Van Bortle Kevin, Corces Victor G
Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Transcription. 2012 Nov-Dec;3(6):277-84. doi: 10.4161/trns.21579. Epub 2012 Aug 14.
Recent findings provide evidence that tDNAs function as chromatin insulators from yeast to humans. TFIIIC, a transcription factor that interacts with the B-box in tDNAs as well as thousands of ETC sites in the genome, is responsible for insulator function. Though tDNAs are capable of enhancer-blocking and barrier activities for which insulators are defined, new insights into the relationship between insulators and chromatin structure suggest that TFIIIC serves a complex role in genome organization. We review the role of tRNA genes and TFIIIC as chromatin insulators, and highlight recent findings that have broadened our understanding of insulators in genome biology.
最近的研究结果表明,从酵母到人类,tDNA发挥着染色质绝缘子的功能。TFIIIC是一种转录因子,它与tDNA中的B-box以及基因组中数千个ETC位点相互作用,负责绝缘子功能。尽管tDNA具有增强子阻断和屏障活性(这是绝缘子的定义特征),但对绝缘子与染色质结构之间关系的新见解表明,TFIIIC在基因组组织中发挥着复杂的作用。我们综述了tRNA基因和TFIIIC作为染色质绝缘子的作用,并强调了最近的研究结果,这些结果拓宽了我们对基因组生物学中绝缘子的理解。