We thank H. Chang, T. Oro, S. Tavazoie, R. Flynn, P. Batista, E. Calo, and the entire Wang laboratory for technical support and critical reading of the manuscript. S.L.M. has been supported in this work through the NSFGRF (DGE-114747), NDSEGF (FA9550-11-C-0028), and the National Cancer Institute (1F99CA222541-01). K.C.W. is supported by a Career Award for Medical Scientists from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and is a Donald E. and Delia B. Baxter Foundation Faculty Scholar.

1. gRNA Design
<ol>
	<li>Select a standard gRNA design tool to design the guide RNAs10. Use complementary pairs of the previously developed CLOuD9 constructs9 (i.e., at least 1 S. aureus (CSA) and 1 S. pyogenes (CSP) construct) for each experiment.
	<ol>
		<li>Within the selected online design tool, use the Protospacer Adjacent Motif (PAM) sequence &#34;NGG&#34; with a guide length of 20 bp for CSP and the PAM sequence &#34;NNGRRT&#34; with a guide length of 21 for CSA.</li>
		<li>Choose guides based on specificity score and design guides on both strands to maximize chances of obtaining a working guide.</li>
		<li>Order 2 oligonucleotides per guide from an oligo manufacturer: for the forward oligo, add &#34;caccg&#34; to the 5&#39; end of the guide sequence, and for the reverse oligo, add &#34;aaac&#34; to the 5&#39; end and &#34;c&#34; to the 3&#39; end before ordering.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Initially, design 3-5 gRNAs for each region of interest, spread over a 250-1000 bp region. Assess the gRNA targeting efficiency as follows:
	<ol>
		<li>Clone identified gRNAs into an active Cas9 plasmid (see step 3) and transiently transfect into 293T cells (see step 4)11.</li>
		<li>Grow cells for 2-3 d in Dulbecco&#39;s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 1% penicillin-streptomycin (pen strep), then harvest and extract genomic DNA12.</li>
		<li>Amplify targeted regions by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Run products on a 1.5% agarose gel and purify appropriate bands.</li>
		<li>Perform a T7 endonuclease assay as described in the Guschin, et al. protocol13,14. 
		NOTE: Efficient guides are those determined to cut DNA at the target site.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
2. Cell Culture
<ol>
	<li>Maintain cells in a healthy and actively dividing state.
	<ol>
		<li>For K562s, culture in Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI) 1640 media with 10% FBS and 1% pen strep.
		<ol>
			<li>Grow K562s in a 25 cm2 canted neck flask for&#160;maintenance and adjust the cell density to 400,000 cells per mL each day.</li>
			<li>After K562s have been transduced with CLOuD9 constructs, add 2 &#181;g/mL puromycin and 100 &#181;g/mL hygromycin to maintenance media.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
		<li>For 293Ts, culture in Dulbecco&#39;s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) with 10% FBS and 1% pen strep.
		<ol>
			<li>Grow 293Ts in 10 cm2&#160;plates and split when confluent.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
3. Plasmid Preparation and gRNA Insertion15
Note: Plasmid maps are available in the appendix and primers utilized in the example experiments are available in Supplementary Table 1.
<ol>
	<li>Mix 5 &#181;g of the lentiviral CRISPR plasmid with 3 &#181;L of BsmBI, 3 &#181;L of Alkaline Phosphatase, 6 &#181;L of 10x Buffer, and 0.6 &#181;L of freshly prepared 100 mM DTT. Bring the total volume to 60 &#181;L with ddH2O and incubate at 37 &#176;C for 30 min to digest and dephosphorylate the plasmid.</li>
	<li>Gel purify the digested plasmid and elute in ddH2O.</li>
	<li>Mix 1 &#181;L of each of the paired guides at 100 &#181;M with 1 &#181;L of 10x T4 Ligation Buffer, 6.5 &#181;L of ddH2O, and 0.5 &#181;L T4 PNK, to reach 10 &#181;L total volume. Incubate at 37 &#176;C for 30 min, then 95 &#176;C for 5 min, then ramp down to 25 &#176;C at 5 &#176;C/min. 
	Note: This will anneal the pair of guides.</li>
	<li>Dilute the annealed guides (from step 3.3) 1:200 in ddH2O.</li>
	<li>Mix 1 &#181;L of the digested plasmid from step 3.2 with 0.5 &#181;L of the diluted ligated guides from step 3.4, 2.5 &#181;L of 2x Buffer, 1 &#181;l of ddH2O, and 0.5 &#181;L of Ligase, to make a 5.5 &#181;L total reaction. Incubate this at room temperature for 10 min to ligate the guides to the BsmBI digested plasmid.</li>
	<li>Transform the newly ligated plasmid from step 3.5 into Stbl3 bacteria and amplify using any plasmid preparation method.</li>
</ol>
4. Lentivirus Production
<ol>
	<li>Count 750,000 293T cells per well for a six-well plate using a hemocytometer and seed them in DMEM with 10% FBS and 1% pen strep. Use one well for each construct.</li>
	<li>24 h after seeding, change media to fresh antibiotic-free DMEM with 10% FBS.</li>
	<li>In one tube, dilute 11 &#181;L of lipid-based transfection reagent with 150 &#181;L of the OptiMEM medium, per reaction11.</li>
	<li>In a separate tube, dilute 2 &#181;g of the CLOuD9 lentiviral vector plasmid from step 3.6, 0.35 &#181;g of pMDLg/pRRE, 1 &#181;g of pRSV-Rev, and 0.65 &#181;g of pMD2.G with 150 &#181;L of the OptiMEM medium, per reaction11.</li>
	<li>For each reaction, add the diluted lentiviral plasmid mixtures to the diluted lipid-based transfection reagent at a 1:1 ratio, and incubate for 5 min11.</li>
	<li>Add the entire volume of each mixed complex from step 4.5 into the respective wells of the antibiotic-free 293T cells from step 4.2.</li>
