Biology subjects

Gilbert, D. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Gilbert, D. M..

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

bioRxiv2020

SPIN reveals genome-wide landscape of nuclear compartmentalization

Chromosomes segregate differentially relative to distinct subnuclear structures, but this genome-wide compartmentalization, pivotal for modulating genome function, remains poorly understood. New genomic mapping methods can reveal chromosome positioning relative to specific nuclear structures. However, computational methods that integrate their results to identify overall intranuclear chromo-some positioning have not yet been developed. We report SPIN, a new method to identify genome-wide nuclear spatial localization patterns. As a proof-of-principle, we use SPIN to integrate nuclear compartment mapping (TSA-seq and DamID) and chromatin interaction data (Hi-C) from K562 cells to identify 10 spatial compartmentalization states genome-wide relative to nuclear speckles, lamina, and nucleoli. These SPIN states show novel patterns of genome spatial organization and their relation to genome function (transcription and replication timing). Comparisons of SPIN states with Hi-C sub-compartments and lamina-associated domains (LADs) from multiple cell types suggest constitutive compartmentalization patterns. By integrating different readouts of higher-order genome organization, SPIN provides critical insights into nuclear spatial and functional compartmentalization.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2019

Replication timing maintains the global epigenetic state in human cells.

DNA is replicated in a defined temporal order termed the replication timing (RT) program. RT is spatially segregated in the nucleus with early/late replication corresponding to Hi-C A/B chromatin compartments, respectively. Early replication is also associated with active histone modifications and transcriptional permissiveness. However, the mechanistic interplay between RT, chromatin state, and genome compartmentalization is largely unknown. Here we report that RT is central to epigenome maintenance and compartmentalization in both human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and cancer cell line HCT116. Knockout (KO) of the conserved RT control factor RIF1, rather than causing discrete RT switches as previously suspected, lead to dramatically increased cell to cell heterogeneity of RT genome wide, despite RIF1s enrichment in late replicating chromatin. RIF1 KO hESCs have a nearly random RT program, unlike all prior RIF1 KO cells, including HCT116, which show localized alterations. Regions that retain RT, which are prevalent in HCT116 but rare in hESCs, consist of large H3K9me3 domains revealing two independent mechanisms of RT regulation that are used to different extents in different cell types. RIF1 KO results in a striking genome wide downregulation of H3K27ac peaks and enrichment of H3K9me3 at large domains that remain late replicating, while H3K27me3 and H3K4me3 are re-distributed genome wide in a cell type specific manner. These histone modification changes coincided with global reorganization of genome compartments, transcription changes and a genome wide strengthening of TAD structures. Inducible degradation of RIF1 revealed that disruption of RT is upstream of genome compartmentalization changes. Our findings demonstrate that disruption of RT leads to widespread epigenetic mis-regulation, supporting previously speculative models in which the timing of chromatin assembly at the replication fork plays a key role in maintaining the global epigenetic state, which in turn drives genome architecture.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Cohesin depleted cells pass through mitosis and reconstitute a functional nuclear architecture

Cohesin plays an essential role in chromatin loop extrusion, but its impact on a compartmentalized nuclear architecture, linked to nuclear functions, is debatable. Using live-cell and super-resolved 3D microscopy, we demonstrate that cohesin depleted cells pass through an endomitosis and rebuild a single multilobulated nucleus (MLN) with chromosome territories (CTs) pervaded by interchromatin channels. CTs contain chromatin domain clusters with a zonal organization of repressed chromatin domains in the interior and transcriptionally competent domains located at the periphery. Splicing speckles are located nearby within the lining channel system. These clusters form microscopically defined, active and inactive compartments, which correspond to A/B compartments, detected with ensemble Hi-C. Functionality of MLN despite continuous absence of cohesin was demonstrated by their ability to pass through S-phase with typical spatio-temporal patterns of replication domains. Evidence for structural changes of these domains compared to controls suggests that cohesin is required for their full integrity.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Nuclear organisation and replication timing are coupled through RIF1-PP1 interaction

