Polymer Model Integrates Super-Resolution Imaging and Epigenomic Sequencing to Elucidate the Role of Epigenetic Reactions in Shaping 4D Chromatin Organization

Chromatin, with its complex spatial and temporal organization, plays a crucial role in regulating gene expression. Recent advancements in super-resolution microscopy have revealed that nanoscale domains of heterochromatin (repressed segments) embedded within a euchromatin (active segments) background are fundamental units of 3D chromatin organization. In tissue-resident cells, the size of these heterochromatin domains varies with the microenvironment, particularly its stiffness, and chromatin organization is also influenced by pharmacological and epigenetic drugs. However, the mechanisms governing heterochromatin domain size under various conditions and their impact on gene expression remain unclear. To address this knowledge gap, we have developed a dynamic, next-generation sequencing informed chromatin copolymer model. Our model simulates the spatiotemporal evolution of chromatin, driven by passive diffusion and active epigenetic reactions, which interconvert euchromatin and heterochromatin. By integrating chromatin-chromatin interaction energetics and diffusion-reaction dynamics, we predict the formation of nanoscale heterochromatin-rich domains and establish a scaling relationship between their size and the modulation of epigenetic reaction rates. Additionally, our model predicts that epigenetic and chromatin compaction changes in response to changes in global reaction rates occur predominantly at domain boundaries. We validated these predictions via Hi-C contact map analysis and super-resolution imaging of hyperacetylated melanoma cells. Subsequent RNA-seq analysis suggested a pivotal role of these epigenetic shifts in influencing the metastatic potential of these cells. We further validated our mesoscale findings against chromatin rearrangement in hMSCs, which exhibit sensitivity of epigenetic reaction rates to changes in microenvironmental stiffness. Finally, we evaluated the effects of cycling of epigenetic reaction rates in silico, mimicking the cellular transition to different extracellular conditions, and back again. This finding reveals a cell-type invariant mechanism driven by domain boundaries, whereby chromatin organization guides epigenetic memory formation. Our findings show that chromatin reorganization in response to changes in epigenetic reaction rates resulting from alterations in the microenvironment, drug exposure and disease progression impacts both immediate cellular responses and long-term epigenetic memory.