Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Nov 30.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Immunol. 2008 Dec;8(12):948–957. doi: 10.1038/nri2450

Figure 3. Stochastic and coordinated regulation of target genes.

Figure 3

In the nucleus AIRE (green circles) is seen in nuclear bodies or recruited to target gene regions. A genomic cluster with four genes is depicted. Genes 1, 3, and 4 are regulated by AIRE; gene 2 is an AIRE-independent gene, which can be active or inactive. In the case of coordinated regulation (upper part), tight transcriptional control is used and the same genes are expressed in nucleus 1 and nucleus 2. Stochastic expression (lower part) leads to fluctuations in the genes that are activated in different nuclei, so that various combinations of clustered genes are expressed in each single cell. In both cases, all three AIRE-regulated cluster genes are expressed when analyzed on a population level. The expression of gene 2 might or might not be influenced by indirect changes in chromatin structure. For example, chromatin reorganization by AIRE might lead to mild repression of gene 2.