SRA

Chromosomes of metazoan organisms are partitioned in the interphase nucleus into discrete topologically associating domains (TADs). Borders between TADs are preferentially formed in regions containing high density of active genes and clusters of architectural protein binding sites. Transcription of most genes is turned off during the heat shock response in Drosophila. Here we show that temperature stress induces relocalization of architectural proteins from TAD borders to inside TADs, and this is accompanied by a dramatic rearrangement in the 3D organization of the nucleus. TAD border strength declines, allowing for an increase in long-distance inter-TAD interactions. Similar but quantitatively weaker effects are observed upon inhibition of transcription or depletion of individual architectural proteins. New heat shock-induced inter-TAD interactions result in increased contacts among enhancers and promoters of silenced genes, which recruit Pc and form Pc bodies at the nucleolus. These results suggest that the TAD organization of metazoan genomes is plastic and can be quickly reconfigured to allow new interactions between distant sequences. Overall design: Analysis of the distribution of architectural proteins, chromatin proteins and histone modifications in Drosophila Kc167 cells. Cells were grown at 25 C (NT) or heat shocked for 20 min at 36.5 C (HS). Both control and reference samples are included. For some of the samples, replicates are also included.