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Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing

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01-08-2007 | Review Article

Unravelling the world of cis-regulatory elements

Authors: Zhao Wang, Gong-Hong Wei, De-Pei Liu, Chih-Chuan Liang

Published in: Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing | Issue 8/2007

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Abstract

Genome-wide comparisons indicate that only studying the coding regions will not be enough for explaining the biological complexity of an organism, while the genetic variants and the epigenetic differences of cis-regulatory elements are crucial to elucidate many complicated biological phenomena. Their various regulatory functions also play indispensable roles in forming organismal polymorphism. Recent studies showed that the cis-regulatory elements can regulate gene expression as nuclear organizers, and involve in functional noncoding transcription and produce regulatory noncoding RNA molecules. Novel high-throughput strategies and in silico analysis make a great amount data of cis-regulatory elements available. Particularly, the computational methods could help to combine reductionist studies with network biomedical investigations, and begin the era to understand organismal regulatory events at systems biology level.

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Title: Unravelling the world of cis-regulatory elements
Authors: Zhao Wang
Gong-Hong Wei
De-Pei Liu
Chih-Chuan Liang
Publication date: 01-08-2007
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Published in: Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing / Issue 8/2007
Print ISSN: 0140-0118
Electronic ISSN: 1741-0444
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-007-0195-9

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