Chromatin insulators are DNA-protein complexes that play a crucial role in regulating chromatin organization. Within the past two years, a plethora of genome-wide conformation capture studies have helped reveal that insulators are necessary for proper genome-wide organization of topologically associating domains, which are formed in a manner distinct from that of compartments. These studies have also provided novel insights into the mechanics of how CTCF/cohesin-dependent loops form in mammals, strongly supporting the loop extrusion model. In combination with single-cell imaging approaches in both Drosophila and mammals, the dynamics of insulator-mediated chromatin interactions are also coming to light. Insulator-dependent structures vary across individual cells and tissues, highlighting the need to study the regulation of insulators in particular temporal and spatial contexts throughout development.

中文翻译：

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染色质绝缘子在动态基因组组织中的功能和调控。

染色质绝缘子是DNA-蛋白质复合物，在调节染色质组织中起关键作用。在过去的两年中，大量的全基因组构象捕获研究帮助揭示了绝缘子对于拓扑关联域的正确全基因组组织是必要的，拓扑结构域的形成方式不同于区室。这些研究还为哺乳动物中CTCF /粘着蛋白依赖性环如何形成的机理提供了新颖的见解，从而有力地支持了环挤出模型。与果蝇和哺乳动物中的单细胞成像方法相结合，绝缘子介导的染色质相互作用的动力学也逐渐浮出水面。绝缘体相关的结构在各个细胞和组织中各不相同，