Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
Genome Biol. 2021 Apr 15;22(1):108. doi: 10.1186/s13059-021-02322-1.
Differential gene expression mechanisms ensure cellular differentiation and plasticity to shape ontogenetic and phylogenetic diversity of cell types. A key regulator of differential gene expression programs are the enhancers, the gene-distal cis-regulatory sequences that govern spatiotemporal and quantitative expression dynamics of target genes. Enhancers are widely believed to physically contact the target promoters to effect transcriptional activation. However, our understanding of the full complement of regulatory proteins and the definitive mechanics of enhancer action is incomplete. Here, we review recent findings to present some emerging concepts on enhancer action and also outline a set of outstanding questions.
差异基因表达机制确保了细胞的分化和可塑性，从而塑造了细胞类型的个体发生和系统发生多样性。差异基因表达程序的一个关键调节因子是增强子，它是基因远端的顺式调控序列，控制靶基因的时空和定量表达动态。增强子被广泛认为通过与靶启动子物理接触来实现转录激活。然而，我们对完整的调节蛋白组和增强子作用的明确机制的理解还不完整。在这里，我们回顾了最近的发现，提出了一些关于增强子作用的新观点，并概述了一组悬而未决的问题。
