蛋白质CTCF是脊椎动物绝缘子增强子阻断活性所必需的。

The protein CTCF is required for the enhancer blocking activity of vertebrate insulators.

作者信息

Bell A C, West A G, Felsenfeld G

机构信息

Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0540, USA.

出版信息

Cell. 1999 Aug 6;98(3):387-96. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81967-4.

DOI:10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81967-4

PMID:10458613

Abstract

An insulator is a DNA sequence that can act as a barrier to the influences of neighboring cis-acting elements, preventing gene activation, for example, when located between an enhancer and a promoter. We have identified a 42 bp fragment of the chicken beta-globin insulator that is both necessary and sufficient for enhancer blocking activity in human cells. We show that this sequence is the binding site for CTCF, a previously identified eleven-zinc finger DNA-binding protein that is highly conserved in vertebrates. CTCF sites are present in all of the vertebrate enhancer-blocking elements we have examined. We suggest that directional enhancer blocking by CTCF is a conserved component of gene regulation in vertebrates.

摘要

绝缘子是一种DNA序列，它可以作为屏障，阻止相邻顺式作用元件的影响，例如，当位于增强子和启动子之间时，可防止基因激活。我们已经鉴定出鸡β-珠蛋白绝缘子的一个42bp片段，该片段对于人类细胞中的增强子阻断活性既必要又充分。我们表明，该序列是CTCF的结合位点，CTCF是一种先前鉴定的具有11个锌指的DNA结合蛋白，在脊椎动物中高度保守。我们研究过的所有脊椎动物增强子阻断元件中都存在CTCF位点。我们认为，CTCF介导的定向增强子阻断是脊椎动物基因调控的一个保守组成部分。