TAD boundary and strength prediction by integrating sequence and epigenetic profile information

Author(s):  
Yunlong Wang ◽  
Yaqi Liu ◽  
Qian Xu ◽  
Yao Xu ◽  
Kai Cao ◽  
...  

Abstract Topologically associated domains (TADs) are one of the important higher order chromatin structures with various sizes in the eukaryotic genomes. TAD boundaries, as the flanking regions between adjacent domains, can restrict the interactions of regulatory elements, including enhancers and promoters, and are generally dynamic and variable in different cells. However, the influence of sequence and epigenetic profile-based features in the identification of TAD boundaries is largely unknown. In this work, we proposed a method called pTADS (prediction of TAD boundary and strength), to predict TAD boundaries and boundary strength across multiple cell lines with DNA sequence and epigenetic profile information. The performance was assessed in seven cell lines and three TAD calling methods. The results demonstrate that the TAD boundary can be well predicted by the selected shared features across multiple cell lines. Especially, the model can be transferable to predict the TAD boundary from one cell line to other cell lines. The boundary strength can be characterized by boundary score with good performance. The predicted TAD boundary and TAD boundary strength are further confirmed by three Hi-C contact matrix-based methods across multiple cell lines. The codes and datasets are available at https://github.com/chrom3DEpi/pTADS.

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Song ◽  
Roded Sharan ◽  
Ivan Ovcharenko

Abstract Background Robustness and evolutionary stability of gene expression in the human genome are established by an array of redundant enhancers. Results Using Hi-C data in multiple cell lines, we report a comprehensive map of promoters and active enhancers connected by chromatin contacts, spanning 9000 enhancer chains in 4 human cell lines associated with 2600 human genes. We find that the first enhancer in a chain that directly contacts the target promoter is commonly located at a greater genomic distance from the promoter than the second enhancer in a chain, 96 kb vs. 45 kb, respectively. The first enhancer also features higher similarity to the promoter in terms of tissue specificity and higher enrichment of loop factors, suggestive of a stable primary contact with the promoter. In contrast, a chain of enhancers which connects to the target promoter through a neutral DNA segment instead of an enhancer is associated with a significant decrease in target gene expression, suggesting an important role of the first enhancer in initiating transcription using the target promoter and bridging the promoter with other regulatory elements in the locus. Conclusions The widespread chained structure of gene enhancers in humans reveals that the primary, critical enhancer is distal, commonly located further away than other enhancers. This first, distal enhancer establishes contacts with multiple regulatory elements and safeguards a complex regulatory program of its target gene.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2547
Author(s):  
Keunsoo Kang ◽  
Yoonjung Choi ◽  
Hyeonjin Moon ◽  
Chaelin You ◽  
Minjin Seo ◽  
...  

RAD51 is a recombinase that plays a pivotal role in homologous recombination. Although the role of RAD51 in homologous recombination has been extensively studied, it is unclear whether RAD51 can be involved in gene regulation as a co-factor. In this study, we found evidence that RAD51 may contribute to the regulation of genes involved in the autophagy pathway with E-box proteins such as USF1, USF2, and/or MITF in GM12878, HepG2, K562, and MCF-7 cell lines. The canonical USF binding motif (CACGTG) was significantly identified at RAD51-bound cis-regulatory elements in all four cell lines. In addition, genome-wide USF1, USF2, and/or MITF-binding regions significantly coincided with the RAD51-associated cis-regulatory elements in the same cell line. Interestingly, the promoters of genes associated with the autophagy pathway, such as ATG3 and ATG5, were significantly occupied by RAD51 and regulated by RAD51 in HepG2 and MCF-7 cell lines. Taken together, these results unveiled a novel role of RAD51 and provided evidence that RAD51-associated cis-regulatory elements could possibly be involved in regulating autophagy-related genes with E-box binding proteins.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 602
Author(s):  
Elisa Carotti ◽  
Federica Carducci ◽  
Adriana Canapa ◽  
Marco Barucca ◽  
Samuele Greco ◽  
...  

