Transcriptionally active HERV-H retrotransposons demarcate topologically associating domains in human pluripotent stem cells.

ABSTRACT: Chromatin architecture has been implicated in cell type-specific gene regulatory programs, yet how chromatin remodels during development remains to be fully elucidated. Here, by interrogating chromatin reorganization during human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) differentiation, we discover a role for the primate-specific endogenous retrotransposon human endogenous retrovirus subfamily H (HERV-H) in creating topologically associating domains (TADs) in hPSCs. Deleting these HERV-H elements eliminates their corresponding TAD boundaries and reduces the transcription of upstream genes, while de novo insertion of HERV-H elements can introduce new TAD boundaries. The ability of HERV-H to create TAD boundaries depends on high transcription, as transcriptional repression of HERV-H elements prevents th

SUBMITTER: Zhang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6722002 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature