Pairs of Adjacent Conserved Noncoding Elements Separated by Conserved Genomic Distances Act as Cis-Regulatory Units.

ABSTRACT: Comparative genomic studies have identified thousands of conserved noncoding elements (CNEs) in the mammalian genome, many of which have been reported to exert cis-regulatory activity. We analyzed ∼5,500 pairs of adjacent CNEs in the human genome and found that despite divergence at the nucleotide sequence level, the inter-CNE distances of the pairs are under strong evolutionary constraint, with inter-CNE sequences featuring significantly lower transposon densities than expected. Further, we show that different degrees of conservation of the inter-CNE distance are associated with distinct cis-regulatory functions at the CNEs. Specifically, the CNEs in pairs with conserved and mildly contracted inter-CNE sequences are the most likely to represent active or poised enhancers. In contrast, CNE

SUBMITTER: Li L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6161761 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature