"Signaling pathways regulate gene expression acting at multiple levels".

OMAR A. COSO

Buenos Aires

Congreso; En el simposio Molecular mechanisms in cell signaling and gene expression de la Reunión Anual Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Bioquímica y Biología Molecular. Noviembre 2013.; 2013

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Bioquímica y Biología Molecular

Living cells react to extracellular signals eliciting a variety of responses that include gene expression regulation. Phosphorylation of transcription factors by kinase cascades that trigger promoter activity and increase mRNA levels is a phenomena well characterized. However, current knowledge of the research field has extended the repertoire of characters involved in gene expression processes to include molecules involved in processing of the RNA transcripts and stability of mature mRNAs. Our observations show that triggered by the same stimuli, early activated MAPK cascades act upon transcription factors to turn on promoter activity of early responsive genes while late activated MAPK cascades regulate mRNA binding proteins controlling the decay of mature mRNAs. Not only the quantity but also the quality of mRNAs expressed is regulated by extracellular stimuli. In addition to alternative splicing, alternative polyadenylation is similarly regulated by the cell environment. Current status of our research is pointing that gene expression regulation is not restricted to promoter activity but also that signaling cascades, mRNA binding proteins and miRNAs participate in the regulation of RNA processing and stability in a coordinated fashion. This is a well-extended phenomenon that regulates the expression of a variety of genes being Itgb1 and c-Fos our main targets of interest.