TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION OF MILK PRODUCTION IN DAIRY COWS

The overall goal of this project is to understand the molecular mechanisms that mediate gene expression related to milk production in the mammary gland of dairy cows. The specific objectives of this project are the following: 1) determine if STAT5 and other selected transcription factors bind to genes involved in milk production in the mammary gland of cows during lactation; 2) Determine the effects of knockdown and overexpression of STAT5 and other selected transcription factors on expression of genes involved in milk production in bovine mammary epithelial cells; 3) Determine the functional importance of selected STAT5-binding DNA regions to the transcription of milk casein protein genes.