Therefore, baits located in PcG regulated chromatin have interaction profiles similar to the genome wide distribution of these proteins and histone H3K27me3. In contrast, baits located outside PcG genomic regions only establish few contacts with PcG chromatin [ 12• and 20•]. This is consistent with previous 4C results indicating spatial separation of active and inactive regions and suggests that the partition of the genome into physical domains, each characterized by high internal chromatin interactions click here and

a lower degree of interactions with chromatin outside of the domain borders is not restricted to PcG chromatin [ 18, 21, 22 and 23]. This chromatin contact behaviour has been generalized by applying a global approach, called Hi-C, which maps genome wide chromatin interaction frequencies [24]. Recent Hi-C analyses with increased sequencing depth in mammalian and Drosophila genomes identified large chromatin interaction domains (megabase-sized in mammals, about ten fold smaller in fruit flies). Although the mechanisms responsible for the formation of large chromatin domains are not understood, the Hi-C data also revealed that frequent contacts occur throughout the whole chromatin domain and not only resume

to loops between discrete genomic elements ( Figure 2). These physical modules, named TADs, have been found to correlate with the epigenetic mark distribution along chromosomes. Two main kinds of TADs could be distinguished with this approach: active chromatin forms relatively short domains with a relatively www.selleckchem.com/products/Everolimus(RAD001).html extended configuration (as indicated by a rapid decrease in contact frequency with increasing genomic distance), whereas silenced chromatin forms larger and more compact domains, where the contact frequency decays more slowly with increasing distance. Strikingly, the boundaries of TADs match quite well the distribution of insulator proteins such as CTCF along the genome [ most 25• and 26•]. In Drosophila, specific

combinations of insulator proteins are enriched at TAD borders. Moreover, active chromatin preferentially locates at borders, whereas silenced chromatin is found in the interior of TADs [ 27]. Chromatin interaction analysis by another high-throughput 3C variant approach named ChIA-PET identified the CTCF-chromatin interactome in pluripotent mammalian cells. CTCF-mediated interactions also underline the partition of the genome into chromatin domains and reveal extensive contacts between promoters and regulatory elements [ 28]. One clear determinant of chromatin fibre folding into topological domains is the linear distribution of chromatin marks along the genome, since interaction maps and genomic distribution of chromatin marks give a similar view of a genome segmented in domains [25•, 27, 29•, 30•• and 31••]. The function of insulators with regard to genome segmentation and formation of topological domains has recently been addressed in Drosophila.