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http://dx.doi.org/10.14348/molcells.2018.2297

Targeting Super-Enhancers for Disease Treatment and Diagnosis  

Shin, Ha Youn (Department of Biomedical Science and Engineering, Konkuk University)
Publication Information
Molecules and Cells / v.41, no.6, 2018 , pp. 506-514 More about this Journal
Abstract
The transcriptional regulation of genes determines the fate of animal cell differentiation and subsequent organ development. With the recent progress in genome-wide technologies, the genomic landscapes of enhancers have been broadly explored in mammalian genomes, which led to the discovery of novel specific subsets of enhancers, termed super-enhancers. Super-enhancers are large clusters of enhancers covering the long region of regulatory DNA and are densely occupied by transcription factors, active histone marks, and co-activators. Accumulating evidence points to the critical role that super-enhancers play in cell type-specific development and differentiation, as well as in the development of various diseases. Here, I provide a comprehensive description of the optimal approach for identifying functional units of super-enhancers and their unique chromatin features in normal development and in diseases, including cancers. I also review the recent updated knowledge on novel approaches of targeting super-enhancers for the treatment of specific diseases, such as small-molecule inhibitors and potential gene therapy. This review will provide perspectives on using super-enhancers as biomarkers to develop novel disease diagnostic tools and establish new directions in clinical therapeutic strategies.
Keywords
cell identity; clinical therapeutics; diseases; disease diagnosis; super-enhancer;
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