Transcription-associated Loading and Translocation of Condensin II on Chromosome Arms in Embryonic Stem Cells (RNA)

The precise control of gene expression programs is critical for maintenance of cell state in emryonic stem cells. Cohesin has been shown to play an important role in maintaining gene expression programs by contributing to DNA loops between enhancers and promoters of active genes. The influence of condensin on gene expression is not well understood. We used microarrays to detail the changes to the global gene expression program of mouse embryonic stem cells upon depletion of cohesin or condensin II. Mouse embryonic stem cells were treated with shRNA constructs targeting CapH2 (2 hairpins), Smc2 (2 hairpins), Smc1 (1 hairpin, 2 biological replicates) and GFP control (1 hairpin, 2 biological replicates) for a total of 8 samples. After 5 days RNA was extracted from the depleted cells and hybridized to Affymetrix microarrays.