Akirin-Mediated Gene Regulation During Cardiac Development

<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>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Integrative Biology (MSIB)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biology

Year dc:date.available

2015

Author dc:creator

• Howard, Austin M

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Donald McGarey
• Dr. Marcus C. Davis
• Dr. Martin L. Hudson

• akirin
• tinman
• Drosophila
• Cardiac
• Twist
• Biology
• Integrative Biology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/integrbiol_etd/6

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu:integrbiol_etd-1006