Belton Jon-Matthew, Dekker Job
Program in Systems Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605.
Cold Spring Harb Protoc. 2015 Jul 1;2015(7):649-61. doi: 10.1101/pdb.prot085209.
Hi-C enables simultaneous detection of interaction frequencies between all possible pairs of restriction fragments in the genome. The Hi-C method is based on chromosome conformation capture (3C), which uses formaldehyde cross-linking to fix chromatin regions that interact in three-dimensional space, irrespective of their genomic locations. In the Hi-C protocol described here, cross-linked chromatin is digested with HindIII and the ends are filled in with a nucleotide mix containing biotinylated dCTP. These fragments are ligated together, and the resulting chimeric molecules are purified and sheared to reduce length. Finally, biotinylated ligation junctions are pulled down with streptavidin-coated beads, linked to high-throughput sequencing adaptors, and amplified via polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The resolution of the Hi-C data set will depend on the depth of sequencing and choice of restriction enzyme. When sufficient sequence reads are obtained, information on chromatin interactions and chromosome conformation can be derived at single restriction fragment resolution for complete genomes.
Hi-C技术能够同时检测基因组中所有可能的限制性片段对之间的相互作用频率。Hi-C方法基于染色体构象捕获(3C)技术,该技术利用甲醛交联来固定在三维空间中相互作用的染色质区域,而不考虑它们在基因组中的位置。在此处描述的Hi-C实验方案中,交联的染色质用HindIII酶消化,末端用含有生物素化dCTP的核苷酸混合物填充。这些片段连接在一起,所得的嵌合分子被纯化并剪切以缩短长度。最后,用链霉亲和素包被的珠子拉下生物素化的连接接头,连接到高通量测序接头,并通过聚合酶链反应(PCR)进行扩增。Hi-C数据集的分辨率将取决于测序深度和限制性酶的选择。当获得足够的序列读数时,就可以在完整基因组的单限制性片段分辨率下获得染色质相互作用和染色体构象的信息。