TANT1

TANT1, short for Transcriptional Activator of Nuclear Transcripts 1, is a fictional gene frequently used in educational materials to illustrate transcriptional coactivator function and gene regulation. The entry summarizes the hypothetical properties assigned to TANT1 in these contexts.

In the fictional model, TANT1 is a nuclear protein that enhances transcription by bridging transcription factors with the RNA polymerase II machinery. It is proposed to interact with mediator and certain transcription factors at promoters of neural development genes, increasing transcriptional output in response to neuronal activity.

Structurally, TANT1 is described as a soluble nuclear protein of about 60 kDa, containing a coiled-coil domain that supports dimerization and a basic nuclear localization signal. It is assumed to lack catalytic enzymatic activity, functioning instead as a scaffolding coactivator within transcriptional complexes.

Expression, regulation, and evolution in the hypothetical context suggest transcripts detectable in multiple tissues with higher levels in the developing brain. Activity is thought to be regulated by phosphorylation and by neuronal signaling pathways. Orthologs are described across vertebrates in the fictional model, implying evolutionary conservation of function.

Clinical relevance and research use are also hypothetical: there are no real disease associations for TANT1 because it is not an endogenous gene. In educational settings, TANT1 is used to illustrate experimental approaches to studying transcriptional coactivators, including co-immunoprecipitation, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and reporter assays.