The active spatial organization of the β-globin locus requires the transcription factor EKLF (original) (raw)

1. Roy Drissen1,
2. Robert-Jan Palstra1,
3. Nynke Gillemans,
4. Erik Splinter,
5. Frank Grosveld,
6. Sjaak Philipsen2, and
7. Wouter de Laat
8. Erasmus University Medical Center, Department of Cell Biology, The Netherlands

Abstract

Three-dimensional organization of a gene locus is important for its regulation, as recently demonstrated for the β-globin locus. When actively expressed, the _cis_-regulatory elements of the β-globin locus are in proximity in the nuclear space, forming a compartment termed the Active Chromatin Hub (ACH). However, it is unknown which proteins are involved in ACH formation. Here, we show that EKLF, an erythroid transcription factor required for adult β-globin gene transcription, is also required for ACH formation. We conclude that transcription factors can play an essential role in the three-dimensional organization of gene loci.

• EKLF
• chromatin
• spatial organization
• transcription factors
• globin
• ACH

Footnotes

• Supplemental material is available at http://www.genesdev.org.

• Article and publication are at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.317004.

• ↵1 These authors contributed equally to this work.

• ↵2 Corresponding author. E-MAIL j.philipsen{at}erasmusmc.nl; FAX 31-10-4089468.

• • Accepted August 16, 2004.
  • Received November 18, 2003.

• Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press

•