Kamat, K. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2022

Phase separation and correlated motions in motorized genome

The human genome is arranged in the cell nucleus non-randomly, and phase separation has been proposed as an important driving force for genome organization. However, the cell nucleus is an active system, and the contribution of non-equilibrium activities to phase separation and genome structure and dynamics remains to be explored. We simulated the genome using an energy function parameterized with chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) data with the presence of active, nondirectional forces that break the detailed balance. We found that active forces that may arise from transcription and chromatin remodeling can dramatically impact the spatial localization of heterochromatin. When applied to euchromatin, active forces can drive heterochromatin to the nuclear envelope and compete with passive interactions among heterochromatin that tend to pull them in opposite directions. Furthermore, active forces induce long-range spatial correlations among genomic loci beyond single chromosome territories. We further showed that the impact of active forces could be understood from the effective temperature defined as the fluctuation-dissipation ratio. Our study suggests that non-equilibrium activities can significantly impact genome structure and dynamics, producing unexpected collective phenomena.

biophysics↗

bioRxiv2021

Genome Compartmentalization with Nuclear Landmarks: Random yet Precise

The three-dimensional (3D) organization of eukaryotic genomes plays an important role in genome function. While significant progress has been made in deciphering the folding mechanisms of individual chromosomes, the principles of the dynamic large-scale spatial arrangement of all chromosomes inside the nucleus are poorly understood. We use polymer simulations to model the diploid human genome compartmentalization relative to nuclear bodies such as nuclear lamina, nucleoli, and speckles. We show that a self-organization process based on a co-phase separation between chromosomes and nuclear bodies can capture various features of genome organization, including the formation of chromosome territories, phase separation of A/B compartments, and the liquid property of nuclear bodies. The simulated 3D structures quantitatively reproduce both sequencing-based genomic mapping and imaging assays that probe chromatin interaction with nuclear bodies. Importantly, our model captures the heterogeneous distribution of chromosome positioning across cells, while simultaneously producing well-defined distances between active chromatin and nuclear speckles. Such heterogeneity and preciseness of genome organization can coexist due to the non-specificity of phase separation and the slow chromosome dynamics. Together, our work reveals that the co-phase separation provides a robust mechanism for encoding functionally important 3D contacts without requiring thermodynamic equilibration that can be difficult to achieve.

biophysics↗