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Bidirectional promoters: an enigmatic genome architecture and their roles in cancers

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Abstract

Bidirectional promoters are the transcription regulatory regions of genes positioned head-to-head on opposite strands. Specific sequence signals, chromatin modifications and three-dimensional structures of the transcription site facilitate the unconventional yet tightly regulated transcription proceeding in both directions from these promoters. Mutations or aberrant epigenetic changes can lead to abnormal enhanced or reduced expression from either of the bidirectionally transcribed genes resulting in tumorigenesis. Moreover, bidirectionally transcribed genes might also contribute towards the immune regulation in tumor microenvironment. In this review, we aimed to expound the characteristic features of bidirectional promoters alongside their transcriptional regulations, and ultimately, the association of these enigmatic genomic elements in different cancers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Brac University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Sheikh Shafin Ahmad, Nure Sharaf Nower Samia, Rafeed Rahman Turjya & Md. Abdullah-Al-Kamran Khan

  2. Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Jagannath University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Auroni Semonti Khan

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  1. Sheikh Shafin Ahmad
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  2. Nure Sharaf Nower Samia
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  3. Auroni Semonti Khan
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  4. Rafeed Rahman Turjya
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  5. Md. Abdullah-Al-Kamran Khan
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Contributions

MAAKK conceived and planned the review. SSA, NSNS, RRT and MAAKK wrote the draft manuscript. ASK did the proofreading and critical revision of the draft. All authors contributed towards the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Md. Abdullah-Al-Kamran Khan.

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Ahmad, S.S., Samia, N.S.N., Khan, A.S. et al. Bidirectional promoters: an enigmatic genome architecture and their roles in cancers. Mol Biol Rep 48, 6637–6644 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-021-06612-6

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