SKM 2023 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 52: Statistical Physics of Biological Systems II (joint session BP/DY)

DY 52.4: Vortrag

Freitag, 31. März 2023, 10:15–10:30, BAR Schö

A stereotypical sequence of condensation and dispersal of RNA polymerase II clusters during stem cell differentiation — •Tim Klingberg¹, Irina Wachter², Agnieszka Pancholi², Roshan Prizak², Priya Kumar³, Yomna Gohar³, Marcel Sobucki², Elisa Kämmer², Süheyla Eroğlu-Kayikçi², Sylvia Erhardt², Carmelo Ferrai³, Vasily Zaburdaev¹, and Lennart Hilbert² — ¹Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg — ²Karlsruher Institut für Technologie — ³Universitätsmedizin Göttingen

Most eukaryotic genes are transcribed by RNA polymerase II (Pol II). In stem cells, recruited Pol II forms prominent, long-lived clusters, which gradually disappear during differentiation, so that only smaller clusters remain. Here, we ask whether the loss of large Pol II clusters is a stereotypical transition that can be explained by changes in the Pol II transcriptional state during differentiation. We assess clusters by super-resolution microscopy in three different experimental models of differentiation. In all cases, Pol II clusters first become larger and rounder, then unfold, and finally split into small clusters. These shape changes are accompanied by changes of transcriptional activity of Pol II. Previous work suggests a surface-condensate model, where enhancer regions support Pol II cluster formation, and transcriptional activity disperses clusters. Using this theoretical model, we propose that the developmental changes in enhancer marks and transcriptional activity during differentiation are sufficient to define a stereotyped trajectory through a cluster shape space.