Chromatin Accessibility and Regulatory Network Modulation by Endocrine Disrupters

描述（由申请人提供）：我们目前对内分泌干扰化学品（EDCs），如激素模拟物（“异种雌激素”）如何修饰和维持染色质状态、基因表达模式以及改变基因组核受体结合和染色质结构模式的理解尚处于起步阶段。染色质可及性在塑造核激素受体和所有转录因子的结合景观中起着重要作用。DNaseI超敏反应图谱提供了一种强有力的方法，全球性的，通用的，精确的描绘调控DNA。在这项提案中，我们的目标是应用这些强大的方法来映射与EDC相关的调节DNA景观的改变，并定义EDC暴露对转录控制网络的影响。专注于异种雌激素，我们的目标是系统地表征暴露的影响，使用模型细胞系以及专门的原代细胞和原代人体组织培养系统的监管DNA景观。我们还将解决主要悬而未决的问题，瞬时暴露于内分泌干扰物引起持久的表型效应，并分析转录调控网络内分泌干扰物。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Our current understanding of how endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as the hormone mimics ('xenoestrogens') modify and maintain chromatin states, gene expression patterns and alter genomic nuclear receptor binding and chromatin structural patterns is nascent. Chromatin accessibility plays a major role in shaping the binding landscape of nuclear hormone receptors and all transcription factors. DNaseI hypersensitivity mapping provides a powerful approach for global, generic, and precise delineation of regulatory DNA. In this proposal, we aim to apply these powerful approaches to map alterations in the regulatory DNA landscape associated with EDCs, and to define the impact of EDC exposure on transcriptional control networks. Focusing on xenoestrogens, we aim to characterize systematically the impact of exposure on the regulatory DNA landscape using model cell lines as well as specialized primary cell and primary human tissue culture systems. We will also address major outstanding questions concerning transient exposures to EDCs giving rise to lasting phenotypic effects, and analyze transcriptional regulatory networks perturbed by EDCs.