Cell genomicsPub Date : 2025-03-12DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100817
Masahiro Nagano, Anders S Hansen
{"title":"Distance matters: How protein regulators facilitate enhancer-promoter interactions and transcription.","authors":"Masahiro Nagano, Anders S Hansen","doi":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100817","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100817","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cohesin, transcription factors (TFs), and mediator complex components regulate gene expression partly by regulating enhancer-promoter (E-P) communication. A new study combined E-P distance-controlled reporter screens with the inhibition or degradation of regulatory proteins and uncovered a distance-dependent effect across cohesin, TFs, and mediator complex components.</p>","PeriodicalId":72539,"journal":{"name":"Cell genomics","volume":"5 3","pages":"100817"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11960513/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143627018","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cell genomicsPub Date : 2025-03-12Epub Date: 2025-03-04DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100784
Hung-Hsin Chen, Heather M Highland, Elizabeth G Frankel, Alyssa C Scartozzi, Xinruo Zhang, Rashedeh Roshani, Priya Sharma, Asha Kar, Victoria L Buchanan, Hannah G Polikowsky, Lauren E Petty, Jungkyun Seo, Mohammad Yaser Anwar, Daeeun Kim, Mariaelisa Graff, Kristin L Young, Wanying Zhu, Kalypso Karastergiou, Douglas M Shaw, Anne E Justice, Lindsay Fernández-Rhodes, Mohanraj Krishnan, Absalon Gutierrez, Peter J McCormick, Carlos A Aguilar-Salinas, Maria Teresa Tusié-Luna, Linda Liliana Muñoz-Hernandez, Miguel Herrera-Hernandez, Miryoung Lee, Eric R Gamazon, Nancy J Cox, Päivi Pajukanta, Susan K Fried, Penny Gordon-Larsen, Ravi V Shah, Susan P Fisher-Hoch, Joseph B McCormick, Kari E North, Jennifer E Below
{"title":"Multiomics reveal key inflammatory drivers of severe obesity: IL4R, LILRA5, and OSM.","authors":"Hung-Hsin Chen, Heather M Highland, Elizabeth G Frankel, Alyssa C Scartozzi, Xinruo Zhang, Rashedeh Roshani, Priya Sharma, Asha Kar, Victoria L Buchanan, Hannah G Polikowsky, Lauren E Petty, Jungkyun Seo, Mohammad Yaser Anwar, Daeeun Kim, Mariaelisa Graff, Kristin L Young, Wanying Zhu, Kalypso Karastergiou, Douglas M Shaw, Anne E Justice, Lindsay Fernández-Rhodes, Mohanraj Krishnan, Absalon Gutierrez, Peter J McCormick, Carlos A Aguilar-Salinas, Maria Teresa Tusié-Luna, Linda Liliana Muñoz-Hernandez, Miguel Herrera-Hernandez, Miryoung Lee, Eric R Gamazon, Nancy J Cox, Päivi Pajukanta, Susan K Fried, Penny Gordon-Larsen, Ravi V Shah, Susan P Fisher-Hoch, Joseph B McCormick, Kari E North, Jennifer E Below","doi":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100784","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100784","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Polygenic severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] ≥40 kg/m<sup>2</sup>) has increased, especially in Hispanic/Latino populations, yet we know little about the underlying mechanistic pathways. We analyzed whole-blood multiomics data to identify genes differentially regulated in severe obesity in Mexican Americans from the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort. Our RNA sequencing analysis identified 124 genes significantly differentially expressed between severe obesity cases (BMI ≥40 kg/m<sup>2</sup>) and controls (BMI <25 kg/m<sup>2</sup>); 33% replicated in an independent sample from the same population. Our integrative approach identified inflammatory genes, including IL4R, ZNF438, and LILRA5. Several genes displayed transcriptomic effects on severe obesity in subcutaneous adipose tissue. We further showed that the genetic regulation of these genes is associated with several traits in a large biobank, including bone fractures, obstructive sleep apnea, and hyperaldosteronism, illuminating potential risk mechanisms. Our findings furnish a molecular architecture of the severe obesity phenotype across multiple molecular domains.</p>","PeriodicalId":72539,"journal":{"name":"Cell genomics","volume":" ","pages":"100784"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11960538/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143569181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cell genomicsPub Date : 2025-03-12Epub Date: 2025-02-25DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100778
Sjoerd J D Tjalsma, Niels J Rinzema, Marjon J A M Verstegen, Michelle J Robers, Andrea Nieto-Aliseda, Richard A Gremmen, Amin Allahyar, Mauro J Muraro, Peter H L Krijger, Wouter de Laat
