Transcriptional Regulatory Circuits: Predicting Numbers from Alphabets

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 325; no. 5939; pp. 429 - 432
• Main Authors: Kim, Harold D., Shay, Tal, O'Shea, Erin K., Regev, Aviv
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 24-07-2009; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animals; Biochemistry; DNA; Eukaryotic Cells; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation; Gene Regulatory Networks; Genome; Genomics; Government regulation; Mathematical functions; Messenger RNA; Modeling; Models, Genetic; Molecular biology; Nucleosomes; Prokaryotic Cells; Review; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; Yeasts
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1171347

Transcriptional regulatory circuits govern how cis and trans factors transform signals into messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels. With advances in quantitative and high-throughput technologies that allow measurement of gene expression state in different conditions, data that can be used to build and test models of transcriptional regulation is being generated at a rapid pace. Here, we review experimental and computational methods used to derive detailed quantitative circuit models on a small scale and cruder, genome-wide models on a large scale. We discuss the potential of combining small- and large-scale approaches to understand the working and wiring of transcriptional regulatory circuits.