Transcriptional Enhancement of the mβglobin Gene by small RNAs
Abstract
The human βglobin locus encodes the β-like chains
that form part of hemoglobin. The βglobin locus contains
the five βglobin genes, most importantly the β-like globin
chain, γglobin, which can substitute for the adult βglobin
chain under certain circumstances.
Observation of non coding RNA suggests RNA may
regulate gene expression in specific genes such as those in
the globin locus. The Martin lab isolated a fraction of
small RNAs from Murine erythroleukemia (MEL) cells
and aligned them to the promoters of the βminor and
βmajor genes, mβ1 and mβ2, respectively. Another small
RNA, HS2, was isolated from a vital upstream enhancer.
The present study aimed to determine the
relationship between these small RNAs and the
globin locus.