Gerasimova T I, Corces V G
Department of Biology, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, UDA.
Annu Rev Genet. 2001;35:193-208. doi: 10.1146/annurev.genet.35.102401.090349.
Chromatin boundaries and insulators are transcriptional regulatory elements that modulate interactions between enhancers and promoters and protect genes from silencing effects by the adjacent chromatin. Originally discovered in Drosophila, insulators have now been found in a variety of organisms, ranging from yeast to humans. They have been found interspersed with regulatory sequences in complex genes and at the boundaries between active and inactive chromatin. Insulators might modulate transcription by organizing the chromatin fiber within the nucleus through the establishment of higher-order domains of chromatin structure.
染色质边界和绝缘子是转录调控元件，它们可调节增强子与启动子之间的相互作用，并保护基因免受相邻染色质沉默效应的影响。绝缘子最初在果蝇中被发现，现在已在从酵母到人类的多种生物体中找到。它们散布于复杂基因的调控序列中以及活性和非活性染色质之间的边界处。绝缘子可能通过建立染色质结构的高阶结构域来组织细胞核内的染色质纤维，从而调节转录。
