Liu, Yubing2013-11-072013-11-0720102010Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 49-05, page: 3193.http://hdl.handle.net/10393/28705http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-19398The Six family of transcription factors counts six members in vertebrates (from Six1 to Six6). Six1 is important for skeletal muscle development: Six1-/- mouse neonates die at birth because of severe muscle hypoplasia. However, the molecular targets of Six1 are poorly characterized systematically. The Myogenic Regulatory Factors (MRFs) are critical transcription factors in skeletal muscle development, and comprise MyoD, Myf5, Myogenin and Myf6. Based on previous bioinformatics predictions, it was proposed that Six1 had a genome-wide function and cooperated with MRFs by co-regulating gene expression. A functional genomics approach (ChIP-on-Chip) was used to identify targets directly bound by Six1 in the C2C12 mouse myoblast cell line at different stages of differentiation. I found that Six1 significantly targeted genes involved in several functional categories, including muscle development and muscle function, through the MEF3 DNA sequence motif. In addition, I confirmed the co-occupation of SIX1 and MRFs by bioinformatics analysis and conventional ChIP assay followed by q-PCR.113 p.enChemistry, Biochemistry.Thesis