Spatially coordinated dynamic gene transcription in living pituitary tissue.

ABSTRACT: Transcription at individual genes in single cells is often pulsatile and stochastic. A key question emerges regarding how this behaviour contributes to tissue phenotype, but it has been a challenge to quantitatively analyse this in living cells over time, as opposed to studying snap-shots of gene expression state. We have used imaging of reporter gene expression to track transcription in living pituitary tissue. We integrated live-cell imaging data with statistical modelling for quantitative real-time estimation of the timing of switching between transcriptional states across a whole tissue. Multiple levels of transcription rate were identified, indicating that gene expression is not a simple binary 'on-off' process. Immature tissue displayed shorter durations of high-expressing states tha

SUBMITTER: Featherstone K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4749562 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature