RNA plays a minimal role in CTCF transcription factor function

CTCF is a master transcription factor that must bind to DNA to perform its functions, including maintaining chromatin architecture and transcriptional control. Recent studies have shown that several transcription factors, including CTCF, may also bind to RNA in a similar, unappreciated capacity. In a study published in Genome Biology, Chunliang Li, PhD, St. Jude Department of Tumor Cell Biology, and Beisi Xu, PhD, St. Jude Center for Applied Bioinformatics, interrogated the impact of RNA binding on the role of CTCF as a transcription factor. The researchers used molecular profiling and unique depletion and expression systems in human cell models to show that despite comprehensively blocking CTCF–RNA interactions, the DNA-binding affinity of CTCF was not disrupted except at select areas of the genome. 

“This study concludes that CTCF–RNA interactions do not shape global CTCF–DNA interactions but confer variable effects at selective loci,” said co-corresponding author Li. “Moreover, this field urgently requires more technological innovations to promote investigating RNA-protein interactions further.”

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