[Mechanisms of distant enhancer action on DNA and in chromatin].
Enhancers and insulators are regulatory DNA sequences that can work over a large distance. Efficient action over a distance clearly requires special mechanisms for facilitating communication between a regulatory region and its target. Studies from our laboratory identified DNA supercoiling as primary factor that mediates efficient enhancer-promoter communication over a distance in prokaryotes through a "DNA slithering" mechanism. These studies allowed rational design and construction of an insulator that can block enhancer action over a distance both in vitro and in vivo. Our most recent studies suggest that eukaryotic chromatin structure can support action over a distance using similar principles, but in a mechanistically distinct way.
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D000818:Animals; D002843:Chromatin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000502:physiology*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000502:physiology*
D002843:Chromatin; D004247:DNA