基因转录调控网络模型

摘要：基因转录调控网络是细胞内基因之间的相互作用关系的整体表示，是生命功能在基因表达层面的展现. 最近多种生物信息学（计算分子生物学）工具和高通量实验技术的发展，使得重建复杂的基因调控网络成为可能. 基因调控网络模型试图从DNA微阵列等海量数据中推断基因之间的调控关系，从而揭示复杂的生命现象， 虽远未完成，但从现有实验数据中重建基因调控网络的工作可以促进在分子和遗传水平上系统地剖析细胞的功能，是功能基因组学中的重要研究内容，也是当前生物信息学和系统生物学研究的最具挑战性的前沿课题之一. 简要评述了几类典型数学模型的最新研究进展.     

Stochastic gene expression out-of-steady-state in the cyanobacterial circadian clock

Recent advances in measuring gene expression at the single-cell level have highlighted the stochastic nature of messenger RNA and protein synthesis. Stochastic gene expression creates a source of variability in the abundance of cellular components, even among isogenic cells exposed to an identical environment. Recent integrated experimental and modelling studies have shed light on the molecular sources of this variability. However, many of these studies focus on systems that have reached a steady state and therefore do not address a large class of dynamic phenomena including oscillatory gene expression. Here we develop a general protocol for analysing and predicting stochastic gene expression in systems that never reach steady states. We use this framework to analyse experimentally stochastic expression of genes driven by the Synechococcus elongatus circadian clock. We find that, although the average expression at two points in the circadian cycle separated by 12 hours is identical, the variability at these two time points can be different. We show that this is a general feature of out-of-steady-state systems. We demonstrate how intrinsic noise sources, owing to random births and deaths of mRNAs and proteins, or extrinsic noise sources, which introduce fluctuations in rate constants, affect the cell-to-cell variability. To distinguish experimentally between these sources, we measured how the correlation between expression fluctuations of two identical genes is modulated during the circadian cycle. This quantitative framework is generally applicable to any out-of-steady-state system and will be necessary for understanding the fidelity of dynamic cellular systems.     

Genetic background of phenotypic variation

A noteworthy feature of the living world is its bewildering variability. A key issue in several biological disciplines is the achievement of an understanding of the hereditary basis of this variability. Two opposing, but not necessarily irreconcilable conceptions attempt to explain the underlying mechanism. The gene function paradigm postulates that phenotypic variance is generated by the polymorphism in the coding sequences of genes. However, comparisons of a great number of homologous gene and protein sequences have revealed that they predominantly remained functionally conserved even across distantly related phylogenic taxa. Alternatively, the gene regulation paradigm assumes that differences in the cis-regulatory region of genes do account for phenotype variation within species. An extension of this latter concept is that phenotypic variability is generated by the polymorphism in the overall gene expression profiles of gene networks. In other words, the activity of a particular gene is a system property determined both by the cis-regulatory sequences of the given genes and by the other genes of a gene network, whose expressions vary among individuals, too. Novel proponents of gene function paradigm claim that functional genetic variance within the coding sequences of regulatory genes is critical for the generation of morphological polymorphism. Note, however, that these developmental genes play direct regulatory roles in the control of gene expression.     

Genetic background of phenotypic variation

A noteworthy feature of the living world is its bewildering variability. A key issue in several biological disciplines is the achievement of an understanding of the hereditary basis of this variability. Two opposing, but not necessarily irreconcilable conceptions attempt to explain the underlying mechanism. The gene function paradigm postulates that phenotypic variance is generated by the polymorphism in the coding sequences of genes. However, comparisons of a great number of homologous gene and protein sequences have revealed that they predominantly remained functionally conserved even across distantly related phylogenic taxa. Alternatively, the gene regulation paradigm assumes that differences in the cis-regulatory region of genes do account for phenotype variation within species. An extension of this latter concept is that phenotypic variability is generated by the polymorphism in the overall gene expression profiles of gene networks. In other words, the activity of a particular gene is a system property determined both by the cis-regulatory sequences of the given genes and by the other genes of a gene network, whose expressions vary among individuals, too. Novel proponents of gene function paradigm claim that functional genetic variance within the coding sequences of regulatory genes is critical for the generation of morphological polymorphism. Note, however, that these developmental genes play direct regulatory roles in the control of gene expression.     

