1
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Forte G, Buckle A, Boyle S, Marenduzzo D, Gilbert N, Brackley CA. Transcription modulates chromatin dynamics and locus configuration sampling. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2023; 30:1275-1285. [PMID: 37537334 PMCID: PMC10497412 DOI: 10.1038/s41594-023-01059-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/05/2023]
Abstract
In living cells, the 3D structure of gene loci is dynamic, but this is not revealed by 3C and FISH experiments in fixed samples, leaving a notable gap in our understanding. To overcome these limitations, we applied the highly predictive heteromorphic polymer (HiP-HoP) model to determine chromatin fiber mobility at the Pax6 locus in three mouse cell lines with different transcription states. While transcriptional activity minimally affects movement of 40-kbp regions, we observed that motion of smaller 1-kbp regions depends strongly on local disruption to chromatin fiber structure marked by H3K27 acetylation. This also substantially influenced locus configuration dynamics by modulating protein-mediated promoter-enhancer loops. Importantly, these simulations indicate that chromatin dynamics are sufficiently fast to sample all possible locus conformations within minutes, generating wide dynamic variability within single cells. This combination of simulation and experimental validation provides insight into how transcriptional activity influences chromatin structure and gene dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giada Forte
- SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Adam Buckle
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics & Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Shelagh Boyle
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics & Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Davide Marenduzzo
- SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Nick Gilbert
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics & Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK.
| | - Chris A Brackley
- SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
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2
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Kadam S, Kumari K, Manivannan V, Dutta S, Mitra MK, Padinhateeri R. Predicting scale-dependent chromatin polymer properties from systematic coarse-graining. Nat Commun 2023; 14:4108. [PMID: 37433821 PMCID: PMC10336007 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39907-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Simulating chromatin is crucial for predicting genome organization and dynamics. Although coarse-grained bead-spring polymer models are commonly used to describe chromatin, the relevant bead dimensions, elastic properties, and the nature of inter-bead potentials are unknown. Using nucleosome-resolution contact probability (Micro-C) data, we systematically coarse-grain chromatin and predict quantities essential for polymer representation of chromatin. We compute size distributions of chromatin beads for different coarse-graining scales, quantify fluctuations and distributions of bond lengths between neighboring regions, and derive effective spring constant values. Unlike the prevalent notion, our findings argue that coarse-grained chromatin beads must be considered as soft particles that can overlap, and we derive an effective inter-bead soft potential and quantify an overlap parameter. We also compute angle distributions giving insights into intrinsic folding and local bendability of chromatin. While the nucleosome-linker DNA bond angle naturally emerges from our work, we show two populations of local structural states. The bead sizes, bond lengths, and bond angles show different mean behavior at Topologically Associating Domain (TAD) boundaries and TAD interiors. We integrate our findings into a coarse-grained polymer model and provide quantitative estimates of all model parameters, which can serve as a foundational basis for all future coarse-grained chromatin simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sangram Kadam
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, 400076, India.
| | - Kiran Kumari
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, 400076, India
| | - Vinoth Manivannan
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, 400076, India
| | - Shuvadip Dutta
- Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, 400076, India
| | - Mithun K Mitra
- Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, 400076, India
| | - Ranjith Padinhateeri
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, 400076, India.
- Sunita Sanghi Centre of Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, 400076, India.