{"title":"Long-range enhancer-controlled genes are hypersensitive to regulatory factor perturbations.","authors":"Sjoerd J D Tjalsma, Niels J Rinzema, Marjon J A M Verstegen, Michelle J Robers, Andrea Nieto-Aliseda, Richard A Gremmen, Amin Allahyar, Mauro J Muraro, Peter H L Krijger, Wouter de Laat","doi":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100778","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100778","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cell-type-specific gene activation is regulated by enhancers, sometimes located at large genomic distances from target gene promoters. Whether distal enhancers require specific factors to orchestrate gene regulation remains unclear. Here, we used enhancer distance-controlled reporter screens to find candidate factors. We depleted them and employed activity-by-contact predictions to genome-wide classify genes based on enhancer distance. Predicted distal enhancers typically control tissue-restricted genes and often are strong enhancers. We find cohesin, but also mediator, most specifically required for long-range activation, with cohesin repressing short-range gene activation and prioritizing distal over proximal HBB genes competing for shared enhancers. Long-range controlled genes are also most sensitive to perturbations of other regulatory proteins and to BET inhibitor JQ1, this being more a consequence of their distinct enhancer features than distance. Our work predicts that lengthening of intervening sequences can help limit the expression of target genes to specialized cells with optimal trans-factor environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":72539,"journal":{"name":"Cell genomics","volume":" ","pages":"100778"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11960515/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143517561","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cell genomicsPub Date : 2025-03-12Epub Date: 2025-03-05DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100806
Mengjie Chen
{"title":"Capturing cell-type-specific activities of cis-regulatory elements from peak-based single-cell ATAC-seq.","authors":"Mengjie Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100806","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100806","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Single-cell ATAC sequencing (scATAC-seq), a state-of-the-art genomic technique designed to map chromatin accessibility at the single-cell level, presents unique analytical challenges due to limited sampling and data sparsity. In this study, we use case studies to highlight the limitations of conventional peak-based methods for processing scATAC-seq data. These methods can fail to capture precise cell-type-specific regulatory signals, producing results that are difficult to interpret and lack portability, thereby compromising the reproducibility of research findings. To overcome these issues, we introduce CREscendo, a method that utilizes Tn5 cleavage frequencies and regulatory annotations to identify differential usage of candidate regulatory elements (CREs) across cell types. Our research advocates for moving away from traditional peak-based quantification in scATAC-seq toward a more robust framework that relies on a standardized reference of annotated CREs, enhancing both the accuracy and reproducibility of genomic studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":72539,"journal":{"name":"Cell genomics","volume":" ","pages":"100806"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11960509/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143574869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cell genomicsPub Date : 2025-02-12DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100773
Wen Zhang, Xiaohong Wu, Jing Gong
{"title":"Overcoming collaboration barriers in quantitative trait loci analysis.","authors":"Wen Zhang, Xiaohong Wu, Jing Gong","doi":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100773","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100773","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this issue of Cell Genomics, Choi et al.<sup>1</sup> report a novel approach, privateQTL, which leverages secure multiparty computation (MPC) to enable federated expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) mapping across institutions without compromising data privacy. Zhang et al. preview their approach and discuss its application in future genetic analyses.</p>","PeriodicalId":72539,"journal":{"name":"Cell genomics","volume":"5 2","pages":"100773"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11872532/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143416452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cell genomicsPub Date : 2025-02-12DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100771
Peisen Sun, Stephen J Bush, Songbo Wang, Peng Jia, Mingxuan Li, Tun Xu, Pengyu Zhang, Xiaofei Yang, Chengyao Wang, Linfeng Xu, Tingjie Wang, Kai Ye