基于动态贝叶斯网络的多时延基因调控网络构建

分子生物学的主要挑战是如何更好地理解基因间的调控机理。重构调控网络有助于探索生命系统的本质问题。目前,已提出的方法大多数都不考虑基因表达之间的时延,或者假定其时延是一个常量。这为深入理解基因调控的时-空机制带来了困难。现提出一个用连续DBNs构建具有多时延基因调控网络的方法,它可以系统地分析基因之间的调控关系。将其应用于酵母菌的转录调控网络中,结果显示,该方法能更好地估计转录时延,进一步提高了调控网络构建的精度。     

A bottom-up approach to gene regulation

The ability to construct synthetic gene networks enables experimental investigations of deliberately simplified systems that can be compared to qualitative and quantitative models. If simple, well-characterized modules can be coupled together into more complex networks with behaviour that can be predicted from that of the individual components, we may begin to build an understanding of cellular regulatory processes from the 'bottom up'. Here we have engineered a promoter to allow simultaneous repression and activation of gene expression in Escherichia coli. We studied its behaviour in synthetic gene networks under increasingly complex conditions: unregulated, repressed, activated, and simultaneously repressed and activated. We develop a stochastic model that quantitatively captures the means and distributions of the expression from the engineered promoter of this modular system, and show that the model can be extended and used to accurately predict the in vivo behaviour of the network when it is expanded to include positive feedback. The model also reveals the counterintuitive prediction that noise in protein expression levels can increase upon arrest of cell growth and division, which we confirm experimentally. This work shows that the properties of regulatory subsystems can be used to predict the behaviour of larger, more complex regulatory networks, and that this bottom-up approach can provide insights into gene regulation.     

构建基因调控布尔网络的一种方法

为了重构基因调控网络,提出可以通过基因之间的布尔逻辑代数和逻辑电路网络得到基因调控的动态转换。进而找到整个基因网络的动态变化。利用熵互信息理论对基因表达进行处理,构建基因调控布尔网络。     

文昌鱼Pax1/9基因上游调控区的克隆及分析

脊椎动物Pax1/9是一重要的发育调控基因亚家族,文昌鱼基因组中仅有单一的该亚家族直系同源基因Amphi-Pax1/9,为检验此基因上游调控元件的功能在脊椎动物体内是否具有通用性,将文昌鱼Pax1/9基因上游约4.6 kb的侧翼序列与绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)报告基因连接,构建重组质粒表达载体(pAmphiPax1/9-AcGFP),显微注射斑马鱼胚胎,并以斑马鱼Pax1和Pax9的上游同源序列为阳性对照.结果表明,阳性对照斑马鱼胚胎中GFP能够表达,但注射pAm-phiPax1/9-AcGFP质粒的斑马鱼胚胎中无明显的GFP表达,这一现象可能是由于Pax1/9上游调控序列在二物种间存在较大的进化差异,启动元件具有物种特异性.     

Cloning the Promoter of BcNA1 from Brassica napus and Fad2 Gene from Arabidopsis thaliana and Construction of the Plant Expression Vector

The upstream regulatory region of a seed-specific gene was isolated from the genomic DNA of Brassica napus by PCR amplification. The cloned fragment contained 1755 nucleotides, and shared a sequence homology of 99.6% with the reported data. The coding region of oleic acid desaturase gene was then cloned from Arabidopsis thaliana. The sequencing analysis indicated that the sequence of the PCR product was just the same as reported before. In addition, the plant expression vector harboring the seed-specific promoter and trans-Fad2 gene was constructed.     

水稻矮化突变体G蛋白α亚基基因的结构和表达

利用γ-Co60辐射诱发水稻特光矮-2(Oryza sativa L.cv.TGA-2)产生变异,获得一种稳定遗传的新型水稻矮化突变体dwarf69.dwarf69和TGA-2及其杂交后代F1、F2、F3成熟期的株高数据表明矮化表型受一对隐性基因控制.进一步研究发现,虽然dwarf69和TGA-2的G蛋白α亚基基因(Rice G protein alpha-subunit,RGA)编码区核苷酸序列只有一个核苷酸的差异,但RGA在野生型TGA-2中的表达量明显高于在突变体dwarf69中的表达量.对矮化突变体dwarf69和野生型TGA-2的RGA基因5＇上游区的序列分析表明,dwarf69 RGA 5＇上游区比TGA-2RGA5＇上游区多出1076bp.首次报道水稻矮化突变体中的RGA5＇上游区序列与其野生种的RGA5＇上游区序列存在显著的差异.