STARR-seq

[4] Enhancer detection in Drosophila is an original methodology using random insertion of transposon-derived vector that encodes a reporter protein downstream of a minimal promoter.

Yet, these assays are not high-throughput (High throughput biology), as it is impossible to conduct millions of tests required for identification of enhancers in a genome-wide manner.

Such a direct coupling of candidate sequences to enhancer activity enables the parallel evaluation of millions of DNA fragments from arbitrary sources.

Next, adaptor-linked fragments are amplified and the PCR products are purified followed by placing candidate sequences downstream of a minimal promoter of screening vectors, giving them an opportunity to transcribe themselves.

This approach enables the functional fine-mapping of causal regulatory variants in regions of high linkage disequilibrium identified by eQTL analyses.

This approach provides a general path forward to identify perturbations in gene regulatory elements that contribute to complex phenotypes.

Cloning ChIP DNA libraries generated from chromatin immunoprecipitation of the glucocorticoid receptor into STARR-seq enabled genome-scale quantification of glucocorticoid-induced enhancer activity.

By combining traditional approach with high-throughput sequencing technology and highly specialized bio-computing methods, STARR-seq is able to detect enhancers in a quantitative and genome-wide manner.

Recently, a related approach coupling capture of regions of interest to STARR-seq technique have been developed and extensively validated in mammalian cell lines.