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3
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Bajpai G, Safran S. Mesoscale, long-time mixing of chromosomes and its connection to polymer dynamics. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1011142. [PMID: 37228178 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/01/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Chromosomes are arranged in distinct territories within the nucleus of animal cells. Recent experiments have shown that these territories overlap at their edges, suggesting partial mixing during interphase. Experiments that knock-down of condensin II proteins during interphase indicate increased chromosome mixing, which demonstrates control of the mixing. In this study, we use a generic polymer simulation to quantify the dynamics of chromosome mixing over time. We introduce the chromosome mixing index, which quantifies the mixing of distinct chromosomes in the nucleus. We find that the chromosome mixing index in a small confinement volume (as a model of the nucleus), increases as a power-law of the time, with the scaling exponent varying non-monotonically with self-interaction and volume fraction. By comparing the chromosome mixing index with both monomer subdiffusion due to (non-topological) intermingling of chromosomes as well as even slower reptation, we show that for relatively large volume fractions, the scaling exponent of the chromosome mixing index is related to Rouse dynamics for relatively weak chromosome attractions and to reptation for strong attractions. In addition, we extend our model to more realistically account for the situation of the Drosophila chromosome by including the heterogeneity of the polymers and their lengths to account for microphase separation of euchromatin and heterochromatin and their interactions with the nuclear lamina. We find that the interaction with the lamina further impedes chromosome mixing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaurav Bajpai
- Department of Chemical and Biological Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Samuel Safran
- Department of Chemical and Biological Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
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4
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Thuma J, Chung YC, Tu LC. Advances and challenges in CRISPR-based real-time imaging of dynamic genome organization. Front Mol Biosci 2023; 10:1173545. [PMID: 37065447 PMCID: PMC10102487 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1173545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/23/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Nuclear chromosome compaction is non-random and dynamic. The spatial distance among genomic elements instantly modulates transcription. Visualization of the genome organization in the cell nucleus is essential to understand nuclear function. In addition to cell type-dependent organization, high-resolution 3D imaging shows heterogeneous compaction of chromatin organization among the same cell type. Questions remain to be answered if these structural variations were the snapshots of dynamic organization at different time points and if they are functionally different. Live-cell imaging has provided unique insights into dynamic genome organization at short (milliseconds) and long (hours) time scales. The recent development of CRISPR-based imaging opened windows for studying dynamic chromatin organization in single cells in real time. Here we highlight these CRISPR-based imaging techniques and discuss their advances and challenges as a powerful live-cell imaging method that poses high potential to generate paradigm-shifting discoveries and reveal functional implications of dynamic chromatin organization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenna Thuma
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- Interdisciplinary Biophysics Graduate Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Yu-Chieh Chung
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Li-Chun Tu
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- Interdisciplinary Biophysics Graduate Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- Center for RNA Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
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5
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Roy PK, Chaudhuri P, Vemparala S. Effect of ring stiffness and ambient pressure on the dynamical slowdown in ring polymers. SOFT MATTER 2022; 18:2959-2967. [PMID: 35348146 DOI: 10.1039/d1sm01754c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Using extensive molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the slowdown of dynamics in a 3D system of ring polymers by varying the ambient pressure and the stiffness of the rings. Our study demonstrates that the stiffness of the rings determines the dynamics of the ring polymers, leading to glassiness at lower pressures for stiffer rings. The threading of the ring polymers, a unique feature that emerges only due to the topological nature of such polymers in three dimensions, is shown to be the determinant feature of dynamical slowdown, albeit only in a certain stiffness range. Our results suggest a possible framework for exploring the phase space spanned by ring stiffness and pressure to obtain spontaneously emerging topologically constrained polymer glasses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Projesh Kumar Roy
- The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, C. I. T. Campus, Taramani, Chennai 600113, India.
- Homi Bhabha National Institute, Training School Complex, Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai 400094, India
| | - Pinaki Chaudhuri
- The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, C. I. T. Campus, Taramani, Chennai 600113, India.
- Homi Bhabha National Institute, Training School Complex, Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai 400094, India
| | - Satyavani Vemparala
- The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, C. I. T. Campus, Taramani, Chennai 600113, India.
- Homi Bhabha National Institute, Training School Complex, Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai 400094, India
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6
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Sanders JT, Golloshi R, Das P, Xu Y, Terry PH, Nash DG, Dekker J, McCord RP. Loops, topologically associating domains, compartments, and territories are elastic and robust to dramatic nuclear volume swelling. Sci Rep 2022; 12:4721. [PMID: 35304523 PMCID: PMC8933507 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08602-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Layers of genome organization are becoming increasingly better characterized, but less is known about how these structures respond to perturbation or shape changes. Low-salt swelling of isolated chromatin fibers or nuclei has been used for decades to investigate the structural properties of chromatin. But, visible changes in chromatin appearance have not been linked to known building blocks of genome structure or features along the genome sequence. We combine low-salt swelling of isolated nuclei with genome-wide chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) and imaging approaches to probe the effects of chromatin extension genome-wide. Photoconverted patterns on nuclei during expansion and contraction indicate that global genome structure is preserved after dramatic nuclear volume swelling, suggesting a highly elastic chromosome topology. Hi-C experiments before, during, and after nuclear swelling show changes in average contact probabilities at short length scales, reflecting the extension of the local chromatin fiber. But, surprisingly, during this large increase in nuclear volume, there is a striking maintenance of loops, TADs, active and inactive compartments, and chromosome territories. Subtle differences after expansion are observed, suggesting that the local chromatin state, protein interactions, and location in the nucleus can affect how strongly a given structure is maintained under stress. From these observations, we propose that genome topology is robust to extension of the chromatin fiber and isotropic shape change, and that this elasticity may be beneficial in physiological circumstances of changes in nuclear size and volume.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob T Sanders
- Department of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - Rosela Golloshi
- Department of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - Priyojit Das
- UT-ORNL Graduate School of Genome Science and Technology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Yang Xu
- UT-ORNL Graduate School of Genome Science and Technology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Peyton H Terry
- Department of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - Darrian G Nash
- Department of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - Job Dekker
- Program in Systems Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
| | - Rachel Patton McCord
- Department of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA.
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7
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The Physical Behavior of Interphase Chromosomes: Polymer Theory and Coarse-Grain Computer Simulations. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2301:235-258. [PMID: 34415539 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1390-0_12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Fluorescence in situ hybridization and chromosome conformation capture methods point to the same conclusion: that chromosomes appear to the external observer as compact structures with a highly nonrandom three-dimensional organization. In this work, we recapitulate the efforts made by us and other groups to rationalize this behavior in terms of the mathematical language and tools of polymer physics. After a brief introduction dedicated to some crucial experiments dissecting the structure of interphase chromosomes, we discuss at a nonspecialistic level some fundamental aspects of theoretical and numerical polymer physics. Then, we inglobe biological and polymer aspects into a polymer model for interphase chromosomes which moves from the observation that mutual topological constraints, such as those typically present between polymer chains in ordinary melts, induce slow chain dynamics and "constraint" chromosomes to resemble double-folded randomly branched polymer conformations. By explicitly turning these ideas into a multi-scale numerical algorithm which is described here in full details, we can design accurate model polymer conformations for interphase chromosomes and offer them for systematic comparison to experiments. The review is concluded by discussing the limitations of our approach and pointing to promising perspectives for future work.
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8
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Grigoriev SV, Iashina EG, Wu B, Pipich V, Lang C, Radulescu A, Bairamukov VY, Filatov MV, Pantina RA, Varfolomeeva EY. Observation of nucleic acid and protein correlation in chromatin of HeLa nuclei using small-angle neutron scattering with D_{2}O-H_{2}O contrast variation. Phys Rev E 2021; 104:044404. [PMID: 34781557 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.104.044404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2021] [Accepted: 08/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
The small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) on HeLa nuclei demonstrates the bifractal nature of the chromatin structural organization. The border line between two fractal structures is detected as a crossover point at Q_{c}≈4×10^{-2}nm^{-1} in the momentum transfer dependence Q^{-D}. The use of contrast variation (D_{2}O-H_{2}O) in SANS measurements reveals clear similarity in the large scale structural organizations of nucleic acids (NA) and proteins. Both NA and protein structures have a mass fractal arrangement with the fractal dimension of D≈2.5 at scales smaller than 150 nm down to 20 nm. Both NA and proteins show a logarithmic fractal behavior with D≈3 at scales larger than 150 nm up to 6000 nm. The combined analysis of the SANS and atomic force microscopy data allows one to conclude that chromatin and its constitutes (DNA and proteins) are characterized as soft, densely packed, logarithmic fractals on the large scale and as rigid, loosely packed, mass fractals on the smaller scale. The comparison of the partial cross sections from NA and proteins with one from chromatin as a whole demonstrates spatial correlation of two chromatin's components in the range up to 900 nm. Thus chromatin in HeLa nuclei is built as the unified structure of the NA and proteins entwined through each other. Correlation between two components is lost upon scale increases toward 6000 nm. The structural features at the large scale, probably, provide nuclei with the flexibility and chromatin-free space to build supercorrelations on the distance of 10^{3} nm resembling cycle cell activity, such as an appearance of nucleoli and a DNA replication.