Three-dimensional genome organisation and replication timing are known to be correlated, however, it remains unknown whether nuclear architecture overall plays an instructive role in the replication-timing program and, if so, how. Here we demonstrate that RIF1 is a molecular hub that co-regulates both processes. Both nuclear organisation and replication timing depend upon the interaction between RIF1 and PP1. However, whereas nuclear architecture requires the full complement of RIF1 and its interaction with PP1, replication timing is not sensitive to RIF1 dosage. RIF1s role in replication timing also extends beyond its interaction with PP1. Availing of this separation-of-function approach, we have therefore identified in RIF1 dual function the molecular bases of the co-dependency of the replication-timing program and nuclear architecture.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2019

High Resolution Repli-Seq defines the temporal choreography of initiation, elonga-tion and termination of replication in mammalian cells

DNA replication in mammalian cells occurs in a defined temporal order during S phase, known as the replication timing (RT) programme. RT is developmentally regulated and correlated with chromatin conformation and local transcriptional potential. Here we present RT profiles of unprecedented temporal resolution in two human embryonic stem cell lines, human colon carcinoma line HCT116 as well as F1 subspecies hybrid mouse embryonic stem cells and their neural progenitor derivatives. Strong enrichment of nascent DNA in fine temporal windows reveals a remarkable degree of cell to cell conservation in replication timing and patterns of replication genome-wide. We identify 5 patterns of replication in all cell types, consistent with varying degrees of initiation efficiency. Zones of replication initiation were found throughout S phase and resolved to ~50kb precision. Temporal transition regions were resolved into segments of uni-directional replication punctuated with small zones of inefficient initiation. Small and large valleys of convergent replication were consistent with either termination or broadly distributed initiation, respectively. RT correlated with chromatin compartment across all cell types but correlations of initiation time to chromatin domain boundaries and histone marks were cell type specific. Haplotype phasing revealed previously unappreciated regions of allele-specific and alleleindependent asynchronous replication. Allele-independent asynchrony was associated with large transcribed genes that resemble common fragile sites. Altogether, these data reveal a remarkably deterministic temporal choreography of DNA replication in mammalian cells.\n\nO_LIHighly homogeneous replication landscape between cells in a population\nC_LIO_LIInitiation zones resolved within constant timing and timing transition regions\nC_LIO_LIActive histone marks enriched within early initiation zones while enrichment of repressive marks is cell type specific.\nC_LIO_LITranscribed long genes replicate asynchronously.\nC_LI

genomics↗

bioRxiv2019

Replication Timing and Transcription Identifies a Novel Fragility Signature Under Replication Stress

Common fragile sties (CFSs) are regions susceptible to replication stress and are hotspots for chromosomal instability in cancer. Several features characterizing CFSs have been associated with their instability, however, these features are prevalent across the genome and do not account for all known CFSs. Therefore, the molecular mechanism underlying CFS instability remains unclear. Here, we explored the transcriptional profile and temporal order of DNA replication (replication timing, RT) of cells under replication stress conditions. We show that the RT of only a small portion of the genome is affected by replication stress, and that CFSs are enriched for delayed RT. We identified a signature for chromosomal fragility, comprised of replication stress-induced delay in RT of early/mid S-phase replicating regions within actively transcribed large genes. This fragility signature enabled precise mapping of the core fragility region. Furthermore, the signature enabled the identification of novel fragile sites that were not detected cytogenetically, highlighting the improved sensitivity of our approach for identifying fragile sites. Altogether, this study reveals a link between altered DNA replication and transcription of large genes underlying the mechanism of CFS expression. Thus, investigating the RT and transcriptional changes in cancer may contribute to the understanding of mechanisms promoting genomic instability in cancer.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2019

Local rewiring of genome - nuclear lamina interactions by transcription.

