Transcriptional amplification

In genetics, transcriptional amplification is the process in which the total amount of messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules from expressed genes is increased during disease, development, or in response to stimuli.

Gene expression is regulated by numerous types of proteins that directly or indirectly influence transcription by RNA Polymerase II.

These techniques generally measure relative mRNA levels and employ normalization methods that assume only a small number of genes show altered expression.

[5] In contrast, single cell or cell-count normalized absolute measurements of mRNA abundance are required to reveal transcriptional amplification.

Similarly, small molecules targeting the BET bromodomain protein BRD4, which is up-regulated during heart failure, can block cardiac hypertrophy in mouse models.

Transcriptional amplification involves increases in global levels of mRNAs produced from expressed genes and may be either uniform across all expressed genes or variable from gene to gene.