The control of gene expression in articular chondrocytes is an essential factor in maintaining the homoeostasis of extracellular matrix synthesis and turnover necessary in healthy articular cartilage. Although much is known of how steady-state levels of gene expression and rates of transcription are altered, there has been a poorer understanding of gene control at the post-transcriptional level...

Spermatogenesis in mammals is achieved by multiple players that pursue a common goal of generating mature spermatozoa. The developmental processes acting on male germ cells that culminate in the production of the functional spermatozoa are regulated at both the transcription and post-transcriptional levels. This review addresses recent progress towards understanding such regulatory mechanisms a...

Adiponectin is an adipose-tissue-derived hormone with anti-diabetic, anti-atherogenic and anti-inflammatory functions. Adiponectin circulates in the bloodstream in trimeric, hexameric and high-molecular-mass species, and different forms of adiponectin have been found to play distinct roles in the regulation of energy homoeostasis. The serum levels of adiponectin are negatively correlated with o...

The 'polypyrimidine-tract-binding protein' (PTB) participates in the control of alternative processing and translation of various RNAs, and may operate as a multifunctional regulator of tissue-specific gene expression.

Oct4 is a key component of the molecular circuitry which regulates embryonic stem cell proliferation and differentiation. It is essential for maintenance of undifferentiated, pluripotent cell populations, and accomplishes these tasks by binding DNA in multiple heterodimer and homodimer configurations. Very little is known about how formation of these complexes is regulated, or the mechanisms th...

Transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation shape tissue-type-specific proteomes, but their relative contributions remain contested. Estimates of the factors determining protein levels in human tissues do not distinguish between (i) the factors determining the variability between the abundances of different proteins and (ii) the factors determining the physiological variability of the s...