Transcriptionally inactive genes are often positioned at the nuclear lamina (NL), as part of large lamina-associated domains (LADs). Activation of such genes is often accompanied by repositioning towards the nuclear interior. How this process works and how it impacts flanking chromosomal regions is poorly understood. We addressed these questions by systematic manipulation of gene activity and detailed analysis of NL interactions. Activation of genes inside LADs typically causes detachment of the entire transcription unit but rarely more than 50-100 kb of flanking DNA, even when multiple neighboring genes are activated. The degree of detachment depends on the expression level and the length of the activated gene. Loss of NL interactions coincides with a switch from late to early replication timing, but the latter can involve longer stretches of DNA. These findings show how NL interactions can be shaped locally by transcription and point to a remarkable flexibility of interphase chromosomes.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2019

Variable Retention of Differentiation-specific DNA Replication Timing in Human Pediatric Leukemia

Human B-lineage precursor acute lymphoid leukemias (BCP-ALLs) comprise a group of genetically and clinically distinct disease entities with features of differentiation arrest at known stages of normal B-lineage differentiation. We previously showed BCP-ALL cells display unique and clonally heritable DNA-replication timing (RT) programs; i.e., programs describing the variable order of replication of megabase-scale chromosomal units of DNA in different cell types. To determine the extent to which BCP-ALL RT programs mirror or deviate from specific stages of normal human B-cell differentiation, we transplanted immunodeficient mice with quiescent normal human CD34+ cord blood cells and obtained RT signatures of the regenerating B-lineage populations. We then compared these with RT signatures for leukemic cells from a large cohort of BCP-ALL patients. The results identify BCP-ALL subtype-specific features that resemble specific stages of B-cell differentiation and features that appear associated with relapse. These results suggest the genesis of BCP-ALL involves alterations in RT that reflect clinically relevant leukemia-specific genetic and/or epigenetic changes. SUMMARYGenome-wide DNA replication timing profiles of >100 pediatric leukemic samples and normally differentiating human B-lineage cells isolated from xenografted immunodeficient mice were generated. Comparison of these identified potentially clinically relevant features that both match and deviate from the normal profiles.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2018

RT States: systematic annotation of the human genome using cell type-specific replication timing programs

The replication timing (RT) program has been linked to many key biological processes including cell fate commitment, 3D chromatin organization and transcription regulation. Significant technology progress now allows to characterize the RT program in the entire human genome in a high-throughput and high-resolution fashion. These experiments suggest that RT changes dynamically during development in coordination with gene activity. Since RT is such a fundamental biological process, we believe that an effective quantitative profile of the local RT program from a diverse set of cell types in various developmental stages and lineages can provide crucial biological insights for a genomic locus. In the present study, we explored recurrent and spatially coherent combinatorial profiles from 42 RT programs collected from multiple lineages at diverse differentiation states. We found that a Hidden Markov Model with 15 hidden states provide a good model to describe these genome-wide RT profiling data. Each of the hidden state represents a unique combination of RT profiles across different cell types which we refer to as \"RT states\". To understand the biological properties of these RT states, we inspected their relationship with chromatin states, gene expression, functional annotation and 3D chromosomal organization. We found that the newly defined RT states possess interesting genome-wide functional properties that add complementary information to the existing annotation of the human genome.\n\nAUTHOR SUMMARYThe replication timing (RT) program is an important cellular mechanism and has been linked to many key biological processes including cell fate commitment, 3D chromatin organization and transcription regulation. Significant technology progress now allows us to characterize the RT program in the entire human genome. Results from these experiments suggest that RT changes dynamically across different developmental stages. Since RT is such a fundamental biological process, we believe that the local RT program from a diverse set of cell types in various developmental stages can provide crucial biological insights for a genomic locus. In the present study, we explored combinatorial profiles from 42 RT programs collected from multiple lineages at diverse differentiation states. We developed a statistical model consist of 15 \"RT states\" to describe these genome-wide RT profiling data. To understand the biological properties of these RT states, we inspected the relationship between RT states and other types of functional annotations of the genome. We found that the newly defined RT states possess interesting genome-wide functional properties that add complementary information to the existing annotation of the human genome.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2018

