The highly conserved nuclear protein Akirin was previously identified as a cofactor that modulates Twist transcription factor activity during muscle development in Drosophila melanogaster. Akirin mediates an interaction between the Twist transcription factor and the multisubunit Brahma SWI/SNF-class chromatin remodeling complex at control elements of the Dmef2 locus to maintain optimal myogenic gene expression levels. Therefore, Akirin represents a class of novel secondary cofactors that work with transcription machinery to link transcription factor output with chromatin remodeling machinery to facilitate gene expression. Previous work establishes that Twist and Akirin also interact at Twist-responsive control elements of the tinman gene, which regulates formation and development of the insect heart. Similar to other Twist-regulated loci, Akirin appears to positively regulate tinman expression and affect development and positioning of cardiomyocytes. Together these results uncover a potential new method of regulation for the tinman locus during cardiac development.
","abstract_html":"<p>The highly conserved nuclear protein Akirin<em> </em>was previously identified as a cofactor that modulates Twist transcription factor activity during muscle development in <em>Drosophila melanogaster</em>. Akirin mediates an interaction between the Twist transcription factor and the multisubunit Brahma SWI/SNF-class chromatin remodeling complex at control elements of the <em>Dmef2</em> locus to maintain optimal myogenic gene expression levels. Therefore, Akirin represents a class of novel secondary cofactors that work with transcription machinery to link transcription factor output with chromatin remodeling machinery to facilitate gene expression. Previous work establishes that Twist and Akirin also interact at Twist-responsive control elements of the <em>tinman</em> gene, which regulates formation and development of the <em>insect heart</em>. Similar to other Twist-regulated loci, Akirin appears to positively regulate <em>tinman</em> expression and affect development and positioning of cardiomyocytes. Together these results uncover a potential new method of regulation for the <em>tinman</em> locus during cardiac development.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Howard, Austin M"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Integrative Biology (MSIB)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Biology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Donald McGarey","Dr. Marcus C. Davis","Dr. Martin L. Hudson"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-07-20T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-07-20T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:00Z","subjects":["akirin","tinman","Drosophila","Cardiac","Twist","Biology","Integrative Biology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/integrbiol_etd/6","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Donald McGarey","Dr. Marcus C. Davis","Dr. Martin L. Hudson"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Howard, Austin M"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-07-21T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Integrative Biology (MSIB)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["akirin","tinman","Drosophila","Cardiac","Twist","Biology","Integrative Biology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/integrbiol_etd/6"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The highly conserved nuclear protein Akirin was previously identified as a cofactor that modulates Twist transcription factor activity during muscle development in Drosophila melanogaster. Akirin mediates an interaction between the Twist transcription factor and the multisubunit Brahma SWI/SNF-class chromatin remodeling complex at control elements of the Dmef2 locus to maintain optimal myogenic gene expression levels. Therefore, Akirin represents a class of novel secondary cofactors that work with transcription machinery to link transcription factor output with chromatin remodeling machinery to facilitate gene expression. Previous work establishes that Twist and Akirin also interact at Twist-responsive control elements of the tinman gene, which regulates formation and development of the insect heart. Similar to other Twist-regulated loci, Akirin appears to positively regulate tinman expression and affect development and positioning of cardiomyocytes. Together these results uncover a potential new method of regulation for the tinman locus during cardiac development.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Akirin-Mediated Gene Regulation During Cardiac Development"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Donald McGarey","Dr. Marcus C. Davis","Dr. Martin L. Hudson"],"dc:creator":["Howard, Austin M"],"dc:date.available":["2020-07-21T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The highly conserved nuclear protein Akirin was previously identified as a cofactor that modulates Twist transcription factor activity during muscle development in Drosophila melanogaster. Akirin mediates an interaction between the Twist transcription factor and the multisubunit Brahma SWI/SNF-class chromatin remodeling complex at control elements of the Dmef2 locus to maintain optimal myogenic gene expression levels. Therefore, Akirin represents a class of novel secondary cofactors that work with transcription machinery to link transcription factor output with chromatin remodeling machinery to facilitate gene expression. Previous work establishes that Twist and Akirin also interact at Twist-responsive control elements of the tinman gene, which regulates formation and development of the insect heart. Similar to other Twist-regulated loci, Akirin appears to positively regulate tinman expression and affect development and positioning of cardiomyocytes. Together these results uncover a potential new method of regulation for the tinman locus during cardiac development.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/integrbiol_etd/6"],"dc:subject":["akirin","tinman","Drosophila","Cardiac","Twist","Biology","Integrative Biology"],"dc:title":["Akirin-Mediated Gene Regulation During Cardiac Development"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Integrative Biology (MSIB)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:00Z"}