Structural polymorphism at LCR and its role in beta-globin gene regulation

Information on the secondary structures and conformational manifestations of eukaryotic DNA and their biological significance with reference to gene regulation and expression is limited. The human β-globin gene Locus Control Region (LCR), a dominant regulator of globin gene expression, is a contiguous piece of DNA with five tissue-specific DNase I-hypersensitive sites (HSs). Since these HSs have a high density of transcription factor binding sites, structural interdependencies between HSs and different promoters may directly or indirectly regulate LCR functions. Mutations and SNPs may stabilize or destabilize the local secondary structures, affecting the gene expression by changes in the protein–DNA recognition patterns. Various palindromic or quasi-palindromic segments within LCR, could cause structural polymorphism and geometrical switching of DNA. This emphasizes the importance of understanding of the sequence-dependent variations of the DNA structure. Such structural motifs might act as regulatory elements. The local conformational variability of a DNA segment or action of a DNA specific protein is key to create and maintain active chromatin domains and affect transcription of various tissue specific β-globin genes. We, summarize here the current status of beta-globin LCR structure and function. Further structural studies at molecular level and functional genomics might solve the regulatory puzzles that control the β-globin gene locus.