Glossary

A protein that increases the production of a gene product in DNA transcription.

Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing. This central method in epigenomic research allows genome-wide analysis of enhancers and chromatin state.

The material which makes up the chromosomes of organisms other than bacteria (i.e. eukaryotes). Chromatin is composed of protein, RNA, and DNA.

mRNA sequence fragments obtained by single sequencing reactions performed on randomly selected clones from cDNA libraries. EST sequences usually does not contain full length gene sequences since about 600 bp sequences are generated from the 5′ and 3′ end of cDNA clones.

Method that uses antibodies to check for certain antigens (markers) in a sample of tissue. The antibodies are usually linked to an enzyme or a fluorescent dye to visualize where they bind. IHC is used to determine the tissue distribution of an antigen of interest in health and disease.

Micro-RNA (also written as microRNA) is a small (about 22 nucleotides) single-stranded non-coding RNA molecule. miRNAs function via base-pairing with complementary sequences within mRNA molecules to RNA to silence and post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression.

Method used to detect the expression of thousands of genes at the same time. Microarray experiments allow description of genome-wide expression changes in health and disease.

Region of DNA upstream of a gene where proteins (such as RNA polymerase and transcription factors) bind to initiate transcription of that gene.

All the genetic promoters of an organism.

A protein that inhibits the expression of a gene product in DNA transcription.