Genome-wide CTCF distribution in vertebrates defines equivalent sites that aid the identification of disease-associated genes.

ABSTRACT: Many genomic alterations associated with human diseases localize in noncoding regulatory elements located far from the promoters they regulate, making it challenging to link noncoding mutations or risk-associated variants with target genes. The range of action of a given set of enhancers is thought to be defined by insulator elements bound by the 11 zinc-finger nuclear factor CCCTC-binding protein (CTCF). Here we analyzed the genomic distribution of CTCF in various human, mouse and chicken cell types, demonstrating the existence of evolutionarily conserved CTCF-bound sites beyond mammals. These sites preferentially flank transcription factor-encoding genes, often associated with human diseases, and function as enhancer blockers in vivo, suggesting that they act as evolutionarily invariant

SUBMITTER: Martin D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3196567 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature