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Castillo H, Hanna P, Sachs LM, Buisine N, Godoy F, Gilbert C, Aguilera F, Muñoz D, Boisvert C, Debiais-Thibaud M, Wan J, Spicuglia S, Marcellini S. Xenopus tropicalis osteoblast-specific open chromatin regions reveal promoters and enhancers involved in human skeletal phenotypes and shed light on early vertebrate evolution. Cells Dev 2024:203924. [PMID: 38692409 DOI: 10.1016/j.cdev.2024.203924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2024] [Revised: 04/18/2024] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024]
Abstract
While understanding the genetic underpinnings of osteogenesis has far-reaching implications for skeletal diseases and evolution, a comprehensive characterization of the osteoblastic regulatory landscape in non-mammalian vertebrates is still lacking. Here, we compared the ATAC-Seq profile of Xenopus tropicalis (Xt) osteoblasts to a variety of non mineralizing control tissues, and identified osteoblast-specific nucleosome free regions (NFRs) at 527 promoters and 6747 distal regions. Sequence analyses, Gene Ontology, RNA-Seq and ChIP-Seq against four key histone marks confirmed that the distal regions correspond to bona fide osteogenic transcriptional enhancers exhibiting a shared regulatory logic with mammals. We report 425 regulatory regions conserved with human and globally associated to skeletogenic genes. Of these, 35 regions have been shown to impact human skeletal phenotypes by GWAS, including one trps1 enhancer and the runx2 promoter, two genes which are respectively involved in trichorhinophalangeal syndrome type I and cleidocranial dysplasia. Intriguingly, 60 osteoblastic NFRs also align to the genome of the elephant shark, a species lacking osteoblasts and bone tissue. To tackle this paradox, we chose to focus on dlx5 because its conserved promoter, known to integrate regulatory inputs during mammalian osteogenesis, harbours an osteoblast-specific NFR in both frog and human. Hence, we show that dlx5 is expressed in Xt and elephant shark odontoblasts, supporting a common cellular and genetic origin of bone and dentine. Taken together, our work (i) unravels the Xt osteogenic regulatory landscape, (ii) illustrates how cross-species comparisons harvest data relevant to human biology and (iii) reveals that a set of genes including bnc2, dlx5, ebf3, mir199a, nfia, runx2 and zfhx4 drove the development of a primitive form of mineralized skeletal tissue deep in the vertebrate lineage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Héctor Castillo
- Group for the Study of Developmental Processes (GDeP), School of Biological Sciences, University of Concepción, Chile.
| | - Patricia Hanna
- Group for the Study of Developmental Processes (GDeP), School of Biological Sciences, University of Concepción, Chile
| | - Laurent M Sachs
- UMR7221, Physiologie Moléculaire et Adaptation, CNRS, MNHN, Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Nicolas Buisine
- UMR7221, Physiologie Moléculaire et Adaptation, CNRS, MNHN, Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Francisco Godoy
- Group for the Study of Developmental Processes (GDeP), School of Biological Sciences, University of Concepción, Chile
| | - Clément Gilbert
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, IRD, UMR Évolution, Génomes, Comportement et Écologie, 12 route 128, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Felipe Aguilera
- Group for the Study of Developmental Processes (GDeP), School of Biological Sciences, University of Concepción, Chile
| | - David Muñoz
- Group for the Study of Developmental Processes (GDeP), School of Biological Sciences, University of Concepción, Chile
| | - Catherine Boisvert
- School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Mélanie Debiais-Thibaud
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier, ISEM, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Jing Wan
- Aix-Marseille University, INSERM, TAGC, UMR 1090, Marseille, France; Equipe Labelisée LIGUE contre le Cancer, Marseille, France
| | - Salvatore Spicuglia
- Aix-Marseille University, INSERM, TAGC, UMR 1090, Marseille, France; Equipe Labelisée LIGUE contre le Cancer, Marseille, France
| | - Sylvain Marcellini
- Group for the Study of Developmental Processes (GDeP), School of Biological Sciences, University of Concepción, Chile.
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Zhao X, Radford BN, Ungrin M, Dean W, Hemberger M. The Trophoblast Compartment Helps Maintain Embryonic Pluripotency and Delays Differentiation towards Cardiomyocytes. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:12423. [PMID: 37569800 PMCID: PMC10418709 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241512423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Revised: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Normal developmental progression relies on close interactions between the embryonic and extraembryonic lineages in the pre- and peri-gastrulation stage conceptus. For example, mouse epiblast-derived FGF and NODAL signals are required to maintain a stem-like state in trophoblast cells of the extraembryonic ectoderm, while visceral endoderm signals are pivotal to pattern the anterior region of the epiblast. These developmental stages also coincide with the specification of the first heart precursors. Here, we established a robust differentiation protocol of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) into cardiomyocyte-containing embryoid bodies that we used to test the impact of trophoblast on this key developmental process. Using trophoblast stem cells (TSCs) to produce trophoblast-conditioned medium (TCM), we show that TCM profoundly slows down the cardiomyocyte differentiation dynamics and specifically delays the emergence of cardiac mesoderm progenitors. TCM also strongly promotes the retention of pluripotency transcription factors, thereby sustaining the stem cell state of ESCs. By applying TCM from various mutant TSCs, we further show that those mutations that cause a trophoblast-mediated effect on early heart development in vivo alter the normal cardiomyocyte differentiation trajectory. Our approaches provide a meaningful deconstruction of the intricate crosstalk between the embryonic and the extraembryonic compartments. They demonstrate that trophoblast helps prolong a pluripotent state in embryonic cells and delays early differentiative processes, likely through production of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF). These data expand our knowledge of the multifaceted signaling interactions among distinct compartments of the early conceptus that ensure normal embryogenesis, insights that will be of significance for the field of synthetic embryo research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiang Zhao
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada;
- Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada; (B.N.R.); (M.U.)
| | - Bethany N. Radford
- Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada; (B.N.R.); (M.U.)
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada
| | - Mark Ungrin
- Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada; (B.N.R.); (M.U.)
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada
| | - Wendy Dean
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada;
- Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada; (B.N.R.); (M.U.)
| | - Myriam Hemberger
- Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada; (B.N.R.); (M.U.)
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada
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Yang YS, Liu MH, Yan ZW, Chen GQ, Huang Y. FAM122A Is Required for Mesendodermal and Cardiac Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells. Stem Cells 2023; 41:354-367. [PMID: 36715298 PMCID: PMC10498146 DOI: 10.1093/stmcls/sxad008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Mesendodermal specification and cardiac differentiation are key issues for developmental biology and heart regeneration medicine. Previously, we demonstrated that FAM122A, a highly conserved housekeeping gene, is an endogenous inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) and participates in multifaceted physiological and pathological processes. However, the in vivo function of FAM122A is largely unknown. In this study, we observed that Fam122 deletion resulted in embryonic lethality with severe defects of cardiovascular developments and significantly attenuated cardiac functions in conditional cardiac-specific knockout mice. More importantly, Fam122a deficiency impaired mesendodermal specification and cardiac differentiation from mouse embryonic stem cells but showed no influence on pluripotent identity. Mechanical investigation revealed that the impaired differentiation potential was caused by the dysregulation of histone modification and Wnt and Hippo signaling pathways through modulation of PP2A activity. These findings suggest that FAM122A is a novel and critical regulator in mesendodermal specification and cardiac differentiation. This research not only significantly extends our understanding of the regulatory network of mesendodermal/cardiac differentiation but also proposes the potential significance of FAM122A in cardiac regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun-Sheng Yang
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit (2019RU043, Stress and Tumor), Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTU-SM), Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
| | - Man-Hua Liu
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit (2019RU043, Stress and Tumor), Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTU-SM), Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
| | - Zhao-Wen Yan
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit (2019RU043, Stress and Tumor), Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTU-SM), Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
| | - Guo-Qiang Chen
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit (2019RU043, Stress and Tumor), Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTU-SM), Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
| | - Ying Huang
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit (2019RU043, Stress and Tumor), Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTU-SM), Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
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Johnson K, Freedman S, Braun R, LaBonne C. Quantitative analysis of transcriptome dynamics provides novel insights into developmental state transitions. BMC Genomics 2022; 23:723. [PMID: 36273135 PMCID: PMC9588240 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-022-08953-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background During embryogenesis, the developmental potential of initially pluripotent cells becomes progressively restricted as they transit to lineage restricted states. The pluripotent cells of Xenopus blastula-stage embryos are an ideal system in which to study cell state transitions during developmental decision-making, as gene expression dynamics can be followed at high temporal resolution. Results Here we use transcriptomics to interrogate the process by which pluripotent cells transit to four different lineage-restricted states: neural progenitors, epidermis, endoderm and ventral mesoderm, providing quantitative insights into the dynamics of Waddington’s landscape. Our findings provide novel insights into why the neural progenitor state is the default lineage state for pluripotent cells and uncover novel components of lineage-specific gene regulation. These data reveal an unexpected overlap in the transcriptional responses to BMP4/7 and Activin signaling and provide mechanistic insight into how the timing of signaling inputs such as BMP are temporally controlled to ensure correct lineage decisions. Conclusions Together these analyses provide quantitative insights into the logic and dynamics of developmental decision making in early embryos. They also provide valuable lineage-specific time series data following the acquisition of specific lineage states during development. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-022-08953-3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristin Johnson
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.,NSF-Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA
| | - Simon Freedman
- NSF-Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.,Department of Engineering Sciences and Applied Math, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Rosemary Braun
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.,NSF-Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.,Department of Engineering Sciences and Applied Math, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.,Northwestern Institute On Complex Systems, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Carole LaBonne
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. .,NSF-Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
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5
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Chen G, Liu ZP. Inferring causal gene regulatory network via GreyNet: From dynamic grey association to causation. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2022; 10:954610. [PMID: 36237217 PMCID: PMC9551017 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.954610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Gene regulatory network (GRN) provides abundant information on gene interactions, which contributes to demonstrating pathology, predicting clinical outcomes, and identifying drug targets. Existing high-throughput experiments provide rich time-series gene expression data to reconstruct the GRN to further gain insights into the mechanism of organisms responding to external stimuli. Numerous machine-learning methods have been proposed to infer gene regulatory networks. Nevertheless, machine learning, especially deep learning, is generally a “black box,” which lacks interpretability. The causality has not been well recognized in GRN inference procedures. In this article, we introduce grey theory integrated with the adaptive sliding window technique to flexibly capture instant gene–gene interactions in the uncertain regulatory system. Then, we incorporate generalized multivariate Granger causality regression methods to transform the dynamic grey association into causation to generate directional regulatory links. We evaluate our model on the DREAM4 in silico benchmark dataset and real-world hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) time-series data. We achieved competitive results on the DREAM4 compared with other state-of-the-art algorithms and gained meaningful GRN structure on HCC data respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guangyi Chen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Control Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China
| | - Zhi-Ping Liu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Control Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China
- Center for Intelligent Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China
- *Correspondence: Zhi-Ping Liu,
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Ducos B, Bensimon D, Scerbo P. Vertebrate Cell Differentiation, Evolution, and Diseases: The Vertebrate-Specific Developmental Potential Guardians VENTX/ NANOG and POU5/ OCT4 Enter the Stage. Cells 2022; 11:cells11152299. [PMID: 35892595 PMCID: PMC9331430 DOI: 10.3390/cells11152299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Revised: 07/09/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
