Intrinsic disorder (ID) is highly abundant in eukaryotes, which reflect the greater need for disorder-associated signaling and transcriptional regulation in nucleated cells. Although several well-characterized examples of intrinsically disordered proteins in transcriptional regulation have been reported, no systematic analysis has been reported so far. To test for the general prevalence of intr...

Since its inception (1), a number of changes (2) have occurred to the Transcription Factors Database, some details of which will be described here. This database is designed to capture and contain information about the properties of transcription factors, their interrelationships, the nucleic acid and amino acid sequences that encode them, and the DNA sequences they recognize. This information ...

Agouti is a secreted paracrine factor that regulates pigmentation in hair follicle melanocytes. Several dominant mutations cause ectopic expression of agouti, resulting in a phenotype characterized by yellow fur, adult-onset obesity and diabetes, increased linear growth and skeletal mass, and increased susceptibility to tumors. Humans also produce agouti protein, but the highest levels of agout...

Accumulating evidence suggests the involvement of transcription factors in the regulation of DNA replication in eukaryotic cells. Almost all eukaryotic DNA viruses contain binding sites for transcription factors which function as auxiliary elements for DNA replication initiation at replication origins, and, indeed, the binding of transcription factors to these elements has been shown to stimula...

The MYB family of proteins is large, functionally diverse and represented in all eukaryotes. Most MYB proteins function as transcription factors with varying numbers of MYB domain repeats conferring their ability to bind DNA. In plants, the MYB family has selectively expanded, particularly through the large family of R2R3-MYB. Members of this family function in a variety of plant-specific proce...

Interferons (IFNs) comprise a family of polypeptides that exhibit diverse biological effects such as inhibition of cell growth and protection against viral infection. These activities are based mainly on the transcriptional induction of cellular genes by both type I (IFN-alpha and IFN-beta) and type II (IFN-gamma) interferons. Several of these IFN-induced early response genes have been cloned a...

Higher plants produce a large variety of low-molecular weight secondary compounds. Among them, nitrogen-containing alkaloids are the most biologically active and are often used pharmaceutically. Whereas alkaloid chemistry has been intensively investigated, alkaloid biosynthesis, including the relevant biosynthetic enzymes, genes and their regulation, and especially transcription factors, is lar...

In the heart, autophagy is required for normal cardiac function and also has been implicated in cardiovascular disease. FoxO transcription factors promote autophagy in skeletal muscle and have additional roles in regulation of cell size, proliferation, andmetabolism.Herewe investigate the role of FoxO transcription factors in regulating autophagy and cell size in cardiomyocytes. In cultured rat...

disease, juvenile diabetes, and so on: For each of these illnesses stem cells might be able to produce a cure by replacing cell function. This area of hope was termed regenerative medicine, because of the emphasis on regenerating lost function. With much at stake, different sides became polarized in their positions. In the midst of debate, we lost track of what was at issue. And we lost track o...