Transposable elements contribute to cell and species-specific chromatin looping and gene regulation in mammalian genomes

Abstract

A fraction of mammalian CTCF binding sites fall within transposable elements (TEs) but their contribution to the evolution of 3D chromatin structure is unknown. Here the authors investigate the effect of TE-driven CTCF binding site expansions on chromatin looping in humans and mice, and provide evidence that TEs contribute to cell-specific and species-specific chromatin looping diversity and variable gene regulation in mammalian genomes.