Volume 22, No 3, Mar 2012

ISSN: 1001-0602 
EISSN: 1748-7838 2018 
impact factor 17.848* 
(Clarivate Analytics, 2019)

Volume 22 Issue 3, March 2012: 450-452

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

CTCF: from insulators to alternative splicing regulation

Alberto R Kornblihtt

Laboratorio de Fisiología y Biología Molecular, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, IFIBYNE-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón 2, (C1428EHA) Buenos Aires, Argentina Correspondence: Alberto R Kornblihtt,(ark@fbmc.fcen.uba.ar)

The zinc-finger DNA-binding protein CTCF has been known for being a constituent of insulators. A recent paper in Nature reports an unforeseen intragenic role for CTCF that links DNA methylation with alternative splicing. By binding to its target DNA site placed within an alternative exon, CTCF creates a roadblock to transcriptional elongation that favors inclusion of the exon into mature mRNA. DNA methylation prevents CTCF binding, which releases pol II transient blockage and promotes exon exclusion.

Cell Research (2012) 22:450-452. doi:10.1038/cr.2012.22; published online 7 February 2012

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