In: Biology
In the slow response pathways of PKA activity, what is the reason for the longer time of response?
A | Time to penetrate the nucleus of cells. |
B | Genes are activated via transcription factor modifications. |
C | Less PKA is made. |
D | More PKA is degraded, so less is available |
E | None of the above |
Answer is Genes are activated via transcription factor modifications
The slow response pathway is the one where transcription and translation of cAMP response element genes occurs. 30 minutes after increase in cellular levels of cAMP , CREB protein is activated by protein kinase A via phosphorylation. CREB (cAMP response element binding ) protein is a transcription factor involved in transcriptional activation of numerous genes : neuropeptides ( somatostatin, enkephaline, VGF, Corticotropin releasing hormone), transcription factor like c-fos etc.
CREB binds to CRE (cAMP response element ) which is present in the promoter or enhancer sequences of variety of genes. Later on CBP (CREB binding protein) transactivates CREB by binding to it. This steps allows in switching on or off of certain genes.
The slow response pathway of PKA is working at gene level. Variety of transcriptional factors are required for transcriptional activation of target.gene, making it a slow process.