Complex Genetic Interactions between Piwi and HP1a in the Repression of Transposable Elements and Tissue-Specific Genes in the Ovarian Germline

Insertions of transposable elements (TEs) in eukaryotic genomes are usually associated with repressive chromatin, which spreads to neighbouring genomic sequences. In ovaries of Drosophila melanogaster, the Piwi-piRNA pathway plays a key role in the transcriptional silencing of TEs considered to be exerted mostly through the establishment of H3K9me3 histone marks recruiting Heterochromatin Protein 1a (HP1a). Here, using RNA-seq, we investigated the expression of TEs and the adjacent genomic regions upon Piwi and HP1a germline knockdowns sharing a similar genetic background. We found that the depletion of Piwi and HP1a led to the derepression of only partially overlapping TE sets. Several TEs were silenced predominantly by HP1a, whereas the upregulation of some other TEs was more pronounced upon Piwi knockdown and, surprisingly, was diminished upon a Piwi/HP1a double-knockdown. We revealed that HP1a loss influenced the expression of thousands of protein-coding genes mostly not adjacent to TE insertions and, in particular, downregulated a putative transcriptional factor required for TE activation. Nevertheless, our results indicate that Piwi and HP1a cooperatively exert repressive effects on the transcription of euchromatic loci flanking the insertions of some Piwi-regulated TEs. We suggest that this mechanism controls the silencing of a small set of TE-adjacent tissue-specific genes, preventing their inappropriate expression in ovaries.

HP1α is a chromatin crosslinker that controls nuclear and mitotic chromosome mechanics

Chromatin, which consists of DNA and associated proteins, contains genetic information and is a mechanical component of the nucleus. Heterochromatic histone methylation controls nucleus and chromosome stiffness, but the contribution of heterochromatin protein HP1α (CBX5) is unknown. We used a novel HP1α auxin-inducible degron human cell line to rapidly degrade HP1α. Degradation did not alter transcription, local chromatin compaction, or histone methylation, but did decrease chromatin stiffness. Single-nucleus micromanipulation reveals that HP1α is essential to chromatin-based mechanics and maintains nuclear morphology, separate from histone methylation. Further experiments with dimerization-deficient HP1αI165E indicate that chromatin crosslinking via HP1α dimerization is critical, while polymer simulations demonstrate the importance of chromatin-chromatin crosslinkers in mechanics. In mitotic chromosomes, HP1α similarly bolsters stiffness while aiding in mitotic alignment and faithful segregation. HP1α is therefore a critical chromatin-crosslinking protein that provides mechanical strength to chromosomes and the nucleus throughout the cell cycle and supports cellular functions.

Sir3 Heterochromatin Protein Promotes NHEJ by Direct Inhibition of Sae2

Heterochromatin is a conserved feature of eukaryotic chromosomes, with central roles in gene expression regulation and maintenance of genome stability. How DNA repair occurs in heterochromatin remains poorly described. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the Silent Information Regulator (SIR) complex assembles heterochromatin-like chromatin at subtelomeres. SIR-mediated repressive chromatin limits double strand break (DSB) resection protecting damaged chromosome ends during HR. As resection initiation marks the cross-road between repair by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) or HR, we asked whether SIR-mediated heterochromatin regulates NHEJ. We show that SIRs promotes NHEJ through two pathways, one depending on repressive chromatin assembly, and the other relying on Sir3 in a manner that is independent of its heterochromatin-promoting function. Sir3 is a potent inhibitor of Sae2-dependent MRX functions. Sir3 physically interacts with Sae2 and this interaction impairs Sae2 interaction with MRX. As a consequence, Sir3 limits Mre11-mediated resection, delays MRX removal from DSB ends and promotes NHEJ.

trans-Acting Factors and cis Elements Involved in the Human Inactive X Chromosome Organization and Compaction

During X chromosome inactivation, many chromatin changes occur on the future inactive X chromosome, including acquisition of a variety of repressive covalent histone modifications, heterochromatin protein associations, and DNA methylation of promoters. Here, we summarize trans-acting factors and cis elements that have been shown to be involved in the human inactive X chromosome organization and compaction.

HP1 drives de novo 3D genome reorganization in early Drosophila embryos

Fundamental features of 3D genome organization are established de novo in the early embryo, including clustering of pericentromeric regions, the folding of chromosome arms and the segregation of chromosomes into active (A-) and inactive (B-) compartments. However, the molecular mechanisms that drive de novo organization remain unknown1,2. Here, by combining chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C), chromatin immunoprecipitation with high-throughput sequencing (ChIP–seq), 3D DNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (3D DNA FISH) and polymer simulations, we show that heterochromatin protein 1a (HP1a) is essential for de novo 3D genome organization during Drosophila early development. The binding of HP1a at pericentromeric heterochromatin is required to establish clustering of pericentromeric regions. Moreover, HP1a binding within chromosome arms is responsible for overall chromosome folding and has an important role in the formation of B-compartment regions. However, depletion of HP1a does not affect the A-compartment, which suggests that a different molecular mechanism segregates active chromosome regions. Our work identifies HP1a as an epigenetic regulator that is involved in establishing the global structure of the genome in the early embryo.

The chromatin factor ROW cooperates with BEAF-32 in regulating long-range genes

Chromatin insulators are involved in transcription regulation and long-range chromatin contacts. In Drosophila the insulator protein BEAF-32 binds to promoters of housekeeping genes and the boundaries of Topological Associated Domains (TAD) and is involved in the regulation of long-range targets by mechanisms that remain incompletely understood. Here we show that Relative-Of-WOC (ROW), which is part of the Heterochromatin Protein 1c (HP1c) complex, is essential for the long-range transcription regulation mediated by the Boundary Element-Associated Factor Of 32kD (BEAF-32). We found that ROW physically interacts with the insulator complex proteins BEAF-32 and Chromator, as well as with HP1c, HP1b, and Without Children (WOC). Moreover, we found that ROW binds AT-rich sequences flanked by BEAF-32 motifs, which are located at promoters of housekeeping genes and in TAD boundaries. In agreement with these results, the genome distribution of ROW strongly correlated with BEAF-32 and WOC, but at a lower level with HP1c and HP1b. Knockdown of row resulted in downregulation of genes that are long-range targets of BEAF-32, are indirectly bound by BEAF-32 and ROW, and enriched with factors associated with RNA polymerase II pausing. These results suggest that ROW and BEAF-32 are involved in the recruitment of protein complexes required for transcription activation and long- range contacts between promoters of housekeeping and inducible genes.