Identification of cis elements for spatio-temporal control of DNA replication

The temporal order of DNA replication (replication timing, RT) is highly coupled with genome architecture, but cis-elements regulating spatio-temporal control of replication have remained elusive. We performed an extensive series of CRISPR mediated deletions and inversions and high-resolution capture Hi-C of a pluripotency associated domain (DppA2/4) in mouse embryonic stem cells. Whereas CTCF mediated loops and chromatin domain boundaries were dispensable, deletion of three intra-domain prominent CTCF-independent 3D contact sites caused a domain-wide delay in RT, shift in sub-nuclear chromatin compartment and loss of transcriptional activity, These \"early replication control elements\" (ERCEs) display prominent chromatin features resembling enhancers/promoters and individual and pair-wise deletions of the ERCEs confirmed their partial redundancy and interdependency in controlling domain-wide RT and transcription. Our results demonstrate that discrete cis-regulatory elements mediate domain-wide RT, chromatin compartmentalization, and transcription, representing a major advance in dissecting the relationship between genome structure and function.\n\nHighlightsO_LIcis-elements (ERCEs) regulate large scale chromosome structure and function\nC_LIO_LIMultiple ERCEs cooperatively control domain-wide replication\nC_LIO_LIERCEs harbor prominent active chromatin features and form CTCF-independent loops\nC_LIO_LIERCEs enable genetic dissection of large-scale chromosome structure-function.\nC_LI

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2018

Continuous-trait probabilistic model for comparing multi-species functional genomic data

A large amount of multi-species functional genomic data from high-throughput assays are becoming available to help understand the molecular mechanisms for phenotypic diversity across species. However, continuous-trait probabilistic models, which are key to such comparative analysis, remain underexplored. Here we develop a new model, called phylogenetic hidden Markov Gaussian processes (Phylo-HMGP), to simultaneously infer heterogeneous evolutionary states of functional genomic features in a genome-wide manner. Both simulation studies and real data application demonstrate the effectiveness of Phylo-HMGP. Importantly, we applied Phylo-HMGP to analyze a new cross-species DNA replication timing (RT) dataset from the same cell type in five primate species (human, chimpanzee, orangutan, gibbon, and green monkey). We demonstrate that our Phylo-HMGP model enables discovery of genomic regions with distinct evolutionary patterns of RT. Our method provides a generic framework for comparative analysis of multi-species continuous functional genomic signals to help reveal regions with conserved or lineage-specific regulatory roles.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2017

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 X 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 (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 6 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 sub-species 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 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, 4 male and female primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) and neural precursors (NPCs) differentiated in vitro from mESCs with opposite parental configurations. Surprisingly, we found that RT asynchrony and allelic discordance in Hi-C compartments seen in mESCs was largely lost in all differentiated cell types, coordinated with a more uniform Hi-C compartment arrangement, suggesting that genome organization of homologues converges to similar folding patterns during cell fate commitment.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Genome-Wide Identification of Early-Firing Human Replication Origins by Optical Replication Mapping

The timing of DNA replication is largely regulated by the location and timing of replication origin firing. Therefore, much effort has been invested in identifying and analyzing human replication origins. However, the heterogeneous nature of eukaryotic replication kinetics and the low efficiency of individual origins in metazoans has made mapping the location and timing of replication initiation in human cells difficult. We have mapped early-firing origins in HeLa cells using Optical Replication Mapping, a high-throughput single-molecule approach based on Bionano Genomics genomic mapping technology. The single-molecule nature and 290-fold coverage of our dataset allowed us to identify origins that fire with as little as 1% efficiency. We find sites of human replication initiation in early S phase are not confined to well-defined efficient replication origins, but are instead distributed across broad initiation zones consisting of many inefficient origins. These early-firing initiation zones co-localize with initiation zones inferred from Okazaki-fragment-mapping analysis and are enriched in ORC1 binding sites. Although most early-firing origins fire in early-replication regions of the genome, a significant number fire in late-replicating regions, suggesting that the major difference between origins in early and late replicating regions is their probability of firing in early S-phase, as opposed to qualitative differences in their firing-time distributions. This observation is consistent with stochastic models of origin timing regulation, which explain the regulation of replication timing in yeast.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2017

