中文摘要：

转录因子结合位点（Transcription factor binding site，TFBS）是与转录因子结合的DNA序列，它们与转录因子相互作用调控基因的转录过程。确定TFBS是理解转录调控机制，建立转录调控网络的关键问题。随着高通量实验技术的发展，结合ChIP—chip实验以及多个基因组的序列信息来预测TFBS已成为新的研究热点。本文简要概述了用于TFBS定位的实验技术，TFBS信息相关的数据库，重点评述了描述TFBS的模型以及预测TFBS的多种软件。TFBS的生物信息学研究的发展，将与相关领域相互促进，有助于进一步揭示转录调控机制。

英文摘要：

Transcription regulation is carried out by the interactions between transcription factors and their binding sites in DNA. Transcription factor binding sites （TFBS） are short, degenerate nucleotide sequences, and usually are 6-20 bp long. Accurate prediction of TFBSs is a crucial step towards understanding the regulation mechanism of transcription and constructing transcriptional regulatory networks. Currently, high-throughput technologies, such as ChiP-chip, are producing a large amount of data for TFBS study. TFBS prediction using either ChiP-chip data or multiple genome information is becoming a hot topic in bioinformatics. In this review, we summarize experimental techniques for locating TFBS and databases for TFBS study and further statistical survey models for TFBS description and software for TFBS prediction. As a consequence, we believe that bioinforrnatical and experimental studies of TFBS will promote each other in the future to understand the nature of transcriptional regulation.