A homeobox is a DNA sequence, around 180 base pairs long, that regulates large-scale anatomical features in the early stages of embryonic development. Mutations in a homeobox may change large-scale anatomical features of the full-grown organism.
Antennapedia is a Hox gene first discovered in Drosophila which controls the formation of legs during development. Loss-of-function mutations in the regulatory region of this gene result in the development of the second leg pair into ectopic antennae. By contrast gain-of-function alleles convert antennae into ectopic legs.
Polycomb-group proteins are a family of protein complexes first discovered in fruit flies that can remodel chromatin such that epigenetic silencing of genes takes place. Polycomb-group proteins are well known for silencing Hox genes through modulation of chromatin structure during embryonic development in fruit flies. They derive their name from the fact that the first sign of a decrease in PcG function is often a homeotic transformation of posterior legs towards anterior legs, which have a characteristic comb-like set of bristles.
This family represents the microRNA (miRNA) precursor mir-7. This miRNA has been predicted or experimentally confirmed in a wide range of species. miRNAs are transcribed as ~70 nucleotide precursors and subsequently processed by the Dicer enzyme to give a ~22 nucleotide product. In this case the mature sequence comes from the 5' arm of the precursor. The extents of the hairpin precursors are not generally known and are estimated based on hairpin prediction. The involvement of Dicer in miRNA processing suggests a relationship with the phenomenon of RNA interference.
Homeobox protein CDX-2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CDX2 gene. The CDX2 protein is a homeobox transcription factor expressed in the nuclei of intestinal epithelial cells, playing an essential role in the development and function of the digestive system. CDX2 part of the ParaHox gene cluster, a group of three highly conserved developmental genes present in most vertebrate species. Together with CDX1 and CDX4, CDX2 is one of three caudal-related genes in the human genome.
Homeobox protein Nkx-3.1, also known as NKX3-1, NKX3, BAPX2, NKX3A and NKX3.1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NKX3-1 gene located on chromosome 8p. NKX3-1 is a prostatic tumor suppressor gene.
Homeobox protein Hox-B6 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the HOXB6 gene.
C-terminal-binding protein 2 also known as CtBP2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CTBP2 gene.
Homeobox protein OTX2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the OTX2 gene.
Paired related homeobox 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PRRX1 gene.
Protein odd-skipped-related 1 is a transcription factor that in humans is encoded by the OSR1 gene. The OSR1 and OSR2 transcription factors participate in the normal development of body parts such as the kidney.
Homeobox protein Nkx-2.2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NKX2-2 gene.
Homeobox protein Nkx-2.3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NKX2-3 gene.
Homeobox protein GBX-2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the GBX2 gene.
Homeobox protein Nkx-6.2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NKX6-2 gene.
Homeobox protein DBX1, also known as developing brain homeobox protein 1, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the DBX1 gene. The DBX1 gene is a transcription factor gene that is pivotal in interneuron differentiation in the ventral spinal cord.
Homeobox protein DBX2, also known as developing brain homeobox protein 2, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the DBX2 gene. DBX2 plays an important role in the development of the central nervous system, specifically in the development of the neural tube and brain. DBX2 is located on chromosome 12 and is approximately 36,000 base pairs long. DBX2 is predicted to enable DNA-binding transcription activity as well as being involved in the regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II.
In molecular biology, miR-184 microRNA is a short non-coding RNA molecule. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) function as posttranscriptional regulators of expression levels of other genes by several mechanisms. Several targets for miR-184 have been described, including that of mediators of neurological development, apoptosis and it has been suggested that miR-184 plays an essential role in development.
Michael Morris Rosbash is an American geneticist and chronobiologist. Rosbash is a professor and researcher at Brandeis University and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Rosbash's research group cloned the Drosophila period gene in 1984 and proposed the Transcription Translation Negative Feedback Loop for circadian clocks in 1990. In 1998, they discovered the cycle gene, clock gene, and cryptochrome photoreceptor in Drosophila through the use of forward genetics, by first identifying the phenotype of a mutant and then determining the genetics behind the mutation. Rosbash was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2003. Along with Michael W. Young and Jeffrey C. Hall, he was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm".
Paul Hardin is a prominent scientist in the field of chronobiology and a pioneering researcher in the understanding of circadian clocks in flies and mammals. Hardin currently serves as a distinguished professor in the biology department at Texas A&M University. He is best known for his discovery of circadian oscillations in the mRNA of the clock gene Period (per), the importance of the E-Box in per activation, the interlocked feedback loops that control rhythms in activator gene transcription, and the circadian regulation of olfaction in Drosophila melanogaster. Born in a suburb of Chicago, Matteson, Illinois, Hardin currently resides in College Station, Texas, with his wife and three children.
