Scaffold/Matrix-Attached Regions: Structural Properties Creating Transcriptionally Active Loci

• Published in: International Review of Cytology Vol. 162; pp. 389 - 454
• Main Authors: Bode, J., Schlake, T., Ríos-Ramírez, M., Mielke, C., Stengert, M., Kay, V., Klehr-Wirth, D.
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Science & Technology 1996
• Subjects: Attachment sequence; Chromatin structure; DNA core-unwinding element; FLP recognition target sites (FRT); Insulator elements; Matrix-attached regions (MARs); Metallothionein; Nucleosomal positioning; Nucleosomes; Retroviral integration sites; Scaffold-attached regions; Nucleosomal positioning; Attachment sequence; Chromatin structure; Matrix-attached regions (MARs); Nucleosomes; Insulator elements; Retroviral integration sites; Scaffold-attached regions; FLP recognition target sites (FRT); DNA core-unwinding element; Metallothionein
• ISBN: 0123645654; 9780123645654
• ISSN: 0074-7696; 2163-5854
• DOI: 10.1016/S0074-7696(08)61235-8

The expression characteristics of the human interferon-β gene, as part of a long stretch of genomic DNA, led to the discovery of the putative domain bordering elements. The chromatin structure of these elements and their surroundings was determined during the process of gene activation and correlated with their postulated functions. It is shown that these “scaffold-attached regions” (S/MAR elements) have some characteristics in common with and others distinct from enhancers with which they cooperate in various ways. Our model of S/MAR function will focus on their properties of mediating topological changes within the respective domain.