Artificial transcription factor
An artificial transcription factor is an example of a chimeral protein, designed to target and modulate gene transcription.
They are generally composed of a DNA-binding domain coupled to a modulatory domain in order to alter the expression of a particular gene. It is also possible to downregulate expression of a gene by targeting the 5' untranslated region with a DNA-binding domain that lacks a regulatory domain; this will reduce transcription simply by blocking RNA polymerase progression along the DNA template.
A library of ATFs has been created and used to induce pluripotency in mouse embryonic fibroblasts.
