A deconvolution protocol for ChIP-seq reveals analogous enhancer structures on the mouse and human ribosomal RNA genes

JC Mars, M Sabourin-Felix… - G3: Genes, Genomes …, 2018 - academic.oup.com
JC Mars, M Sabourin-Felix, MG Tremblay, T Moss
G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, 2018academic.oup.com
Abstract The combination of Chromatin Immunoprecipitation and Massively Parallel
Sequencing, or ChIP-Seq, has greatly advanced our genome-wide understanding of
chromatin and enhancer structures. However, its resolution at any given genetic locus is
limited by several factors. In applying ChIP-Seq to the study of the ribosomal RNA genes, we
found that a major limitation to resolution was imposed by the underlying variability in
sequence coverage that very often dominates the protein–DNA interaction profiles. Here, we …
Abstract
The combination of Chromatin Immunoprecipitation and Massively Parallel Sequencing, or ChIP-Seq, has greatly advanced our genome-wide understanding of chromatin and enhancer structures. However, its resolution at any given genetic locus is limited by several factors. In applying ChIP-Seq to the study of the ribosomal RNA genes, we found that a major limitation to resolution was imposed by the underlying variability in sequence coverage that very often dominates the protein–DNA interaction profiles. Here, we describe a simple numerical deconvolution approach that, in large part, corrects for this variability, and significantly improves both the resolution and quantitation of protein–DNA interaction maps deduced from ChIP-Seq data. This approach has allowed us to determine the in vivo organization of the RNA polymerase I preinitiation complexes that form at the promoters and enhancers of the mouse (Mus musculus) and human (Homo sapiens) ribosomal RNA genes, and to reveal a phased binding of the HMG-box factor UBF across the rDNA. The data identify and map a “Spacer Promoter” and associated stalled polymerase in the intergenic spacer of the human ribosomal RNA genes, and reveal a very similar enhancer structure to that found in rodents and lower vertebrates.
Oxford University Press