Journal
NUCLEUS
Volume 11, Issue 1, Pages 132-148Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC
DOI: 10.1080/19491034.2020.1782024
Keywords
CTCF; Cohesin; TADs; Loop Extrusion; Convergent Rule; Binding Polarity; RNA-Binding Region; PDS5; NIPBL
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health [R00GM130896]
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences [R00GM130896]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Mammalian genome structure is closely linked to function. At the scale of kilobases to megabases, CTCF and cohesin organize the genome into chromatin loops. Mechanistically, cohesin is proposed to extrude chromatin loops bidirectionally until it encounters occupied CTCF DNA-binding sites. Curiously, loops form predominantly between CTCF binding sites in a convergent orientation. How CTCF interacts with and blocks cohesin extrusion in an orientation-specific manner has remained a mechanistic mystery. Here, we review recent papers that have shed light on these processes and suggest a multi-step interaction between CTCF and cohesin. This interaction may first involve a pausing step, where CTCF halts cohesin extrusion, followed by a stabilization step of the CTCF-cohesin complex, resulting in a chromatin loop. Finally, we discuss our own recent studies on an internal RNA-Binding Region (RBRi) in CTCF to elucidate its role in regulating CTCF clustering, target search mechanisms and chromatin loop formation and future challenges.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available