Transposable elements (TEs) represent a considerable fraction of eukaryotic genomes, thereby contributing to genome size, chromosomal rearrangements, and to the generation of new coding genes or regulatory elements. An increasing number of works have reported a link between the genomic abundance of TEs and the adaptation to specific environmental conditions. Diadromy represents a fascinating feature of fish, protagonists of migratory routes between marine and freshwater for reproduction. In this work, we investigated the genomes of 24 fish species, including 15 teleosts with a migratory behaviour. The expected higher relative abundance of DNA transposons in ray-finned fish compared with the other fish groups was not confirmed by the analysis of the dataset considered. The relative contribution of different TE types in migratory ray-finned species did not show clear differences between oceanodromous and potamodromous fish. On the contrary, a remarkable relationship between migratory behaviour and the quantitative difference reported for short interspersed nuclear (retro)elements (SINEs) emerged from the comparison between anadromous and catadromous species, independently from their phylogenetic position. This aspect is likely due to the substantial environmental changes faced by diadromous species during their migratory routes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola A. Thompson ◽  
Marco Ranzani ◽  
Louise van der Weyden ◽  
Vivek Iyer ◽  
Victoria Offord ◽  
...  

AbstractGenetic redundancy has evolved as a way for human cells to survive the loss of genes that are single copy and essential in other organisms, but also allows tumours to survive despite having highly rearranged genomes. In this study we CRISPR screen 1191 gene pairs, including paralogues and known and predicted synthetic lethal interactions to identify 105 gene combinations whose co-disruption results in a loss of cellular fitness. 27 pairs influence fitness across multiple cell lines including the paralogues FAM50A/FAM50B, two genes of unknown function. Silencing of FAM50B occurs across a range of tumour types and in this context disruption of FAM50A reduces cellular fitness whilst promoting micronucleus formation and extensive perturbation of transcriptional programmes. Our studies reveal the fitness effects of FAM50A/FAM50B in cancer cells.


BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Soibam ◽  
Ayzhamal Zhamangaraeva

Abstract Background Chromosomes are organized into units called topologically associated domains (TADs). TADs dictate regulatory landscapes and other DNA-dependent processes. Even though various factors that contribute to the specification of TADs have been proposed, the mechanism is not fully understood. Understanding the process for specification and maintenance of these units is essential in dissecting cellular processes and disease mechanisms. Results In this study, we report a genome-wide study that considers the idea of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) mediating chromatin organization using lncRNA:DNA triplex-forming sites (TFSs). By analyzing the TFSs of expressed lncRNAs in multiple cell lines, we find that they are enriched in TADs, their boundaries, and loop anchors. However, they are evenly distributed across different regions of a TAD showing no preference for any specific portions within TADs. No relationship is observed between the locations of these TFSs and CTCF binding sites. However, TFSs are located not just in promoter regions but also in intronic, intergenic, and 3’UTR regions. We also show these triplex-forming sites can be used as predictors in machine learning models to discriminate TADs from other genomic regions. Finally, we compile a list of important “TAD-lncRNAs” which are top predictors for TADs identification. Conclusions Our observations advocate the idea that lncRNA:DNA TFSs are positioned at specific areas of the genome organization and are important predictors for TADs. LncRNA:DNA triplex formation most likely is a general mechanism of action exhibited by some lncRNAs, not just for direct gene regulation but also to mediate 3D chromatin organization.


BMC Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Z. Daly ◽  
Lindsey A. Dudley ◽  
Michael T. Peel ◽  
Stephen A. Liebhaber ◽  
Stephen C. J. Parker ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The pituitary gland is a neuroendocrine organ containing diverse cell types specialized in secreting hormones that regulate physiology. Pituitary thyrotropes produce thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), a critical factor for growth and maintenance of metabolism. The transcription factors POU1F1 and GATA2 have been implicated in thyrotrope fate, but the transcriptomic and epigenomic landscapes of these neuroendocrine cells have not been characterized. The goal of this work was to discover transcriptional regulatory elements that drive thyrotrope fate. Results We identified the transcription factors and epigenomic changes in chromatin that are associated with differentiation of POU1F1-expressing progenitors into thyrotropes using cell lines that represent an undifferentiated Pou1f1 lineage progenitor (GHF-T1) and a committed thyrotrope line that produces TSH (TαT1). We compared RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, histone modification (H3K27Ac, H3K4Me1, and H3K27Me3), and POU1F1 binding in these cell lines. POU1F1 binding sites are commonly associated with bZIP transcription factor consensus binding sites in GHF-T1 cells and Helix-Turn-Helix (HTH) or basic Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH) factors in TαT1 cells, suggesting that these classes of transcription factors may recruit or cooperate with POU1F1 binding at unique sites. We validated enhancer function of novel elements we mapped near Cga, Pitx1, Gata2, and Tshb by transfection in TαT1 cells. Finally, we confirmed that an enhancer element near Tshb can drive expression in thyrotropes of transgenic mice, and we demonstrate that GATA2 enhances Tshb expression through this element. Conclusion These results extend the ENCODE multi-omic profiling approach to the pituitary gland, which should be valuable for understanding pituitary development and disease pathogenesis. Graphical abstract


