The Semple Lab

Collaborative work with the groups of Ana Pombo, Josee Dostie and Mario Nicodemi finally sees the light of day (Fraser et al, 2015). Using matched chromatin conformation (Hi-C) and expression (CAGE) data across neural differentiation we were able to relate the dynamics of gene expression to changes in chromatin domain organisation. The results suggest that previously known (TAD) domains on the level of ~1Mb congregate within larger multi-megabase (meta-TAD) structures, to produce a hierarchical tree of interactions up to the level of entire chromosomes. Alterations in the arrangement of branches on these trees over time influence gene expression changes.