Project description:Mammalian chromosomes are partitioned into topologically associating domains (TADs) by the loop-extrusion activity of cohesin that is blocked at specific DNA sites bound by CTCF. Chromosome structure inside TADs is highly variable in single cells, yet little is known about its temporal dynamics, how it influences the rates and durations of chromosomal contacts, and how it depends on CTCF and cohesin. To address these questions we combine two quantitative live-cell imaging strategies that minimize locus-specific confounding effects. We show that loop extrusion by cohesin globally reduces the mobility of the chromatin fiber in living cells, while also increasing the rates of formation and durations of contacts between sequences inside the same TAD. Quantitative analysis of high-resolution microscopy data reveals that contacts assemble and disassemble frequently in the course of the cell cycle, and become substantially more frequent and longer in the presence of convergent CTCF sites. Comparison with polymer modeling additionally reveals that cohesin-mediated CTCF loops last around 10 minutes on average. Our data support the notion that chromosome structure within TADs is highly dynamic and provide a quantitative framework for understanding the principles that link chromosome structure to biological function.
Project description:Mammalian chromosomes are partitioned into topologically associating domains (TADs) by the loop-extrusion activity of cohesin that is blocked at specific DNA sites bound by CTCF. Chromosome structure inside TADs is highly variable in single cells, yet little is known about its temporal dynamics, how it influences the rates and durations of chromosomal contacts, and how it depends on CTCF and cohesin. To address these questions we combine two quantitative live-cell imaging strategies that minimize locus-specific confounding effects. We show that loop extrusion by cohesin globally reduces the mobility of the chromatin fiber in living cells, while also increasing the rates of formation and durations of contacts between sequences inside the same TAD. Quantitative analysis of high-resolution microscopy data reveals that contacts assemble and disassemble frequently in the course of the cell cycle, and become substantially more frequent and longer in the presence of convergent CTCF sites. Comparison with polymer modeling additionally reveals that cohesin-mediated CTCF loops last around 10 minutes on average. Our data support the notion that chromosome structure within TADs is highly dynamic and provide a quantitative framework for understanding the principles that link chromosome structure to biological function.
Project description:Mammalian chromosomes are partitioned into topologically associating domains (TADs) by the loop-extrusion activity of cohesin that is blocked at specific DNA sites bound by CTCF. Chromosome structure inside TADs is highly variable in single cells, yet little is known about its temporal dynamics, how it influences the rates and durations of chromosomal contacts, and how it depends on CTCF and cohesin. To address these questions we combine two quantitative live-cell imaging strategies that minimize locus-specific confounding effects. We show that loop extrusion by cohesin globally reduces the mobility of the chromatin fiber in living cells, while also increasing the rates of formation and durations of contacts between sequences inside the same TAD. Quantitative analysis of high-resolution microscopy data reveals that contacts assemble and disassemble frequently in the course of the cell cycle, and become substantially more frequent and longer in the presence of convergent CTCF sites. Comparison with polymer modeling additionally reveals that cohesin-mediated CTCF loops last around 10 minutes on average. Our data support the notion that chromosome structure within TADs is highly dynamic and provide a quantitative framework for understanding the principles that link chromosome structure to biological function.
Project description:Mammalian chromosomes are partitioned into topologically associating domains (TADs) by the loop-extrusion activity of cohesin that is blocked at specific DNA sites bound by CTCF. Chromosome structure inside TADs is highly variable in single cells, yet little is known about its temporal dynamics, how it influences the rates and durations of chromosomal contacts, and how it depends on CTCF and cohesin. To address these questions we combine two quantitative live-cell imaging strategies that minimize locus-specific confounding effects. We show that loop extrusion by cohesin globally reduces the mobility of the chromatin fiber in living cells, while also increasing the rates of formation and durations of contacts between sequences inside the same TAD. Quantitative analysis of high-resolution microscopy data reveals that contacts assemble and disassemble frequently in the course of the cell cycle, and become substantially more frequent and longer in the presence of convergent CTCF sites. Comparison with polymer modeling additionally reveals that cohesin-mediated CTCF loops last around 10 minutes on average. Our data support the notion that chromosome structure within TADs is highly dynamic and provide a quantitative framework for understanding the principles that link chromosome structure to biological function.
Project description:We developed a targeted chromosome conformation capture (4C) approach that uses unique molecular identifiers (UMI) to derive high complexity quantitative chromosome contact profiles with controlled signal to noise ratios. We demonstrate that the method improves the sensitivity and specificity for detection of long-range chromosomal interactions, and that it allows the design of interaction screens with predictable statistical power. UMI-4C robustly quantifies contact intensity changes between cell types and conditions, opening the way toward incorporation of long-range interactions in quantitative models of gene regulation. We constructed UMI-4C profiles of 13 different genomic loci (viewpoints) in five different cell lines, in order to study the 3D chromatin contact maps of these selected loci. The coordinates for these viewpoints are: G1p1 chrX:48646542; baitG1_3_5kb chrX:48641393; bait_50kb chrX:48595987; bait_165kb chrX:48476525; ANK1 chr8:41654693; hbb_3HS chr11:5221346; hbb_HBB chr11:5248714; hbb_HBBP1_G1 chr11:5266532; HBB_HBE chr11:5292159; HBB_HS2 chr11:5301345; HBB_HS3 chr11:5306690; HBB_HS5 chr11:5313539; HBB_HBD chr11:5256597
Project description:We developed a targeted chromosome conformation capture (4C) approach that uses unique molecular identifiers (UMI) to derive high complexity quantitative chromosome contact profiles with controlled signal to noise ratios. We demonstrate that the method improves the sensitivity and specificity for detection of long-range chromosomal interactions, and that it allows the design of interaction screens with predictable statistical power. UMI-4C robustly quantifies contact intensity changes between cell types and conditions, opening the way toward incorporation of long-range interactions in quantitative models of gene regulation.