Gene expression/regulation attenuation

Gene expression can also be regulated at the level of translation. In prokaryotes, many operons important in amino acid biosynthesis are regulated by attenuation, a process that depends on the formation of alternative structures in mRNA, one of which favors transcriptional termination. Attenuation is mediated by the translation of a leader region of mRNA. A ribosome stalled by the absence of an aminoacyl-tRNA needed to translate the leader mRNA alters the structure of mRNA so that RNA polymerase transcribes the operon beyond the attenuator site. 

Some investigators believe that the most important therapeutic application of IFNy will be to revert or maintain a Thl preferential response basically necessary for diverse successful defense reactions (e.g., against intracellular pathogens— namely parasites and virus—and tumor cells). IFNy has also been shown to be a suppressor of j3-amyloid precursor protein promoter activity and is the first cytokine reported to possess such down regulating effects. Attenuating [3-amyloid precursor protein gene expression may have relevance in diseases such as Alzheimer s disease, in which this protein has been implicated in neuropathological... 

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