Cited by 266Genomics and Chromatin DynamicsChromatin Remodeling and CancerNuclear Structure and Function

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 78 of the 78 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 18 of the 184 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

Recent evidence that TADs and chromatin loops are dynamic structures

Open access

Abstract

Mammalian genomes are folded into spatial domains, which regulate gene expression by modulating enhancer-promoter contacts. Here, we review recent studies on the structure and function of Topologically Associating Domains (TADs) and chromatin loops. We discuss how loop extrusion models can explain TAD formation and evidence that TADs are formed by the ring-shaped protein complex, cohesin, and that TAD boundaries are established by the DNA-binding protein, CTCF. We discuss our recent genomic, biochemical and single-molecule imaging studies on CTCF and cohesin, which suggest that TADs and chromatin loops are dynamic structures. We highlight complementary polymer simulation studies and Hi-C studies employing acute depletion of CTCF and cohesin, which also support such a dynamic model. We discuss the limitations of each approach and conclude that in aggregate the available evidence argues against stable loops and supports a model where TADs are dynamic structures that continually form and break throughout the cell cycle.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This review argues that CTCF/cohesin-dependent TADs and chromatin loops are dynamic structures that continually form and break, with mean lifetimes of minutes to tens of minutes, rather than stable structures. It integrates single-molecule imaging, polymer simulations, and acute CTCF/cohesin depletion Hi-C studies to support a loop-extrusion/dynamic LMC model.

Key findings

  • TADs are formed by cohesin-mediated loop extrusion and boundaries are established by CTCF; acute depletion of CTCF or cohesin causes TADs and loops to largely disappear, with CTCF loss having essentially no effect on genome-averaged contact probability and cohesin loss reducing contact probability at the tens-to-hundreds-of-kilobases scale. Cohesin loss increases epigenomic compartmentalization ∼2-fold.
  • Imaging in mES and U2OS cells yields CTCF chromatin residence times of ∼1–4 min and cohesin G1 residence times of ∼20–25 min; because cohesin eventually dissociates, the paper proposes that cohesin-mediated loops have mean lifetimes of a few to tens of minutes.
  • In ΔWAPL cells, average TAD size increases substantially and median loop size increases from 370 kb to 575 kb, supporting dynamic cohesin-controlled TADs. CTCF binds ∼2-fold more sites than cohesin (68,077 vs. 33,434 called peaks).
  • TADs emerge at the population level from many differently positioned extrusion complexes; even strong Hi-C loop anchors contact in only a small subset of cells, and insulation between adjacent TADs is only ∼2-fold.

Methods

  • Design: Extra View/review synthesizing recent studies on TAD and chromatin-loop structure and function, including the authors’ genomic, biochemical, and single-molecule imaging work plus complementary polymer simulation and Hi-C acute depletion studies.
  • Data/sample: live-cell imaging used CRISPR/Cas9-mediated homozygous HaloTag or SNAPf tagging of CTCF and cohesin in mouse embryonic stem cells and human U2OS cells, with ChIP-Seq, co-immunoprecipitation, single-molecule tracking at 225 Hz, FRAP, and PALM/STORM; cited Hi-C studies include ΔWAPL cells and auxin-AID-mediated acute Rad21 degradation.
  • Analysis: critical synthesis and evaluation of evidence across imaging, polymer modeling, and Hi-C perturbation approaches; the article is a review/synthesis rather than a new primary experimental study.

Limitations

  • Stated: imaging cannot identify which locus a molecule is bound to, reports genomic-average residence times, binding times are stochastic and exponentially distributed, very small (<5%) subpopulations with different binding times cannot be excluded, and using CTCF/cohesin binding dynamics to infer loop stability is indirect.
  • Stated: polymer modeling faces the problem that many mutually inconsistent models can fit the data, and fitting data does not prove mechanistic assumptions; acute cohesin degradation studies may not reflect normal turnover rates and have poor time resolution.
  • Stated/evident: final demonstration that TADs and loops are dynamic requires direct real-time observation of specific loci in live cells, and whether epigenomic compartments are stable or dynamic remains unknown; the review’s conclusion is an aggregate argument from indirect approaches.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1080/19491034.2017.1389365

