complex". Annual Review of Biochemistry. 72 (1): 693–715. doi:10.1146/annurev.biochem.72.121801.161551. PMID 12676794.