Cited by 805Genomics and Chromatin DynamicsChromatin Remodeling and CancerNuclear Structure and Function

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 77 of the 77 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 36 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

The Cohesin Release Factor WAPL Restricts Chromatin Loop Extension

Open access

Abstract

The spatial organization of chromosomes influences many nuclear processes including gene expression. The cohesin complex shapes the 3D genome by looping together CTCF sites along chromosomes. We show here that chromatin loop size can be increased and that the duration with which cohesin embraces DNA determines the degree to which loops are enlarged. Cohesin's DNA release factor WAPL restricts this loop extension and also prevents looping between incorrectly oriented CTCF sites. We reveal that the SCC2/SCC4 complex promotes the extension of chromatin loops and the formation of topologically associated domains (TADs). Our data support the model that cohesin structures chromosomes through the processive enlargement of loops and that TADs reflect polyclonal collections of loops in the making. Finally, we find that whereas cohesin promotes chromosomal looping, it rather limits nuclear compartmentalization. We conclude that the balanced activity of SCC2/SCC4 and WAPL enables cohesin to correctly structure chromosomes.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

In HAP1 cells, WAPL loss stabilizes cohesin on DNA and extends chromatin loops (median 575 kb versus 370 kb in wild-type), while SCC2/SCC4 promotes loop extension; WAPL also enforces convergent CTCF looping and limits nuclear compartmentalization. The authors conclude that cohesin structures chromosomes by processive loop enlargement, balanced by WAPL and SCC2/SCC4.

Key findings

  • WAPL restricts chromatin loop extension: ΔWAPL cells showed a median loop length increase of more than 200 kb (575 kb versus 370 kb in wild-type), increased inter-TAD contacts, and pronounced TAD corner peaks; SMC1 ChIP-seq peaks increased from 18,462 to 45,479.
  • WAPL enforces the CTCF directionality rule: wild-type HAP1 cells almost exclusively looped convergent CTCF sites, whereas ΔWAPL cells formed loops between tandem-oriented CTCF sites, including at the NCAM2 locus by 4C-seq.
  • SCC2/SCC4 promotes loop extension and TAD boundaries: ΔSCC4 cells had shorter loops, reduced cohesin binding sites (18,462 to 5,974), and diffuse TAD boundaries with decreased directionality index; ΔWAPL/ΔSCC4 cells restored loop length and wild-type-like contact maps. The C-terminal part of SCC2 was required for vermicelli cohesin staining.
  • Cohesin limits nuclear compartmentalization: ΔWAPL cells had reduced far-cis (>10 Mb) contacts, less strict A/B compartment segregation, and fragmented lamina-associated domains; ΔSCC4 cells had increased far-cis contacts; ΔWAPL/ΔSCC4 resembled wild-type. B-to-A switches covered 46.0 Mb versus 22.8 Mb for A-to-B, and 1,009 genes were differentially expressed.

Methods

  • HAP1 cells were used to generate CRISPR knockouts of WAPL, SCC4, and WAPL/SCC4, plus SCC2 truncation mutants; a haploid gene-trap synthetic viability screen compared control and ΔWAPL HAP1 cells.
  • Chromosome organization was assayed by high-resolution Hi-C, 4C-seq, CTCF and SMC1 ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, Lamin B1 DamID, FRAP, immunofluorescence, and proliferation/colony-formation assays.
  • Computational analyses included HiC-Pro, HICCUPS loop calling, HiCseg TAD calling, directionality index, aggregate peak analysis, PCA-based compartment scoring, and rank-product statistics.

Limitations

  • The paper states that it remains unresolved how WAPL-mediated cohesin release enforces CTCF loop specificity, how WAPL/SCC2/SCC4/cohesin modulate specific gene expression changes, and whether SMC complexes provide topological anchors or directly extrude DNA. It also notes that illegally oriented loops remain relatively rare even in ΔWAPL cells.
  • The paper states that SCC4 deletion causes near-complete loss of SCC2, so SCC4-deficient cells could not fully separate SCC4 from SCC2 function; SCC2 itself could not be knocked out even in a ΔWAPL background.
  • Evident from the text: the work relies on HAP1 cells, which are haploid, p53-mutant, and cancer-derived, and WAPL-null proliferation was attributed to impaired p53 function; the loop-extrusion conclusion is inferred from Hi-C/4C/ChIP/FRAP data rather than direct single-molecule visualization, and only ∼1,000 genes changed expression despite genome-wide loop changes.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.cell.2017.04.013

Cites

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Claims the paper makes

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Show all 54 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 37
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 2
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 24
58 of 58
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Looping factors are important for cellular viability, and in the absence of WAPL, factors that promote looping may become less important.

    “We reasoned that looping factors are important for cellular viability, and that in the absence of WAPL, factors that promote looping may become less important.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Any defect in loop formation may be compensated for by WAPL deficiency.

    “Any defect in loop formation may thereby be compensated for by WAPL deficiency.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    There must be a linear scanning mechanism that, by tracing the DNA, can communicate the orientation of the contacting CTCF sites.

    “One would therefore assume that there must be a linear scanning mechanism that, by tracing the DNA, can communicate the orientation of the contacting CTCF sites.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The looped DNA passes through cohesin during loop formation.

    “In this model, the looped DNA does, in fact, pass through cohesin during loop formation.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    In the 4C analysis, contact frequency decreases monotonically with distance.

    “The main assumption in our 4C analysis is that the contact frequency decreases monotonically with the distance.”
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Metadata

Authors
Haarhuis, J. H. I., van der Weide, R. H., Blomen, V. A., Yáñez-Cuna, J. O., Amendola, M., van Ruiten, M. S., Krijger, P. H. L., Teunissen, H., Medema, R. H., van Steensel, B., Brummelkamp, T. R., de Wit, E., & Rowland, B. D.
Affiliations
  • The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NL)
  • Hubrecht Institute for Developmental Biology and Stem Cell Research (NL)
Corresponding author
Rowland, Benjamin D.
Venue
Cell
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2017-05
Volume
169
Issue
4
Pages
693-707.e14
ISSN
0092-8674 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2610160407
Cited by
793
References
77
Citations by year
2026: 60 · 2025: 67 · 2024: 66 · 2023: 70 · 2022: 101 · 2021: 126 · 2020: 100 · 2019: 95 · 2018: 72 · 2017: 36
FWCI
34.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cell (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Institutional Research Information System University of Ferrara (University of Ferrara) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Dutch Cancer Society (NKI 2010-4706, NKI 2011-5103, NKI 2015-7657)
  • European Research Council (ERC Starting Grant 637587 HAP-PHEN, ERC Advanced Grant 293662)
  • Cancer Genomics Center (CGC.nl)
  • EMBO (Long Term Fellowship)
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 › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Nuclear Structure and Function
Keywords
cohesin, WAPL, CTCF, topologically associating domains, 3D genome organization, chromatin looping, nuclear compartmentalization
MeSH terms
Gene Editing, CCCTC-Binding Factor, Fatty Acid Elongases, Cohesins, Acetyltransferases, Carrier Proteins, Cell Nucleus, Chromatin, Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone, DNA-Binding Proteins, Humans, Nuclear Proteins, Proto-Oncogene Proteins, Repressor Proteins, Cell Cycle Proteins, Multiprotein Complexes

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