Exploring the interplay between enhancer-promoter interactions and transcription

Enhancers in metazoan genomes are known to activate their target genes across both short and long genomic distances. and single-cell imaging have shed light on the underlying chromatin contacts and dynamics. Yet the relationship between 3D physical enhancer-promoter (E-P) interactions and transcriptional activation remains unresolved. In this brief review, we discuss recent studies exploring this relationship across scales: from developmental stages to the minutes surrounding transcriptional activation and from the tissue level to single-allele subcellular dynamics. We discuss how seemingly contradictory observations might be reconciled and contribute to a refined causal relationship between E-P interactions and transcription, with mutual influences.