Teeing up transcription on CpG islands

Abstract

Eukaryotic cells use elaborate molecular mechanisms to rapidly activate signal-dependent gene expression. New work provides fresh insights into these mechanisms by demonstrating that CpG islands in promoters are nucleosome-destabilizing elements and can facilitate the establishment of an unusual poised transcriptional state (Ramirez-Carrozzi et al., 2009; Hargreaves et al., 2009).