Modeling of chromosomal epigenetic silencing processes

Effect of replication on epigenetic memory and consequences on gene transcription

Gene activity in eukaryotes is in part regulated at the level of chromatin through the assembly of local chromatin states that are more or less permissive to transcription. How do these chromatin states achieve their functions and whether or not they contribute to the epigenetic inheritance of the transcriptional program remain to be elucidated. In cycling cells, stability is indeed strongly challenged by the periodic occurrence of replication and cell division. To address this question, we perform simulations of the stochastic dynamics of chromatin states when driven out-of-equilibrium by periodic perturbations. We show how epigenetic memory is significantly affected by the cell cycle length. In addition, we develop a simple model to connect the epigenetic state to the transcriptional state and gene activity. In particular, it suggests that replication may induce transcriptional bursting at repressive loci. Finally, we discuss how our findings-effect of replication and link to gene transcription-have original and deep implications to various biological contexts of epigenetic memory.

Bifurcation in epigenetics: implications in development, proliferation, and diseases

Cells often exhibit different and stable phenotypes from the same DNA sequence. Robustness and plasticity of such cellular states are controlled by diverse transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms, among them the modification of biochemical marks on chromatin. Here, we develop a stochastic model that describes the dynamics of epigenetic marks along a given DNA region. Through mathematical analysis, we show the emergence of bistable and persistent epigenetic states from the cooperative recruitment of modifying enzymes. We also find that the dynamical system exhibits a critical point and displays, in the presence of asymmetries in recruitment, a bifurcation diagram with hysteresis. These results have deep implications for our understanding of epigenetic regulation. In particular, our study allows one to reconcile within the same formalism the robust maintenance of epigenetic identity observed in differentiated cells, the epigenetic plasticity of pluripotent cells during differentiation, and the effects of epigenetic misregulation in diseases. Moreover, it suggests a possible mechanism for developmental transitions where the system is shifted close to the critical point to benefit from high susceptibility to developmental cues.

Epigenetic memories: structural marks or active circuits?

A hallmark of living systems is the management and the storage of information through genetic and epigenetic mechanisms. Although the notion of epigenetics was originally given to any regulation beyond DNA sequence, it has often been restricted to chromatin modifications, supposed to behave as cis-markers, specifying the sets of genes to be expressed or repressed. This definition does not take into account the initial view of epigenetics, based on nonlinear interaction networks whose "attractors" can remain stable without need for any chromatin mark. In addition, most chromatin modifications are the steady state resultants of highly dynamic modification and de-modification activities and, as such, seem poorly appropriate to work as long-term memory keepers. Instead, the basic support of epigenetic memory could remain the attractors, to which chromatin modifications belong as do many other components. The influence of chromatin modifications in memory is highly questionable when envisioned as static structural marks, but can be recovered under the dynamic circuitry perspective, thanks to their self-templating properties. Beside their standard repressive or permissive functions, chromatin modifications can also influence transcription in multiple ways such as: (1) by randomizing or inversely stabilizing gene expression, (2) by mediating cooperativity between pioneer and secondary transcription factors, and (3) in the hysteresis and the ultrasensitivity of gene expression switches, allowing the cells to take unambiguous transcriptional decisions.