Enhancer long-range contacts: The multi-adaptor protein LDB1 is the tie that binds

Publication date: Available online 22 April 2019Source: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Gene Regulatory MechanismsAuthor(s): Guoyou Liu, Ann DeanAbstractThe eukaryotic genome is organized at varying levels into chromosome territories, transcriptional compartments and topologically associating domains (TADs), which are architectural features largely shared between different cell types and across species. In contrast, within TADs, chromatin loops connect enhancers and their target genes to establish unique transcriptomes that distinguish cells and tissues from each other and underlie development and differentiation. How these tissue-specific and temporal stage-specific long-range contacts are formed and maintained is a fundamental question in biology. The widely expressed Lim domain binding 1 protein, LDB1, plays a critical role in connecting enhancers and genes by forming complexes with cell-type specificity across diverse developmental pathways including neurogenesis, cardiogenesis, retinogenesis and hematopoiesis. Here we review the multiple roles of LDB1 in cell fate determination and in chromatin loop formation, with an emphasis on mammalian systems, to illuminate how LDB1 functions in normal cells and in diseases such as cancer.

Source: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) Gene Regulatory Mechanisms - April 23, 2019 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research