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Functional dissection of regulatory landscapes reveals non-essential and instructive roles of TADs in regulating gene expression [ATAC-Seq]

ABSTRACT: The genome is organized in megabasesized three-dimensional units, called Topologically Associated Domains (TADs), that are separated by boundaries. TADs bring distant cis-regulatory elements into proximity, facilitated by the cooperative action of cohesin and the DNA binding factor CTCF. However, how TADs and their boundaries impinge on enhancer function remains an open question. Here, we investigate TAD function in vivo in mice at the Sox9/Kcnj locus. We find that TADs are formed by a redundant system of CTCF sites requiring the removal of all major sites within the TAD and at the boundary for two neighboring TADs to fuse. TAD fusion resulted in a low degree of regulatory spread from the Sox9 to the Kcnj TAD, but no major changes in gene expression, indicating that TAD structures provide robustness and precision, but are not essential for developmental gene regulation. Gene misexpression and consecutive disease phenotypes, however, were attained by re-directing regulatory activity through inversions and/or the re-positioning of boundaries. Thus, efficient re-wiring of enhancer promoter interaction and aberrant disease causing gene activation is not induced by a mere loss of insulation but requires the re-direction of contacts.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE125292 | GEO | 2019/06/01

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:The genome is partitioned into Topologically Associating Domains (TADs). About half of the boundaries of these TADs exhibit transcriptional activity and are correlated with better TAD insulation. However, the association between these transcripts and TAD insulation, enhancer:promoter interactions and transcription of genes remains unknown. Here we investigate the functional roles of these bRNAs (boundary-RNA) in boundary insulation and consequent effects on enhancer-promoter interactions and TAD transcription genome-wide and more specifically on the disease relevant INK4a/ARF TAD. Using a series of CTCF site deletions and bRNA knockdown experiments at this TAD boundary, we show a direct association of CTCF with the bidirectional bRNAs where the loss of bRNA triggers the concomitant loss of: CTCF at the TAD boundary, its insulation, enhancer:promoter interactions and gene transcription within the targeted TAD. We used another series of enhancer deletions and CRISPRi on promoters within INK4a/ARF TAD to better understand the regulation and origins of bRNA itself. We observe that the enhancers interact with boundaries and positively regulate the bRNA transcription at TAD boundaries. In return, the bRNAs recruit/stabilize the CTCF even on weak motifs within these boundaries and supports CTCF binding in clusters, therefore enhancing TAD insulation. This favors the intra-TAD enhancer:promoter interactions and leads to robust gene transcription. Functionally, bRNAs are more stable than eRNAs and their knockdown exactly mimics the CTCF site deletion. Furthermore, transcribing boundaries exhibit high TAD transcription in TCGA tumour datasets. Together, these results show that active enhancers directly mediate better insulation of TADs by activating the transcription at TAD boundaries triggering CTCF clustering at the boundary which results in better insulation and favours robust intra-TAD enhancer:promoter interactions to activate the gene transcription.

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Functional dissection of regulatory landscapes reveals non-essential and instructive roles of TADs in regulating gene expression [ATAC-Seq]

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