Z-Flipons conserved between human and mouse are associated with increased transcription initiation rates

Beknazarov, N.; Konovalov, D.; Herbert, A.; Poptsova, M.

doi:10.1101/2023.10.31.564984

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2023.10.31.564984

Z-Flipons conserved between human and mouse are associated with increased transcription initiation rates

Beknazarov, N.·Konovalov, D.·Herbert, A.·Poptsova, M.

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Abstract

A long-standing question concerns the role of Z-DNA in transcription. Here we use a deep learning approach based on the published DeepZ algorithm that predicts Z-flipons based on DNA sequence, structural properties of nucleotides and omics data. We examined Z-flipons that are conserved between human and mouse genomes after generating whole-genome Z-flipons maps by training DeepZ on ChIP-seq Z-DNA data, then overlapping the results with a common set of omics data features. We revealed similar pattern of transcription factors and histone marks associated with conserved Z-flipons, showing enrichment for transcription regulation coupled with chromatin organization. 15% and 7% of conserved Z-flipons fell in alternative and bidirectional promoters. We found that conserved Z-flipons in CpG-promoters are associated with increased transcription initiation rates. Our findings empower further experimental explorations to examine how the flip to Z-DNA alters the readout of genetic information by facilitating the transition of one epigenetic state to another.

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Beknazarov, N., Konovalov, D., Herbert, A., Poptsova, M.. 2023-11-03. Z-Flipons conserved between human and mouse are associated with increased transcription initiation rates. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.31.564984

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