Cites

78 of 78 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Figures

Figure 1. Chromosome structure and function is organized at multiple scales. At the smallest scale, DNA is folded into a double helix, which gets compacted into ∼11 nm nucleosomes, whereby 147 bp of DNA wrap around a histone octamer. Functionally, nucleosomes regulate access of DNA-binding proteins and serve as modules for epigenetic modifications, which regulate gene expression. At the intermediate scale of tens of kilobases to a few megabases, chromatin is organized into Topologically Associating Domains (TADs) with a median size of a few hundred kilobases. Functionally, TADs are characterized by preferential contact of loci within them, and critically control enhancer-promoter interactions, and relative insulation from adjacent TADs. At a similar scale of TADs, chromatin is also organized into epigenomic A/B “compartments”, whereby active chromatin (A) tends to contact with other segments of active chromatin and localize in proximity of certain nuclear bodies such as nuclear speckles, while inactive chromatin (B) tends to contact with inactive chromatin and to be associated with the nuclear lamina. At the largest scale, particular chromosomes tend to associate with other chromosomes and form stereotyped chromosome territories inside the cell nucleus. The image used to illustrate chromosome territories was generously provided by Stevens et al.76
Figure 1. Chromosome structure and function is organized at multiple scales. At the smallest scale, DNA is folded into a double helix, which gets compacted into ∼11 nm nucleosomes, whereby 147 bp of DNA wrap around a histone octamer. Functionally, nucleosomes regulate access of DNA-binding proteins and serve as modules for epigenetic modifications, which regulate gene expression. At the intermediate scale of tens of kilobases to a few megabases, chromatin is organized into Topologically Associating Domains (TADs) with a median size of a few hundred kilobases. Functionally, TADs are characterized by preferential contact of loci within them, and critically control enhancer-promoter interactions, and relative insulation from adjacent TADs. At a similar scale of TADs, chromatin is also organized into epigenomic A/B “compartments”, whereby active chromatin (A) tends to contact with other segments of active chromatin and localize in proximity of certain nuclear bodies such as nuclear speckles, while inactive chromatin (B) tends to contact with inactive chromatin and to be associated with the nuclear lamina. At the largest scale, particular chromosomes tend to associate with other chromosomes and form stereotyped chromosome territories inside the cell nucleus. The image used to illustrate chromosome territories was generously provided by Stevens et al.76CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 2. TADs, chromatin loops and the role of CTCF and cohesin. (A) A simulated and simplified Hi-C map. The color scale corresponds to contact frequency (darker red, more frequent contacts). TADs appear as triangles, within which there are more frequent chromatin contacts and are often marked by “cornerpeaks”, suggesting that they are held together by a chromatin loop. Below, simulated CTCF and cohesin ChIP-Seq tracks illustrating that TAD and loop boundaries are almost always bound by CTCF and cohesin. At the bottom, DNA with the location and orientation of CTCF binding sites listed (red arrows denote CTCF binding site orientation). Note that Hi-C and ChIP-Seq data in this sketch is simulated and simplified. This sketch was inspired Fig 2a in Merkenschlager and Nora.1 (B) Sketch of CCCTC-binding factor, CTCF, an 11-zinc finger DNA binding protein with its consensus DNA binding sequence shown. (C) Sketch of the cohesin complex composed of the proteins Smc1, Smc3 and Rad21, which closes the ring, and the SA1/2 subunit which is involved in protein interactions. Cohesin topologically entraps chromatin within its lumen. Please note that whether cohesin functions as a single ring or a pair of rings remains a subject of debate. (D) The presence of CTCF and cohesin bound “corner peaks” in Hi-C maps are generally assumed to correspond to a chromatin loop held together by CTCF and cohesin as sketched. We refer to this protein complex holding together a loop as a Loop Maintenance Complex (LMC). (E) “Loop rosette” model, where TADs are held together by loops and TADs without cornerpeaks form passively from adjacent loop domains. This sketch was inspired by Fig 6F in Rao et al..16 (F) TADs may emerge at the population level when averaged over many heterogeneous single-cell genome topologies. Cohesin is sketched as rings and CTCF as in (B). This picture assumes that TADs are formed by cohesin-mediated extrusion, which stops at occupied CTCF binding sites. This sketch was inspired by Fig 7A in Fudenberg et al.8 Panels (B-D) have been adapted and reproduced from Hansen et al.7