{"title":"STMiner: Gene-centric spatial transcriptomics for deciphering tumor tissues.","authors":"Peisen Sun, Stephen J Bush, Songbo Wang, Peng Jia, Mingxuan Li, Tun Xu, Pengyu Zhang, Xiaofei Yang, Chengyao Wang, Linfeng Xu, Tingjie Wang, Kai Ye","doi":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100771","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100771","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Analyzing spatial transcriptomics data from tumor tissues poses several challenges beyond those of healthy samples, including unclear boundaries between different regions, uneven cell densities, and relatively higher cellular heterogeneity. Collectively, these bias the background against which spatially variable genes are identified, which can result in misidentification of spatial structures and hinder potential insight into complex pathologies. To overcome this problem, STMiner leverages 2D Gaussian mixture models and optimal transport theory to directly characterize the spatial distribution of genes rather than the capture locations of the cells expressing them (spots). By effectively mitigating the impacts of both background bias and data sparsity, STMiner reveals key gene sets and spatial structures overlooked by spot-based analytic tools, facilitating novel biological discoveries. The core concept of directly analyzing overall gene expression patterns also allows for a broader application beyond spatial transcriptomics, positioning STMiner for continuous expansion as spatial omics technologies evolve.</p>","PeriodicalId":72539,"journal":{"name":"Cell genomics","volume":"5 2","pages":"100771"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11872602/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143416456","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cell genomicsPub Date : 2025-02-12Epub Date: 2025-01-29DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100762
Nauman Javed, Thomas Weingarten, Arijit Sehanobish, Adam Roberts, Avinava Dubey, Krzysztof Choromanski, Bradley E Bernstein
{"title":"A multi-modal transformer for cell type-agnostic regulatory predictions.","authors":"Nauman Javed, Thomas Weingarten, Arijit Sehanobish, Adam Roberts, Avinava Dubey, Krzysztof Choromanski, Bradley E Bernstein","doi":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100762","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100762","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sequence-based deep learning models have emerged as powerful tools for deciphering the cis-regulatory grammar of the human genome but cannot generalize to unobserved cellular contexts. Here, we present EpiBERT, a multi-modal transformer that learns generalizable representations of genomic sequence and cell type-specific chromatin accessibility through a masked accessibility-based pre-training objective. Following pre-training, EpiBERT can be fine-tuned for gene expression prediction, achieving accuracy comparable to the sequence-only Enformer model, while also being able to generalize to unobserved cell states. The learned representations are interpretable and useful for predicting chromatin accessibility quantitative trait loci (caQTLs), regulatory motifs, and enhancer-gene links. Our work represents a step toward improving the generalization of sequence-based deep neural networks in regulatory genomics.</p>","PeriodicalId":72539,"journal":{"name":"Cell genomics","volume":" ","pages":"100762"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11872434/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143070069","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cell genomicsPub Date : 2025-02-12DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100770
Dahlia Rohm, Joshua B Black, Sean R McCutcheon, Alejandro Barrera, Shanté S Berry, Daniel J Morone, Xander Nuttle, Celine E de Esch, Derek J C Tai, Michael E Talkowski, Nahid Iglesias, Charles A Gersbach
{"title":"Activation of the imprinted Prader-Willi syndrome locus by CRISPR-based epigenome editing.","authors":"Dahlia Rohm, Joshua B Black, Sean R McCutcheon, Alejandro Barrera, Shanté S Berry, Daniel J Morone, Xander Nuttle, Celine E de Esch, Derek J C Tai, Michael E Talkowski, Nahid Iglesias, Charles A Gersbach","doi":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100770","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100770","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Epigenome editing with DNA-targeting technologies such as CRISPR-dCas9 can be used to dissect gene regulatory mechanisms and potentially treat associated disorders. For example, Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) results from loss of paternally expressed imprinted genes on chromosome 15q11.2-q13.3, although the maternal allele is intact but epigenetically silenced. Using CRISPR repression and activation screens in human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), we identified genomic elements that control the expression of the PWS gene SNRPN