Upstream mononucleotide A-repeats play a cis-regulatory role in mammals through the DICER1 and Ago proteins.

ABSTRACT: A-repeats are the simplest form of tandem repeats and are found ubiquitously throughout genomes. These mononucleotide repeats have been widely believed to be non-functional 'junk' DNA. However, studies in yeasts suggest that A-repeats play crucial biological functions, and their role in humans remains largely unknown. Here, we showed a non-random pattern of distribution of sense A- and T-repeats within 20 kb around transcription start sites (TSSs) in the human genome. Different distributions of these repeats are observed upstream and downstream of TSSs. Sense A-repeats are enriched upstream, whereas sense T-repeats are enriched downstream of TSSs. This enrichment directly correlates with repeat size. Genes with different functions contain different lengths of repeats. In humans, tissue-spe

SUBMITTER: Aporntewan C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3799445 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature