bachelorThesis
Análise in silico de potenciais alvos do fator de transcrição zenk em um modelo de aprendizado vocal
Fecha
2021-09-17Registro en:
ANDRADE, Abraão Lucas Pereira de. Análise in silico de potenciais alvos do fator de transcrição ZENK em um modelo de aprendizado vocal. 2021. 49f. Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso (Graduação em Ciências e Tecnologia - Neurociências), Insituto do Cerébro, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, 2021.
Autor
Andrade, Abraão Lucas Pereira de
Resumen
Memory formation requires gene expression triggered by neuronal activity. This response
includes a series of activity-dependent genes that are thought to mediate the changes
necessary for memory consolidation and maintenance. Among these genes, zenk (also
known as egr1) was one of the first examples of a behaviorally driven gene, and has since
been linked to memory formation in rodents. Nonetheless, the role of this gene in vocal
learning, the exact behavior in which zenk was first discovered as activity-dependent,
remains elusive. Because zenk encodes a transcription factor that must exert its effects
through the regulation of downstream targets, in the present work we sought to
computationally identify its potential binding sites in the zebra finch genome (Taeniopygia
guttata). For that, we used a motif scanning tool, called FIMO (Find Individual Motif
Occurrences), to identify thousands of potential target sites in promoter regions. We next
restricted the target gene list to genes regulated during singing in a region that is central
to vocal learning and production, the HVC. Our results show that within this restricted list,
ZENK binding sites were present in 64% of the genes, the highest enrichment among all
122 transcription factors analysed. In addition, we observed a significant superposition
between the putative targets of ZENK and two other transcription factors, namely KLF4
and NR2C2, raising the possibility of previously unknown interactions between them.
Altogether, our in silico results indicate that ZENK has the potential to be a key regulator
in the transcriptional response in song control neurons. Importantly, these findings will
guide future experiments to determine, and therefore validate, ZENK-targets in vivo.