Demystifying the secret mission of enhancers: linking distal regulatory elements to target genes.

ABSTRACT: Enhancers are short regulatory sequences bound by sequence-specific transcription factors and play a major role in the spatiotemporal specificity of gene expression patterns in development and disease. While it is now possible to identify enhancer regions genomewide in both cultured cells and primary tissues using epigenomic approaches, it has been more challenging to develop methods to understand the function of individual enhancers because enhancers are located far from the gene(s) that they regulate. However, it is essential to identify target genes of enhancers not only so that we can understand the role of enhancers in disease but also because this information will assist in the development of future therapeutic options. After reviewing models of enhancer function, we discuss recent m

SUBMITTER: Yao L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4666684 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature