# Specificity and dynamics of transcriptional repression in retinal development

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · 2020 · $202,500

## Abstract

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PROJECT SUMMARY
Developmental programs are driven by the transcription factors that convert signaling information into the
precise patterns of gene expression needed for accurate cell fate transitions. Transcription factor-DNA and
transcription factor-transcription factor interactions together produce the necessary regulatory dynamics and
precision. Because of the greater complexity and heterogeneity of protein-protein interactions, the field has
focused on manipulating DNA sequence to study the mechanisms that determine enhancer specificity and
gene expression output. This proposal describes our plan to manipulate transcription factor protein-protein
interaction affinity. The experimental plan takes advantage of the deep mechanistic understanding and well-
validated in vitro and in vivo assays established over two decades of studying the function and regulation of the
conserved ETS family repressor Yan in the developing Drosophila visual system. Aim 1 outlines a multi-
disciplinary strategy to engineer a set of yan alleles in which self-association affinity is gradually increased from
weak to strong. Using these alleles, Aim 2 tests competing hypotheses for how protein-protein interaction
affinity influences Yan function and target gene specificity during photoreceptor specification in the fly retina.
Because the ideas we are testing address fundamental mechanisms of transcriptional and developmental
regulation, the discoveries that emerge are likely to have impact well beyond our specific model system.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9913544
- **Project number:** 5R21EY030199-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Ilaria Rebay
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $202,500
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-05-01 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9913544

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9913544, Specificity and dynamics of transcriptional repression in retinal development (5R21EY030199-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9913544. Licensed CC0.

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