In molecular biology, a transcription factor (TF) (or sequence-specific DNA-binding factor) is a protein that controls the rate of transcription of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA, by binding to a specific DNA sequence. The function of TFs is to regulate—turn on and off—genes in order to make sure that they are expressed in the desired cells at the right time and in the right amount throughout the life of the cell and the organism. Groups of TFs function in a coordinated fashion to direct cell division, cell growth, and cell death throughout life; cell migration and organization (body plan) during embryonic development; and intermittently in response to signals from outside the cell, such as a hormone. There are up to 1600 TFs in the human genome. TFs work alone or with other proteins in a complex, by promoting (as an activator), or blocking (as a repressor) the recruitment of RNA polymerase (the enzyme that performs the transcription of genetic information from DNA to RNA) to specific genes. Here you have a good and recent example of the structure of a transcription factor complexed to a promoter. This cryoEM-determined structure corresponds to the transcription factor UAF in complex with TBP and 35S rRNA promoter DNA (PDB code: 7Z0O)
#molecularart ... #immolecular ... #promoter ... #transcriptionfactor ... #geneexpression ... #regulation ... #DNA ... #cryoem
Structure of the transcription factor and DNA complex rendered with @proteinimaging and depicted with @corelphotopaint
#molecularart ... #immolecular ... #promoter ... #transcriptionfactor ... #geneexpression ... #regulation ... #DNA ... #cryoem
Structure of the transcription factor and DNA complex rendered with @proteinimaging and depicted with @corelphotopaint
