Gene expression and open chromatin in human and chimpanzee fibroblasts during a serum challenge

Fibroblasts exposed to serum undergo a defined pattern of transcription activation that mimics the gene expression profile associated with wound healing. Tumors have been called wounds to do not heal, and exhibit similar patterns of gene expression to those found in actively healing wounds. In human populations, incidence of epithelial cancer is high, and causes up to 20% of deaths in modern populations. In our nearest living relatives, chimpanzees, however, rates of epithelial cancers are up to ten-fold lower. Disease risk is a function of both environmental and genetic factors. Although environmental factors contribute substantially to disease risk, it remains unclear whether there is also a genetic component that differs between species. Here, we investigated the fibroblast serum response using fibroblasts isolated from humans and chimpanzees. We explored phenotypic differences between species with RNA-Seq to assay change in transcription and DNase-Seq to identify changes in chromatin configuration during the serum response.