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Willemin A, Szabó D, Pombo A. Epigenetic regulatory layers in the 3D nucleus. Mol Cell 2024; 84:415-428. [PMID: 38242127 PMCID: PMC10872226 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.12.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2024]
Abstract
Nearly 7 decades have elapsed since Francis Crick introduced the central dogma of molecular biology, as part of his ideas on protein synthesis, setting the fundamental rules of sequence information transfer from DNA to RNAs and proteins. We have since learned that gene expression is finely tuned in time and space, due to the activities of RNAs and proteins on regulatory DNA elements, and through cell-type-specific three-dimensional conformations of the genome. Here, we review major advances in genome biology and discuss a set of ideas on gene regulation and highlight how various biomolecular assemblies lead to the formation of structural and regulatory features within the nucleus, with roles in transcriptional control. We conclude by suggesting further developments that will help capture the complex, dynamic, and often spatially restricted events that govern gene expression in mammalian cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andréa Willemin
- Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB), Epigenetic Regulation and Chromatin Architecture Group, Berlin, Germany; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute for Biology, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Dominik Szabó
- Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB), Epigenetic Regulation and Chromatin Architecture Group, Berlin, Germany; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute for Biology, Berlin, Germany
| | - Ana Pombo
- Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB), Epigenetic Regulation and Chromatin Architecture Group, Berlin, Germany; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute for Biology, Berlin, Germany.
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2
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Razin SV, Ulianov SV, Iarovaia OV. Enhancer Function in the 3D Genome. Genes (Basel) 2023; 14:1277. [PMID: 37372457 DOI: 10.3390/genes14061277] [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: 05/11/2023] [Revised: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
In this review, we consider various aspects of enhancer functioning in the context of the 3D genome. Particular attention is paid to the mechanisms of enhancer-promoter communication and the significance of the spatial juxtaposition of enhancers and promoters in 3D nuclear space. A model of an activator chromatin compartment is substantiated, which provides the possibility of transferring activating factors from an enhancer to a promoter without establishing direct contact between these elements. The mechanisms of selective activation of individual promoters or promoter classes by enhancers are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergey V Razin
- Institute of Gene Biology Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334 Moscow, Russia
- Faculty of Biology, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia
| | - Sergey V Ulianov
- Institute of Gene Biology Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334 Moscow, Russia
- Faculty of Biology, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia
| | - Olga V Iarovaia
- Institute of Gene Biology Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334 Moscow, Russia
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3
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Tiukacheva EA, Ulianov SV, Karpukhina A, Razin SV, Vassetzky Y. 3D genome alterations and editing in pathology. Mol Ther 2023; 31:924-933. [PMID: 36755493 PMCID: PMC10124079 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2023.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2022] [Revised: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The human genome is folded into a multi-level 3D structure that controls many nuclear functions including gene expression. Recently, alterations in 3D genome organization were associated with several genetic diseases and cancer. As a consequence, experimental approaches are now being developed to modify the global 3D genome organization and that of specific loci. Here, we discuss emerging experimental approaches of 3D genome editing that may prove useful in biomedicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugenia A Tiukacheva
- CNRS UMR9018, Institut Gustave Roussy, 94805 Villejuif, France; Institute of Gene Biology, Moscow 119334, Russia; Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow 141700, Russia; Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russia; Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology, Moscow 119334, Russia
| | - Sergey V Ulianov
- Institute of Gene Biology, Moscow 119334, Russia; Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russia
| | - Anna Karpukhina
- CNRS UMR9018, Institut Gustave Roussy, 94805 Villejuif, France; Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology, Moscow 119334, Russia
| | - Sergey V Razin
- Institute of Gene Biology, Moscow 119334, Russia; Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russia
| | - Yegor Vassetzky
- CNRS UMR9018, Institut Gustave Roussy, 94805 Villejuif, France; Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology, Moscow 119334, Russia.
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4
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3D chromatin remodeling potentiates transcriptional programs driving cell invasion. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2203452119. [PMID: 36037342 PMCID: PMC9457068 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2203452119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The contribution of deregulated chromatin architecture, including topologically associated domains (TADs), to cancer progression remains ambiguous. CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) is a central regulator of higher-order chromatin structure that undergoes copy number loss in over half of all breast cancers, but the impact of this defect on epigenetic programming and chromatin architecture remains unclear. We find that under physiological conditions, CTCF organizes subTADs to limit the expression of oncogenic pathways, including phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and cell adhesion networks. Loss of a single CTCF allele potentiates cell invasion through compromised chromatin insulation and a reorganization of chromatin architecture and histone programming that facilitates de novo promoter-enhancer contacts. However, this change in the higher-order chromatin landscape leads to a vulnerability to inhibitors of mTOR. These data support a model whereby subTAD reorganization drives both modification of histones at de novo enhancer-promoter contacts and transcriptional up-regulation of oncogenic transcriptional networks.
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Dehingia B, Milewska M, Janowski M, Pękowska A. CTCF
shapes chromatin structure and gene expression in health and disease. EMBO Rep 2022; 23:e55146. [PMID: 35993175 PMCID: PMC9442299 DOI: 10.15252/embr.202255146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Revised: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Bondita Dehingia
- Dioscuri Centre for Chromatin Biology and Epigenomics, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology Polish Academy of Sciences Warsaw Poland
| | - Małgorzata Milewska
- Dioscuri Centre for Chromatin Biology and Epigenomics, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology Polish Academy of Sciences Warsaw Poland
| | - Marcin Janowski
- Dioscuri Centre for Chromatin Biology and Epigenomics, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology Polish Academy of Sciences Warsaw Poland
| | - Aleksandra Pękowska
- Dioscuri Centre for Chromatin Biology and Epigenomics, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology Polish Academy of Sciences Warsaw Poland
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Franke M, Daly AF, Palmeira L, Tirosh A, Stigliano A, Trifan E, Faucz FR, Abboud D, Petrossians P, Tena JJ, Vitali E, Lania AG, Gómez-Skarmeta JL, Beckers A, Stratakis CA, Trivellin G. Duplications disrupt chromatin architecture and rewire GPR101-enhancer communication in X-linked acrogigantism. Am J Hum Genet 2022; 109:553-570. [PMID: 35202564 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2022.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 02/01/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
X-linked acrogigantism (X-LAG) is the most severe form of pituitary gigantism and is characterized by aggressive growth hormone (GH)-secreting pituitary tumors that occur in early childhood. X-LAG is associated with chromosome Xq26.3 duplications (the X-LAG locus typically includes VGLL1, CD40LG, ARHGEF6, RBMX, and GPR101) that lead to massive pituitary tumoral expression of GPR101, a novel regulator of GH secretion. The mechanism by which the duplications lead to marked pituitary misexpression of GPR101 alone was previously unclear. Using Hi-C and 4C-seq, we characterized the normal chromatin structure at the X-LAG locus. We showed that GPR101 is located within a topologically associating domain (TAD) delineated by a tissue-invariant border that separates it from centromeric genes and regulatory sequences. Next, using 4C-seq with GPR101, RBMX, and VGLL1 viewpoints, we showed that the duplications in multiple X-LAG-affected individuals led to ectopic interactions that crossed the invariant TAD border, indicating the existence of a similar and consistent mechanism of neo-TAD formation in X-LAG. We then identified several pituitary active cis-regulatory elements (CREs) within the neo-TAD and demonstrated in vitro that one of them significantly enhanced reporter gene expression. At the same time, we showed that the GPR101 promoter permits the incorporation of new regulatory information. Our results indicate that X-LAG is a TADopathy of the endocrine system in which Xq26.3 duplications disrupt the local chromatin architecture forming a neo-TAD. Rewiring GPR101-enhancer interaction within the new regulatory unit is likely to cause the high levels of aberrant expression of GPR101 in pituitary tumors caused by X-LAG.
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Boyling A, Perez-Siles G, Kennerson ML. Structural Variation at a Disease Mutation Hotspot: Strategies to Investigate Gene Regulation and the 3D Genome. Front Genet 2022; 13:842860. [PMID: 35401663 PMCID: PMC8990796 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.842860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A rare form of X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy, CMTX3, is caused by an interchromosomal insertion occurring at chromosome Xq27.1. Interestingly, eight other disease phenotypes have been associated with insertions (or insertion-deletions) occurring at the same genetic locus. To date, the pathogenic mechanism underlying most of these diseases remains unsolved, although local gene dysregulation has clearly been implicated in at least two phenotypes. The challenges of accessing disease-relevant tissue and modelling these complex genomic rearrangements has led to this research impasse. We argue that recent technological advancements can overcome many of these challenges, particularly induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and their capacity to provide access to patient-derived disease-relevant tissue. However, to date these valuable tools have not been utilized to investigate the disease-associated insertions at chromosome Xq27.1. Therefore, using CMTX3 as a reference disease, we propose an experimental approach that can be used to explore these complex mutations, as well as similar structural variants located elsewhere in the genome. The mutational hotspot at Xq27.1 is a valuable disease paradigm with the potential to improve our understanding of the pathogenic consequences of complex structural variation, and more broadly, refine our knowledge of the multifaceted process of long-range gene regulation. Intergenic structural variation is a critically understudied class of mutation, although it is likely to contribute significantly to unsolved genetic disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra Boyling
- Northcott Neuroscience Laboratory, ANZAC Research Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- *Correspondence: Alexandra Boyling, ; Marina L. Kennerson,
| | - Gonzalo Perez-Siles
- Northcott Neuroscience Laboratory, ANZAC Research Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Marina L. Kennerson
- Northcott Neuroscience Laboratory, ANZAC Research Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Molecular Medicine Laboratory, Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- *Correspondence: Alexandra Boyling, ; Marina L. Kennerson,
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Jablonski KP, Carron L, Mozziconacci J, Forné T, Hütt MT, Lesne A. Contribution of 3D genome topological domains to genetic risk of cancers: a genome-wide computational study. Hum Genomics 2022; 16:2. [PMID: 35016721 PMCID: PMC8753905 DOI: 10.1186/s40246-022-00375-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2021] [Accepted: 01/02/2022] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Genome-wide association studies have identified statistical associations between various diseases, including cancers, and a large number of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). However, they provide no direct explanation of the mechanisms underlying the association. Based on the recent discovery that changes in three-dimensional genome organization may have functional consequences on gene regulation favoring diseases, we investigated systematically the genome-wide distribution of disease-associated SNPs with respect to a specific feature of 3D genome organization: topologically associating domains (TADs) and their borders. Results For each of 449 diseases, we tested whether the associated SNPs are present in TAD borders more often than observed by chance, where chance (i.e., the null model in statistical terms) corresponds to the same number of pointwise loci drawn at random either in the entire genome, or in the entire set of disease-associated SNPs listed in the GWAS catalog. Our analysis shows that a fraction of diseases displays such a preferential localization of their risk loci. Moreover, cancers are relatively more frequent among these diseases, and this predominance is generally enhanced when considering only intergenic SNPs. The structure of SNP-based diseasome networks confirms that localization of risk loci in TAD borders differs between cancers and non-cancer diseases. Furthermore, different TAD border enrichments are observed in embryonic stem cells and differentiated cells, consistent with changes in topological domains along embryogenesis and delineating their contribution to disease risk. Conclusions Our results suggest that, for certain diseases, part of the genetic risk lies in a local genetic variation affecting the genome partitioning in topologically insulated domains. Investigating this possible contribution to genetic risk is particularly relevant in cancers. This study thus opens a way of interpreting genome-wide association studies, by distinguishing two types of disease-associated SNPs: one with an effect on an individual gene, the other acting in interplay with 3D genome organization. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40246-022-00375-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kim Philipp Jablonski
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, 4058, Basel, Switzerland.,SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 4058, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Leopold Carron
- Laboratoire de Physique Théorique de la Matière Condensée, LPTMC, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France.,Laboratory of Computational and Quantitative Biology, LCQB, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Julien Mozziconacci
- Laboratoire de Physique Théorique de la Matière Condensée, LPTMC, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France.,Structure et Instabilité des Génomes, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Thierry Forné
- Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, IGMM, CNRS, Univ. Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Marc-Thorsten Hütt
- Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry, Jacobs University Bremen, Bremen, Germany.
| | - Annick Lesne
- Laboratoire de Physique Théorique de la Matière Condensée, LPTMC, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France. .,Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, IGMM, CNRS, Univ. Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
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Amândio AR, Beccari L, Lopez-Delisle L, Mascrez B, Zakany J, Gitto S, Duboule D. Sequential in cis mutagenesis in vivo reveals various functions for CTCF sites at the mouse HoxD cluster. Genes Dev 2021; 35:1490-1509. [PMID: 34711654 PMCID: PMC8559674 DOI: 10.1101/gad.348934.121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Mammalian Hox gene clusters contain a range of CTCF binding sites. In addition to their importance in organizing a TAD border, which isolates the most posterior genes from the rest of the cluster, the positions and orientations of these sites suggest that CTCF may be instrumental in the selection of various subsets of contiguous genes, which are targets of distinct remote enhancers located in the flanking regulatory landscapes. We examined this possibility by producing an allelic series of cumulative in cis mutations in these sites, up to the abrogation of CTCF binding in the five sites located on one side of the TAD border. In the most impactful alleles, the global chromatin architecture of the locus was modified, yet not drastically, illustrating that CTCF sites located on one side of a strong TAD border are sufficient to organize at least part of this insulation. Spatial colinearity in the expression of these genes along the major body axis was nevertheless maintained, despite abnormal expression boundaries. In contrast, strong effects were scored in the selection of target genes responding to particular enhancers, leading to the misregulation of Hoxd genes in specific structures. Altogether, while most enhancer-promoter interactions can occur in the absence of this series of CTCF sites, the binding of CTCF in the Hox cluster is required to properly transform a rather unprecise process into a highly discriminative mechanism of interactions, which is translated into various patterns of transcription accompanied by the distinctive chromatin topology found at this locus. Our allelic series also allowed us to reveal the distinct functional contributions for CTCF sites within this Hox cluster, some acting as insulator elements, others being necessary to anchor or stabilize enhancer-promoter interactions, and some doing both, whereas they all together contribute to the formation of a TAD border. This variety of tasks may explain the amazing evolutionary conservation in the distribution of these sites among paralogous Hox clusters or between various vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Rita Amândio
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Leonardo Beccari
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Lucille Lopez-Delisle
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Bénédicte Mascrez
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Jozsef Zakany
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Sandra Gitto
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Denis Duboule
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
- Collège de France, 75231 Paris, France
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