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Updated: Feb 8, 2026

A Web-Based Workflow for Selecting Gene- and Tissue-Specific Enhancers
Published on: July 18, 2025
Coactivator condensation at super-enhancers links phase separation and gene control
Benjamin R Sabari1, Alessandra Dall'Agnese1, Ann Boija1
1Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 455 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
Abstract:
Super-enhancers (SEs) are clusters of enhancers that cooperatively assemble a high density of the transcriptional apparatus to drive robust expression of genes with prominent roles in cell identity. Here we demonstrate that the SE-enriched transcriptional coactivators BRD4 and MED1 form nuclear puncta at SEs that exhibit properties of liquid-like condensates and are disrupted by chemicals that perturb condensates. The intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) of BRD4 and MED1 can form phase-separated droplets, and MED1-IDR droplets can compartmentalize and concentrate the transcription apparatus from nuclear extracts. These results support the idea that coactivators form phase-separated condensates at SEs that compartmentalize and concentrate the transcription apparatus, suggest a role for coactivator IDRs in this process, and offer insights into mechanisms involved in the control of key cell-identity genes.
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