- gene expression – the process by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product such as a protein
- transcription – the process of making messenger RNA (mRNA) from a DNA template by RNA polymerase
- transcription factor – a protein that binds to DNA and regulates gene expression by promoting or suppressing transcription
- transcriptional regulation – controlling the rate of gene transcription for example by helping or hindering RNA polymerase binding to DNA
- upregulation, activation, or promotion – increase the rate of gene transcription
- downregulation, repression, or suppression – decrease the rate of gene transcription
- coactivator – a protein (or a small molecule) that works with transcription factors to increase the rate of gene transcription
- corepressor – a protein (or a small molecule) that works with transcription factors to decrease the rate of gene transcription
- response element – a specific sequence of DNA that a transcription factor binds to
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