CTCF is a uniquely versatile transcription regulator linked to epigeneticsand disease

CTCF is an evolutionarily conserved zinc finger (ZF) phosphoprotein that bi nds through combinatorial use of its 11 ZFs to similar to 50 bp target site s that have remarkable sequence variation. Formation of different CTCF-DNA complexes, some of which are methylation-sensitive, results in distinct fun ctions, including gene activation, repression, silencing and chromatin insu lation. Disrupting the spectrum of target specificities by ZF mutations or by abnormal selective methylation of targets is associated with cancer, CTC F emerges, therefore, as a central player in networks linking expression do mains with epigenetics and cell growth regulation.