A thermodynamic model of transcriptome formation.

ABSTRACT: The genome supplies information on both the quality and quantity of the transcriptome. However, as it remains unknown how a cell determines transcript levels from the genome sequences, despite comprehensive knowledge of the cellular components involved, the quantity information held by the genome cannot as yet be derived from nucleotide sequences. The model presented here explains on a thermodynamic basis how the components decode the genome to form and maintain the transcriptome. The model describes the level of a transcript as a pseudo-equilibrium between velocities of synthesis and degradation, both of which are controlled by sequence-specific interactions between protein factors and nucleic acids. Each of the transcript levels can be described by a single equation expressing a function

SUBMITTER: Konishi T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1298927 | biostudies-literature | 2005

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature