Positive receptor feedback during lineage commitment can generate ultrasensitivity to ligand and confer robustness to a bistable switch.

ABSTRACT: Cytokines and lineage-specific transcription factors are critical molecular effectors for terminal differentiation during hematopoiesis. Intrinsic transcription factor activity is often believed to drive commitment and differentiation, whereas cytokine receptor signals have been implicated in the regulation of cell proliferation, survival, and differentiation. In erythropoiesis, recent experimental findings provide direct evidence that erythropoietin (Epo) can generate commitment cues via the erythropoietin receptor (EpoR); specifically, EpoR signaling leads to activation of the transcription factor GATA-1, which then triggers transcription of erythrocyte-specific genes. In particular, activated GATA-1 induces two positive feedback loops in the system through the enhanced expression of bot

SUBMITTER: Palani S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2483757 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature