Question

Explain how an enhancer can upregulate transcription in a eukaryotic gene.

Answer 1

Enhancers are regions in eukaryotic genes that help to increase or enhance transcription.They are located upstream or downstream of gene,within coding regions of the gene or thousands of nucleotides awayfrom the gene.Enhancers are binding sites for transcription factors.When DNA bending protein binds to the enhancer,the shape of the DNA changes.This shape change allows interaction between activators bound to enhancers and trancription factors bound to promoter region and RNA polymerase to occur.Since DNA has three dimensional structure,nucleotide sequence thousands of nucleotide away can fold and interact with the specific promoter.