ABSTRACT
As discussed in Chapter 6, various alterations occur in the chromatin structure of a particular gene prior to the onset of transcription. Once such changes have occurred, the actual onset of transcription takes place through the interaction of defined proteins (transcription factors) with specific DNA sequences adjacent to the gene. This final stage of gene regulation is clearly analogous to the activation or repression of gene expression in prokaryotes, which was discussed briefly in Section 6.1. However, before the manner in which transcription factors and DNA sequences act to regulate gene expression in higher eukaryotes can be considered, it is necessary to mention one aspect of eukaryotic systems that does not exist in bacteria.
