CTCF: Master Weaver of the Genome

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Jennifer E. Phillips, Emory University; Victor Corces, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2009-06-26
• Publisher: Elsevier (Cell Press): 12 month embargo
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2009, Elsevier
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2009.06.001
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Cell
• ISSN: 0092-8674
• Volume: 137
• Issue: 7
• Start Page: 1194
• End Page: 1211
• Grant/Funding Information: V.G.C. is funded by a U.S. Public Health Service Award (GM35463) from the NIH and J.E.P. is supported by an NIH NRSA postdoctoral fellowship.
• Research Categories: Biology, Cell; Biology, Genetics

Abstract

CTCF is a highly conserved zinc finger protein implicated in diverse genomic regulatory functions, including transcriptional activation/repression, insulation, imprinting, and X-chromosome inactivation. Here we re-evaluate data supporting these roles in the context of mechanistic insights provided by recent genome-wide studies and highlight evidence for CTCF-mediated intra- and inter-chromosomal contacts at several developmentally regulated genomic loci. These analyses support a primary role for CTCF in the global organization of chromatin architecture and suggest that CTCF may be a heritable component of an epigenetic system regulating the interplay between DNA methylation, higher-order chromatin structure, and lineage-specific gene expression.