Biology subjects

Di Stefano, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Di Stefano, M..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2017

The spatial position of budding yeast chromosomes affects gene expression

The three-dimensional organization of chromosomes can influence transcription. However, the frequency and magnitude of these effects remains debated. To determine how changes in chromosome positioning affect transcription across thousands of genes with minimal perturbation, we characterized nuclear organization and global gene expression in budding yeast containing chromosome fusions. We used computational modelling and single cell imaging to determine chromosome position and integrated these data with genome-wide transcriptional profiles from RNA sequencing. We find that chromosome fusions dramatically alter 3D nuclear organization without leading to strong genome-wide changes in transcription. However, we observe a mild but significant and reproducible increase in expression of genes near fusion sites. Modeling suggests that this is due to both disruption of telomere-associated silencing and the displacement of genes relative to the nuclear periphery. A 10% decrease in the predicted time a gene spends near the nuclear periphery is associated with a 10% increase in expression. These data suggest that basal transcriptional activity is sensitive to radial changes on gene position, and provide insight into the functional relevance of budding yeast chromosome-level three-dimensional organization in gene expression.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Single-cell absolute contact probability detection reveals that chromosomes are organized by modulated stochasticity

At the kilo- to mega-base pair scales, eukaryotic genomes are partitioned into self-interacting modules or topologically associated domains (TADs) that associate to form nuclear compartments. Here, we combined high-content super-resolution microscopies with state-of-the-art DNA labeling methods to reveal the variability in the multiscale organization of the Drosophila genome. We found that association frequencies within TADs and between TAD borders are below ~10%, independently of TAD size, epigenetic state, or cell type. Critically, despite this large heterogeneity, we were able to visualize nanometer-sized epigenetic domains at the single-cell level. In addition, absolute contact frequencies within and between TADs were to a large extent defined by genomic distance, higher-order chromosome architecture, and epigenetic identity. We propose that TADs and compartments are organized by multiple, small frequency, yet specific interactions that are regulated by epigenetics and transcriptional state.

biophysics↗

bioRxiv2016

Hi-C-constrained physical models of human chromosomes recover functionally-related properties of genome organization

Combining genome-wide structural models with phenomenological data is at the forefront of efforts to understand the organizational principles regulating the human genome. Here, we use chromosome-chromosome contact data as knowledge- based constraints for large-scale three-dimensional models of the human diploid genome. The resulting models remain minimally entangled and acquire several functional features that are observed in vivo and that were never used as input for the model. We find, for instance, that gene-rich, active regions are drawn towards the nuclear center, while gene poor and lamina-associated domains are pushed to the periphery. These and other properties persist upon adding local contact constraints, suggesting their compatibility with non-local constraints for the genome organization. The results show that suitable combinations of data analysis and physical modelling can expose the unexpectedly rich functionally-related properties implicit in chromosome-chromosome contact data. Specific directions are suggested for further developments based on combining experimental data analysis and genomic structural modelling.

biophysics↗