	<li>48 h later, collect viral production media by pipetting into a fresh tube and spin down at 300 x g for 5 min. After centrifugation, move the supernatant to a fresh tube to remove residual cell debris.</li>
	<li>Use viral production media immediately for the transduction of target cells or freeze at -80 &#176;C for future use.</li>
</ol>
5. Lentivirus Transduction of Cells
<ol>
	<li>Add 250 &#181;L of each viral construct of interest (comprised of complementary CLOuD9 plasmids) to a 15 mL conical tube containing 80,000 cells for the CLOuD9 application.</li>
	<li>Bring the total volume of media in each conical to 1 mL with antibiotic-free media, and add polybrene to a final concentration of between 1-8 &#181;g/mL (the maximum concentration of polybrene tolerated by the cell type utilized will need to be determined experimentally).</li>
	<li>Spin cells at 800 x g for 30 min at room temperature, then resuspend by pipetting without removing the viral supernatant. Move the entire cell suspension to a cell culture plate.</li>
	<li>24 h post-transduction, spin cells down at 300 x g for 5 min at room temperature.</li>
	<li>Aspirate viral supernatant and resuspend cells in regular cell culture media.</li>
	<li>On the next day, add puromycin (1 &#181;g/mL for 293T cells) and hygromycin (25 &#181;g/mL for 293T cells) to the cell culture medium to select for doubly transduced cells. Experimentally determine the appropriate concentrations of puromycin and hygromycin for a given cell type prior to beginning the experiments.</li>
	<li>Keep cells in selection media for at least 3 d before any downstream experiments and maintain in selection media for the duration of all experiments.</li>
</ol>
6. Cell Dimerization and Wash Out
<ol>
	<li>Add 1 mM Abscisic Acid (ABA) or an equivalent volume of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) for controls to cell culture to dimerize the CLOuD9 selected and transduced cells. Use ABA within 6 months of date of receipt, keep cold, and protect it from light throughout use. 2 mM ABA can be utilized if needed.
	<ol>
		<li>Change media daily to provide fresh ABA (or DMSO for controls) for the duration of the experiments. 
		NOTE: No limit on the length of dimerization has yet been observed.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Reverse dimerization through the removal of media containing ABA and washing cells with enough phosphate buffered saline (PBS) to cover the surface of the plate, twice. Thereafter, culture cells in ABA-free media to maintain an un-dimerized state.</li>
</ol>
7. Immunoprecipitation and Co-immunoprecipitations
NOTE: Make all buffers fresh and immediately prior to use.
<ol>
	<li>Following completion of dimerization experiments, collect and spin down cells, then aspirate supernatant.</li>
	<li>Crosslink and freeze down cells
	<ol>
		<li>Make a fresh stock of 1% formaldehyde in PBS at room temperature using fresh materials. For every 2 million cells, gently resuspend with 1 mL of 1% formaldehyde at room temperature for exactly 10 min, while rotating. 
		NOTE: Use a minimum volume of 10 mL for crosslinking less than 10 million cells.</li>
		<li>Quench crosslinking with the addition of glycine to a final concentration of 0.125 M, followed by incubation for 5 min at room temperature, while rotating.</li>
		<li>Spin down cells and wash 1-2x with ice-cold PBS. Cell pellets can then be snap frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80 &#176;C or used immediately. 
		NOTE: Heat will reverse formaldehyde crosslinks. If rushed, cells can be stored directly in -80 &#176;C without the snap freeze.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Prepare antibody/bead conjugate 
	Note: Optimizing conditions for chosen antibody (i.e, testing different lysis buffers for cell lysis and performing IP) may be worthwhile. Two common buffers, Farnham lysis buffer and Modified RIPA buffer, can have a significant effect on the IP efficiency and sonication efficiency. All buffer compositions can be found in the Table of Materials. Additionally, keep in mind that chromatin sonication may take several hours to complete.
	<ol>
		<li>Resuspend beads by vortexing briefly as appropriate for the chosen antibody.</li>
		<li>Transfer an appropriate amount of beads for the experiment to a 1.5 mL tube. As a starting point, use 20 &#181;L of beads for every 1 &#181;g of antibody. Do not add antibody yet. 
		NOTE: Use 10 &#181;g antibody with 200 &#181;L of beads for 1 mg of total lysate as a starting point, unless it is known that the antibody is more or less efficient than this would imply. For low abundance proteins, this ratio may need to be adjusted.</li>
		<li>If using Farnham lysis buffer, wash 3x in IP dilution buffer. If using RIPA lysis buffer, wash 3x in RIPA lysis buffer.</li>
		<li>Resuspend beads in a final volume of the same buffer from step 7.3.3 (either IP dilution or RIPA buffer) that is &#62;1x and &#60;5x the initial volume. i.e. For 100 &#181;L initial bead volume, use between 100 and 500 &#181;L final resuspension volume.</li>
		<li>Add antibody to washed beads now at an appropriate concentration. For a good HA or Flag antibody to IP CLOuD9 constructs, use antibodies at 1:50 (&#181;g protein: &#181;g protein lysate) and incubate between 8+ h and overnight at 4 &#176;C, while rotating. Alternatively, incubate for 2-4 h at room temperature.</li>
		<li>Remove the supernatant from beads and discard.</li>
		<li>Wash beads 3x with the Wash buffer.</li>
