The terpenoids in Pogostemon cablin have complex structures and abundant pharmacological effects. Patchouli alcohol(PA) and pogostone(PO) have a high medicinal value by virtue of anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant, and other biological activities. Due to the low content of terpenoid metabolites in P. cablin, the study of biosynthesis and metabolism regulation can provide a biosynthetic basis for obtaining high-content terpenoids. In this study, key enzyme genes in biosynthesis, transcription factors in metabolism regulation, spatio-temporal expression of terpene synthase were reviewed, aiming to provide a reference for the development, protection, and utilization of P. cablin resources.
Pogostemon/genetics* ; Terpenes ; Transcription Factors/genetics*

WUSCHEL-related homebox (WOX) gene family is a type of plant specific transcription factor, and belongs to the homeobox (HB) transcription factor superfamily. WOX genes play an important role in plant development, such as stem cell regulation and reproductive progress, and have been identified in many plant species. However, the information of mungbean VrWOX genes is limited. In this study, we identified 42 VrWOX genes in mungbean genome using Arabidopsis AtWOX genes as BLAST queries. VrWOX genes are unevenly distributed on 11 mungbean chromosomes, and chromosome 7 contains the most VrWOX genes. VrWOX genes are classified into three subgroups, the ancient group, the intermediate group and the modern/WUSCHEL group, which contains 19, 12 and 11 VrWOX members, respectively. Intraspecific synteny analysis revealed 12 VrWOX duplicated gene pairs in mungbean. Mungbean and Arabidopsis thaliana have 15 orthologous genes, and mungbean and Phaseolus vulgaris have 22 orthologous genes, respectively. The gene structure and conserved motif are different among VrWOX genes, indicating their functional diversity. The promoter regions of VrWOX genes contain different number and type of cis-acting elements, and VrWOX genes show distinct expression levels in eight mungbean tissues. Our study investigated the bioinformation and expression profiles of VrWOX genes, and provided essential information for further functional characterization of VrWOX genes.
Vigna/genetics* ; Fabaceae/genetics* ; Transcription Factors/genetics* ; Plants

SAL-like 4 (SALL4) locating at chromosome 20q13.13-13.2 encodes a newly identified transcription factor containing 8 zinc finger motif. Recent studies have revealed the important role of SALL4 gene in the regulation of early embryonic development, organogenesis, and proliferation and pluripotency of embryonic stem cells. The heterozygous mutations of SALL4 in different loci, causing nonsense mutation or frameshift mutation, and resulting in genesis of premature terminal codon, are correlated with autosomal dominant hereditary diseases such as Okihiro syndrome, acro-renal-ocular syndrome and IVIC syndrome. The level of SALL4 expression is increased in germ cell tumors, hepatoid gastric carcinoma, acute myeloid leukemia, B-precursor cell leukemia/lymphoma and myelodysplastic syndrome. This review focuses on the structure and function of SALL4 gene as well as its relevance to related diseases.
Genetic Diseases, Inborn ; genetics ; Humans ; Mutation ; Transcription Factors ; genetics

Animals ; Humans ; SOXE Transcription Factors ; genetics ; Waardenburg Syndrome ; etiology ; genetics

Forkhead Transcription Factors ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Humans ; Procollagen ; genetics ; Transcription, Genetic

BACKGROUNDWaardenburg syndrome type I (WS1) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by sensorineural hearing loss, pigmental abnormalities of the eye, hair and skin, and dystopia canthorum. The gene mainly responsible for WS1 is PAX3 which is involved in melanocytic development and survival. Mutations of PAX3 have been reported in familiar or sporadic patients with WS1 in several populations of the world except Chinese. In order to explore the genetic background of Chinese WS1 patients, a mutation screening of PAX3 gene was carried out in four WS1 pedigrees.

METHODSA questionnaire survey and comprehensive clinical examination were conducted in four Chinese pedigrees of WS1. Genomic DNA from each patient and their family members was extracted and exons of PAX3 were amplified by PCR. PCR fragments were ethanol-purified and sequenced in both directions on an ABI_Prism 3100 DNA sequencer with the BigDye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Ready Reaction Kit. The sequences were obtained and aligned to the wild type sequence of PAX3 with the GeneTool program.