During vertebrate development, embryonic cells pass through a continuum of transitory pluripotent states that precede multi-lineage commitment and morphogenesis. Such states are referred to as “refractory/naïve” and “competent/formative” pluripotency. The molecular mechanisms maintaining refractory pluripotency or driving the transition to competent pluripotency, as well as the cues regulating multi-lineage commitment, are evolutionarily conserved. Vertebrate-specific “Developmental Potential Guardians” (vsDPGs; i.e., VENTX/NANOG, POU5/OCT4), together with MEK1 (MAP2K1), coordinate the pluripotency continuum, competence for multi-lineage commitment and morphogenesis in vivo. During neurulation, vsDPGs empower ectodermal cells of the neuro-epithelial border (NEB) with multipotency and ectomesenchyme potential through an “endogenous reprogramming” process, giving rise to the neural crest cells (NCCs). Furthermore, vsDPGs are expressed in undifferentiated-bipotent neuro-mesodermal progenitor cells (NMPs), which participate in posterior axis elongation and growth. Finally, vsDPGs are involved in carcinogenesis, whereby they confer selective advantage to cancer stem cells (CSCs) and therapeutic resistance. Intriguingly, the heterogenous distribution of vsDPGs in these cell types impact on cellular potential and features. Here, we summarize the findings about the role of vsDPGs during vertebrate development and their selective advantage in evolution. Our aim to present a holistic view regarding vsDPGs as facilitators of both cell plasticity/adaptability and morphological innovation/variation. Moreover, vsDPGs may also be at the heart of carcinogenesis by allowing malignant cells to escape from physiological constraints and surveillance mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bertrand Ducos
- LPENS, PSL, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France
- IBENS, PSL, CNRS, 46 rue d’Ulm, 75005 Paris, France
- High Throughput qPCR Core Facility, ENS, PSL, 46 rue d’Ulm, 75005 Paris, France
- Correspondence: (B.D.); (D.B.); (P.S.)
| | - David Bensimon
- LPENS, PSL, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France
- IBENS, PSL, CNRS, 46 rue d’Ulm, 75005 Paris, France
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90094, USA
- Correspondence: (B.D.); (D.B.); (P.S.)
| | - Pierluigi Scerbo
- LPENS, PSL, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France
- IBENS, PSL, CNRS, 46 rue d’Ulm, 75005 Paris, France
- Correspondence: (B.D.); (D.B.); (P.S.)
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Zhou JJ, Pham PD, Han H, Wang W, Cho KWY. Foxh1 engages in chromatin regulation revealed by protein interactome analyses. Dev Growth Differ 2022; 64:297-305. [PMID: 35848281 PMCID: PMC9474667 DOI: 10.1111/dgd.12799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2022] [Revised: 07/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Early embryonic cell fates are specified through coordinated integration of transcription factor activities and epigenetic states of the genome. Foxh1 is a key maternal transcription factor controlling the mesendodermal gene regulatory program. Proteomic interactome analyses using FOXH1 as a bait in mouse embryonic stem cells revealed that FOXH1 interacts with PRC2 subunits and HDAC1. Foxh1 physically interacts with Hdac1, and confers transcriptional repression of mesendodermal genes in Xenopus ectoderm. Our findings reveal a central role of Foxh1 in coordinating the chromatin states of the Xenopus embryonic genome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeff Jiajing Zhou
- Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Paula Duyen Pham
- Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Han Han
- Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Wenqi Wang
- Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Ken W Y Cho
- Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.,Center for Complex Biological Systems, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
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Louise Smith E, Mok GF, Münsterberg A. Investigating chromatin accessibility during development and differentiation by ATAC-sequencing to guide the identification of cis-regulatory elements. Biochem Soc Trans 2022:BST20210834. [PMID: 35604124 DOI: 10.1042/BST20210834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2022] [Revised: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Mapping accessible chromatin across time scales can give insights into its dynamic nature, for example during cellular differentiation and tissue or organism development. Analysis of such data can be utilised to identify functional cis-regulatory elements (CRE) and transcription factor binding sites and, when combined with transcriptomics, can reveal gene regulatory networks (GRNs) of expressed genes. Chromatin accessibility mapping is a powerful approach and can be performed using ATAC-sequencing (ATAC-seq), whereby Tn5 transposase inserts sequencing adaptors into genomic DNA to identify differentially accessible regions of chromatin in different cell populations. It requires low sample input and can be performed and analysed relatively quickly compared with other methods. The data generated from ATAC-seq, along with other genomic approaches, can help uncover chromatin packaging and potential cis-regulatory elements that may be responsible for gene expression. Here, we describe the ATAC-seq approach and give examples from mainly vertebrate embryonic development, where such datasets have identified the highly dynamic nature of chromatin, with differing landscapes between cellular precursors for different lineages.
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