		<li>Resuspend in a minimal volume of the buffer utilized for overnight incubation with the antibody (IP dilution or RIPA buffer). Keep cold until combined with protein lysate.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Sonicate Chromatin
	<ol>
		<li>First lyse cells with the addition of Swelling buffer to cell pellets on ice for 10 min, flicking cells every few min to prevent settling. 
		NOTE: Generally, 500 &#181;L of Swelling buffer is added to 25 million cells and scaled from there, but do not use less than 500 &#181;L buffer for &#60;25 million cells.</li>
		<li>Dounce manually both clockwise and counterclockwise, 13x each.</li>
		<li>Then spin nuclei down at 4 &#176;C for 5 min at 1,500 x g. Aspirate the supernatant completely and repeat to remove remaining supernatant, then weigh the cell pellet in mg.</li>
		<li>Add protease inhibitor to nuclei lysis buffer (Farnham buffer or RIPA buffer, above, choose one).</li>
		<li>Add 10x amount of nuclei lysis buffer to pelleted nuclei to resuspend (for example, add 1 mL of nuclei lysis buffer to a 0.100 g pellet). Briefly vortex and lyse for 10 min on ice. 
		NOTE: Keep in mind the size of the sonication tube. Ideal volume is often &#60;1 mL, so samples may need to be divided if pellets are very large.
		<ol>
			<li>For Co-IP, sonicate nuclei briefly to solubilize material and quench SDS to a level that permits immunoprecipitation with 2-3 volumes of dilution buffer, then proceed to step 7.4.6. For very sensitive antibodies, add more dilution buffer to further reduce the concentration of SDS. 
			NOTE: Stop sonication when lysate clears; it will change from an opaque/translucent white to completely transparent. Keep samples as cold as possible and do not over sonicate.</li>
			<li>For ChIP, thoroughly sonicate DNA to obtain 150-1000 bp DNA fragments, then proceed to step 7.4.6.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
		<li>Spin out insoluble material at maximum speed for 10 min at 4 &#176;C.</li>
		<li>Transfer soluble material to a fresh tube.</li>
		<li>For Co-IP, measure the concentration of protein and proceed to the pulldown in step 7.5.</li>
		<li>For ChIP, remove a 10 &#181;L aliquot of cleared lysate and add 40 &#181;L IP elution buffer and 6 &#181;L 5 M NaCl to that for a total of 56ul. Boil for 15 min at 95 &#176;C, add 5-10 &#181;L of 3 M NaOAc pH 5, and clean up on a PCR purification column. Measure the concentration of DNA by measuring the absorbance at 260 nm and standardize across samples. Then proceed to pulldown in step 7.5. 
		NOTE: Extra lysate can be snap frozen at -80 &#176;C and used at a later time, but best results are obtained from the fresh lysate. If freezing, do not freeze/thaw lysate more than once.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Pulldown
	<ol>
		<li>Transfer an appropriate amount of protein lysate to a fresh tube. If using Farnham lysis buffer, dilute in 2.1 volumes of IP dilution buffer (above).</li>
		<li>Set aside 100 &#181;L of supernatant for input control, and store at 4 &#176;C until the next day.</li>
		<li>Add bead/antibody conjugate from step 7.3.8 to samples now.</li>
		<li>Rotate samples at 4 &#176;C overnight and ensure there is enough volume for liquid movement in 1.5 mL tubes.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Wash and Elute
	<ol>
		<li>After overnight rotation, save the supernatant as the nonbinding fraction. Then wash beads 3-5x in IP dilution buffer.</li>
		<li>Prepare IP elution buffer at room temperature, without inhibitors.</li>
		<li>Elute complexes with 50 &#181;L elution buffer shaken on a vortex at 67 &#176;C for 15 min. Transfer elution to a new tube and repeat with another 50 &#181;L. Combine them both for a total 100 &#181;L elution. 
		NOTE: If there is too much background from this elution procedure, heat can be reduced or eliminated during shaking/incubation. This generally reduces the yield of target protein but does significantly decrease the background.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Reverse crosslinks by heating at 67 &#176;C for &#62;4 h. 
	NOTE: This is not strictly necessary for Co-IPs but can be helpful.
	<ol>
		<li>For Co-IP, to ensure full dimerization between the targets of interest, run eluates on an SDS-page gel and probe with antibodies against the HA tag or Flag tag, as indicated, all at 1: 1,000. Then continue to step 8.</li>
		<li>For ChIP-qPCR, to ensure correct localization and targeting of each CRISPR-dCas9 component, clean elution product on a column and elute in 10 &#181;L. Perform real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) of purified DNA. Primers utilized in the presented data are available in Supplementary Table 1. Then continue to step 8.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
8. RNA Extraction and Quantitative PCR
<ol>
	<li>To investigate the CLOuD9-induced changes in gene expression, first, isolate and purify total RNA from both control cell pellets and dimerized cell pellets.</li>
	<li>Make complementary DNA (cDNA) from the purified RNA by reverse transcription17 and perform qPCR analyses. Primers are available in Supplementary Table 1.</li>
</ol>
9. Chromosome Conformation Capture Assay
<ol>
	<li>To observe changes in the frequency of genomic loci contacts induced by CLOuD9, perform chromosome conformation capture (3C) assays8.</li>
	<li>Quantify 3C ligation products in two sets of duplicates for each of three biological replicates by quantitative real-time PCR. Normalize samples to the 3C signals from the tubulin locus. Primers are available in Supplementary Table 1.</li>
</ol>

