The alpha-like globin gene cluster in rabbits contains embryonic zeta-globin genes, an adult alpha-globin gene, and theta-globin genes of undetermined function. The basic arrangement of genes, deduced from analysis of cloned DNA fragments, is 5'-zeta 0-zeta 1-alpha 1-theta 1-zeta 2-zeta 3-theta 2-3'. However, the pattern of restriction fragments containing zeta- and theta-globin genes varies am...

of human red blood cells. Some of the genes were friendlier than others. For example, two -globin genes were about fi ve times more likely to be near each other than were two -globin genes. Next, the researchers tested whether a gene’s chromatin environment affects its tendency to cluster. In human cells, -globin sits in a tightly packaged chromatin region, whereas -globin’s neighborhood is loo...

The developmental switch from human fetal (gamma) to adult (beta) hemoglobin represents a clinically important example of developmental gene regulation. The transcription factor BCL11A is a central mediator of gamma-globin silencing and hemoglobin switching. Here we determine chromatin occupancy of BCL11A at the human beta-globin locus and other genomic regions in vivo by high-resolution chroma...

Objective(s): Iran is considered as one of the high-prevalence areas for β-thalassemia with a rate of about 10% carrier frequency. Molecular diagnosis of the disease is performed both by direct sequencing and indirectly by the use of polymorphic markers present in the beta globin gene cluster. However, to date there is no reliable information on the application of the markers in the Iranian pop...

The locus activation region (LAR) of the human beta-globin-like gene cluster is characterized by a group of four DNase I hypersensitive sites, which arise specifically in erythroid tissues and are required for a normal pattern of beta-globin-like gene expression. The hypersensitive sites are found at positions 6.1, 10.9, 14.7, and 18 kilobase pairs (kbp) 5' of the epsilon-globin gene. Recently ...

The genes of the vertebrate -globin locus undergo a switch in expression during erythroid development whereby embryonic fetal genes of the cluster are sequentially silenced and adult genes are activated. We describe here a role for DNA methylation and MBD2 in the silencing of the human fetal -globin gene. The -globin gene is reactivated upon treatment with the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor 5-...

Several lines of evidence have established strong links between transcriptional activity and specific post-translation modifications of histones. Here we show using RNA FISH that in erythroid cells, intergenic transcription in the human beta-globin locus occurs over a region of greater than 250 kb including several genes in the nearby olfactory receptor gene cluster. This entire region is trans...

Several lines of evidence have established strong links between transcriptional activity and specific post-translation modifications of histones. Here we show using RNA FISH that in erythroid cells, intergenic transcription in the human b-globin locus occurs over a region of greater than 250 kb including several genes in the nearby olfactory receptor gene cluster. This entire region is transcri...

The human gamma-globin genes form part of a 5-kb tandem duplication within the beta-globin gene cluster on chromosome 11. Despite a high degree of identity between the two genes, we show that while the upstream Ggamma-globin gene terminates transcription efficiently, termination in the Agamma gene is inefficient. This is primarily due to the different strengths of the polyA signals of the two g...