In mammals, the genome is spatially segmented in three-dimensional domains called TADs, which are separated by more or less strict boundaries. This organization seems to be important to properly implement gene regulation through the action of long-distance enhancers. Nevertheless, genome-wide studies on this relationship are not easy to resolve, and the relevance of each TAD boundary often needs to be taken on a case-by-case basis.

Andréa Willemin and Lucille Lopez-Delisle, from the laboratories of Denis Duboule, showed that a TAD boundary, when randomly inserted in a different chromosome, retained its ability to reshape the chromatin landscape and disturb gene expression.

Ce travail, co-supervisé par Eddie Rodríguez-Carballo, a permis à Andréa Willemin d’obtenir le Prix Arditi pour le meilleur mémoire de Master en biologie en 2020.

L’article a été publié dans PLoS Genetics le 22 juillet 2021.