FoxP3 associates with enhancer-promoter loops to regulate Treg-specific gene expression.

Abstract

Gene expression programs are specified by higher-order chromatin structure and enhancer-promoter loops (EPLs). T regulatory cell (Treg) identity is dominantly specified by the transcription factor (TF) FoxP3, whose mechanism of action is unclear. We applied chromatin conformation capture with immunoprecipitation (HiChIP) in Treg and closely related conventional CD4+ T cells (Tconv). EPLs identified by H3K27Ac HiChIP showed a range of connection intensity, with some superconnected genes. TF-specific HiChIP showed that FoxP3 interacts with EPLs at a large number of genes, including some not differentially expressed in Treg versus Tconv, but enriched at the core Treg signature loci that it up-regulates. FoxP3 association correlated with heightened H3K27Ac looping, as ascertained by analysis of FoxP3-deficient Treg-like cells. There was marked asymmetry in the loci where FoxP3 associated at the enhancer- or the promoter-side of EPLs, with enrichment for different transcriptional cofactors. FoxP3 EPL intensity distinguished gene clusters identified by single-cell ATAC-seq as covarying between individual Tregs, supporting a direct transactivation model for FoxP3 in determining Treg identity.