Mariana R. P. Alves

The paper shows that mutations in developmental enhancers in Drosophila mostly alter existing expression patterns, while random sequences can act as enhancers with broader expression, suggesting constraints on phenotypic novelty from existing enhancers.

This study uses an auxin-degron system to show that Oct4 depletion reduces pluripotency factor expression and enhances Nanog genome binding while decreasing H3K27ac marks.

The paper shows that multiple enhancers form transcriptional hubs that enhance robustness by retaining transcription factors, buffering against environmental and genetic stresses.