Regulation of Gene Expression

SECTION 1 ALTERNATIVE PROMOTERS 220 Part I Introduction 220

1. What Are Alternative Promoters? 220 2. Why Are Alternative Promoters Important? 221 3. What Is the Current Status of Research on Alternative Promoters? 221

Part II Step-By-Step Tutorial 223 1. Browsing the List of Alternative Promoters in the EPD 223 2. Go to the Search Window of the EPD 224 3. Search for Alternative Promoters of HS_EGFR 224

Part III Sample Data 225 SECTION 2 ALTERNATIVE SPLICING 226

Part I Introduction 226 1. What Is Alternative Splicing? 226 2. Why Is Alternative Splicing Important? 226 3. What Is the Current Status of Research in Alternative Splicing? 227

Part II Step-By-Step Tutorial 228 1. Databases of Alternative Splicing 228

2. Searching the Alternative Splicing Sites of a Given Gene 228 Part III Sample Data 231

SECTION 3 ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATION INITIATION 231 Part I Introduction 231

1. What Is Alternative Translational Initiation? 231 2. Physiological and Pathological Implications of Alternative Translational Initiation 232 3. Databases on Alternative Translational Initiation 233

Part II Step-By-Step Tutorial 235 1. Search the Alternative Translational Initiation of a Given Gene 235

Part III Sample Data 240 SECTION 4 RNA EDITING 240

Part I Introduction 240 1. What Is RNA Editing? 240 2. RNA Editing and Human Disease 243 3. Types of RNA Editing 243

Part II Step-By-Step Tutorial 247 Part III Sample Data 247

The regulation of gene expression is important for any biological process. This chapter introduces several major aspects of regulation on gene transcription and expression, including alternative promoters, alternative splicing, alternative translational initiation, and RNA editing. In each section, a brief theoretical description of the topic will be followed by a step-by-step tutorial on how to retrieve and analyze curated data using the currently available bioinformatics tools.