Cited by 1,101Genomics and Chromatin DynamicsChromatin Remodeling and CancerEpigenetics and DNA Methylation

The protein CTCF is required for the enhancer blocking activity of vertebrate insulators

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Bell, Adam C, West, Adam G, Felsenfeld, Gary·1999·Cell

Abstract

An insulator is a DNA sequence that can act as a barrier to the influences of neighboring cis-acting elements, preventing gene activation, for example, when located between an enhancer and a promoter. We have identified a 42 bp fragment of the chicken beta-globin insulator that is both necessary and sufficient for enhancer blocking activity in human cells. We show that this sequence is the binding site for CTCF, a previously identified eleven-zinc finger DNA-binding protein that is highly conserved in vertebrates. CTCF sites are present in all of the vertebrate enhancer-blocking elements we have examined. We suggest that directional enhancer blocking by CTCF is a conserved component of gene regulation in vertebrates.

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Crossref · 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81967-4

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  • CTCF binding has an insulating capacity, effectively blocking signals between enhancers and their target genes in the β-globin and H19/Igf2 loci.

    “More unusually, it emerged that CTCF binding has an insulating capacity, effectively blocking signals between enhancers and their target genes in the β-globin and H19/Igf2 loci [323–326].”
  • Insulators are bound by the transcription factor CTCF.

    “Insulators are bound by the transcription factor CTCF (Bell et al., 1999), but only a minority of CTCF sites function as insulators (Liu et al., 2015).”

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Authors
Bell, A. C., West, A. G., & Felsenfeld, G.
Affiliations
National Institutes of Health (US)
Corresponding author
Felsenfeld, Gary
Venue
Cell
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
1999-08
Volume
98
Issue
3
Pages
387-396
ISSN
0092-8674 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2019937806
Cited by
1,101
References
42
Citations by year
2026: 22 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 41 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 35 · 2015: 43 · 2014: 51 · 2013: 50 · 2012: 56
FWCI
13.92
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cell (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Creations of Advanced Catalytic Transformation for the Sustainable Manufacturing at Low Energy, Low Environmental Load
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Chromatin Remodeling and Cancer
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Epigenetics and DNA Methylation
Keywords
CTCF, enhancer blocking, zinc finger DNA-binding protein, cis-regulatory elements, gene expression regulation, enhancer-promoter interactions
MeSH terms
CCCTC-Binding Factor, Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Base Sequence, Binding Sites, Cell Nucleus, Chickens, Deoxyribonuclease I, DNA-Binding Proteins, Enhancer Elements, Genetic, Globins, Humans, Molecular Sequence Data, Oligodeoxyribonucleotides, Repressor Proteins, Transcription Factors, Protein Biosynthesis, Genetic Variation, Vertebrates, Zinc Fingers, Conserved Sequence, K562 Cells

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