Cell-specific and spatio-temporal controls of the estrogen-responsive trefoil factor (TFF) locus activity

Cell-specific transcriptional regulations exerted by the estrogen (E2) receptor alpha (ER) heavily rely upon timely and spatially coordinated processes. We engaged a comparative analysis of such dynamic molecular events at the TFF locus harbouring a cluster of genes co-regulated by E2, in two distinct breast cancer cell lines. Using a combination of methods, we show that the recruitment of ER on cell-specific sites triggers dynamic local modifications of chromatin, which are coordinated in time all along the locus. DNA-FISH experiments further demonstrate that these changes are associated with an E2-dependent reduction in plasticity of this genomic region and are dependent upon cohesin. Importantly, 3C/4C experiments and the use of triplex forming oligonucleotides (TFOs) allowed us to precisely map the three-dimensional network of regulatory events that permits the estrogenic response of this genomic region. These data also evidenced an unexpected functional redundancy of enhancers. Independent duplicate array series, using on one array pooled ChIP triplicates prepared from separate MDA::ER or MCF-7 cell cultures treated with estradiol for 50 minutes.