Enhancers play an essential role in gene regulation by receiving cues from transcription factors and relaying these signals to modulate transcription from target promoters. Enhancer-promoter communications occur across large linear distances of the genome and with high specificity. The molecular mechanisms that underlie enhancer-mediated control of transcription remain unresolved. In this review, we focus on research in uncovering the molecular mechanisms governing enhancer-promoter communication and discuss the current understanding of developmental gene regulation. The functions of protein acetylation, pausing of RNA polymerase II, transcriptional bursting, and the formation of nuclear hubs in the induction of tissue-specific programs of transcription during zygotic genome activation are considered.
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Real-time visualization of reconstituted transcription reveals RNA polymerase II activation mechanisms at single promoters.
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Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Center for Quantitative Biology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 610 Taylor Road, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA.
The dynamic organization of chromatin plays an essential role in the regulation of genetic activity, interconverting between open and compact forms at the global level. The mechanisms underlying these large-scale changes remain a topic of widespread interest. The simulations of nucleosome-decorated DNA reported herein reveal profound effects of the nucleosome itself on overall chromatin properties.
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Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Penn Epigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Electronic address:
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Genetic factors mediating long-range enhancer-promoter communication in mammalian development.
Curr Opin Genet Dev
November 2024
Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92967, USA. Electronic address:
Article Synopsis
- * Short-range enhancers operate by connecting with transcription factors and other proteins when they are close to gene promoters, while medium- and long-range enhancers use additional mechanisms to interact over greater distances.
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