Dissecting super-enhancer hierarchy based on chromatin interactions.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29507293.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-03279-9 and PMC identifier 5838163.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Recent studies have highlighted super-enhancers (SEs) as important regulatory elements for gene expression, but their intrinsic properties remain incompletely characterized. Through an integrative analysis of Hi-C and ChIP-seq data, here we find that a significant fraction of SEs are hierarchically organized, containing both hub and non-hub enhancers. Hub enhancers share similar histone marks with non-hub enhancers, but are distinctly associated with cohesin and CTCF binding sites and disease-associated genetic variants. Genetic ablation of hub enhancers results in profound defects in gene activation and local chromatin landscape. As such, hub enhancers are the major constituents responsible for SE functional and structural organization.
Medical subject headings
- Chromatin
- Enhancer Elements, Genetic