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CCCTC-Binding Factor

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Encyclopedia of Cancer

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Synonyms

CTCF

Definition

CTCF (acronym for a “CCCTC-binding factor”) is a highly conserved and ubiquitous protein with multiple functions, which include regulation of transcription, chromatin insulation, and genomic imprinting.

Characteristics

The CTCF protein was originally identified for its ability to bind to a promoter element of the chicken c-myc gene. The sequence recognized by CTCF contained the CCCTC repeats and therefore the protein was defined as CTCF (the CCCTC-binding factor). However, it was later discovered that other CTCF-target sequences (or CTSs) were remarkably dissimilar, and the term “multivalent transcription factor” was coined for CTCF. Another unusual feature of the CTSs is their length: the analysis of binding patterns of CTCF to multiple sites demonstrated that CTCF requires about 50–60-bp-long sequence to form a complex with DNA.

The ability of CTCF to bind such diverse targets has been attributed to its DNA-binding domain, which is composed of 11 zinc fingers...

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References

  • Klenova EM, Morse HC, III HC, Ohlsson R et al (2002) The novel BORIS + CTCF gene family is uniquely involved in the epigenetics of normal biology and cancer. Semin Cancer Biol 12:399–414

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  • Ohlsson R, Renkawitz R, Lobanenkov V (2001) CTCF is a uniquely versatile transcription regulator linked to epigenetics and disease. Trends Genet 17:520–527

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  • Ohlsson R, Lobanenkov V, Klenova E (2010) Does CTCF mediate between nuclear organization and gene expression? Bioessays 32:37–50

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  • Phillips JE, Corces VG (2009) CTCF: master weaver of the genome. Cell 137:1194–1211

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  • Recillas-Targa F, De La Rosa-Velazquez IA, Soto-Reyes E et al (2006) Epigenetic boundaries of tumour suppressor gene promoters: the CTCF connection and its role in carcinogenesis. J Cell Mol Med 10:554–568

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, CO4 3SQ, Colchester, Essex, UK

    Elena Klenova

  2. Section of Molecular Pathology, Laboratory of Immunopathology, NIAID, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Dmitri Loukinov & Victor Lobanenkov

Authors
  1. Elena Klenova
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  2. Dmitri Loukinov
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  3. Victor Lobanenkov
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elena Klenova .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Klenova, E., Loukinov, D., Lobanenkov, V. (2015). CCCTC-Binding Factor. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_902-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_902-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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