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Affiliation(s)
- S V Grigoriev
- Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute named by B.P.Konstantinov of NRC Kurchatov Institute, Gatchina, St-Petersburg 188300, Russia.,Saint-Petersburg State University, Ulyanovskaya 1, Saint-Petersburg 198504, Russia
| | - E G Iashina
- Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute named by B.P.Konstantinov of NRC Kurchatov Institute, Gatchina, St-Petersburg 188300, Russia.,Saint-Petersburg State University, Ulyanovskaya 1, Saint-Petersburg 198504, Russia
| | - B Wu
- Forschungszentrum Juelich, JCNS-4 at MLZ, Lichtenbergstr. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - V Pipich
- Forschungszentrum Juelich, JCNS-4 at MLZ, Lichtenbergstr. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Ch Lang
- Forschungszentrum Juelich, JCNS-4 at MLZ, Lichtenbergstr. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - A Radulescu
- Forschungszentrum Juelich, JCNS-4 at MLZ, Lichtenbergstr. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - V Yu Bairamukov
- Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute named by B.P.Konstantinov of NRC Kurchatov Institute, Gatchina, St-Petersburg 188300, Russia
| | - M V Filatov
- Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute named by B.P.Konstantinov of NRC Kurchatov Institute, Gatchina, St-Petersburg 188300, Russia
| | - R A Pantina
- Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute named by B.P.Konstantinov of NRC Kurchatov Institute, Gatchina, St-Petersburg 188300, Russia
| | - E Yu Varfolomeeva
- Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute named by B.P.Konstantinov of NRC Kurchatov Institute, Gatchina, St-Petersburg 188300, Russia
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9
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Dawson WK, Lazniewski M, Plewczynski D. Free energy-based model of CTCF-mediated chromatin looping in the human genome. Methods 2020; 181-182:35-51. [PMID: 32645447 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2020.05.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2019] [Revised: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 05/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent years, high-throughput techniques have revealed considerable structural organization of the human genome with diverse regions of the chromatin interacting with each other in the form of loops. Some of these loops are quite complex and may encompass regions comprised of many interacting chain segments around a central locus. Popular techniques for extracting this information are chromatin interaction analysis by paired-end tag sequencing (ChIA-PET) and high-throughput chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C). Here, we introduce a physics-based method to predict the three-dimensional structure of chromatin from population-averaged ChIA-PET data. The approach uses experimentally-validated data from human B-lymphoblastoid cells to generate 2D meta-structures of chromatin using a dynamic programming algorithm that explores the chromatin free energy landscape. By generating both optimal and suboptimal meta-structures we can calculate both the free energy and additionally the relative thermodynamic probability. A 3D structure prediction program with applied restraints then can be used to generate the tertiary structures. The main advantage of this approach for population-averaged experimental data is that it provides a way to distinguish between the principal and the spurious contacts. This study also finds that euchromatin appear to have rather precisely regulated 2D meta-structures compared to heterochromatin. The program source-code is available at https://github.com/plewczynski/looper.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wayne K Dawson
- Laboratory of Functional and Structural Genomics, Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw, Banacha 2c, Warsaw 02-089, Poland; Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 103-8657, Japan.
| | - Michal Lazniewski
- Laboratory of Functional and Structural Genomics, Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw, Banacha 2c, Warsaw 02-089, Poland; Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Computational Genomics, Faculty of Mathematics and Information Science, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Dariusz Plewczynski
- Laboratory of Functional and Structural Genomics, Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw, Banacha 2c, Warsaw 02-089, Poland; Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Computational Genomics, Faculty of Mathematics and Information Science, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland.