Figure 2. TADs, chromatin loops and the role of CTCF and cohesin. (A) A simulated and simplified Hi-C map. The color scale corresponds to contact frequency (darker red, more frequent contacts). TADs appear as triangles, within which there are more frequent chromatin contacts and are often marked by “cornerpeaks”, suggesting that they are held together by a chromatin loop. Below, simulated CTCF and cohesin ChIP-Seq tracks illustrating that TAD and loop boundaries are almost always bound by CTCF and cohesin. At the bottom, DNA with the location and orientation of CTCF binding sites listed (red arrows denote CTCF binding site orientation). Note that Hi-C and ChIP-Seq data in this sketch is simulated and simplified. This sketch was inspired Fig 2a in Merkenschlager and Nora.1 (B) Sketch of CCCTC-binding factor, CTCF, an 11-zinc finger DNA binding protein with its consensus DNA binding sequence shown. (C) Sketch of the cohesin complex composed of the proteins Smc1, Smc3 and Rad21, which closes the ring, and the SA1/2 subunit which is involved in protein interactions. Cohesin topologically entraps chromatin within its lumen. Please note that whether cohesin functions as a single ring or a pair of rings remains a subject of debate. (D) The presence of CTCF and cohesin bound “corner peaks” in Hi-C maps are generally assumed to correspond to a chromatin loop held together by CTCF and cohesin as sketched. We refer to this protein complex holding together a loop as a Loop Maintenance Complex (LMC). (E) “Loop rosette” model, where TADs are held together by loops and TADs without cornerpeaks form passively from adjacent loop domains. This sketch was inspired by Fig 6F in Rao et al..16 (F) TADs may emerge at the population level when averaged over many heterogeneous single-cell genome topologies. Cohesin is sketched as rings and CTCF as in (B). This picture assumes that TADs are formed by cohesin-mediated extrusion, which stops at occupied CTCF binding sites. This sketch was inspired by Fig 7A in Fudenberg et al.8 Panels (B-D) have been adapted and reproduced from Hansen et al.7CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 3. Dynamic LMC model. Cohesin functions to hold together two strands of chromatin and CTCF positions cohesin at its convergent cognate binding sites as previously proposed. Note that whether cohesin entraps DNA as a single ring or a pair of rings remains a subject of debate. In the dynamic LMC model, while cohesin holds together a chromatin loop, different CTCF molecules are frequently binding and unbinding, giving rise to a dynamic protein complex with a molecular stoichiometry that changes over time. Even though cohesin's average residence time (∼20–25 min) is much longer than CTCF's (∼1–4 min), cohesin does eventually dissociate. Since there is now nothing to hold together the chromatin loop, cohesin dissociation causes the loop to fall apart. Thus, we propose that TADs and the chromatin loops that hold them together are dynamic structures, and that CTCF and cohesin form a dynamic protein complex. This figure has been adapted and reproduced from Hansen et al.7
Figure 3. Dynamic LMC model. Cohesin functions to hold together two strands of chromatin and CTCF positions cohesin at its convergent cognate binding sites as previously proposed. Note that whether cohesin entraps DNA as a single ring or a pair of rings remains a subject of debate. In the dynamic LMC model, while cohesin holds together a chromatin loop, different CTCF molecules are frequently binding and unbinding, giving rise to a dynamic protein complex with a molecular stoichiometry that changes over time. Even though cohesin's average residence time (∼20–25 min) is much longer than CTCF's (∼1–4 min), cohesin does eventually dissociate. Since there is now nothing to hold together the chromatin loop, cohesin dissociation causes the loop to fall apart. Thus, we propose that TADs and the chromatin loops that hold them together are dynamic structures, and that CTCF and cohesin form a dynamic protein complex. This figure has been adapted and reproduced from Hansen et al.7CC BY · PubMed Central

