Project description:Non-coding variants coordinate transcription factor (TF) binding and chromatin mark enrichment changes over regions spanning >100 kb. We named these molecularly coordinated regions “variable chromatin modules” (VCMs), providing a conceptual framework of how regulatory variation might shape complex traits. To better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying VCM formation, here, we mechanistically dissect an uncharacterized VCM-modulating non-coding variant that is associated with reduced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) predisposition and disease progression. This common, germline variant constitutes a 5-bp indel that controls the activity of an AXIN2 gene-linked VCM by creating a MEF2 binding site, which, upon binding, activates a super-enhancer-like regulatory element. This triggers a big change in TF binding activity and chromatin state at an enhancer cluster spanning >150 kb, coinciding with long-range chromatin compaction and AXIN2 up-regulation. Our results support a model in which the indel acts as an AXIN2 VCM-activating TF nucleation event, which modulates CLL pathology.
Project description:Eukaryotic chromosomes are composed of chromatin, in which regularly spaced nucleosomes containing ~147 bp of DNA are separated by linker DNA. Most eukaryotic cells have a characteristic average nucleosome spacing of ~190 bp, corresponding to a ~45 bp linker. However, cortical neurons have a shorter average spacing of ~165 bp. The significance of this atypical global chromatin organization is unclear. We have compared the chromatin structures of purified mouse dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons, cortical oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) and cortical astrocytes. DRG neurons have short average spacing (~165 bp), whereas OPCs (~182 bp) and astrocytes (~183 bp) have longer spacing. We measured nucleosome positions by MNase-seq and gene expression by RNA-seq. Most genes in all three cell types have a promoter chromatin organization typical of active genes: a nucleosome-depleted region at the promoter flanked by regularly spaced nucleosomes phased relative to the transcription start site. In DRG neurons, the spacing of phased nucleosomes downstream of promoters (~178 bp) is longer than expected from the genomic average, whereas phased nucleosome spacing in OPCs and astrocytes is similar to the global average (~183 bp). Thus, the atypical nucleosome spacing of neuronal chromatin does not extend to promoter-proximal regions.