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10
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Shaban HA, Seeber A. Monitoring the spatio-temporal organization and dynamics of the genome. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:3423-3434. [PMID: 32123910 PMCID: PMC7144944 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2019] [Revised: 02/17/2020] [Accepted: 02/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The spatio-temporal organization of chromatin in the eukaryotic cell nucleus is of vital importance for transcription, DNA replication and genome maintenance. Each of these activities is tightly regulated in both time and space. While we have a good understanding of chromatin organization in space, for example in fixed snapshots as a result of techniques like FISH and Hi-C, little is known about chromatin dynamics in living cells. The rapid development of flexible genomic loci imaging approaches can address fundamental questions on chromatin dynamics in a range of model organisms. Moreover, it is now possible to visualize not only single genomic loci but the whole genome simultaneously. These advances have opened many doors leading to insight into several nuclear processes including transcription and DNA repair. In this review, we discuss new chromatin imaging methods and how they have been applied to study transcription.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haitham A Shaban
- Center for Advanced Imaging, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Spectroscopy Department, Physics Division, National Research Centre, Dokki, 12622 Cairo, Egypt
| | - Andrew Seeber
- Center for Advanced Imaging, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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11
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Virk RKA, Wu W, Almassalha LM, Bauer GM, Li Y, VanDerway D, Frederick J, Zhang D, Eshein A, Roy HK, Szleifer I, Backman V. Disordered chromatin packing regulates phenotypic plasticity. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:eaax6232. [PMID: 31934628 PMCID: PMC6949045 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aax6232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Accepted: 11/08/2019] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Three-dimensional supranucleosomal chromatin packing plays a profound role in modulating gene expression by regulating transcription reactions through mechanisms such as gene accessibility, binding affinities, and molecular diffusion. Here, we use a computational model that integrates disordered chromatin packing (CP) with local macromolecular crowding (MC) to study how physical factors, including chromatin density, the scaling of chromatin packing, and the size of chromatin packing domains, influence gene expression. We computationally and experimentally identify a major role of these physical factors, specifically chromatin packing scaling, in regulating phenotypic plasticity, determining responsiveness to external stressors by influencing both intercellular transcriptional malleability and heterogeneity. Applying CPMC model predictions to transcriptional data from cancer patients, we identify an inverse relationship between patient survival and phenotypic plasticity of tumor cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ranya K. A. Virk
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Wenli Wu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Luay M. Almassalha
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Medical Scientist Training Program, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60211, USA
- Department of Internal Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60211, USA
| | - Greta M. Bauer
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Yue Li
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Applied Physics Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - David VanDerway
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Jane Frederick
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Di Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Adam Eshein
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Hemant K. Roy
- Section of Gastroenterology, Boston Medical Center/Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA
| | - Igal Szleifer
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Corresponding author. (V.B.); (I.S.)
| | - Vadim Backman
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Corresponding author. (V.B.); (I.S.)
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12
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Zhou R, Gao YQ. Polymer models for the mechanisms of chromatin 3D folding: review and perspective. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2020; 22:20189-20201. [DOI: 10.1039/d0cp01877e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
In this perspective paper, classical physical models for mammalian interphase chromatin folding are reviewed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui Zhou
- Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Center
- Peking University
- 100871 Beijing
- China
| | - Yi Qin Gao
- Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Center
- Peking University
- 100871 Beijing
- China
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Genomics
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13
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Merlotti A, Rosa A, Remondini D. Merging 1D and 3D genomic information: Challenges in modelling and validation. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-GENE REGULATORY MECHANISMS 2019; 1863:194415. [PMID: 31672524 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagrm.2019.194415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2019] [Revised: 07/25/2019] [Accepted: 07/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Genome organization in eukaryotes during interphase stems from the delicate balance between non-random correlations present in the DNA polynucleotide linear sequence and the physico/chemical reactions which shape continuously the form and structure of DNA and chromatin inside the nucleus of the cell. It is now clear that these mechanisms have a key role in important processes like gene regulation, yet the detailed ways they act simultaneously and, eventually, come to influence each other even across very different length-scales remain largely unexplored. In this paper, we recapitulate some of the main results concerning gene regulatory and physical mechanisms, in relation to the information encoded in the 1D sequence and the 3D folding structure of DNA. In particular, we stress how reciprocal crossfeeding between 1D and 3D models may provide original insight into how these complex processes work and influence each other. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Transcriptional Profiles and Regulatory Gene Networks edited by Dr. Dr. Federico Manuel Giorgi and Dr. Shaun Mahony.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Merlotti
- Department of Physics and Astronomy (DIFA), University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 6/2, Bologna 40127, Italy; INFN Sez., Bologna, Italy.
| | - Angelo Rosa
- Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, (Italy).
| | - Daniel Remondini
- Department of Physics and Astronomy (DIFA), University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 6/2, Bologna 40127, Italy; INFN Sez., Bologna, Italy.
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14
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Papale A, Rosa A. Microrheology of interphase chromosomes with spatial constraints: a computational study. Phys Biol 2019; 16:066002. [PMID: 31394517 DOI: 10.1088/1478-3975/ab39c1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Chromatin fibers within the interior of the nucleus of the cell make stable interactions with the nucleoskeleton, an ensemble of 'extra-chromatin' structures which help ensuring genome stability. Although the role of these interactions appears crucial to the correct behavior of the cell, their impact on chromatin structure and dynamics remains to be elucidated. In order to tackle this important issue, in this work we introduce a simple polymer model for chromatin fibers in interphase which takes into account the two generic properties of chain-versus-chain mutual uncrossability and the presence of stable binding interactions to an extra-chromatin nuclear matrix. To study how these constraints affect chromatin structure from small to large scales, we employ extensive molecular dynamics computer simulations and we monitor the motion of nanoprobes of different sizes embedded within the polymer medium. Our results demonstrate that nanoprobes show hampered motion whenever their linear size becomes larger than chromatin stiffness. This transition is also displaying features which usually belong to the realm of glassy systems, namely long-tail correlations in the distribution functions of nanoprobe spatial displacements and heterogeneous behavior accompanied by ergodicity breaking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Papale
- SISSA-Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy
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15
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Buckle A, Brackley CA, Boyle S, Marenduzzo D, Gilbert N. Polymer Simulations of Heteromorphic Chromatin Predict the 3D Folding of Complex Genomic Loci. Mol Cell 2018; 72:786-797.e11. [PMID: 30344096 PMCID: PMC6242782 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2018.09.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2018] [Revised: 08/28/2018] [Accepted: 09/13/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Chromatin folded into 3D macromolecular structures is often analyzed by chromosome conformation capture (3C) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) techniques, but these frequently provide contradictory results. Chromatin can be modeled as a simple polymer composed of a connected chain of units. By embedding data for epigenetic marks (H3K27ac), chromatin accessibility (assay for transposase-accessible chromatin using sequencing [ATAC-seq]), and structural anchors (CCCTC-binding factor [CTCF]), we developed a highly predictive heteromorphic polymer (HiP-HoP) model, where the chromatin fiber varied along its length; combined with diffusing protein bridges and loop extrusion, this model predicted the 3D organization of genomic loci at a population and single-cell level. The model was validated at several gene loci, including the complex Pax6 gene, and was able to determine locus conformations across cell types with varying levels of transcriptional activity and explain different mechanisms of enhancer use. Minimal a priori knowledge of epigenetic marks is sufficient to recapitulate complex genomic loci in 3D and enable predictions of chromatin folding paths. HiP-HoP: highly predictive heteromorphic polymer model to analyze chromatin structure Polymer simulations use widely available epigenetic and protein binding data as input Validate HiP-HoP model at complex loci using 3D FISH and Capture-C Simulations uncover striking conformational variability in chromatin fiber folding
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Buckle
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, MRC Institute of Genetics & Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Chris A Brackley
- SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, UK
| | - Shelagh Boyle
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, MRC Institute of Genetics & Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Davide Marenduzzo
- SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, UK.
| | - Nick Gilbert
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, MRC Institute of Genetics & Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK.
