Regulanom

Regulanom is a term that has appeared in speculative or theoretical discussions in molecular biology to denote the comprehensive regulatory architecture of an organism’s genome—the full set of regulatory interactions that govern gene expression. Unlike regulon, which refers to a defined group of genes controlled by a common regulator, the regulanom is intended to describe the entire regulatory network, including transcription factors, regulatory elements such as promoters and enhancers, noncoding RNAs, chromatin modifiers, and signaling pathways that influence transcription, RNA processing, and degradation. The concept emphasizes connectivity, modular organization into regulatory circuits, feedback loops, and hierarchical control.

Origin and usage: The term is not widely standardized; in many studies the activities of regulatory networks are described using broader terms such as gene regulatory network, regulome, or regulatory network models. Regulanom is sometimes used in theoretical discussions or in projects aiming to map all regulatory interactions in a particular cell type or organism.

Methods and data types: Building a regulanom typically involves integrating data from ChIP-seq, DNase/ATAC-seq, RNA-seq, perturbation experiments, and computational network inference to assemble interactions and modules. Temporal dynamics and context-dependence present major challenges for accurate reconstruction and interpretation.

Relevance: A regulanom framework supports understanding how regulatory architectures drive development, adaptation, and disease, and can guide synthetic biology by identifying key regulatory nodes. Limitations include incomplete data, context-specificity, and varying definitions across studies.

See also: regulon, regulome, gene regulatory network, transcription factors, systems biology.