Can drugs affect gene expression?

In addition, exposure to drugs or stress in a person’s social or cultural environment can alter both gene expression and gene function, which, in some cases, may persist throughout a person’s life.

Can gene expression be controlled?

Specifically, gene expression is controlled on two levels. First, transcription is controlled by limiting the amount of mRNA that is produced from a particular gene. The second level of control is through post-transcriptional events that regulate the translation of mRNA into proteins.

What are the three ways that gene expression is controlled?

Adding further complexity is that the control of gene expression can occur at multiple steps: accessibility of a gene to activating transcription factors, transcription initiation, transcript elongation, splicing of the pre-mRNA, as well as post-transcriptional regulation.

How is human gene expression controlled?

By gene expression we mean the transcription of a gene into mRNA and its subsequent translation into protein. Gene expression is primarily controlled at the level of transcription, largely as a result of binding of proteins to specific sites on DNA.

How are drugs and epigenetics related to each other?

The epigenetic state of chromatin may be an underlying factor in the development of chronic substance abuse. Administration of a drug of abuse triggers epigenetic alterations that regulate transcription. These changes in gene expression may influence reward, psychomotor activity, drug craving and relapse.

How do chemicals affect gene expression?

Overview of epigenetic mechanisms. Environmental chemicals may modify multiple biological processes that affect epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation, histone codes, and miRNA expression. These changes may, in turn, modify chromatin organization and condensation, gene expression, and affect disease risk.

Why is there a need to control gene expression?

The regulation of gene expression conserves energy and space. It would require a significant amount of energy for an organism to express every gene at all times, so it is more energy efficient to turn on the genes only when they are required.

How can you inhibit gene expression?

The genes can be silenced by siRNA molecules that cause the endonucleatic cleavage of the target mRNA molecules or by miRNA molecules that suppress translation of the mRNA molecule. With the cleavage or translational repression of the mRNA molecules, the genes that form them are rendered essentially inactive.

Which is an example of environmental influence on gene expression?

Drugs and Chemicals The presence of drugs or chemicals in an organism’s environment can also influence gene expression in the organism. Cyclops fish are a dramatic example of the way in which an environmental chemical can affect development.

Can genetics help solve the problem of drug addiction?

Finding the biological basis for this risk is an important avenue of research for scientists trying to solve the problem of drug addiction. Genetics is the study of genes. Genes are functional units of DNA that make up the human genome. They provide the information that directs a body’s basic cellular activities.

How do epigenetic changes affect gene expression?

Epigenetic changes affect gene expression in different ways. Types of epigenetic changes include: DNA methylation works by adding a chemical group to DNA. Typically, this group is added to specific places on the DNA, where it blocks the proteins that attach to DNA to “read” the gene.

How is gene expression regulated in eukaryotic cells?

Gene expression in eukaryotes may also be regulated through by alterations in the packing of DNA, which modulates the access of the cell’s transcription enzymes (e.g., RNA polymerase) to DNA. The illustration below shows that chromosomes have a complex structure.

How do signals from other cells affect gene expression?

Gene expression can also be influenced by signals from other cells. There are many examples in which a signal molecule (e.g., a hormone) from one cell binds to a receptor protein on a target cell and initiates a sequence of biochemical changes (a signal transduction pathway) that result in changes within the target cell.