美国耶鲁大学Rong Fan研究团队取得一项新突破。他们研究出在细胞水平进行空间分辨染色质修饰分析的工具：spatial-CUT&Tag。2022年2月11日出版的《科学》杂志发表了这项成果。

研究人员通过结合原位CUT&Tag化学、微流体确定性条形码和二代测序，研发了可用于空间分辨率的全基因组组蛋白修饰分析工具：Spatial-CUT&Tag。小鼠胚胎中空间分辨染色质状态揭示了与ENCODE数据库一致的组织类型特异性表观遗传调控，并提供了组织水平的空间信息。Spatial-CUT&Tag揭示了小鼠大脑中由组蛋白修饰决定的皮质层发育和细胞类型空间模式的表观遗传调控。

通过免疫荧光成像可识别仅包含一个细胞核的像素为20微米的原位单细胞表观基因组。对组织进行的空间染色质修饰分析可能为研究正常生理和发病机制中的表观遗传调控、细胞功能和命运决定提供新的机会。

据介绍，空间组学是生物学和生物医学研究的前沿领域。

附：英文原文

Title: Spatial-CUT&Tag: Spatially resolved chromatin modification profiling at the cellular level

Author: Yanxiang Deng, Marek Bartosovic, Petra Kukanja, Di Zhang, Yang Liu, Graham Su, Archibald Enninful, Zhiliang Bai, Gonalo Castelo-Branco, Rong Fan

Issue&Volume: 2022-02-11

Abstract: Spatial omics emerged as a new frontier of biological and biomedical research. Here, we present spatial-CUT&Tag for spatially resolved genome-wide profiling of histone modifications by combining in situ CUT&Tag chemistry, microfluidic deterministic barcoding, and next-generation sequencing. Spatially resolved chromatin states in mouse embryos revealed tissue-type-specific epigenetic regulations in concordance with ENCODE references and provide spatial information at tissue scale. Spatial-CUT&Tag revealed epigenetic control of the cortical layer development and spatial patterning of cell types determined by histone modification in mouse brain. Single-cell epigenomes can be derived in situ by identifying 20-micrometer pixels containing only one nucleus using immunofluorescence imaging. Spatial chromatin modification profiling in tissue may offer new opportunities to study epigenetic regulation, cell function, and fate decision in normal physiology and pathogenesis.

DOI: abg7216

Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abg7216#con10