Does chromatin organization shape immune responses? 

1/🧬Does chromatin organization shape immune responses? Our recent study with @NickAdams_PhD led by Reizis Lab and @leonidmirny explores how cohesin, a key player in chromatin loop extrusion, controls the chromatin architecture essential for conventional dendritic cells (cDC)👇

— Aleksandra Galitsyna (@agalitzina) October 2, 2024

2/🦠DCs bridge innate and adaptive immunity. Surprisingly, strictly required factor for DCs to function is cohesin. Without it, cDCs fail to differentiate fully, but more critically, lose ability to cross-present antigens and secrete IL-12, a key cytokine for immune defense.

— Aleksandra Galitsyna (@agalitzina) October 2, 2024

3/🌀Cohesin organizes chromosomes, but not only. In DCs, the response to the antigens is impaired without cohein! We figured out that genes that fail to get activated are those far (>100 Kb) from the nearest enhancers and more enriched in Polycomb before activation. pic.twitter.com/tafPec2Oxv

— Aleksandra Galitsyna (@agalitzina) October 2, 2024

4/ It aligns well with recent studies showing the role of cohesin in shaping promoter-enhancer interactions and counteracting the Polycomb repression!

— Aleksandra Galitsyna (@agalitzina) October 2, 2024

5/🧪Mice deficient in cohesin show impaired IL-12 production and weakened anti-tumor responses, suggesting that cohesin is crucial for activating immune cells and proper cytokine signaling.🧫This could have implications for cancer therapies! My favorite figure by @NickAdams_PhD pic.twitter.com/aQfGSWGd76

— Aleksandra Galitsyna (@agalitzina) October 2, 2024

6/🔬Cohesin complex doesn’t work alone in shaping the dendritic cells function. Transcription factor IRF8 ensures the proper chromatin organization, most significantly directing the compartmental switches of genes active in DCs and their activation. pic.twitter.com/5R39tlW1JW

— Aleksandra Galitsyna (@agalitzina) October 2, 2024

7/ Coheins-Irf8 dynamic duo optimizes DC function by managing chromatin loops and compartmentalization.

— Aleksandra Galitsyna (@agalitzina) October 2, 2024

8/🚨The big takeaway: cohesin isn’t just about genome structure—it’s an essential regulator of immune function, influencing how DCs fight pathogens and tumors. #ChromatinResearch

— Aleksandra Galitsyna (@agalitzina) October 2, 2024

9/🎉 A special milestone for me! We released this research a week ago, but today, I’m sharing it with you on a day close to my heart—my birthday! 🥳 Immensely grateful to my brilliant collaborators who helped bring this to life just in time. Couldn’t ask for a better gift!🎂

— Aleksandra Galitsyna (@agalitzina) October 2, 2024