Epigenomics articles within Nature Communications

Featured

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Identification of non-coding variants has outstripped our ability to annotate and interpret them. Dickel et al. present a compendium of over 80,000 putative human heart enhancers and demonstrate that two conserved enhancers are required for proper cardiac function in mice.

    • Diane E. Dickel
    • , Iros Barozzi
    •  & Len A. Pennacchio
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chromatin architecture is a key regulator of transcriptional processes, however current methods to investigate it have technical limitations. Here, the authors describe a novel chromatin capture technique, CATCH, which can be used to identify and characterize complex genomic interaction networks.

    • Ryan J. Bourgo
    • , Hari Singhal
    •  & Geoffrey L. Greene
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chromosome conformation is a dynamic process, especially in brain. Here, Mitchell and colleagues devise a method they call NeuroDam that can prospectively tag chromosome conformation in the mouse brain in vivo, and longitudinally assess long range chromosome looping weeks and months later.

    • Amanda C. Mitchell
    • , Behnam Javidfar
    •  & Schahram Akbarian
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is characterized by substantial clinical heterogeneity. Here, the authors report the genome-wide chromatin accessibility maps for 88 CLL samples from 55 patients using ATAC-seq, and 10 matched RNA-seq datasets, providing a resource for studying epigenome deregulation in CLL.

    • André F. Rendeiro
    • , Christian Schmidl
    •  & Christoph Bock
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Differential impact of genetic and environmental influences on DNA methylation may result in sex- and age-related physiological variation and disease susceptibility. By analysing DNA methylome of 2,603 individuals from twin families, here, the authors establish a catalogue of between-individual variation in DNA methylation.

    • Jenny van Dongen
    • , Michel G. Nivard
    •  & Dorret I. Boomsma
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The human genome is highly organized, with one-dimensional chromatin states packaged into higher level three-dimensional architecture. Here, the authors present EpiTensor that can identify 3D spatial associations from 1D epigenetic information.

    • Yun Zhu
    • , Zhao Chen
    •  & Wei Wang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Genetic and environmental factors affect genome-wide patterns of epigenetic variation. Here, the authors show that while current habitat and historical lifestyle impact the methylome of rainforest hunter-gatherers and sedentary farmers, the biological functions affected and the degree of genetic control differ.

    • Maud Fagny
    • , Etienne Patin
    •  & Lluis Quintana-Murci
  • Article |

    Characterizing mammalian gene expression regulation by enhancer elements is complicated by the size and complexity of the genome. Here Vanhille et al.demonstrate CapStarr-Seq, a novel high-throughput method for assessing potential enhancers and deciphering the mechanisms regulating transcription

    • Laurent Vanhille
    • , Aurélien Griffon
    •  & Salvatore Spicuglia
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Suppression of MutS HOMOLOGUE 1 (MSH1), a plant protein targeted to mitochondria and plastids, causes a variety of phenotypes. Here Virdi et al. show that MSH1 depletion in Arabidopsisresults in heritable changes in nuclear DNA methylation, which can lead to enhanced growth vigour.

    • Kamaldeep S. Virdi
    • , John D. Laurie
    •  & Sally A. Mackenzie
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Epigenetic changes associated with post-natal differentiation have been characterized. Here the authors generate epigenomic and transcriptional profiles from primary human breast cells, providing insights into the transcriptional and epigenetic events that define post-natal cell differentiation in vivo.

    • Philippe Gascard
    • , Misha Bilenky
    •  & Martin Hirst
  • Article |

    Epigenomes are thought to retain molecular memories of their developmental history. Here, by comparing differentially methylated regions of genomes from different cells, the authors reveal an epigenetic signature that underlies a shared gene regulatory network with a common developmental origin.

    • Rebecca F. Lowdon
    • , Bo Zhang
    •  & Jeffrey B. Cheng
  • Article |

    Pronucleus DNA becomes demethylated during zygotic development. Here, the authors demonstrate that the reduction in 5-methylcytosine levels is accompanied by an increase in the presence of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, and suggest that this has a role in developmental reprogramming.

    • Mark Wossidlo
    • , Toshinobu Nakamura
    •  & Jörn Walter