Hierarchical folding and reorganization of chromosomes are linked to transcriptional changes in cellular differentiation.

ABSTRACT: Mammalian chromosomes fold into arrays of megabase-sized topologically associating domains (TADs), which are arranged into compartments spanning multiple megabases of genomic DNA. TADs have internal substructures that are often cell type specific, but their higher-order organization remains elusive. Here, we investigate TAD higher-order interactions with Hi-C through neuronal differentiation and show that they form a hierarchy of domains-within-domains (metaTADs) extending across genomic scales up to the range of entire chromosomes. We find that TAD interactions are well captured by tree-like, hierarchical structures irrespective of cell type. metaTAD tree structures correlate with genetic, epigenomic and expression features, and structural tree rearrangements during differentiation are li

SUBMITTER: Fraser J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4704492 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature