Fig. 1

Schematic representation of typical enhancer versus super-enhancer. a A simplified comparison between typical enhancers and super-enhancers. Enhancers are orientation- and position-independent cis-acting regulatory elements distally located from the transcription start sites (TSS) [14, 15]. Enhancers are typically bound by multiple transcription factors to regulate gene expression outcomes. Regions of chromatin incorporating multiple enhancers, defined by ChIP-Seq (e.g., H3K27Ac, Med1, BRD4) within 12.5 kb, are referred to as super-enhancers. Super-enhancers are typically an order of magnitude larger than typical enhancers in size, have higher transcription factor density, and greater ability for transcriptional activation. b Enhancers are plotted in increasing order based on ChIP-Seq peak intensity. Super-enhancers are the population above the inflection point of the curve