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Senanu's Bio class

Chapter 19 – Gene Regulation in Eukaryotes

OBJECTIVE: Describe the role of chromatin in controlling gene expression OBJECTIVE: Understand the effects of methylation, acetylation, and chromatin remodeling on transcription

  1. What do you understand by the term “differential gene expression”?
  2. Describe how DNA is ‘packaged’ in eukaryotic cells.
  3. Do enzymes operate on condensed or decondensed chromatin more readily? Why?
  4. What is chromatin?
  5. How does the physical state of chromatin determine whether a gene gets transcribed?
  6. How does histone acetylation affect transcription?
  7. How does methylation of histones affect transcription?
  8. How does methylation of DNA affect transcription?
  9. Draw a diagram of a gene showing the promotor, proximal and distal control elements?
  10. What is the difference between general and specific transcription factors?
  11. What is an enhancer? Describe the model by which enhancers affect transcription, even though they may be far from the promotor.
  12. What do transcription factors do?
  13. How do eukaryotes control the expression of many genes at once?

  14. List 3 ways in which the cell can control gene expression after transcription. For each, give a brief description of how that method affects the proteins produced.

    OBJECTIVE: Understand that eukaryotic genes may have proximal and distal control elements OBJECTIVE: Understand that transcription factors bind DNA to enhance or silence transcription

  15. Transcription factor is a general term for molecules that bind directly to DNA to alter the rates of _______________. If they bind to enhancers, the rate of transcription is _____________. If they bind to DNA sequences called silencers, they are called _____________.
  16. How do distal control elements affect a gene thousands of base pairs away?

  17. How and in what way are multiple genes regulated at the same time with the same signal?

    OBJECTIVE: Understand how alternative splicing affects gene expression

  18. Explain how alternative splicing leads to one gene creating several or many different proteins.

    OBJECTIVE: Understand how miRNA may alter how much of particular proteins are made

  19. Describe 2 ways in which microRNA (miRNA) prevents translation?

    OBJECTIVE: Describe the difference between oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes and how mutations in them can lead to cancer.

  20. What is the normal, healthy function of a proto-oncogene?
  21. How does a mutated oncogene promote cell growth and proliferation?
  22. What is the normal, healthy function of a tumor suppressor such as p53?
  23. How does a mutated tumor suppressor lead to cell proliferation?