Project description:The three-dimensional (3D) organization of chromosomes can influence transcription. However, the frequency and magnitude of these effects is still controversial. To determine how changes in chromosome positioning affect transcription we characterized nuclear organization and global gene expression after large-scale chromosomal rearrangements in budding yeast. We used computational modelling and single cell imaging to determine chromosome position and integrated these data with genome-wide transcriptional profiles from RNA sequencing. Chromosome displacement relative to the nuclear periphery has mild but widespread and significant effects on transcription. Our study suggests that basal transcriptional activity is sensitive to radial changes on chromosomal position, and provides support for the functional relevance of budding yeast chromosome-level 3D organization in gene expression.
Project description:The extreme length of chromosomal DNA requires organizing mechanisms to both promote functional genetic interactions and ensure faithful chromosome segregation when cells divide. Microscopy and genome wide contact frequency (Hi-C) analyses indicate that intra-chromosomal looping of DNA is a primary pathway of chromosomal organization during all stages of the cell cycle (Dekker, J. & Mirny, L. . Cell 164, 1110–1121 (2016). Although the enzymatic pathways required for DNA loop formation are yet to be fully characterized, the activity of the SMC family of proteins has been consistently associated with this process in interphase and mitosis. Here we use Hi-C to study the reorganization of budding yeast chromosome conformation in early mitosis and the role of SMCs in this process. Using polymer simulations, we find that the differences between interphase and mitotic Hi-C maps can be explained by the formation of intra-chromosomal (cis-) loops in mitotic chromosomes. We demonstrate that mitotic SMC cohesin activity is required for formation of cis-loops, independently of sister-chromatid cohesion. In contrast, SMC condensin is not required for loop formation in these early mitotic cells. Rather condensin activity promotes distinct higher order structures in the chromosomes at centromeres and in the rDNA proximal regions. Thus we demonstrate that cohesin-dependent cis-loops provide the primary higher order organization of budding yeast mitotic chromosomes, independently of condensin and sister chromatid cohesion.
Project description:The ring-shaped cohesin complex is thought to topologically hold sister chromatids together from their synthesis in S-phase until chromosome segregation in mitosis. How cohesin stably binds to chromosomes for extended periods, without impeding other chromosomal processes that also require access to the DNA, is poorly understood. Budding yeast cohesin is loaded onto DNA by the Scc2-Scc4 cohesin loader at centromeres and promoters of active genes, from where cohesin translocates to more permanent places of residence at transcription termination sites. Here we show that, at the GAL2 and MET17 loci, pre-existing cohesin is pushed downstream along the DNA in response to transcriptional gene activation, apparently without need for intermittent dissociation or reloading. We observe translocation intermediates and find that the distribution of most chromosomal cohesin is shaped by transcription. Our observations support a model in which cohesin is able to slide laterally along chromosomes while maintaining topological contact with DNA. In this way, stable cohesin binding to DNA and enduring sister chromatid cohesion become compatible with simultaneous underlying chromosomal activities, including but maybe not limited to transcription.
Project description:Aneuploidy frequently occurs in cancer and developmental diseases such as Down syndrome, with its functional consequences implicated in dosage effects on gene expression and global perturbation of stress response and cell proliferation pathways. However, how aneuploidy affects spatial genome organization remains less understood. In this study, we addressed this question by utilizing the previously established isogenic wild-type (WT) and trisomic mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). We employed a combination of Hi-C, RNA-seq, chromosome painting and nascent RNA imaging technologies to compare the spatial genome structures and gene transcription among these cells. We found that trisomy has little effect on spatial genome organization at the level of A/B compartment or topologically associating domain (TAD). Inter-chromosomal interactions are associated with chromosome regions with high gene density, active histone modifications and high transcription levels, which are confirmed by imaging. Imaging also revealed contracted chromosome volume and weakened transcriptional activity for trisomic chromosomes, suggesting potential implications for the transcriptional output of these chromosomes. Our data resources and findings may contribute to a better understanding of the consequences of aneuploidy from the angle of spatial genome organization.
Project description:The extent to which the three-dimensional organization of the genome contributes to chromosomal translocations is an important question in cancer genomics. We now have generated a high-resolution Hi-C spatial organization map of the G1-arrested mouse pro-B cell genome and mapped translocations from target DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) within it via high-throughput genome-wide translocation sequencing. RAG endonuclease-cleaved antigen-receptor loci are dominant translocation partners for target DSBs regardless of genomic position, reflecting high frequency DSBs at these loci and their co-localization in a fraction of cells. To directly assess spatial proximity contributions, we normalized genomic DSBs via ionizing-radiation. Under these conditions, translocations were highly enriched in cis along single chromosomes containing target DSBs and within other chromosomes and sub-chromosomal domains in a manner directly related to pre-existing spatial proximity. Our studies reveal the power of combining two high-throughput genomic methods to address long-standing questions in cancer biology. Hi-C interaction maps for WT and ATM -/- G1-arrested AMuLV-transformed pro-B cell lines.
