The protein CTCF is required for the enhancer blocking activity of vertebrate insulators. |
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Authors: | A C Bell A G West G Felsenfeld |
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Institution: | Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0540, USA. |
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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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