Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34599163›Full record

ArticleNature communications2021

Complex small-world regulatory networks emerge from the 3D organisation of the human genome.

C A Brackley, N Gilbert, D Michieletto, A Papantonis, M C F Pereira, P R Cook, D Marenduzzo

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 31 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Unravelling the genetic architecture of cerebral small vessel disease in the context of stroke.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2026
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

C A BrackleySUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-5973-8179
N GilbertMRC Human Genetics Unit, MRC Institute of Genetics & Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-0505-6081
D MichielettoSUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, UK.
A PapantonisInstitute of Pathology, University Medical Center, Georg-August University of Göttingen, 37075, Göttingen, Germany.
M C F PereiraSUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, UK.
P R CookSir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RE, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6639-188X
D MarenduzzoSUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, UK. dmarendu@ph.ed.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0003-3974-4915
University of Edinburgh · GBWestern General Hospital · GBUniversity of Göttingen · DEUniversity of Oxford · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The discovery that overexpressing one or a few critical transcription factors can switch cell state suggests that gene regulatory networks are relatively simple. In contrast, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) point to complex phenotypes being determined by hundreds of loci that rarely encode transcription factors and which individually have small effects. Here, we use computer simulations and a simple fitting-free polymer model of chromosomes to show that spatial correlations arising from 3D genome organisation naturally lead to stochastic and bursty transcription as well as complex small-world regulatory networks (where the transcriptional activity of each genomic region subtly affects almost all others). These effects require factors to be present at sub-saturating levels; increasing levels dramatically simplifies networks as more transcription units are pressed into use. Consequently, results from GWAS can be reconciled with those involving overexpression. We apply this pan-genomic model to predict patterns of transcriptional activity in whole human chromosomes, and, as an example, the effects of the deletion causing the diGeorge syndrome.

Indexed as

Gene Regulatory NetworksGenome, HumanModels, GeneticChromatinChromosomes, HumanGenome-Wide Association StudyHumansPolymersQuantitative Trait LociTranscription FactorsTranscription, GeneticChromatinPolymersTranscription Factors

Identifiers

PMID34599163
PMCPMC8486811
OpenAlexW3202503277

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.