Stress as a Chromatin Landscape Architect

Abstract

The exponential development of methods investigating different levels of spatial genome organization leads to the appreciation of the chromatin landscape's contribution to gene regulation and cell fate. Multiple levels of 3D chromatin organization include chromatin loops and topologically associated domains, followed by euchromatin and heterochromatin compartments, chromatin domains associated with nuclear bodies, and culminate with the chromosome territories. 3D chromatin architecture is exposed to multiple factors such as cell division and stress, including but not limited to mechanical, inflammatory, and environmental challenges. How exactly the stress exposure shapes the chromatin landscape is a new and intriguing area of research. In this mini-review, the developments that motivate the exploration of this field are discussed.

Inflammatory stress-mediated chromatin changes underlie dysfunction in endothelial cells

“…Inflammation-induced changes at the different levels of chromatin organization are an under-investigated area of research yet are likely to be instrumental in determining the mechanisms of long-term cellular dysfunction and the cell fate switching, such as EndMT 34 . Here, we focused on human vascular endothelial cells as a well-established model of inflammation-induced cellular dysfunction to investigate the effects of inflammatory stresses on chromatin accessibility and nucleoli-centromere dynamics.…”

“…Current knowledge regarding the chromatin changes in response to pro-inflammatory cytokines remains limited 34 . One study revealed an intriguing phenomenon of a cell-type-specific prolonged inflammatory response that was accompanied by increased chromatin accessibility 10 .…”

“…The nucleolus is a cellular stress sensor in that during stress, it changes its function and protein composition, including chromatin modifiers, molecular chaperones, and nucleoli proteins such as NPM1 34,[37][38][39] . Additionally, the nucleoli emerge as a gene silencing hub, including centromeric NADs in interphase cells, and thus, the possibility that stressinduced nucleoli changes affect nucleoli-associated chromatin domains arises.…”

HSFA1a modulates plant heat stress responses and alters the 3D chromatin organization of enhancer-promoter interactions

“…In plants, such long-range interactions between promoters and distal regulatory sequences are most prominent in species with large genomes, such as maize ( Zea mays ) 23 , 24 . Modulating these interactions in response to stress is likely functionally relevant, as has been shown in Drosophila 25 and human cells 26 , but remains largely unexplored in plants.…”