Transactivation

Transactivation refers to a process in molecular biology where one protein, often a transcription factor, increases the expression of a gene by enhancing the activity of another protein or by interacting with regulatory elements in the gene's promoter region. This mechanism is crucial in gene regulation and can involve various signaling pathways and interactions between proteins. In a more specific context, transactivation often describes the ability of certain viral proteins (such as those from retroviruses) to turn on the expression of viral genes and host cellular genes.