RESULTSTwo nonsense PAX3 mutations have been found in the study population. One is heterozygous for a novel nonsense mutation S209X. The other is heterozygous for a previously reported mutation in European population R223X. Both mutations create stop codons leading to truncation of the PAX3 protein.

CONCLUSIONSThis is the first demonstration of PAX3 mutations in Chinese WS1 patients and one of the few examples of an identical mutation of PAX3 occurred in different populations.

Transcriptional activators are required to turn on the expression of genes in a eukaryotic cell. Activators bound to the enhancer can facilitate either the recruitment of RNA polymerase II to the promoter or its elongation. This article examines a few selected issues in understanding activator functions and activation mechanisms.
Animals ; Humans ; Trans-Activators ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transcription Factors ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transcription, Genetic ; Transcriptional Activation

Abiotic stresses substantially affect the growth and development of plants. Plants have evolved multiple strategies to cope with the environmental stresses, among which transcription factors play an important role in regulating the tolerance to abiotic stresses. Basic leucine zipper transcription factors (bZIP) are one of the largest gene families. The stability and activity of bZIP transcription factors could be regulated by different post-translational modifications (PTMs) in response to various intracellular or extracellular stresses. This paper introduces the structural feature and classification of bZIP transcription factors, followed by summarizing the PTMs of bZIP transcription factors, such as phosphorylation, ubiquitination and small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) modification, in response to abiotic stresses. In addition, future perspectives were prospected, which may facilitate cultivating excellent stress-resistant crop varieties by regulating the PTMs of bZIP transcription factors.
Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors/genetics* ; Protein Processing, Post-Translational ; Phosphorylation ; Transcription Factors/genetics* ; Stress, Physiological/genetics*

GATA transcription factor family members have been found to involve in the growth and differentiation of mammary gland. Among them GATA-3 is regarded as the most critical regulator involving the tumorigenesis of breast cancer (BC). Recently, trichorhinophalangeal syndrome-1 gene (TRPS-1), a new GATA family member, has been identified to be highly prevalent in breast cancer. Compared with ER-negative breast cancer, the expression of TRPS-1 is higher in ER-positive breast cancer and was significantly correlates with estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and GATA-3, indicating it may serve as a ductal epithelial cell-specific regulator in the differentiation of breast ductal epithelial cells. Studies have shown that miR221/222 is able to downregulate the expression of an epithelial cell marker E-cadherin by targeting TRPS-1, resulting in mammary epithelial cells transition to mesenchymal cell (EMT). In addition, it has been well accepted that, and the Science and Technology Bureau of Jiaxing (2012AY1071-2)TRPS-1 plays a role in the differentiation of several other cell types including kidney nephric mesenchymal cells, columnar chondrocytes, and osteoclasts, indicating that TRPS-1 involves in mesenchymal-to-epithelial cell transition (MET). In this article, we summarize the roles of GATA transcription factor TRPS-1 in ductal epithelial cells and the roles of its gene and protein expressions in predicting the prognosis of breast cancer.
Breast Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ; Female ; GATA3 Transcription Factor ; genetics ; Humans ; Transcription Factors ; genetics

This study was purposed to investigate the expression of the growth-factor independence 1 (GFI1) in patients with leukemia and its clinical significance. Bone marrow mononuclear cells were obtained from 65 newly diagnosed leukemia patients including 24 acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 18 chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), 6 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 17 blast crisis of chronic myelogenous leukemia and 13 patients with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) were used as controls. The relative expression of gene gfi1 was detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and taqman quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR). The results showed that gene expression of gene gfi1 in leukemia patients was obviously higher than that in controls and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.01), in which the expression of gene gfi1 in newly diagnosed CML patients was higher than that in newly diagnosed AML, newly diagnosed ALL, CML-BCP patients and the difference was significant (p < 0.01). Expression of gene gfi1 in lymphocytic blast crisis of CML was higher than that in nonlymphocytic blast crisis of CML, and the difference was significant. It is concluded that gene gfi1 may play an important role in leukemia, especially in CML incidence and progression. The high level expression of gene gfi1 may be participate in the development of lymphoma.
DNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Leukemia ; genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Transcription Factors ; genetics ; Transcription, Genetic ; genetics