New insights into cooperativity in gene regulation

In a study published in Nature, Dirk Schübeler and his group at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI) describe how the interplay between transcription factors and epigenetic modifications of DNA influences gene regulation. The scientists found that transcription factors can cooperate indirectly, via changes in DNA methylation patterns: by removing methyl groups, some transcription factors prepare surrounding regions for the binding of other transcription factors. This research thus elucidates a further aspect of the complex role methyl groups play in gene regulation.

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