Replication Timing Networks: a novel class of gene regulatory networks

DNA replication occurs in a defined temporal order known as the replication-timing (RT) program and is regulated during development, coordinated with 3D genome organization and transcriptional activity. However, transcription and RT are not sufficiently coordinated to predict each other, suggesting an indirect relationship. Here, we exploit genome-wide RT profiles from 15 human cell types and intermediate differentiation stages derived from human embryonic stem cells to construct different types of RT regulatory networks. First, we constructed networks based on the coordinated RT changes during cell fate commitment to create highly complex RT networks composed of thousands of interactions that form specific functional sub-network communities. We also constructed directional regulatory networks based on the order of RT changes within cell lineages and identified master regulators of differentiation pathways. Finally, we explored relationships between RT networks and transcriptional regulatory networks (TRNs), by combining them into more complex circuitries of composite and bipartite networks, revealing novel trans interactions between transcription factors and downstream RT changes that were validated with ChIP-seq data. Our findings suggest a regulatory link between the establishment of cell type specific TRNs and RT control during lineage specification.

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Single-cell replication profiling reveals stochastic regulation of the mammalian replication-timing program.

In mammalian cells, distinct replication domains (RDs), corresponding to structural units of chromosomes called topologically-associating domains (TADs), replicate at different times during S-phase1-4. Further, early/late replication of RDs corresponds to active/inactive chromatin interaction compartments5,6. Although replication origins are selected stochastically, such that each cell is using a different cohort of origins to replicate their genomes7-12, replication-timing is regulated independently and upstream of origin selection13 and evidence suggests that replication timing is conserved in consecutive cell cycles14. Hence, quantifying the extent of cell-to-cell variation in replication timing is central to studies of chromosome structure and function. Here we devise a strategy to measure variation in single-cell replication timing using DNA copy number. We find that borders between replicated and un-replicated DNA are highly conserved between cells, demarcating active and inactive compartments of the nucleus. Nonetheless, measurable variation was evident. Surprisingly, we detected a similar degree of variation in replication timing from cell-to-cell, between homologues within cells, and between all domains genome-wide regardless of their replication timing. These results demonstrate that stochastic variation in replication timing is independent of elements that dictate timing or extrinsic environmental variation.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2017

An Integrative Framework For Detecting Structural Variations In Cancer Genomes

Structural variants can contribute to oncogenesis through a variety of mechanisms, yet, despite their importance, the identification of structural variants in cancer genomes remains challenging. Here, we present an integrative framework for comprehensively identifying structural variation in cancer genomes. For the first time, we apply next-generation optical mapping, high-throughput chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C), and whole genome sequencing to systematically detect SVs in a variety of cancer cells.\n\nUsing this approach, we identify and characterize structural variants in up to 29 commonly used normal and cancer cell lines. We find that each method has unique strengths in identifying different classes of structural variants and at different scales, suggesting that integrative approaches are likely the only way to comprehensively identify structural variants in the genome. Studying the impact of the structural variants in cancer cell lines, we identify widespread structural variation events affecting the functions of non-coding sequences in the genome, including the deletion of distal regulatory sequences, alteration of DNA replication timing, and the creation of novel 3D chromatin structural domains.\n\nThese results underscore the importance of comprehensive structural variant identification and indicate that non-coding structural variation may be an underappreciated mutational process in cancer genomes.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2017

Repli-seq: genome-wide analysis of replication timing by next-generation sequencing

Cycling cells duplicate their DNA content during S phase, following a defined program called replication timing (RT). Early and late replicating regions differ in terms of mutation rates, transcriptional activity, chromatin marks and sub-nuclear position. Moreover, RT is regulated during development and is altered in disease. Exploring mechanisms linking RT to other cellular processes in normal and diseased cells will be facilitated by rapid and robust methods with which to measure RT genome wide. Here, we describe a protocol to analyse genome-wide RT by next-generation sequencing (NGS). This protocol yields highly reproducible results across laboratories and platforms. We also provide the computational pipelines for analysis, parsing phased genomes using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) for analyzing imprinted RT, and for direct comparison to Repli-chip data obtained by analyzing nascent DNA by microarrays.

genomics↗