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Mediator – a universal complex in transcriptional regulation
Author(s) -
Gustafsson Claes M.,
Samuelsson Tore
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2958.2001.02481.x
Subject(s) - mediator , biology , enhancer , saccharomyces cerevisiae , rna polymerase ii , transcriptional regulation , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , mechanism (biology) , computational biology , gene , function (biology) , promoter , gene expression , philosophy , epistemology
The Mediator complex is essential for basal and regulated expression of nearly all RNA polymerase II-dependent genes in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome. Mediator acts as a bridge, conveying regulatory information from enhancers and other control elements to the promoter. It is now clear that Mediator-like complexes also exist in higher eukaryotic cells and that they have an important role in metazoan transcriptional regulation. However, the exact mechanism of Mediator-dependent transcriptional regulation remains unclear. We review here some recent advances in our understanding of Mediator structure and function. We also discuss a model to account for the functional and evolutionary relationship between yeast and metazoan Mediators. As an appendix to this review, we have created a database, MEDB, in which we have compiled information about all the S. cerevisiae Mediator subunits and their homologues in other eukaryotic cells (http://bio.lundberg.gu.se/medb/).