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The authors have nothing to disclose.

The most critical steps in CLOuD9 chromatin looping are: 1) Designing or using the correct gRNAs, 2) changing media daily on CLOuD9-transduced cells, including ABA or DMSO, 3) maintaining freshness of ABA, and 4) performing accurate and careful assessments of chromatin conformation.
The limits of CLOuD9 primarily reside in the ability to design guides to the target region of choice. Guide RNAs perform the important task of localizing the dCas9 components to target DNA regions to be dimerized and the efficacy of the guides are based on their specific target site. Without the proper gRNA components, the CLOuD9 system will not be able to form reversibly induced loops. Thus, by designing multiple guides for each region of interest and spreading the guides over a region of 250-1000 bp, at least one successful guide will be ensured. Guide location is also integral to accurate results. It is important to avoid guides located in transcription factor binding sites or other critical regions to prevent background effects such as up or down regulation of transcription. Additionally, the precise location of the CLOuD9 construct can slightly impact transcription of the target gene. This emphasizes the importance of testing multiple pairs of guides for each target region, to identify the most robust pair for experimental purposes. Further, in each pair of target regions, the CSA construct should be targeted with gRNAs for S. aureus, and the CSP construct should be targeted with gRNAs for S. pyogenes for targeting specificity.
To ensure accurate results and correct dimerization, it is also important to maintain the freshness of the cellular environments following the transduction of the CLOuD9 constructs. Daily media change and the addition of fresh dimerizer (or control) ensures that the complementary constructs will remain in proximity and preserve the altered chromatin conformation. Furthermore, guaranteeing the ABA is fresh and has been stored appropriately according to the manufacturer&#39;s protocol (opened within 6 months, kept cold, protected from light) is essential to obtaining authentic results.
Notably, the ABA dimerizer for CLOuD9 was used with the ABI and PYL dimerization proteins, rather than the more commonly utilized FRB and FKBP system. The necessity of a rapalog for the FRB/FKBP system would have limited the applicability of CLOuD9, due to the toxicity to cancer cells. The alternative ABI/PYL system circumvented this limitation, effectively enabling CLOuD9 to be more broadly utilizable.
Collectively, we have developed CLOuD9, a unique and robust technology that can forcibly but reversibly create contacts between long-range target genomic loci. Through inducing chromatin loops, we also demonstrate that CLOuD9 can be utilized to modify gene expression in the appropriate cellular context. The adaptability of the technology allows for the unrestricted study of the interactions between any two genomic loci, without requiring prior knowledge of the looping regions or looping mechanisms. In addition, CLOuD9&#39;s unique demonstrated reversibility enables further examination of the looping mechanisms in disease and development. While the on-target effects of chromatin looping have been demonstrated clearly, there is yet to be data offering insight into the effects of off-target looping and the subsequent impact on the on-target loops.
Our data illustrates only a few applications of this tool but implies the major underlying idea that chromatin arrangement is indicative of gene expression. Our technology can be used to study and reveal the nuances of chromatin structure in gene regulation, thereby improving the overall comprehension of the role of chromatin folding in transcription of genes. A better understanding of the subtleties of transcriptional dynamics can lead the way in research and treatment of cancer, hereditary diseases, and congenital disorders, in which distinct chromatin assembly undoubtedly alters gene expression20,21,22,23. Subsequent work utilizing the CLOuD9 technology will illuminate further details about the arrangement and dynamics of chromatin domains and how they drive folding to sustain stable gene expression in both development and disease.