from the paternal and maternal chromosomes. We showed that either targeted transcriptional activation or DNA demethylation can activate the silenced maternal SNRPN and downstream PWS transcripts. However, these two approaches function at unique regions, preferentially activating different transcript variants and involving distinct epigenetic reprogramming mechanisms. Remarkably, transient expression of the targeted demethylase leads to stable, long-term maternal SNRPN expression in PWS iPSCs. This work uncovers targeted epigenetic manipulations to reprogram a disease-associated imprinted locus and suggests possible therapeutic interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":72539,"journal":{"name":"Cell genomics","volume":"5 2","pages":"100770"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11872474/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143416448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cell genomicsPub Date : 2025-02-12Epub Date: 2025-01-21DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2024.100744
Gladys Poon, Aditi Vedi, Mathijs Sanders, Elisa Laurenti, Peter Valk, Jamie R Blundell
{"title":"Single-cell DNA sequencing reveals pervasive positive selection throughout preleukemic evolution.","authors":"Gladys Poon, Aditi Vedi, Mathijs Sanders, Elisa Laurenti, Peter Valk, Jamie R Blundell","doi":"10.1016/j.xgen.2024.100744","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.xgen.2024.100744","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The representation of driver mutations in preleukemic hematopoietic stem cells (pHSCs) provides a window into the somatic evolution that precedes acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Here, we isolate pHSCs from the bone marrow of 16 patients diagnosed with AML and perform single-cell DNA sequencing on thousands of cells to reconstruct phylogenetic trees of the major driver clones in each patient. We develop a computational framework that can infer levels of positive selection operating during preleukemic evolution from the statistical properties of these phylogenetic trees. Combining these data with 67 previously published phylogenetic trees, we find that the highly variable structures of preleukemic trees emerge naturally from a simple model of somatic evolution with pervasive positive selection typically in the range of 9%-24% per year. At these levels of positive selection, we show that the identification of early multiple-mutant clones could be used to identify individuals at risk of future AML.</p>","PeriodicalId":72539,"journal":{"name":"Cell genomics","volume":" ","pages":"100744"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11872528/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143026079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cell genomicsPub Date : 2025-02-12Epub Date: 2025-02-05DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100768
Peifeng Ji, Ning Wang, You Yu, Junjie Zhu, Zhenqiang Zuo, Bing Zhang, Fangqing Zhao
{"title":"Single-cell delineation of the microbiota-gut-brain axis: Probiotic intervention in Chd8 haploinsufficient mice.","authors":"Peifeng Ji, Ning Wang, You Yu, Junjie Zhu, Zhenqiang Zuo, Bing Zhang, Fangqing Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100768","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100768","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Emerging research underscores the gut microbiome's impact on the nervous system via the microbiota-gut-brain axis, yet comprehensive insights remain limited. Using a CHD8-haploinsufficient model for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), we explored host-gut microbiota interactions by constructing a single-cell transcriptome atlas of brain and intestinal tissues in wild-type and mutant mice across three developmental stages. CHD8 haploinsufficiency caused delayed development of radial glial precursors and excitatory neural progenitors in the E14.5 brain, inflammation in the adult brain, immunodeficiency, and abnormal intestinal development. Selective CHD8 knockdown in intestinal epithelial cells generated Chd8<sup>ΔIEC</sup> mice, which exhibited normal sociability but impaired social novelty recognition. Probiotic intervention with Lactobacillus murinus selectively rescued social deficits in Chd8<sup>ΔIEC</sup> mice, with single-cell transcriptome analysis revealing underlying mechanisms. This study provides a detailed single-cell transcriptomic dataset of ASD-related neural and intestinal changes, advancing our understanding of the gut-brain axis and offering potential therapeutic strategies for ASD.</p>","PeriodicalId":72539,"journal":{"name":"Cell genomics","volume":" ","pages":"100768"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11872533/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143366925","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}