| | |
Summary: Dispatches
Gene Regulation: Boundaries within Limits
Quantitative measurements of the Hunchback transcription factor in
Drosophila embryos show that its target genes can respond with a high degree
of precision to the exact level of the protein, simulating a continuous, analog
readout, while other target genes show a combinatorial effect, resembling
a Boolean logic element.
Sandhya Payankaulam
and David N. Arnosti*
A central problem in developmental
biology has been the action of
morphogens, which are diffusible
substances that set up a spatial
concentration gradient and contribute
to fate determination of developing
tissues in a concentration-dependent
manner [1]. At a molecular level,
different morphogen concentrations
appear to determine different
developmental fates at least in part
|
