Molecular Lesions of Insulator CTCF and Its Paralogue CTCFL (BORIS) in Cancer: An Analysis from Published Genomic Studies

CTCF (CCCTC-binding factor) is a transcription regulator with hundreds of binding sites in the human genome. It has a main function as an insulator protein, defining together with cohesins the boundaries of areas of the genome called topologically associating domains (TADs). TADs contain regulatory elements such as enhancers which function as regulators of the transcription of genes inside the boundaries of the TAD while they are restricted from regulating genes outside these boundaries. This paper will examine the most common genetic lesions of CTCF as well as its related protein CTCFL (CTCF-like also called BORIS) in cancer using publicly available data from published genomic studies. Cancer types where abnormalities in the two genes are more common will be examined for possible associations with underlying repair defects or other prevalent genetic lesions. The putative functional effects in CTCF and CTCFL lesions will also be explored.