Looping back to leap forward: transcription enters a new era

Michael Levine; Claudia Cattoglio; Robert Tjian

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2014.02.009

Looping back to leap forward: transcription enters a new era

Cell. 2014 Mar 27;157(1):13-25. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2014.02.009.

Authors

Michael Levine¹, Claudia Cattoglio², Robert Tjian³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94707, USA. Electronic address: mlevine@berkeley.edu.
² Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94707, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, CIRM Center of Excellence, Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94707, USA.
³ Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94707, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, CIRM Center of Excellence, Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94707, USA. Electronic address: jmlim@uclink4.berkeley.edu.

Abstract

Comparative genome analyses reveal that organismal complexity scales not with gene number but with gene regulation. Recent efforts indicate that the human genome likely contains hundreds of thousands of enhancers, with a typical gene embedded in a milieu of tens of enhancers. Proliferation of cis-regulatory DNAs is accompanied by increased complexity and functional diversification of transcriptional machineries recognizing distal enhancers and core promoters and by the high-order spatial organization of genetic elements. We review progress in unraveling one of the outstanding mysteries of modern biology: the dynamic communication of remote enhancers with target promoters in the specification of cellular identity.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Cell Differentiation*
DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / metabolism
Enhancer Elements, Genetic*
Gene Expression Regulation*
Humans
Promoter Regions, Genetic*
Transcription Factors / metabolism
Transcription, Genetic

Substances

Transcription Factors
DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding