Characterization of Histone Modifications Associated with Inactive X-Chromosome in Trophoblast Stem Cells, eXtra-Embryonic Endoderm Cells and in In Vitro Derived Undifferentiated and Differentiated Epiblast Like Stem Cells

GATA transcription factors drive initial Xist upregulation after fertilization through direct activation of long-range enhancers

X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) balances gene expression between the sexes in female mammals. Shortly after fertilization, upregulation of Xist RNA from one X chromosome initiates XCI, leading to chromosome-wide gene silencing. XCI is maintained in all cell types, except the germ line and the pluripotent state where XCI is reversed. The mechanisms triggering Xist upregulation have remained elusive. Here we identify GATA transcription factors as potent activators of Xist. Through a pooled CRISPR activation screen in murine embryonic stem cells, we demonstrate that GATA1, as well as other GATA transcription factors can drive ectopic Xist expression. Moreover, we describe GATA-responsive regulatory elements in the Xist locus bound by different GATA factors. Finally, we show that GATA factors are essential for XCI induction in mouse preimplantation embryos. Deletion of GATA1/4/6 or GATA-responsive Xist enhancers in mouse zygotes effectively prevents Xist upregulation. We propose that the activity or complete absence of various GATA family members controls initial Xist upregulation, XCI maintenance in extra-embryonic lineages and XCI reversal in the epiblast.

Identifying cis Elements for Spatiotemporal Control of Mammalian DNA Replication

The temporal order of DNA replication (replication timing [RT]) is highly coupled with genome architecture, but cis-elements regulating either remain elusive. We created a series of CRISPR-mediated deletions and inversions of a pluripotency-associated topologically associating domain (TAD) in mouse ESCs. CTCF-associated domain boundaries were dispensable for RT. CTCF protein depletion weakened most TAD boundaries but had no effect on RT or A/B compartmentalization genome-wide. By contrast, deletion of three intra-TAD CTCF-independent 3D contact sites caused a domain-wide early-to-late RT shift, an A-to-B compartment switch, weakening of TAD architecture, and loss of transcription. The dispensability of TAD boundaries and the necessity of these "early replication control elements" (ERCEs) was validated by deletions and inversions at additional domains. Our results demonstrate that discrete cis-regulatory elements orchestrate domain-wide RT, A/B compartmentalization, TAD architecture, and transcription, revealing fundamental principles linking genome structure and function.

Allele-specific control of replication timing and genome organization during development

DNA replication occurs in a defined temporal order known as the replication-timing (RT) program. RT is regulated during development in discrete chromosomal units, coordinated with transcriptional activity and 3D genome organization. Here, we derived distinct cell types from F1 hybrid musculus × castaneus mouse crosses and exploited the high single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) density to characterize allelic differences in RT (Repli-seq), genome organization (Hi-C and promoter-capture Hi-C), gene expression (total nuclear RNA-seq), and chromatin accessibility (ATAC-seq). We also present HARP, a new computational tool for sorting SNPs in phased genomes to efficiently measure allele-specific genome-wide data. Analysis of six different hybrid mESC clones with different genomes (C57BL/6, 129/sv, and CAST/Ei), parental configurations, and gender revealed significant RT asynchrony between alleles across ∼12% of the autosomal genome linked to subspecies genomes but not to parental origin, growth conditions, or gender. RT asynchrony in mESCs strongly correlated with changes in Hi-C compartments between alleles but not as strongly with SNP density, gene expression, imprinting, or chromatin accessibility. We then tracked mESC RT asynchronous regions during development by analyzing differentiated cell types, including extraembryonic endoderm stem (XEN) cells, four male and female primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), and neural precursor cells (NPCs) differentiated in vitro from mESCs with opposite parental configurations. We found that RT asynchrony and allelic discordance in Hi-C compartments seen in mESCs were largely lost in all differentiated cell types, accompanied by novel sites of allelic asynchrony at a considerably smaller proportion of the genome, suggesting that genome organization of homologs converges to similar folding patterns during cell fate commitment.