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PMID: 12466537 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

The vertebrate protein CTCF functions as an insulator in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Nucleic acids research ·Vol. 30 ·No. 23 ·2002-12-01 ·Pages 5136-41

Defossez PA, Gilson E

Abstract

Insulators are elements that shelter genes from the effects of silencers or enhancers. CTCF is the only vertebrate protein that has a recognized role in transcriptional insulation, but how it exerts its effect is unknown. In an attempt to better understand how CTCF functions, we have used an insulation assay in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We show that CTCF acts as an insulator in yeast, where it can efficiently block the spreading of repressive telomeric chromatin. We identify two domains of the protein that are responsible for this activity: a short and very potent N-terminal domain, as well as the C-terminus of the protein.

MeSH Terms
Amino Acid Sequence Animals CCCTC-Binding Factor DNA-Binding Proteins/chemistry,physiology Gene Expression Regulation Genes, Reporter Heterochromatin/genetics Molecular Sequence Data Protein Structure, Tertiary Repressor Proteins Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genetics Telomere/genetics Transcription Factors/chemistry,physiology Transcription, Genetic
Chemicals
CCCTC-Binding Factor DNA-Binding Proteins Heterochromatin Repressor Proteins Transcription Factors
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Defossez Pierre-Antoine
CNRS UMR 5665, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France. pierre-antoine.defossez@ens-lyon.fr
Gilson Eric
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Article Info
Journal
Nucleic acids research
Abbr.
Nucleic Acids Res
ISSN
1362-4962
DOI
10.1093/nar/gkf629
Email
pierre-antoine.defossez@ens-lyon.fr
Published
2002-12-01
Pages
5136-41
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
0411011
PMCID
PMC137948
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkf629 PMC Full Text View journal details
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