The relationship between chromatin folding in the nucleus and the specific organization of the genome has garnered significant interest in recent years, as it has been shown to be closely associated with gene expression1,2. While the precise relationship between gene activity and modulation of chromatin structure remains unclear, it has been hypothesized that the interactions between chromosomal contacts as a result of dynamic three-dimensional chromatin organization serve a gene regulatory function3. Indeed, such an effect has been well demonstrated at the human globin gene locus, where the locus control region (LCR) regulates the activity of the globin genes in a developmentally specific manner by creating a chromatin loop between the two regions4. However, in both this and other regions, it is unclear whether chromatin looping is a cause or consequence of alterations in gene expression.
Until now, the challenges in studying this phenomenon remained unresolved. For example, other attempts at inducing chromatin loops involved modifying the linear DNA sequence or complicated procedures requiring an abundance of background knowledge on specific elements that facilitate looping5,6,7,8. Additionally, while previous work has suggested that chromatin loops drive gene expression in a specific and restricted context7,8, the level at which chromatin looping affects transcription globally is uncertain. Though interest in the impact of long-range looping on gene expression has grown continually in recent years, unanswered questions about establishing and retaining chromatin contacts to change gene activity persist.
The technology that we have engineered employs the nuclease deficient clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein 9 (dCas9), to allow for the broadly applicable targeting of any genomic loci9. This technology eliminates the complex issues related to modifications of the linear DNA sequence and is accessible without significant prior knowledge of particular looping components. Most notably, the tool is universal and broadly applicable to chromatin loops recognized in development as well as in a variety of diseases, such as cancer. The power of CLOuD9 is demonstrated by reversibly altering the structure of loops to effectively modulate gene expression.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:889px;" width="890">
	<tbody>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">RPMI 1640&#160; media</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Life Technologies</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">11875-119</td>
			<td style="width:484px;">For K562 cell culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">DMEM media</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Life Technologies</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">11995-065</td>
			<td>1X, for 293T cell culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">lentiCRISPR v2</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Addgene plasmid</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">#52961</td>
			<td>For CLOuD9 plasmid development</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">pRSV-Rev</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Addgene plasmid</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">#12253</td>
			<td>For lentivirus production</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">pMD2.G</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Addgene plasmid</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">#12259</td>
			<td>For lentivirus production</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">pMDLg/pRRE</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Addgene plasmid</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">#12251</td>
			<td>For lentivirus production</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Lipofectamine 2000</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">11668-019</td>
			<td>For lentivirus production</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">anti-HA antibody</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Cell Signaling</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">3724</td>
			<td>For immunoprecipitation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">anti-Flag antibody</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Sigma</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">F1804</td>
			<td>For immunoprecipitation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">DNeasy Blood and Tissue Kit</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Qiagen</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">69504</td>
			<td>For DNA extraction</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">TRIzol</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Life Technologies</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">15596-018</td>
			<td>For RNA extraction</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">RNeasy Kit</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Qiagen</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">74106</td>
			<td>For RNA extraction</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Superscript VILO</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Life Technologies</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">11754-050</td>
			<td>For cDNA&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">SYBR Green I MasterMix</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Roche</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">4707516001</td>
			<td>For qPCR analysis</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Light Cycler 480II</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Roche</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>For qPCR analysis</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">anti-H3K4me3 antibody</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">AbCam</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">ab8580</td>
			<td>For ChIP-qPCR</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">anti-RNA Pol-II antibody</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Active Motif</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">61083</td>
			<td>For ChIP-qPCR</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">EDTA free protease inhibitor</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Roche</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">11873580001</td>
			<td>For protein extraction</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">4-12% Tris Glycine gel</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Biorad</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>Any size, For western blot</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">anti-Rabbit HRP antibody</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Santa Cruz</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">sc-2030</td>
			<td>For western blot</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">anti-mouse HRP antibody</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Cell Signaling</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">7076S</td>
			<td>For western blot</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">K562 and H3K293 ChIP-Seq data</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Encode</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">ENCSR000AKU</td>
			<td>For ChIP-seq analysis</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">K562 and H3K293 ChIP-Seq data</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Encode</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">ENCSR000APE</td>
			<td>For ChIP-seq analysis</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">K562 and H3K293 ChIP-Seq data</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Encode</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">ENCSR000FCJ</td>
			<td>For ChIP-seq analysis</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">K562 and H3K293 ChIP-Seq data</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">GEO</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">GSM1479215</td>
			<td>For ChIP-seq analysis</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Dynabeads Protein A for Immunoprecipitation</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">10001D</td>
			<td>For immunoprecipitation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Dynabeads Protein G for Immunoprecipitation</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">10004D</td>
			<td>For immunoprecipitation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">RNA Clean &#38; Concentrator-5</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Zymo Research</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">R1015</td>
			<td>For RNA purification</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Pierce 16% Formaldehyde Methanol-free</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">28908</td>
			<td>For crosslinking</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">PX458 Plasmid</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Addgene</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">48138</td>
			<td>Suggested active Cas9 plasmid for gRNA cloning, but any active Cas9 plasmid will do</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">QIAquick PCR Purification Kit</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Qiagen</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">28104</td>
			<td>For PCR purification</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">FastDigest BsmBI</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">FD0454</td>
			<td>For cloning guide RNAs</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">FastAP</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">EF0651</td>
			<td>For cloning guide RNAs</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">10X FastDigest Buffer</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">B64</td>
			<td>For cloning guide RNAs</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Qiagen</td>
			<td>28704</td>
			<td>For cloning guide RNAs</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">10X T4 Ligation Buffer</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">NEB</td>
			<td>B0202S</td>
			<td>For cloning guide RNAs</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">T4 PNK</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">NEB</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">M0201S</td>
			<td>For cloning guide RNAs</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">2X Quick Ligase Buffer</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">NEB</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">B2200S</td>
			<td>For cloning guide RNAs</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Quick Ligase</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">NEB</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">M2200S</td>
			<td>For cloning guide RNAs</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Buffers</td>
			<td style="width:71px;"></td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Farnham lysis buffer</td>
			<td style="width:71px;"></td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>1% Tris-Cl pH 8.0, 1% SDS, 1% protease inhibitor water solution (non-EDTA), and 1 mM EDTA in water</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Modified RIPA buffer</td>
			<td style="width:71px;"></td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>1% NP40/Igepal, 0.5% sodium deoxycholate, 0.1% SDS, 1 mM EDTA, and 1% protease inhibitor water solution (non-EDTA) in PBS pH 7.8 or 7.4</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">IP dilution buffer</td>
			<td style="width:71px;"></td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>0.01% SDS, 1.1% Triton-X 100, 1.2 mM EDTA, 16.7 mM Tris-HCl pH 8.0, 167 mM NaCl, 0.1x protease inhibitor</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Wash buffer</td>
			<td style="width:71px;"></td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>100 mM Tris pH 9, 100 mM LiCl, 1% NP-40, and 1% sodium deoxycholate</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Swelling buffer</td>
			<td style="width:71px;"></td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>0.1 M Tris pH 7.5, 10 mM potassium acetate, 15 mM magnesium acetate, 1% NP-40</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Dilution buffer</td>
			<td style="width:71px;"></td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>0.01% SDS, 1.1% Triton X-100, 1.2 mM EDTA, 16.7 mM Tris pH 8 and 167 mM NaCl</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="25">
			<td height="25" style="height:25px;width:216px;">IP elution buffer</td>
			<td style="width:71px;"></td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>1% SDS, 10% NaHCO3 &#160;</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

crispr-mediated reorganization of chromatin loop structure

Recent studies have clearly shown that long-range, three-dimensional chromatin looping interactions play a significant role in the regulation of gene expression, but whether looping is responsible for or a result of alterations in gene expression is still unknown. Until recently, how chromatin looping affects the regulation of gene activity and cellular function has been relatively ambiguous, and limitations in existing methods to manipulate these structures prevented in-depth exploration of these interactions. To resolve this uncertainty, we engineered a method for selective and reversible chromatin loop re-organization using CRISPR-dCas9 (CLOuD9). The dynamism of the CLOuD9 system has been demonstrated by successful localization of CLOuD9 constructs to target genomic loci to modulate local chromatin conformation. Importantly, the ability to reverse the induced contact and restore the endogenous chromatin conformation has also been confirmed. Modulation of gene expression with this method establishes the capacity to regulate cellular gene expression and underscores the great potential for applications of this technology in creating stable de novo chromatin loops that markedly affect gene expression in the contexts of cancer and development.

