Controlling gene activation by enhancers through a drug-inducible topological insulator

While regulation of gene-enhancer interaction is intensively studied, its application remains limited. Here, we reconstituted arrays of CTCF-binding sites and devised a synthetic topological insulator with tetO for chromatin-engineering (STITCH). By coupling STITCH with tetR linked to the KRAB domain to induce heterochromatin and disable the insulation, we developed a drug-inducible system to control gene activation by enhancers. In human...