{{Short description|Gene at the top of a regulation hierarchy}} In genetics, a '''master regulator gene''' is a regulator gene at the top of a gene regulation hierarchy, particularly in regulatory pathways related to cell fate and differentiation.
==Examples== Most genes considered master regulators code for transcription factor proteins, which in turn alter the expression of downstream genes in the pathway.<ref name="mattick">{{cite journal|last1=Mattick|first1=JS|last2=Taft|first2=RJ|last3=Faulkner|first3=GJ|title=A global view of genomic information--moving beyond the gene and the master regulator.|journal=Trends in Genetics|date=January 2010|volume=26|issue=1|pages=21–8|pmid=19944475|doi=10.1016/j.tig.2009.11.002}}</ref> Canonical examples of master regulators include Oct-4 (also called POU5F1), SOX2, and NANOG, all transcription factors involved in maintaining pluripotency in stem cells.<ref name=mattick /> Master regulators involved in development and morphogenesis can also appear as oncogenes relevant to tumorigenesis and metastasis, as with the Twist transcription factor.<ref name="yang">{{cite journal|last1=Yang|first1=J|last2=Mani|first2=SA|last3=Donaher|first3=JL|last4=Ramaswamy|first4=S|last5=Itzykson|first5=RA|last6=Come|first6=C|last7=Savagner|first7=P|last8=Gitelman|first8=I|last9=Richardson|first9=A|last10=Weinberg|first10=RA|title=Twist, a master regulator of morphogenesis, plays an essential role in tumor metastasis.|journal=Cell|date=25 June 2004|volume=117|issue=7|pages=927–39|pmid=15210113|doi=10.1016/j.cell.2004.06.006|s2cid=16181905|doi-access=free}}</ref>
Other genes reported as master regulators code for SR proteins, which function as splicing factors,<ref name="long">{{cite journal|last1=Long|first1=JC|last2=Caceres|first2=JF|title=The SR protein family of splicing factors: master regulators of gene expression.|journal=The Biochemical Journal|date=1 January 2009|volume=417|issue=1|pages=15–27|pmid=19061484|doi=10.1042/BJ20081501}}</ref> and some noncoding RNAs.<ref name="brennecke">{{cite journal|last1=Brennecke|first1=J|last2=Aravin|first2=AA|last3=Stark|first3=A|last4=Dus|first4=M|last5=Kellis|first5=M|last6=Sachidanandam|first6=R|last7=Hannon|first7=GJ|title=Discrete small RNA-generating loci as master regulators of transposon activity in Drosophila.|journal=Cell|date=23 March 2007|volume=128|issue=6|pages=1089–103|pmid=17346786|doi=10.1016/j.cell.2007.01.043|s2cid=2246942|url=https://authors.library.caltech.edu/95370/2/1-s2.0-S0092867407002577-mmc1.pdf|doi-access=free}}</ref>
==Criticism== The master regulator concept has been criticized for being a "simplified paradigm" that fails to account for the multifactorial influences on some cell fates.<ref name="oestreich">{{cite journal|last1=Oestreich|first1=KJ|last2=Weinmann|first2=AS|title=Master regulators or lineage-specifying? Changing views on CD4+ T cell transcription factors.|journal=Nature Reviews. Immunology|date=November 2012|volume=12|issue=11|pages=799–804|pmid=23059426|doi=10.1038/nri3321|pmc=3584691}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
Category:Gene expression