Cooperative and competitive interactions among transcription regulatory elements modulate transcription output

Abstract

Transcription is modulated by interactions among transcription regulatory elements (TREs), including promoters and enhancers, but their underlying interaction specificities remain opaque. Here, we develop a Chromatin-Integrated, landing-pad-based Enhancer Reporter Assay, CIERA-seq, that interrogates regulatory interactions between target promoters and distal TREs in a controlled genomic and chromatin context. We find both promoter- and enhancer-TREs exhibit enhancer activities on target promoters with a specificity that depends on factors that TREs recruit. Promoters are generally enriched for factors involved in the core transcription process, whereas enhancers are enriched for pioneer factors and chromatin remodelers. Our CIERA-seq assays support a model where TREs activate target promoters constrained at different rate limiting steps in transcription by supplying complementary components of the transcription regulatory machinery. An orthogonal analysis using CRISPRi datasets shows that both promoters and enhancers can positively regulate expression of neighboring genes at their native loci. However, promoters are also more prone than enhancers to exhibit negative regulatory effects, a difference that may arise from competition for limiting transcriptional machinery. Together, these findings support a framework in which promoters and enhancers act as cooperative, or competitive, regulatory elements within local transcription hubs to modulate transcription outputs.