Cell Type-Specific Epigenomic Analysis Reveals a Uniquely Closed Chromatin Architecture in Mouse Rod Photoreceptors.

ABSTRACT: Rod photoreceptors are specialized neurons that mediate vision in dim light and are the predominant photoreceptor type in nocturnal mammals. The rods of nocturnal mammals are unique among vertebrate cell types in having an 'inverted' nuclear architecture, with a dense mass of heterochromatin in the center of the nucleus rather than dispersed clumps at the periphery. To test if this unique nuclear architecture is correlated with a unique epigenomic landscape, we performed ATAC-seq on mouse rods and their most closely related cell type, cone photoreceptors. We find that thousands of loci are selectively closed in rods relative to cones as well as >60 additional cell types. Furthermore, we find that the open chromatin profile of photoreceptors lacking the rod master regulator Nrl is nearly in

SUBMITTER: Hughes AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5335693 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature