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Rewiring of chromatin state and gene expression by transposable elements
Author(s) -
Ohtani Hitoshi,
Iwasaki Yuka W.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
development, growth and differentiation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.864
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1440-169X
pISSN - 0012-1592
DOI - 10.1111/dgd.12735
Subject(s) - transposable element , chromatin , biology , heterochromatin , histone , genetics , genome , dna methylation , gene , enhancer , gene expression , dna
Transposable elements form a major fraction of the genome in various eukaryotic species. Although deleterious effects of transpositions within the genome have been reported, recent findings suggest that transposable elements can function as novel regulatory elements to fine‐tune gene expression. Transposable elements can impact the chromatin state through processes such as heterochromatin formation, enhancer–promoter interactions, and chromatin boundary formation, mainly because of the functions of chromatin‐based pathways that regulate the expression of transposable elements via DNA methylation and repressive histone modification. Therefore, transposable elements can rewire the chromatin state and gene expression depending on their insertions. Here, we review the findings that reveal the role of transposable elements as modifiers of the chromatin state and gene expression as well as the molecular mechanisms capable of inducing these changes.