Project description:The promoters of mammalian genes are commonly regulated by multiple distal enhancers, which physically interact within discrete chromatin domains. How such domains form and how the regulatory elements within them interact in single cells is not understood. To address this we developed Tri-C, a new chromosome conformation capture (3C) approach, to characterize concurrent chromatin interactions at individual alleles. Analysis by Tri-C identifies heterogeneous patterns of single-allele interactions between CTCF boundary elements, indicating that the formation of chromatin domains likely results from a dynamic process. Within these domains, we observe specific higher-order structures that involve simultaneous interactions between multiple enhancers and promoters. Such regulatory hubs provide a structural basis for understanding how multiple cis-regulatory elements act together to establish robust regulation of gene expression.
Project description:The genome is organized into self-interacting chromatin domains containing genes and the cis-regulatory elements controlling their expression. How these domains form and how elements within them interact is unknown. We have developed Tri-C, a sensitive, high-resolution Chromosome Conformation Capture (3C) approach to identify concurrent chromatin interactions in single cells. Combining Tri-C with conventional 3C and polymer modeling, we show that, rather than folding into stable pre-formed loops, self-interacting domains form dynamic compartmentalized chromatin structures, delimited by CTCF/Cohesin boundaries. Within these tissue-specific domains, all regions of chromatin contact each other, but preferential structures are formed in which multiple enhancers and promoters interact simultaneously. Flanking CTCF/Cohesin-bound elements are excluded from these interactions and form distinct structures. These observations are best explained by a dynamic loop extrusion mechanism and subsequent stabilization of enhancer-promoter interactions, rather than the current view of long-range interactions occurring via the formation of discrete pre-formed chromatin loops.
Project description:The genome is organized into self-interacting chromatin domains containing genes and the cis-regulatory elements controlling their expression. How these domains form and how elements within them interact is not fully understood. We have developed Tri-C, a sensitive, high-resolution Chromosome Conformation Capture (3C) approach to identify concurrent chromatin interactions in single cells. Combining Tri-C with conventional 3C and polymer modeling, we show that, rather than folding into stable pre-formed loops, self-interacting domains form dynamic compartmentalized chromatin structures, delimited by CTCF/Cohesin boundaries. Within these tissue-specific domains, all regions of chromatin contact each other, but preferential structures are formed in which multiple enhancers and promoters interact simultaneously. Flanking CTCF/Cohesin-bound elements are excluded from these interactions and form distinct structures. These observations are best explained by a dynamic loop extrusion mechanism and subsequent stabilization of enhancer-promoter interactions, rather than the current view of long-range interactions occurring via the formation of discrete pre-formed chromatin loops.
Project description:The genome is organized into self-interacting chromatin domains containing genes and the cis-regulatory elements controlling their expression. How these domains form and how elements within them interact is not fully understood. We have developed Tri-C, a sensitive, high-resolution Chromosome Conformation Capture (3C) approach to identify concurrent chromatin interactions in single cells. Combining Tri-C with conventional 3C and polymer modeling, we show that, rather than folding into stable pre-formed loops, self-interacting domains form dynamic compartmentalized chromatin structures, delimited by CTCF/Cohesin boundaries. Within these tissue-specific domains, all regions of chromatin contact each other, but preferential structures are formed in which multiple enhancers and promoters interact simultaneously. Flanking CTCF/Cohesin-bound elements are excluded from these interactions and form distinct structures. These observations are best explained by a dynamic loop extrusion mechanism and subsequent stabilization of enhancer-promoter interactions, rather than the current view of long-range interactions occurring via the formation of discrete pre-formed chromatin loops.
Project description:We develop a method called open chromatin enrichment and network Hi-C (OCEAN-C) for antibody-independent mapping of global open chromatin interactions. By integrating FAIRE-seq and Hi-C, OCEAN-C detects open chromatin interactions enriched by active cis-regulatory elements. We identify more than 10,000 hubs of open chromatin interactions (HOCIs) in human cells, which are mainly active promoters and enhancers bound by many DNA-binding proteins and form interaction networks crucial for gene transcription. In addition to identifying large-scale topological structures, including topologically associated domains and A/B compartments, OCEAN-C can detect HOCI-mediated chromatin interactions that are strongly associated with gene expression, super-enhancers, and broad H3K4me3 domains.
Project description:The spatial organization of chromatin is pivotal for regulating genome functions. We report an imaging method for tracing chromatin organization with kilobase- and nanometer-scale resolution, unveiling chromatin conformation across topologically associating domains (TADs) in thousands of individual cells. Our imaging data revealed TAD-like structures with globular conformation and sharp domain boundaries in single cells. The boundaries varied from cell to cell, occurring with nonzero probabilities at all genomic positions but preferentially at CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF)- and cohesin-binding sites. Notably, cohesin depletion, which abolished TADs at the population-average level, did not diminish TAD-like structures in single cells but eliminated preferential domain boundary positions. Moreover, we observed widespread, cooperative, multiway chromatin interactions, which remained after cohesin depletion. These results provide critical insight into the mechanisms underlying chromatin domain and hub formation.