RNA-seq analysis of transcriptomic changes in HS2 enhancer perturbed cells

Tissue-specific gene expression requires coordinated control of gene-proximal and distal cis-regulatory elements (CREs), yet functional analysis of putative gene-distal CREs such as enhancers remains challenging. Here we describe enhanced CRISPR/dCas9-based epigenetic editing systems, enCRISPRa and enCRISPRi, for multiplexed analysis of enhancer function in situ and in vivo. Using dual effector proteins capable of re-writing enhancer-associated chromatin modifications, we show that enCRISPRa and enCRISPRi modulate gene transcription by remodeling local epigenetic landscapes at sgRNA-targeted enhancers and associated genes. Comparing with existing methods, our systems display more robust and specific perturbations of gene transcription with minimal off-targets. Allele-specific targeting of enCRISPRa to oncogenic TAL1 super-enhancer modulates TAL1 expression and cancer progression in xenotransplants. Furthermore, multiplexed perturbations of lineage-specific enhancers in an enCRISPRi knock-in mouse establish in vivo evidence for lineage-restricted requirement of developmentally regulated enhancers during hematopoietic lineage specification. Hence, enhanced CRSIPR epigenetic editing provides opportunities for interrogating enhancer function in development and disease. RNA-seq was performed to determine the transcriptomic changes in HS2 enhancer perturbed cells