Enhancers and promoters are transcriptional regulatory elements whose facilitated interactions increase gene expression. Enhancer DNA sequences can be located far away from the promoter sequences that they regulate. Currently, the mechanism facilitating the establishment of enhancer-promoter interactions remains unclear. However, mutations causing errors in these interactions have been linked to cancer and disease, further conveying the need to understand the full mechanism. This review discusses multiple models that have been proposed to describe how enhancers go the distance to interact with promoters. Evidence supporting loop formation models is reviewed in addition to more complex hypotheses involving aspects of 3D chromatin organization and phase separation.

增强子和启动子是转录调控元件，它们促进的相互作用会增加基因表达。增强子 DNA 序列可以远离它们调节的启动子序列。目前，促进增强子-启动子相互作用建立的机制仍不清楚。然而，在这些相互作用中导致错误的突变与癌症和疾病有关，进一步表明需要了解完整的机制。本综述讨论了多种模型，这些模型用于描述增强子如何与启动子相互作用。除了涉及 3D 染色质组织和相分离方面的更复杂的假设之外，还审查了支持环形成模型的证据。