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about CRISPR-Mediated Reorganization of Chromatin Loop Structure at JoVE.com

CRISPR-Mediated Reorganization of Chromatin Loop Structure

Chromatin looping plays a significant role in gene regulation; however, there have been no technological advances that allow for selective and reversible modification of chromatin loops. Here we describe a powerful system for chromatin loop re-organization using CRISPR-dCas9 (CLOuD9), demonstrated to selectively and reversibly modulate gene expression at targeted loci.

Recent studies have clearly shown that long-range, three-dimensional chromatin looping interactions play a significant role in the regulation of gene ...

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12.4K Views.  Stanford University School of Medicine. Chromatin looping plays a significant role in gene regulation; however, there have been no technological advances that allow for selective and reversible modification of chromatin loops. Here we describe a powerful system for chromatin loop re-organization using CRISPR-dCas9 (CLOuD9), demonstrated to selectively and reversibly modulate gene expression at targeted loci.

Video: CRISPR-Mediated Reorganization of Chromatin Loop Structure

Sequential Salt Extractions for the Analysis of Bulk Chromatin Binding Properties of Chromatin Modifying Complexes

Elucidation of the binding properties of chromatin-targeting proteins can be very challenging due to the complex nature of chromatin and the heterogeneous nature of most mammalian chromatin-modifying complexes. In order to overcome these hurdles, we have adapted a sequential salt extraction (SSE) assay for evaluating the relative binding affinities of chromatin-bound complexes. This easy and straightforward assay can be used by non-experts to evaluate the relative difference in binding affinity of two related complexes, the changes in affinity of a complex when a subunit is lost or an individual domain is inactivated, and the change in binding affinity after alterations to the chromatin landscape. By sequentially re-suspending bulk chromatin in increasing amounts of salt, we are able to profile the elution of a particular protein from chromatin. Using these profiles, we are able to determine how alterations in a chromatin-modifying complex or alterations to the chromatin environment affect binding interactions. Coupling SSE with other in vitro and in vivo assays, we can determine the roles of individual domains and proteins on the functionality of a complex in a variety of chromatin environments.

Sequential salt extraction of chromatin bound proteins is a useful tool for determining the binding properties of large protein complexes. This method can be employed to evaluate the role of individual subunits or domains in the overall affinity of a protein complex to bulk chromatin.

Elucidation of the binding properties of chromatin-targeting proteins can be very challenging due to the complex nature of chromatin and the heterogeneous ...

Analysis of the c-KIT Ligand Promoter Using Chromatin Immunoprecipitation

Multiple cellular processes, including DNA replication and repair, DNA recombination, and gene expression, require interactions between proteins and DNA. Therefore, DNA-protein interactions regulate multiple physiological, pathophysiological, and biological functions, such as cell differentiation, cell proliferation, cell cycle control, chromosome stability, epigenetic gene regulation, and cell transformation. In eukaryotic cells, the DNA interacts with histone and nonhistone proteins and is condensed into chromatin. Several technical tools can be used to analyze DNA-protein interactions, such as the Electrophoresis (gel) Mobility Shift Assay (EMSA) and DNase I footprinting. However, these techniques analyze the protein-DNA interaction in vitro, not within the cellular context. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a technique that captures proteins at their specific DNA binding sites, thereby allowing for the identification of DNA-protein interactions within their chromatin context. It is done by fixation&#160;of the DNA-protein interaction, followed by&#160;immunoprecipitation of the protein of interest. Subsequently, the genomic site that the protein was bound to is characterized. Here, we describe and discuss ChIP and demonstrate its analytical value for the identification of the Transforming Growth Factor-&#946; (TGF-&#946;)-induced binding of the transcription factor SMAD2 to SMAD Binding Elements (SBE) within the promoter region of the tyrosine-protein kinase Kit (c-KIT) receptor ligand Stem Cell Factor (SCF).

DNA-protein interactions are essential for multiple biological processes. During the evaluation of cellular functions, the analysis of DNA-protein interactions is indispensable for understanding gene regulation. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a powerful tool to analyze such interactions in vivo.

Multiple cellular processes, including DNA replication and repair, DNA recombination, and gene expression, require interactions between proteins and DNA. ...

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) in Mouse T-cell Lines

Signaling pathways regulate gene expression programs via the modulation of the chromatin structure at different levels, such as by post-translational modifications (PTMs) of histone tails, the exchange of canonical histones with histone variants, and nucleosome eviction. Such regulation requires the binding of signal-sensitive transcription factors (TFs) that recruit chromatin-modifying enzymes at regulatory elements defined as enhancers. Understanding how signaling cascades regulate enhancer activity requires a comprehensive analysis of the binding of TFs, chromatin modifying enzymes, and the occupancy of specific histone marks and histone variants. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays utilize highly specific antibodies to immunoprecipitate specific protein/DNA complexes. The subsequent analysis of the purified DNA allows for the identification the region occupied by the protein recognized by the antibody. This work describes a protocol to efficiently perform ChIP of histone proteins in a mature mouse T-cell line. The presented protocol allows for the performance of ChIP assays in a reasonable timeframe and with high reproducibility.

