Depletion of Lamins B1 and B2 Promotes Chromatin Mobility and Induces Differential Gene Expression by a Mesoscale-motion-dependent Mechanism

Background: B-type lamins are critical nuclear envelope proteins that interact with the three-dimensional genomic architecture. However, identifying the direct roles of B-lamins on dynamic genome organization has been challenging as their joint depletion severely impacts cell viability. To overcome this, we engineered mammalian cells to rapidly and completely degrade endogenous B-type lamins using Auxin-inducible degron technology.

Results: Using live-cell Dual Partial Wave Spectroscopic (Dual-PWS) microscopy, Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM), in situ Hi-C, CRISPR-Sirius, and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), we demonstrate that lamin B1 and lamin B2 are critical structural components of the nuclear periphery that create a repressive compartment for peripheral-associated genes. Lamin B1 and lamin B2 depletion minimally alters higher-order chromatin folding but disrupts cell morphology, significantly increases chromatin mobility, redistributes both constitutive and facultative heterochromatin, and induces differential gene expression both within and near lamin-associated domain (LAD) boundaries. Critically, we demonstrate that chromatin territories expand as upregulated genes within LADs radially shift inwards. Our results indicate that the mechanism of action of B-type lamins comes from their role in constraining chromatin motion and spatial positioning of gene-specific loci, heterochromatin, and chromatin domains.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that, while B-type lamin degradation does not significantly change genome topology, it has major implications for three-dimensional chromatin conformation at the single-cell level both at the lamina-associated periphery and the non-LAD-associated nuclear interior with concomitant genome-wide transcriptional changes. This raises intriguing questions about the individual and overlapping roles of lamin B1 and lamin B2 in cellular function and disease.