Cell
Volume 171, Issue 7, 14 December 2017, Pages 1573-1588.e28
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Article
YY1 Is a Structural Regulator of Enhancer-Promoter Loops

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Highlights

  • YY1 generally occupies active enhancers and promoters across cell types

  • YY1 can form dimers and promote DNA interactions

  • Perturbation of YY1 binding disrupts enhancer-promoter looping and gene expression

  • YY1’s structural role accounts for diverse functions reported previously

Summary

There is considerable evidence that chromosome structure plays important roles in gene control, but we have limited understanding of the proteins that contribute to structural interactions between gene promoters and their enhancer elements. Large DNA loops that encompass genes and their regulatory elements depend on CTCF-CTCF interactions, but most enhancer-promoter interactions do not employ this structural protein. Here, we show that the ubiquitously expressed transcription factor Yin Yang 1 (YY1) contributes to enhancer-promoter structural interactions in a manner analogous to DNA interactions mediated by CTCF. YY1 binds to active enhancers and promoter-proximal elements and forms dimers that facilitate the interaction of these DNA elements. Deletion of YY1 binding sites or depletion of YY1 protein disrupts enhancer-promoter looping and gene expression. We propose that YY1-mediated enhancer-promoter interactions are a general feature of mammalian gene control.

Keywords

chromosome structure
enhancers
promoters
gene regulation

Cited by (0)

7

Present address: Marauder Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

8

Present address: Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

9

These authors contributed equally

10

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11

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