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation ChIP in Mouse T-cell Lines

This work describes a protocol for chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) using a mature mouse T-cell line. This protocol is suitable to investigate the distribution of specific histone marks at specific promoter sites or genome-wide.

Signaling pathways regulate gene expression programs via the modulation of the chromatin structure at different levels, such as by post-translational ...

Generation of Native Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Sequencing Libraries for Nucleosome Density Analysis

We present a modified native chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) experimental protocol compatible with a Gaussian mixture distribution based analysis methodology (nucleosome density ChIP-seq; ndChIP-seq) that enables the generation of combined measurements of micrococcal nuclease (MNase) accessibility with histone modification genome-wide. Nucleosome position and local density, and the posttranslational modification of their histone subunits, act in concert to regulate local transcription states. Combinatorial measurements of nucleosome accessibility with histone modification generated by ndChIP-seq allows for the simultaneous interrogation of these features. The ndChIP-seq methodology is applicable to small numbers of primary cells inaccessible to cross-linking based ChIP-seq protocols. Taken together, ndChIP-seq enables the measurement of histone modification in combination with local nucleosome density to obtain new insights into shared mechanisms that regulate RNA transcription within rare primary cell populations.

We present a modified native chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) methodology for the generation of sequence datasets suitable for a nucleosome density ChIP-seq analytical framework integrating micrococcal nuclease (MNase) accessibility with histone modification measurements.

We present a modified native chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) experimental protocol compatible with a Gaussian mixture distribution ...

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) Protocol for Low-abundance Embryonic Samples

Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a widely-used technique for mapping the localization of post-translationally modified histones, histone variants, transcription factors, or chromatin-modifying enzymes at a given locus or on a genome-wide scale. The combination of ChIP assays with next-generation sequencing (i.e., ChIP-Seq) is a powerful approach to globally uncover gene regulatory networks and to improve the functional annotation of genomes, especially of non-coding regulatory sequences. ChIP protocols normally require large amounts of cellular material, thus precluding the applicability of this method to investigating rare cell types or small tissue biopsies. In order to make the ChIP assay compatible with the amount of biological material that can typically be obtained in vivo during early vertebrate embryogenesis, we describe here a simplified ChIP protocol in which the number of steps required to complete the assay were reduced to minimize sample loss. This ChIP protocol has been successfully used to investigate different histone modifications in various embryonic chicken and adult mouse tissues using low to medium cell numbers (5 x 104 - 5 x 105 cells). Importantly, this protocol is compatible with ChIP-seq technology using standard library preparation methods, thus providing global epigenomic maps in highly relevant embryonic tissues.

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation ChIP Protocol for Low-abundance Embryonic Samples

Here, we describe a chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and ChIP-seq library preparation protocol to generate global epigenomic profiles from low-abundance chicken embryonic samples.

Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a widely-used technique for mapping the localization of post-translationally modified histones, histone variants, ...

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) of Histone Modifications from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Histone post-translational modifications (PTMs), such as acetylation, methylation and phosphorylation, are dynamically regulated by a series of enzymes that add or remove these marks in response to signals received by the cell. These PTMS are key contributors to the regulation of processes such as gene expression control and DNA repair. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (chIP) has been an instrumental approach for dissecting the abundance and localization of many histone PTMs throughout the genome in response to diverse perturbations to the cell. Here, a versatile method for performing chIP of post-translationally modified histones from the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) is described. This method relies on crosslinking of proteins and DNA using formaldehyde treatment of yeast cultures, generation of yeast lysates by bead beating, solubilization of chromatin fragments by micrococcal nuclease, and immunoprecipitation of histone-DNA complexes. DNA associated with the histone mark of interest is purified and subjected to quantitative PCR analysis to evaluate its enrichment at multiple loci throughout the genome. Representative experiments probing the localization of the histone marks H3K4me2 and H4K16ac in wildtype and mutant yeast are discussed to demonstrate data analysis and interpretation. This method is suitable for a variety of histone PTMs and can be performed with different mutant strains or in the presence of diverse environmental stresses, making it an excellent tool for investigating changes in chromatin dynamics under different conditions.

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation ChIP of Histone Modifications from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Here, we describe a protocol for chromatin immunoprecipitation of modified histones from the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Immunoprecipitated DNA is subsequently used for quantitative PCR to interrogate the abundance and localization of histone post-translational modifications throughout the genome.

Histone post-translational modifications (PTMs), such as acetylation, methylation and phosphorylation, are dynamically regulated by a series of enzymes ...

Adaptation of Hybridization Capture of Chromatin-associated Proteins for Proteomics to Mammalian Cells

The hybridization capture of chromatin-associated proteins for proteomics (HyCCAPP) technology was initially developed to uncover novel DNA-protein interactions in yeast. It allows analysis of a target region of interest without the need for prior knowledge about likely proteins bound to the target region. This, in theory, allows HyCCAPP to be used to analyze any genomic region of interest, and it provides sufficient flexibility to work in different cell systems. This method is not meant to study binding sites of known transcription factors, a task better suited for Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and ChIP-like methods. The strength of HyCCAPP lies in its ability to explore DNA regions for which there is limited or no knowledge about the proteins bound to it. It can also be a convenient method to avoid biases (present in ChIP-like methods) introduced by protein-based chromatin enrichment using antibodies. Potentially, HyCCAPP can be a powerful tool to uncover truly novel DNA-protein interactions. To date, the technology has been predominantly applied to yeast cells or to high copy repeat sequences in mammalian cells. In order to become the powerful tool we envision, HyCCAPP approaches need to be optimized to efficiently capture single-copy loci in mammalian cells. Here, we present our adaptation of the initial yeast HyCCAPP capture protocol to human cell lines, and show that single-copy chromatin regions can be efficiently isolated with this modified protocol.

