Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins

RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins

Proteins that regulate transcription can do so either via direct contact with RNA Polymerase or through indirect interactions facilitated by adaptors, mediators, histone-modifying proteins, and nucleosome remodelers. Direct interactions to activate transcription is seen in bacteria as well as in some eukaryotic genes. In these cases, upstream activation sequences are adjacent to the promoters, and the activator proteins interact directly with the transcriptional machinery. For example, in...

Cooperative Binding of Transcription Regulators

Cooperative Binding of Transcription Regulators

Transcriptional regulators bind to specific cis-regulatory sequences in the DNA to regulate gene transcription. These cis-regulatory sequences are very short, usually less than ten nucleotide pairs in length. The short length means that there is a high probability of the exact same sequence randomly occurring throughout the genome. Since regulators can also bind to groups of similar sequences, this further increases the chances of random binding. Transcriptional regulators form dimers that...

Co-activators and Co-repressors

Co-activators and Co-repressors

Gene transcription is regulated by the synergistic action of several proteins that form a complex at a gene regulatory site. This is observed in eukaryotes, where the regulation of gene expression is a complex process. Regulatory proteins in eukaryotes can broadly be classified into two types – regulators that bind directly to specific DNA sequences and co-regulators that associate with regulatory proteins but cannot directly bind to the DNA. These co-regulators are further divided into...

RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins

RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins

Proteins that regulate transcription can do so either via direct contact with RNA Polymerase or through indirect interactions facilitated by adaptors, mediators, histone-modifying proteins, and nucleosome remodelers. Direct interactions to activate transcription is seen in bacteria as well as in some eukaryotic genes. In these cases, upstream activation sequences are adjacent to the promoters, and the activator proteins interact directly with the transcriptional machinery. For example, in...

Cooperative Binding of Transcription Regulators

Cooperative Binding of Transcription Regulators

Transcriptional regulators bind to specific cis-regulatory sequences in the DNA to regulate gene transcription. These cis-regulatory sequences are very short, usually less than ten nucleotide pairs in length. The short length means that there is a high probability of the exact same sequence randomly occurring throughout the genome. Since regulators can also bind to groups of similar sequences, this further increases the chances of random binding. Transcriptional regulators form dimers that...

Co-activators and Co-repressors

Co-activators and Co-repressors

Gene transcription is regulated by the synergistic action of several proteins that form a complex at a gene regulatory site. This is observed in eukaryotes, where the regulation of gene expression is a complex process. Regulatory proteins in eukaryotes can broadly be classified into two types – regulators that bind directly to specific DNA sequences and co-regulators that associate with regulatory proteins but cannot directly bind to the DNA. These co-regulators are further divided into...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Mapping chromatin structure at base-pair resolution unveils a unified model of cis-regulatory element interactions.

Cell·2025

Same author

Active regulatory elements recruit cohesin to establish cell specific chromatin domains.

Scientific reports·2025

Same author

Ancient genomic linkage of α-globin and Nprl3 couples metabolism with erythropoiesis.

Nature communications·2025

Same author

Developing a pill to treat sickle cell disease.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2024

Same author

Super-enhancers include classical enhancers and facilitators to fully activate gene expression.

Cell·2023

Same author

Ancient genomic linkage couples metabolism with erythroid development.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2023

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 11, 2026

Formaldehyde-assisted Isolation of Regulatory Elements to Measure Chromatin Accessibility in Mammalian Cells

Formaldehyde-assisted Isolation of Regulatory Elements to Measure Chromatin Accessibility in Mammalian Cells

Published on: April 2, 2018

Facilitators may represent a new class of regulatory elements.

Mira Kassouf¹, Alexandra Rampasekova¹, Doug Higgs²

¹Laboratory of Gene Regulation, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

Current Opinion in Genetics & Development

|February 19, 2026

Summary

Researchers identified a new class of gene regulators called "facilitators." These elements, distinct from classical enhancers, help boost gene expression by organizing the genome

More Related Videos

Promoter Capture Hi-C: High-resolution, Genome-wide Profiling of Promoter Interactions

Promoter Capture Hi-C: High-resolution, Genome-wide Profiling of Promoter Interactions

Published on: June 28, 2018

Dissection of Enhancer Function Using Multiplex CRISPR-based Enhancer Interference in Cell Lines

Dissection of Enhancer Function Using Multiplex CRISPR-based Enhancer Interference in Cell Lines

Published on: June 2, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 11, 2026

Formaldehyde-assisted Isolation of Regulatory Elements to Measure Chromatin Accessibility in Mammalian Cells

Formaldehyde-assisted Isolation of Regulatory Elements to Measure Chromatin Accessibility in Mammalian Cells

Published on: April 2, 2018

Promoter Capture Hi-C: High-resolution, Genome-wide Profiling of Promoter Interactions

Promoter Capture Hi-C: High-resolution, Genome-wide Profiling of Promoter Interactions

Published on: June 28, 2018

Dissection of Enhancer Function Using Multiplex CRISPR-based Enhancer Interference in Cell Lines

Dissection of Enhancer Function Using Multiplex CRISPR-based Enhancer Interference in Cell Lines

Published on: June 2, 2018

Area of Science:

Genomics
Molecular Biology
Epigenetics

Background:

Gene expression is regulated by cis-regulatory elements like enhancers, promoters, and insulators.
Mammalian genomes contain numerous cis-regulatory elements, many identified by chromatin signatures.
Some elements classified as enhancers may not function as classical enhancers in traditional assays.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of enhancer-like elements that augment enhancer activity.
To propose a new class of regulatory elements termed 'facilitators'.
To explore the mechanisms by which facilitators regulate gene expression.

Main Methods:

Analysis of chromatin data to identify potential cis-regulatory elements.
Review of existing evidence on the function of enhancer-like sequences.
Theoretical modeling of proposed facilitator mechanisms.

Main Results:

A subset of uncharacterized cis-acting sequences exhibit enhancer-like properties.
These elements, termed 'facilitators,' can enhance classical enhancer activity.
Two potential mechanisms for facilitator function are proposed: enhancing factor concentration or organizing chromatin architecture.

Conclusions:

Facilitators may represent a distinct class of regulatory elements.
They play a crucial role in facilitating classical enhancer activity and gene expression.
Further research is needed to elucidate the precise mechanisms of facilitator function.