Computational & Genomics Approaches To Drosophila Transcriptional Regulation
Transcriptional regulation is a combinatorics problem.
Gene activity is precisely regulated by site-specific transcription factors (TFs) which bind to regulatory bits of DNA, the cis-regulatory modules (CRMs). These CRMs comprise defined combinations of binding sites for the TFs. A good example is shown above: the transcriptional regulation of the eve gene whose stripes are individually regulated by specific CRMs. Each of those CRMs is dependent on the availability of a combination of activating and repressing TFs.
The Adryan Lab at the Cambridge Systems Biology Centre is studying the combinatorial TF code for developmental processes in the fly tracheal system. We are using ChIP with genome-wide detection techniques in order to obtain information about the TF occupation state of the genome. These data are complemented with detailed spatio-temporal gene expression studies. Through computational integration and experimental validation we are hoping to crack the combinatorial code important for tracheal development. Please see additional information in the Science pages.
Our work is supported by the Royal Society and the Wellcome Trust.