This is a method to identify novel DNA-interacting proteins at specific target loci, relying on sequence-specific capture of crosslinked chromatin for subsequent proteomic analyses. No prior knowledge about potential binding proteins, nor cell modifications are required. Initially developed for yeast, the technology has now been adapted for mammalian cells.

The hybridization capture of chromatin-associated proteins for proteomics (HyCCAPP) technology was initially developed to uncover novel DNA-protein ...

Formaldehyde-assisted Isolation of Regulatory Elements to Measure Chromatin Accessibility in Mammalian Cells

Appropriate gene expression in response to extracellular cues, that is, tissue- and lineage-specific gene transcription, critically depends on highly defined states of chromatin organization. The dynamic architecture of the nucleus is controlled by multiple mechanisms and shapes the transcriptional output programs. It is, therefore, important to determine locus-specific chromatin accessibility in a reliable fashion that is preferably independent from antibodies, which can be a potentially confounding source of experimental variability. Chromatin accessibility can be measured by various methods, including the Formaldehyde-Assisted Isolation of Regulatory Elements (FAIRE) assay, that allow the determination of general chromatin accessibility in a relatively low number of cells. Here we describe a FAIRE protocol that allows simple, reliable, and fast identification of genomic regions with a low protein occupancy. In this method, the DNA is covalently bound to the chromatin proteins using formaldehyde as a crosslinking agent and sheared to small pieces. The free DNA is afterwards enriched using phenol:chloroform extraction. The ratio of free DNA is determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) or DNA sequencing (DNA-seq) compared to a control sample representing total DNA. The regions with a looser chromatin structure are enriched in the free DNA sample, thus allowing the identification of genomic regions with lower chromatin compaction.

The plasticity of nuclear architecture is controlled by dynamic epigenetic mechanisms including non-coding RNAs, DNA methylation, nucleosome repositioning as well as histone composition and modification. Here we describe a Formaldehyde-Assisted Isolation of Regulatory Elements (FAIRE) protocol which allows the determination of chromatin accessibility in a reproducible, inexpensive, and straightforward manner.

Appropriate gene expression in response to extracellular cues, that is, tissue- and lineage-specific gene transcription, critically depends on highly ...

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation of Murine Brown Adipose Tissue

Most cellular processes are regulated by transcriptional modulation of specific gene programs. Such modulation is achieved through the combined actions of a wide range of transcription factors (TFs) and cofactors mediating transcriptional activation or repression via changes in chromatin structure. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a useful molecular biology approach for mapping histone modifications and profiling transcription factors/cofactors binding to DNA, thus providing a snapshot of the dynamic nuclear changes occurring during different biological processes.
To study transcriptional regulation in adipose tissue, samples derived from in vitro cell cultures of immortalized or primary cell lines are often favored in ChIP assays because of the abundance of starting material and reduced biological variability. However, these models represent a limited snapshot of the actual chromatin state in living organisms. Thus, there is a critical need for optimized protocols to perform ChIP on adipose tissue samples derived from animal models.
Here we describe a protocol for efficient ChIP-seq of both histone modifications and non-histone proteins in brown adipose tissue (BAT) isolated from a mouse. The protocol is optimized for investigating genome-wide localization of proteins of interest and epigenetic markers in the BAT, which is a morphologically and physiologically distinct tissue amongst fat depots.

Here we describe a protocol for efficient chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) followed by high-throughput DNA sequencing (ChIP-seq) of brown adipose tissue (BAT) isolated from a mouse. This protocol is suitable for both mapping histone modifications and investigating genome-wide localization of non-histone proteins of interest in vivo.

Most cellular processes are regulated by transcriptional modulation of specific gene programs. Such modulation is achieved through the combined actions of ...

CRISPR-mediated Genome Editing of the Human Fungal Pathogen Candida albicans

This method describes the efficient CRISPR mediated genome editing of the diploid human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. CRISPR-mediated genome editing in C. albicans requires Cas9, guide RNA, and repair template. A plasmid expressing a yeast codon optimized Cas9 (CaCas9) has been generated. Guide sequences directly upstream from a PAM site (NGG) are cloned into the Cas9 expression vector. A repair template is then made by primer extension in vitro. Cotransformation of the repair template and vector into C. albicans leads to genome editing. Depending on the repair template used, the investigator can introduce nucleotide changes, insertions, or deletions. As C. albicans is a diploid, mutations are made in both alleles of a gene, provided that the A and B alleles do not harbor SNPs that interfere with guide targeting or repair template incorporation. Multimember gene families can be edited in parallel if suitable conserved sequences exist in all family members. The C. albicans CRISPR system described is flanked by FRT sites and encodes flippase. Upon induction of flippase, the antibiotic marker (CaCas9) and guide RNA are removed from the genome. This allows the investigator to perform subsequent edits to the genome. C. albicans CRISPR is a powerful fungal genetic engineering tool, and minor alterations to the described protocols permit the modification of other fungal species including C. glabrata, N. castellii, and S. cerevisiae.

CRISPR-mediated Genome Editing of the Human Fungal Pathogen Candida albicans

Efficient genome engineering of Candida albicans is critical to understanding the pathogenesis and development of therapeutics. Here, we described a protocol to quickly and accurately edit the C. albicans genome using CRISPR. The protocol allows investigators to introduce a wide variety of genetic modifications including point mutations, insertions, and deletions.

This method describes the efficient CRISPR mediated genome editing of the diploid human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. CRISPR-mediated genome editing ...