Stem Cell Transcription Factor Regulators

Transcription factors often function as part of large protein complexes to regulate gene expression. For example, chromatin remolding proteins such as histone acetylases, deacetylases, and methylases, associate with transcription factors and are thought to regulate their function. In pluripotent embryonic stem cells, the ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling factor, CHD1, associates with the promoters of active genes within open chromatin. In addition, pluripotency is thought to be characterized by high levels of euchromatin in multiple stem cell types, while many transcriptionally inactive heterochromatin regions develop as differentiation progresses.