P. Herrlich et al., NUCLEAR AND NONNUCLEAR TARGETS OF GENOTOXIC AGENTS IN THE INDUCTION OF GENE-EXPRESSION - SHARED PRINCIPLES IN YEAST, RODENTS, MAN AND PLANTS, Biological chemistry, 378(11), 1997, pp. 1217-1229
The interplay between environmental cues and the genetic response is d
ecisive for the development, health and well-being of an organism. For
some environmental factors a narrow margin separates beneficial and t
oxic impacts, With the increasing exposure to UV-B this dichotomy has
reached public attention. This review will be concerned with the mecha
nisms that mediate a cellular genetic response to noxious agents. The
toxic stimuli find access to the regulatory network inside cells by in
teracting at several points with cellular molecules - a process that c
onverts the 'outside information' into 'cellular language'. As a conse
quence of such interactions, many adverse agents cause massive signal
transduction and changes of gene expression, There is an interesting c
onservation of the mechanisms from yeast to man. An understanding of t
he genetic programs and of their phenotypic consequences is lagging be
hind.