Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42395355›Full record

ArticlebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2026

Intrinsic promoter responsiveness dictates sensitivity to transcriptional activation by enhancers.

Yingxuan Tan, Judhajeet Ray, Maya U Sheth, Benjamin R Doughty, William J Greenleaf, Jesse M Engreitz

Abstract readPreprint
In one paragraph

Article in bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Yingxuan TanDepartment of Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6674-3219
Judhajeet RayNovo Nordisk Foundation Center for Genomic Mechanisms of Disease, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1524-2603
Maya U ShethDepartment of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1466-8899
Benjamin R DoughtyDepartment of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0447-4468
William J GreenleafDepartment of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1409-3095
Jesse M EngreitzDepartment of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-5754-1719

Funding

VACCINE INDUCED IMMUNITY IN THE YOUNG AND AGEDU19AI057266 · NIAID · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI Rafi Ahmed · 2003 to 2026
$81.7M
Spatial multiomic mapping of gene function with CRISPRoffUM1HG012660 · NHGRI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI Luke Gilbert · 2022 to 2026
$8.2M
Combinatorial Cell State EngineeringDP1HG013599 · NHGRI · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI William James Greenleaf · 2023 to 2026
$5.4M
Defining and perturbing gene regulatory dynamics in the developing human brainR01NS128028 · NINDS · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI William James Greenleaf · 2023 to 2026
$2.4M
Mapping enhancer-gene regulation in single cells to connect genetic variants to target genes and cell typesR35HG011324 · NHGRI · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI ENGREITZ, JESSE M · 2020 to 2024
$2.3M
Defining and perturbing gene regulatory dynamics in the developing human heart to understand mechanisms of congenital heart defectsR01HL171611 · NHLBI · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI William James Greenleaf · 2024 to 2026
$2.1M
Fast, powerful, scalable, usable, and distributable methods for multi-modal single cell analysesR01HG013317 · NHGRI · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI William James Greenleaf · 2024 to 2026
$2.1M
Genome-wide maps of enhancer-gene regulation to link variants to functionsR01HG014216 · NHGRI · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI JESSE M ENGREITZ · 2026 to 2026
$721k
NHGRI NIH HHS DP1 HG013599NHGRI NIH HHS R01 HG013317NHGRI NIH HHS R01 HG014216NHGRI NIH HHS R35 HG011324NHGRI NIH HHS UM1 HG012660NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL171611NIAID NIH HHS U19 AI057266NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS128028
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Enhancers activate specific target promoters, but whether intrinsic enhancer-promoter compatibility contributes to this specificity is debated. Recent studies using different reporter assays have reached contradictory conclusions. We compare six reporter assay designs, identify confounders that bias compatibility measurements, and apply improved assays to test 25,000 enhancer-promoter pairs. Promoters differ in their responsiveness to enhancers (>100-fold versus 1.1-fold activation) while enhancers activate all promoters in a similar rank order. Promoter output scales with enhancer activity following a power law, with the exponent varying across promoters. Incorporating this exponent into the Activity-by-Contact model improves prediction of endogenous enhancer effects, explaining why certain active genes are insensitive to distal perturbations and "skipped" by enhancers. Responsiveness is modulated by transcription factor motifs in the core promoter. This work establishes responsiveness as an intrinsic promoter property that enables specific promoters to be highly activated in a landscape of broadly compatible enhancers, while others remain unaffected.

Indexed as

core promoterenhancer-promoter specificityenhancersgene regulationmassively parallel reporter assay

Identifiers

PMID42395355
PMCPMC13320843

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.