Project description:The hybridization of nucleic acid targets with surface-immobilized probes is a widely used assay format for high-throughput detection of many parallel targetsin medical and biological research. Though commonly applied, microarray technology still suffers limitations arising from problems of data robustness and reproducibility across platforms, stemming in part from an incomplete understanding of the complex processes governing surface hybridization behavior. It has been observed that there are non-random spatial variations within individual microarray hybridizations, but the causative mechanisms of positional bias remain largely unexplained. This study identifies a symptomatic spatial bias in surface hybridization signal intensitywith systematically increased signal intensities of spots located at the boundaries of the spotted areas of the microarray slide and characterizes the underlying mechanistic principle of this bias using a simplified block array format. Experimentally-derived hybridization dynamics are compared with a mathematical modeling analysis, which together showthat the driver of the spatial bias is a position-dependent variation in lateral diffusion. Numerical simulations employing a diffusion-based model are used to demonstrate the strong influence of microarray well geometry on this spatial bias and to determine optimal conditions for which this bias can be minimized or eliminated, resulting in increased uniformity of microarray hybridization. A simplified square array of 900 identical spotted probes was hybridized using different target concentrations and different time periods to analyze systematically spatial biases in microarray hybridizations.
Project description:Eukaryotic chromosomes reach their stable rod-shaped appearance in mitosis in a reaction dependent on the evolutionarily conserved condensin complex. Little is known about how and where condensin associates with chromosomes. Here, we analyse condensin binding to budding yeast chromosomes using high resolution oligonucleotide tiling arrays. Condensin binding sites coincide with those of the loading factor Scc2/4 of the related cohesin complex. The sites map to tRNA genes, ribosomal protein genes, and other places characterised by the RNA polymerase III transcription factor TFIIIC. An ectopic B-Box element, recognised by TFIIIC, constitutes a minimal condensin binding site, and TFIIIC and the Scc2/4 complex promote productive condensin association with chromosomes. A similar pattern of condensin binding is conserved along fission yeast chromosomes. This reveals that TFIIIC binding sites, including tRNA genes, constitute a hitherto unknown chromosomal feature with important implications for chromosome architecture during both interphase and mitosis. Keywords: Chip-chip, cell type comparison
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE10697: Self-Self Hybridisation were used to set confidence 99% intervals GSE10698: The effects of artificial tethering of chromosomes to the nuclear periphery using LacI/lap2b anchorage constructs 1 GSE10699: The effects of artificial tethering of chromosomes to the nuclear periphery using LacI/lap2b anchorage constructs 2 Background: The spatial organisation of the genome in the nucleus has a role in the regulation of gene expression. In mammals, chromosomal regions with low gene-density are located close to the nuclear periphery. Correlations have also been made between the transcriptional state of some genes and their location near the nuclear periphery. However, a crucial issue is whether this level of nuclear organisation directly affects gene function, rather than merely reflecting it. Methodology: To directly investigate whether proximity to the nuclear periphery can influence gene expression in mammalian cells. here we relocate specific human chromosomes to the nuclear periphery by tethering them to a protein of the inner nuclear membrane. Principal findings: We show that this can reversibly suppress the expression of some endogenous human genes located near the tethering sites, and even genes further away. However, the expression of many other genes is not detectably reduced and we show that location at the nuclear periphery is not incompatible with active transcription. The dampening of gene expression around the nuclear periphery is dependent on the activity of histone deacetylases. Significance: Our data show that the radial position within the nucleus can influence the expression of some, but not all, genes. This is compatible with the suggestion that re-localisation of genes to the peripheral zone of the nucleus could be used by metazoans to modulate the expression of selected genes during development and differentiation. Keywords: SuperSeries Refer to individual Series
Project description:The extent to which the three-dimensional organization of the genome contributes to chromosomal translocations is an important question in cancer genomics. We now have generated a high-resolution Hi-C spatial organization map of the G1-arrested mouse pro-B cell genome and mapped translocations from target DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) within it via high-throughput genome-wide translocation sequencing. RAG endonuclease-cleaved antigen-receptor loci are dominant translocation partners for target DSBs regardless of genomic position, reflecting high frequency DSBs at these loci and their co-localization in a fraction of cells. To directly assess spatial proximity contributions, we normalized genomic DSBs via ionizing-radiation. Under these conditions, translocations were highly enriched in cis along single chromosomes containing target DSBs and within other chromosomes and sub-chromosomal domains in a manner directly related to pre-existing spatial proximity. Our studies reveal the power of combining two high-throughput genomic methods to address long-standing questions in cancer biology.
Project description:The hybridization of nucleic acid targets with surface-immobilized probes is a widely used assay format for high-throughput detection of many parallel targetsin medical and biological research. Though commonly applied, microarray technology still suffers limitations arising from problems of data robustness and reproducibility across platforms, stemming in part from an incomplete understanding of the complex processes governing surface hybridization behavior. It has been observed that there are non-random spatial variations within individual microarray hybridizations, but the causative mechanisms of positional bias remain largely unexplained. This study identifies a symptomatic spatial bias in surface hybridization signal intensitywith systematically increased signal intensities of spots located at the boundaries of the spotted areas of the microarray slide and characterizes the underlying mechanistic principle of this bias using a simplified block array format. Experimentally-derived hybridization dynamics are compared with a mathematical modeling analysis, which together showthat the driver of the spatial bias is a position-dependent variation in lateral diffusion. Numerical simulations employing a diffusion-based model are used to demonstrate the strong influence of microarray well geometry on this spatial bias and to determine optimal conditions for which this bias can be minimized or eliminated, resulting in increased uniformity of microarray hybridization.