Open Question
The TBX20 transcription factor is important for the development of heart tissue. Deletion of the Tbx20 gene in mice results in poor heart development and the death of mice well before birth. To better understand how TBX20 regulates heart development at a genetic level, Sakabe et al. (2012. Hum. Mol. Genet. 21:2194–2204) performed a transcriptome analysis in which they compared the levels of all mRNAs between heart cells from wild-type mice and mice with Tbx20 deleted.
This study concluded that TBX20 acts as an activator of some genes but a repressor of other genes in cardiac tissue. How might a single transcription factor have opposite effects on the transcription of different genes?
9
views
