Title: REGULATION OF HUMAN GENES
Speaker: Dr. Minou Bina, Department of Chemistry, Purdue University


Collaborators: Evelyn Crowley, Kathryn Roeder, Elsie Pare-Matos, Sheryl Lazarus, Yingmei Yang,Sarah Demmon, Christine Ambrose, and Valerie Tesmer

Place: LAEB 2280; Tuesday, 4:30pm

Abstract

The Human Genome Project is providing data for analyzing genes and how they are controlled during human development and in specific cell types. Our studies are focused on creating a framework for studies of genes transcribed by RNA polymerase II: genes that specify the amino acid sequence in polypeptide chains of proteins.

The talk will describe a Bayesian model for locating a subset of regulatory regions in human genomic DNA. This model tests the hypothesis that regulatory segments of genes include clusters of "codes" or "regulatory words" that control gene expression. The model uses regulatory words that have experimentally been shown to bind a group of regulatory proteins known as transcription factors.

The talk will present efforts directed at constructing a database of a subset of human genes whose product control gene expression. The genes selected for this database include genes encoding transcription factors that bind DNA, transcription factors that act as mediators in gene regulation, histones, and factors that function in chromatin remodeling.

Additionally, this talk will give an overview of sequence patterns that define the 5' boundary of human genes. The goal is to locate regions that include the transcription initiation site to help with interpreting data generated in EST projects.

Finally, we will discuss how studies of gene regulation would contribute to interpret the data generated from analysis of DNA chips.