The mechanisms that initiate heterochromatin formation and maintain its distinction from euchromatin have remained elusive. However, a new study reveals a pathway in which transcriptional repression of pericentric repeats by sequence-specific transcription factors is essential for the integrity of heterochromatin, thereby considerably expanding the role of transcription factors beyond euchromatic gene regulation.
- Aydan Bulut-Karslioglu
- Valentina Perrera
- Thomas Jenuwein
