REVIEW article
Front. Genet.
Sec. Epigenomics and Epigenetics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fgene.2025.1611905
This article is part of the Research TopicTranscriptional and post-transcriptional regulatory networks in cellular homeostasis and stress responseView all articles
Current Progress and Future Perspective of Super-enhancers: a Viable and Effective Bridge Between the Transcriptional Apparatus and Disease
Provisionally accepted
- 1Minzu University of China, Beijing, China
- 2Hebei University of Chinese Medicine, Shijiazhuang, China
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Super-enhancers (SEs) are a super-cluster of enhancers formed by serially arranged regulatory elements that can strongly drive the expression of cell-related genes. Hundreds of SEs in cells affect cell identity and fate-determining processes. Previous studies have verified that the expression of pathogenic genes is highly correlated with the abnormal activation of SEs in malignant tumorigenesis, dementia, diabetes, and many autoimmune diseases. Also, enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) can be regarded as crucial markers for SEs. Here, we summarize the discovery process and basic concepts of SEs, describe the structural characteristics and functional regulation of SEs in different tumor diseases, Alzheimer's disease, and immune-related diseases, with a focus on typical diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and multiple sclerosis. In this review, we also discuss the potential clinical applications of SE, as well as the research prospects in this field.
Keywords: super-enhancer, cell fate, Cancer, CNS system disease, autoimmune disease
Received: 15 Apr 2025; Accepted: 25 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Li and Pang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ran Wang, Minzu University of China, Beijing, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.