Gene expressionGene expression is the process by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product that enables it to produce end products, proteins or non-coding RNA, and ultimately affect a phenotype. These products are often proteins, but in non-protein-coding genes such as transfer RNA (tRNA) and small nuclear RNA (snRNA), the product is a functional non-coding RNA.
Gap junctionFirst photographed around 1952 it wasn't until 1969 that gap junctions were referred to as "gap junctions". Named after the 2-4 nm gap they bridged between cell membranes, they had been characterised in more detail by 1967. Gap junctions are one of four broad categories of intercellular connections that form between a multitude of animal cell types. Within a gap junction reside protein complexes, referred initially to as "globules", observed to connect one cell to another and also vesicles within a cell to the outer cell membrane.
IndelIndel (insertion-deletion) is a molecular biology term for an insertion or deletion of bases in the genome of an organism. Indels ≥ 50 bases in length are classified as structural variants. In coding regions of the genome, unless the length of an indel is a multiple of 3, it will produce a frameshift mutation. For example, a common microindel which results in a frameshift causes Bloom syndrome in the Jewish or Japanese population. Indels can be contrasted with a point mutation.
Microsatellite instabilityMicrosatellite instability (MSI) is the condition of genetic hypermutability (predisposition to mutation) that results from impaired DNA mismatch repair (MMR). The presence of MSI represents phenotypic evidence that MMR is not functioning normally. MMR corrects errors that spontaneously occur during DNA replication, such as single base mismatches or short insertions and deletions. The proteins involved in MMR correct polymerase errors by forming a complex that binds to the mismatched section of DNA, excises the error, and inserts the correct sequence in its place.
