Project description
Radial genome organisation: a universal principle guiding nuclear processes?
In contrast to the 2D representations in textbooks, the genome of mammalian cells has a 3D architecture. This structure and its function are poorly understood. The ERC-funded RADIALIS project will build on its recent discovery of a steep radial gradient of guanine and cytosine density in the genome of mammalian cells in interphase, the longest phase of the cell cycle. It is devoted to cell growth, production of the proteins needed for cell division (mitosis) and duplication of chromosomes prior to division. RADIALIS will investigate the hypothesis that this radial arrangement is a universal design principle beyond mitosis and gene expression, providing a biophysical framework to spatially orchestrate numerous nuclear processes.
Objective
In exciting preliminary experiments leveraging our GPSeq method we discovered that the genome of mammalian cells in interphase folds into a steep radial gradient of guanine and cytosine (GC) density, which seems to persist at the level of individual mitotic chromosomes. However, we still lack a fundamental understanding of how this higher-order 3D genome architecture is established and what its functional implications are. Here, I go beyond the state-of-the-art and propose that the observed steep radial GC-gradient is a universal design principle of the radial arrangement of the genome in the nucleuswhich I call the radiality principlethat provides a biophysical framework for spatially orchestrating key nuclear processes, beyond gene expression regulation. To test this hypothesis, in this project I pursue five Objectives: (1) First, we develop a novel approach (GP-C) for high-resolution single-cell 3D genome reconstructions to study whether the radial GC-gradient is indeed a universal property of nuclei across different species and cell types. (2) Next, we apply GP-C together with RNA-seq to monitor genome radiality and concurrent gene expression changes as cells undergo karyotype rewiring or significant epigenetic perturbations. (3) In parallel, we develop innovative approaches to probe the internal structure of mitotic chromosomes and model how genome radiality is reorganized as cells traverse mitosis. (4) We then expand our preliminary finding of large-scale DNA-RNA contact hubs that seem to shape cell-type specific radiality landscapes by opposing the radial GC-gradient. (5) Finally, we pioneer methods for profiling nuclear proteins radially and apply them to test the bold hypothesis that the radiality principle provides a blueprint for organizing numerous nuclear processes. This project aims at conclusively addressing long-standing questions in the field of 3D genome biology and proposes novel mechanisms of nuclear function regulation.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics chromosomes
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) ERC-2022-COG
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20157 Milano
Italy
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