FGF signalling regulates chromatin organisation during neural differentiation via mechanisms that can be uncoupled from transcription.

ABSTRACT: Changes in higher order chromatin organisation have been linked to transcriptional regulation; however, little is known about how such organisation alters during embryonic development or how it is regulated by extrinsic signals. Here we analyse changes in chromatin organisation as neural differentiation progresses, exploiting the clear spatial separation of the temporal events of differentiation along the elongating body axis of the mouse embryo. Combining fluorescence in situ hybridisation with super-resolution structured illumination microscopy, we show that chromatin around key differentiation gene loci Pax6 and Irx3 undergoes both decompaction and displacement towards the nuclear centre coincident with transcriptional onset. Conversely, down-regulation of Fgf8 as neural differentiation

SUBMITTER: Patel NS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3715432 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature