Influence of histone acetylation on genome architecture in Drosophila S2 cells

In this study, we changed global levels of histone acetylation in Drosophila S2 cells by knock-down of the main histone deacetylase HDAC1/Rpd3 in S2 cells. Changes in the level of histone acetylation affect packaging density of topologically associating domains (TADs) which are the units of higher-order chromatin organization.

Importantly, the increased histone acetylation leads to the decreased packaging density of TADs and vice versa. Moreover, the increased histone acetylation within active TADs enhances their spatial separation from the inactive ones. Our findings highlight the key role of histone acetylation in the determination of 3D organization of chromatin domains.