Cited by 9,212Genomics and Chromatin DynamicsChromatin Remodeling and CancerChromosomal and Genetic Variations

A 3D Map of the Human Genome at Kilobase Resolution Reveals Principles of Chromatin Looping

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Rao, Suhas S.P., Huntley, Miriam H., Durand, Neva C., Stamenova, Elena K., Bochkov, Ivan D., Robinson, James T., Sanborn, Adrian L., Machol, Ido +3 more·2014·Cell

Abstract

We use in situ Hi-C to probe the 3D architecture of genomes, constructing haploid and diploid maps of nine cell types. The densest, in human lymphoblastoid cells, contains 4.9 billion contacts, achieving 1 kb resolution. We find that genomes are partitioned into contact domains (median length, 185 kb), which are associated with distinct patterns of histone marks and segregate into six subcompartments. We identify ∼10,000 loops. These loops frequently link promoters and enhancers, correlate with gene activation, and show conservation across cell types and species. Loop anchors typically occur at domain boundaries and bind CTCF. CTCF sites at loop anchors occur predominantly (>90%) in a convergent orientation, with the asymmetric motifs "facing" one another. The inactive X chromosome splits into two massive domains and contains large loops anchored at CTCF-binding repeats.

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Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.cell.2014.11.021

Cites

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  • In the classic scenario, the boundary is presented by CTCF binding to its sequence motifs located in a divergent orientation at either end of the loop.

    “In the classic scenario, this boundary is presented by CTCF binding to its sequence motifs located in a divergent orientation at either end of the loop [277, 438–440]”

    From Transcriptional enhancers and their communication with gene promoters (2021) · cites this paper as [277]

    The Results section reports that 92% of CTCF motif pairs at the examined loop loci are convergent, not divergent, and that convergent pairs are overwhelmingly more frequent than divergent pairs. The Discussion likewise says that motifs at loop anchors are convergent in more than 90% of cases. Page numbers were not supplied in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.95)

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  • Standard Hi-C cannot discriminate whether an interacting fragment originated from the same or the other allele, while allele-specific interaction maps can separate cis-allele from trans-allele interactions, improving analysis of chromatin dynamics and gene regulation.

    “While standard Hi-C cannot discriminate whether an interacting fragment originated from the same or the other allele, allele-specific interaction maps can separate cis-allele from trans-allele interactions, thereby greatly improving the analysis of chromatin dynamics and gene regulation 20, 21.”

    From SNPsplit: Allele-specific splitting of alignments between genomes with known SNP genotypes (2016) · cites this paper as [21]

    Split into 2 atoms — 1 confirmed, 1 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

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  • 3D genomics methods such as Hi-C and Micro-C provide a genome-wide view of pairwise interactions but measure interaction probabilities only on a relative scale.

    “However, these methods only measure 3D interaction probabilities on a relative scale.”

    From Genome-wide absolute quantification of chromatin looping (2026) · cites this paper as [44]

    The Results section ('In situ Hi-C methodology and maps'; page not provided) defines Hi-C output as counts of observed contacts between pairs of loci. The paper also describes normalizing contact matrices and comparing contact frequencies with expected values, consistent with relative measurements. It does not establish the stated limitation for Micro-C or explicitly say that interaction probabilities can only be measured on a relative scale. (LLM, conf=0.77)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The majority of specific enhancer-promoter loops are highly enriched within, compared with across, TAD boundaries.

    “The majority of specific enhancer–promoter loops follow this pattern and are highly enriched within, compared with across, TAD boundaries [277, 401, 405].”

    From Transcriptional enhancers and their communication with gene promoters (2021) · cites this paper as [277]

    The Results section on promoter-anchored loops reports many enhancer–promoter loops, and the Results section on domain boundaries reports that loops often demarcate domains (page numbers unavailable in our copy). Neither passage establishes that a majority of enhancer–promoter loops lie within TAD boundaries or that they are enriched within versus across those boundaries. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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  • Many computational algorithms for Hi-C analysis explicitly correct for distance decay, identifying significant interactions based on how unusual their contact frequency is at a given distance.

    “many computational algorithms for the analysis of data from Hi-C and related techniques explicitly correct for distance decay, identifying “significant interactions” based on how unusual their contact frequency is at a given distance [277, 468–471].”

    From Transcriptional enhancers and their communication with gene promoters (2021) · cites this paper as [277]

    The Experimental Procedures section (“Annotation of Peaks”; page unavailable) describes an algorithm that identifies statistically significant contact frequencies by comparing each Hi-C pixel with its surrounding neighborhoods. That supports the unusual-contact-frequency part of the claim. The paper does not establish that many algorithms explicitly correct for distance decay or test contacts against an expectation at a given genomic distance; its stated comparison is with local background. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Köhne A Baniahmad A Renkawitz R 1993 NeP1: A Ubiquitous Transcription Factor Synergizes with v-ERBA in Transcriptional Silencing Journal of molecular biology 8102652

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Authors
Rao, S. S. P., Huntley, M. H., Durand, N. C., Stamenova, E. K., Bochkov, I. D., Robinson, J. T., Sanborn, A. L., Machol, I., Omer, A. D., Lander, E. S., & Aiden, E. L.
Affiliations
  • Broad Institute (US)
  • Baylor College of Medicine (US)
Corresponding author
  • Lander, Eric S.
  • Aiden, Erez Lieberman
Venue
Cell
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2014-12
Volume
159
Issue
7
Pages
1665-1680
ISSN
0092-8674 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1973062929
Cited by
9,212
References
82
Citations by year
2026: 997 · 2025: 1122 · 2024: 1245 · 2023: 1152 · 2022: 775 · 2021: 900 · 2020: 751 · 2019: 685 · 2018: 557 · 2017: 457 · 2016: 348 · 2015: 207 · 2014: 4 · 2012: 2
FWCI
139.72
Type
journal article
Language
en
Update notices
erratum (2015-07-30)
Open access
Locations
  • Cell (publishedVersion)
  • UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (DP2OD008540)
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (U01HL130010)
  • National Human Genome Research Institute (U54HG003067, HG003067, P50HG006193, HG006193)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Chromatin Remodeling and Cancer
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
Keywords
3D genome organization, chromatin looping, Hi-C, CTCF binding sites, loop anchors, enhancer-promoter interactions, histone modifications, X chromosome inactivation, lymphoblastoid cell lines
MeSH terms
CCCTC-Binding Factor, Animals, Cell Line, Cell Nucleus, Chromatin, Gene Expression Regulation, Humans, Molecular Conformation, Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid, Repressor Proteins, Genome, Human, Histone Code, Mice

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