Verification

Claims the paper makes

64 Not checked yet · 34 Own interpretation · 17 Own result · 11 Own method · 4 Partly supported · 3 No basis given · 2 Supported · 2 Supported so far · 1 Couldn’t confirm · accuracy not yet measured

Verify all 166 references — free account

Show all 77 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 50
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 13
61 of 61
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The presence of CTCF and cohesin bound corner peaks in Hi-C maps corresponds to a chromatin loop held together by CTCF and cohesin.

    “The presence of CTCF and cohesin bound “corner peaks” in Hi-C maps are generally assumed to correspond to a chromatin loop held together by CTCF and cohesin as sketched.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    TADs are formed by cohesin-mediated extrusion, which stops at occupied CTCF binding sites.

    “This picture assumes that TADs are formed by cohesin-mediated extrusion, which stops at occupied CTCF binding sites.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    CTCF binds its cognate sites and recruits cohesin, which then folds the in-between chromatin into a loop structure.

    “This readily suggested a model wherein CTCF binds its cognate sites and recruits cohesin, which then folds the in-between chromatin into a loop structure.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    In the loop extrusion model, cohesin spontaneously engages chromatin and begins extruding a DNA loop.

    “In this model, cohesin spontaneously engages chromatin and begins extruding a DNA loop.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Loop extrusion continues until cohesin spontaneously falls off or until it encounters an occupied CTCF binding site in the convergent orientation.

    “Loop extrusion then continues until cohesin spontaneously falls off or until it encounters an occupied CTCF binding site in the convergent orientation.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The orientation of the CTCF binding site determines the orientation of the CTCF protein.

    “Since the orientation of the CTCF binding site determines the orientation of the CTCF protein, this may explain how an extruding cohesin complex distinguishes between convergent and divergent CTCF binding sites.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    In ΔWAPL cells, cohesin's extrusion speed does not change.

    “assuming no change in cohesin's extrusion speed”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    CTCF positions cohesin at its convergent cognate binding sites and cohesin holds together two strands of chromatin.

    “Cohesin functions to hold together two strands of chromatin and CTCF positions cohesin at its convergent cognate binding sites as previously proposed.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The main function of cohesin in G1 is loop extrusion.

    “the main function of cohesin in G1 is loop extrusion”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Binding times to cognate sites are highly stochastic and exponentially distributed such that few events exhibit the mean value.

    “Moreover, the binding times to cognate sites are highly stochastic and exponentially distributed such that few events exhibit the mean value.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Replenishment of cohesin involves translation of enough Rad21 protein, incorporation into cohesin complexes, loading onto chromatin, initiation and continuation of extrusion, and re-formation of TADs.

    “For example, replenishment of cohesin involves translation of enough Rad21 protein, incorporation into cohesin complexes, loading onto chromatin, initiation and continuation of extrusion, and re-formation of TADs.”
11 of 11

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Citations

Cites

Show all 78 references

Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. Merkenschlager M, 2017, Annu Rev Genomics Hum Genet, 17, 1
  2. Rao S, 2017, bioRxiv
  3. Wutz G, 2017, bioRxiv
  4. Gassler J, 2017, bioRxiv
  5. Finn E, 2017, bioRxiv
  6. Hansen AS, 2017, bioRxiv
  7. Zirkel A, 2017, bioRxiv

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Items 101–200 of 264

Metadata

Authors
Hansen, A. S., Cattoglio, C., Darzacq, X., & Tjian, R.
Affiliations
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
  • University of California, Berkeley (US)
Corresponding author
Hansen, Anders S.
Venue
Nucleus
Published
2017-12-14
Volume
9
Issue
1
Pages
20-32
ISSN
  • 1949-1034 (ISSN-L)
  • 1949-1042
OpenAlex
W2767110090
Cited by
266
References
78
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 42 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 2
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nucleus (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (LA1-08013)
  • Siebel Stem Cell Institute
  • National Institutes of Health (DK 107980)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (U54DK107980)
  • National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (U01EB021236)
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
topologically associating domains, chromatin looping, loop extrusion, cohesin, CTCF, 3D genome organization, enhancer-promoter interactions, loop dynamics, cell cycle, Hi-C, polymer simulation, single-molecule imaging
MeSH terms
Animals, Chromatin, Humans, Models, Molecular, Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-10, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).

A second model labelled each claim on 2026-10-10 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).

Cited sources are checked with a language model’s help (gpt-6-sol).

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review