A conserved regulatory element located far downstream of the gls locus modulates gls expression through chromatin loop formation during myogenesis.

Chromatin loops formed between distant regulatory elements and promoters modulate gene expression. We identified a novel distant regulatory element located approximately 120kb downstream of the gls promoter, and examined its regulatory relevance to gls gene expression in C2C12 cells by a chromosome conformation capture assay. The distant element physically interacted with the gls promoter in myoblasts but not in myotubes. Semiquantitative analysis by real-time PCR showed more abundant gls transcripts in myoblasts than in myotubes. These findings suggest that this distant element differentially regulates gls gene expression through dynamic formation and abrogation of a chromatin loop during myogenesis.