Database ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Dalfovo ◽  
Samuel Valentini ◽  
Alessandro Romanel

Abstract Understanding the interaction between human genome regulatory elements and transcription factors is fundamental to elucidate the structure of gene regulatory networks. Here we present CONREL, a web application that allows for the exploration of functionally annotated transcriptional ‘consensus’ regulatory elements at different levels of abstraction. CONREL provides an extensive collection of consensus promoters, enhancers and active enhancers for 198 cell-lines across 38 tissue types, which are also combined to provide global consensuses. In addition, 1000 Genomes Project genotype data and the ‘total binding affinity’ of thousands of transcription factor binding motifs at genomic regulatory elements is fully combined and exploited to characterize and annotate functional properties of our collection. Comparison with other available resources highlights the strengths and advantages of CONREL. CONREL can be used to explore genomic loci, specific genes or genomic regions of interest across different cell lines and tissue types. The resource is freely available at https://bcglab.cibio.unitn.it/conrel.


2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 514-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. McFadden ◽  
C. L. Mallett ◽  
P. J. Foster

1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5266-5275
Author(s):  
R D Palmiter ◽  
E P Sandgren ◽  
D M Koeller ◽  
R L Brinster

DNA regions of 10 and 7 kb that flank the mouse metallothionein II (MT-II) and MT-I genes, respectively, were combined with a minimally marked MT-I (MT-I*) gene and tested in transgenic mice. This construct resulted in (i) position-independent expression of MT-I* mRNA and copy number-dependent expression, (ii) levels of hepatic MT-I mRNA per cell per transgene that were about half that derived from endogenous MT-I genes, (iii) appropriate regulation by metals and hormones, and (iv) tissue distribution of transgene mRNA that resembled that of endogenous MT-I mRNA. These features were not observed when MT-I* was tested without the flanking regions. These MT-I flanking sequences also improved the expression of rat growth hormone reporter genes, with or without introns, that were under the control of the MT-I promoter. Moreover, they enhanced expression from two of four heterologous promoters/enhancers that were tested. Deletion analysis indicated that regions known to have DNase I-hypersensitive sites were necessary but not sufficient for high-level expression. These data suggest that the DNA regions flanking the mouse MT-I and MT-II genes have functions like the locus control regions described for other genes.


1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 5455-5463 ◽  
Author(s):  
K B Freeman ◽  
L R Karns ◽  
K A Lutz ◽  
M M Smith

The promoters of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae histone H3 and H4 genes were examined for cis-acting DNA sequence elements regulating transcription and cell division cycle control. Deletion and linker disruption mutations identified two classes of regulatory elements: multiple cell cycle activation (CCA) sites and a negative regulatory site (NRS). Duplicate 19-bp CCA sites are present in both the copy I and copy II histone H3-H4 promoters arranged as inverted repeats separated by 45 and 68 bp. The CCA sites are both necessary and sufficient to activate transcription under cell division cycle control. A single CCA site provides cell cycle control but is a weak transcriptional activator, while an inverted repeat comprising two CCA sites provides both strong transcriptional activation and cell division cycle control. The NRS was identified in the copy I histone H3-H4 promoter. Deletion or disruption of the NRS increased the level of the histone H3 promoter activity but did not alter the cell division cycle periodicity of transcription. When the CCA sites were deleted from the histone promoter, the NRS element was unable to confer cell division cycle control on the remaining basal level of transcription. When the NRS element was inserted into the promoter of a foreign reporter gene, transcription was constitutively repressed and did not acquire cell cycle regulation.


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