GSE137216
CTCF mediates chromatin looping via N-terminal domain-dependent cohesin retention [ChIP-seq & RNA-seq]
The DNA-binding protein CTCF and the cohesin complex function together to shape chromatin architecture in mammalian cells, but the molecular details of this process remain unclear. We demonstrate that a 79 amino acid region within the CTCF N-terminal domain but not the C-terminus is necessary for cohesin positioning at CTCF binding sites and chromatin loop formation. However, the N-terminus of CTCF, when fused to artificial zinc fingers that do not bind to CTCF DNA binding sites was not sufficient to redirect cohesin to different genomic locations, indicating that cohesin positioning by CTCF does not involve direct protein-protein interactions with cohesin subunits. BORIS (CTCFL), a germlinespecific paralog of CTCF was unable to anchor cohesin to CTCF DNA binding sites. Furthermore, CTCF-BORIS Chimeric constructs provided evidence that both the first two CTCF zinc fingers and, likely, the 3D geometry of CTCF-DNA complexes are involved in cohesin retention. Moreover, we were able to convert BORIS into CTCF with respect to cohesin positioning, thus providing additional molecular details of the cohesin retention function of CTCF. Our data suggest that the N-terminus of CTCF and the 3D spatial conformation of the CTCF-DNA complex act as a roadblock to constrain cohesin movement along DNA. Overall design: Genome-wide mapping of CTCF, RAD21, BORIS and Chimeric proteins occupancy in wild type and mutant CH12 cells. Expression profiling by high throughput sequencing (RNA-seq) of wild type and mutant CH12 cells.