Regulatory sequence

A regulatory sequence (also called a regulatory region or a regulatory area) is a segment of DNA where regulatory proteins such as transcription factors bind preferentially. These regulatory proteins bind to short stretches of DNA called regulatory regions, which are appropriately positioned in the genome, usually a short distance 'upstream' of the gene being regulated. By doing so, these regulatory proteins can either recruit another protein complex, called the RNA polymerase. In this way, they control gene expression and thus protein expression.
Regulatory sequences can also be found in messenger RNA, but they are generally not as well studied as those in DNA.[citation needed] They may be bound by RNA-binding proteins or RNAs (eg miRNAs