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16
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Maass PG, Weise A, Rittscher K, Lichtenwald J, Barutcu AR, Liehr T, Aydin A, Wefeld-Neuenfeld Y, Pölsler L, Tinschert S, Rinn JL, Luft FC, Bähring S. Reorganization of inter-chromosomal interactions in the 2q37-deletion syndrome. EMBO J 2018; 37:e96257. [PMID: 29921581 PMCID: PMC6068439 DOI: 10.15252/embj.201696257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2016] [Revised: 04/24/2018] [Accepted: 05/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Chromosomes occupy distinct interphase territories in the three-dimensional nucleus. However, how these chromosome territories are arranged relative to one another is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the inter-chromosomal interactions between chromosomes 2q, 12, and 17 in human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and MSC-derived cell types by DNA-FISH We compared our findings in normal karyotypes with a three-generation family harboring a 2q37-deletion syndrome, featuring a heterozygous partial deletion of histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) on chr2q37. In normal karyotypes, we detected stable, recurring arrangements and interactions between the three chromosomal territories with a tissue-specific interaction bias at certain loci. These inter-chromosomal interactions were confirmed by Hi-C. Interestingly, the disease-related HDAC4 deletion resulted in displaced inter-chromosomal arrangements and altered interactions between the deletion-affected chromosome 2 and chromosome 12 and/or 17 in 2q37-deletion syndrome patients. Our findings provide evidence for a direct link between a structural chromosomal aberration and altered interphase architecture that results in a nuclear configuration, supporting a possible molecular pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp G Maass
- Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint cooperation between the Charité Medical Faculty and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany
| | - Anja Weise
- Institute of Human Genetics, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Katharina Rittscher
- Institute of Human Genetics, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Julia Lichtenwald
- Institute of Human Genetics, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - A Rasim Barutcu
- Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Thomas Liehr
- Institute of Human Genetics, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Atakan Aydin
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint cooperation between the Charité Medical Faculty and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Laura Pölsler
- Zentrum Medizinische Genetik, Medizinische Universität, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Sigrid Tinschert
- Zentrum Medizinische Genetik, Medizinische Universität, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - John L Rinn
- Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, BioFrontiers, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Friedrich C Luft
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint cooperation between the Charité Medical Faculty and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Sylvia Bähring
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint cooperation between the Charité Medical Faculty and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany
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17
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Ghosh SK, Jost D. How epigenome drives chromatin folding and dynamics, insights from efficient coarse-grained models of chromosomes. PLoS Comput Biol 2018; 14:e1006159. [PMID: 29813054 PMCID: PMC6003694 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2017] [Revised: 06/15/2018] [Accepted: 04/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The 3D organization of chromosomes is crucial for regulating gene expression and cell function. Many experimental and polymer modeling efforts are dedicated to deciphering the mechanistic principles behind chromosome folding. Chromosomes are long and densely packed-topologically constrained-polymers. The main challenges are therefore to develop adequate models and simulation methods to investigate properly the multi spatio-temporal scales of such macromolecules. Here, we proposed a generic strategy to develop efficient coarse-grained models for self-avoiding polymers on a lattice. Accounting accurately for the polymer entanglement length and the volumic density, we show that our simulation scheme not only captures the steady-state structural and dynamical properties of the system but also tracks the same dynamics at different coarse-graining. This strategy allows a strong power-law gain in numerical efficiency and offers a systematic way to define reliable coarse-grained null models for chromosomes and to go beyond the current limitations by studying long chromosomes during an extended time period with good statistics. We use our formalism to investigate in details the time evolution of the 3D organization of chromosome 3R (20 Mbp) in drosophila during one cell cycle (20 hours). We show that a combination of our coarse-graining strategy with a one-parameter block copolymer model integrating epigenomic-driven interactions quantitatively reproduce experimental data at the chromosome-scale and predict that chromatin motion is very dynamic during the cell cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Surya K. Ghosh
- Univ Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, TIMC-IMAG, F-38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Daniel Jost
- Univ Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, TIMC-IMAG, F-38000 Grenoble, France
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