Live Imaging Reveals Chromatin Compaction Transitions and Dynamic Transcriptional Bursting During Stem Cell Differentiation In Vivo

    March 2023 in “ eLife ”
    Dennis May, Sangwon Yun, David G. Gonzalez, Sang‐Bum Park, Yanbo Chen, Elizabeth Lathrop, Biao Cai, Tianchi Xin, Hongyu Zhao, Siyuan Wang, Lauren E. Gonzalez, Katie Cockburn, Valentina Greco
    TLDR Stem cell differentiation involves gradual chromatin changes and dynamic gene activity.
    The study developed a quantitative pipeline using fluorescently-tagged histones and longitudinal imaging to observe chromatin compaction changes in live mouse epidermal stem cells. It was found that chromatin compaction heterogeneity among stem cells was independent of the cell cycle and instead reflected differentiation status. Chromatin compaction transitioned gradually over days as cells differentiated and exited the stem cell compartment. Additionally, live imaging of <i>Keratin-10</i> nascent RNA showed that its transcription, marking the onset of differentiation, was dynamic and occurred before the global chromatin compaction changes. This indicated that stem cell differentiation involved dynamic transcriptional states and gradual chromatin rearrangement.
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