Corticosteroid‐induced chromatin loop dynamics at the FKBP5 gene

Abstract

AbstractFKBP5 is a 115‐kb‐long glucocorticoid‐inducible gene implicated in psychiatric disorders. To investigate the complexities of chromatin interaction frequencies at the FKBP5 topologically associated domain (TAD), we deployed 15 one‐to‐all chromatin capture viewpoints near gene promoters, enhancers, introns, and CTCF‐loop anchors. This revealed a “one‐TAD‐one‐gene” structure encompassing the FKBP5 promoter and its enhancers. The FKBP5 promoter and its two glucocorticoid‐stimulated enhancers roam the entire TAD while displaying subtle cell type–specific interactomes. The FKBP5 TAD consists of two nested CTCF loops that are coordinated by one CTCF site in the eighth intron of FKBP5 and another beyond its polyadenylation site, 61 kb further. Loop extension correlates with transcription increases through the intronic CTCF site. This is efficiently compensated for, since the short loop is restored even under high transcription regimes. The boundaries of the FKBP5 TAD consist of divergent CTCF site patterns, harbor multiple smaller genes, and are resilient to glucocorticoid stimulation. Interestingly, both FKBP5 TAD boundaries harbor H3K27me3‐marked heterochromatin blocks that may reinforce them. We propose that cis‐acting genetic and epigenetic polymorphisms underlying FKBP5 expression variation are likely to reside within a 240‐kb region that consists of the FKBP5 TAD, its left sub‐TAD, and both its boundaries.