Regulation mechanisms involved in tissue-specific gene expression

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Gene expression of the genomic DNA is tightly regulated. Some genes are specifically expressed in particular tissues, although it is not clearly understood how tissue-specific gene expression is regulated. Previous research on skeletal muscle has evidently shown that the skeletal muscle-specific transcription factor MyoD regulates skeletal muscle-specific genes. However, master regulators similar to MyoD have not been identified in most other tissues, suggesting that tissue-specific gene expression is regulated by other mechanisms as well. To investigate these putative mechanisms, we chose the endothelial cell (EC)-specific gene Robo4 and studied the regulation of its gene expression at the transcriptional level, which occurs via transcription factors and epigenetic controls.