Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40268925›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Polymer model integrates imaging and sequencing to reveal how nanoscale heterochromatin domains influence gene expression.

Vinayak Vinayak, Ramin Basir, Rosela Golloshi, Joshua Toth, Lucas Sant'Anna, Melike Lakadamyali, Rachel Patton McCord, Vivek B Shenoy

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

12 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
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  5. Review
  6. Investigating Phase Separation in Genome Folding via Multiscale Computational Modeling.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
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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

8 authors.

Vinayak VinayakCenter for Engineering Mechanobiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4597-6934
Ramin BasirCenter for Engineering Mechanobiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2590-9934
Rosela GolloshiDepartments of Cell Biology, Center for Cell Dynamics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Joshua TothCenter for Engineering Mechanobiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1548-4207
Lucas Sant'AnnaCenter for Engineering Mechanobiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3009-8072
Melike LakadamyaliCenter for Engineering Mechanobiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7524-6414
Rachel Patton McCordDepartment of Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0010-5323
Vivek B ShenoyCenter for Engineering Mechanobiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. vshenoy@seas.upenn.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2645-1016

Funding

Studying E-cadherin dynamics during extravasation and metastatic colonizationU54CA261694 · NCI · MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · PI ROGER D KAMM, Vivek Shenoy · 2021 to 2026
$9.1M
Pathological consequences of altered tissue mechanics in fibrosisR01EB017753 · NIBIB · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI JANMEY, PAUL A, SHENOY, VIVEK · 2014 to 2025
$6.3M
An integrated approach to melanoma metastasis and therapy resistance: effects of age-related changes in the ECM and the biomechanics of the skinR01CA232256 · NCI · WISTAR INSTITUTE · PI CUKIERMAN, EDNA, RAJ, ARJUN · 2019 to 2023
$3.0M
Folding, Misfolding, and Unfolding: How human 3D genome structure resists, adapts, or succumbs to physical stresses in health and diseaseR35GM133557 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE KNOXVILLE · PI Rachel Patton McCord · 2019 to 2026
$2.7M
Integration of elasticity, viscosity, and plasticity in cellular mechanosensingR01EB030876 · NIBIB · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI SHENOY, VIVEK · 2020 to 2023
$1.3M
Integration of elasticity, viscosity, and plasticity in cellular mechanosensingR01GM155943 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI Vivek Shenoy · 2025 to 2026
$987k
National Science Foundation (NSF) CMMI-154857National Science Foundation (NSF) DMS-1953572National Science Foundation (NSF) MRSEC/DMR-1720530NCI NIH HHS R01 CA232256NCI NIH HHS U54 CA261694NIBIB NIH HHS R01 EB017753NIBIB NIH HHS R01 EB030876NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM155943NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM133557U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Cancer Institute (NCI) R01CA232256U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Cancer Institute (NCI) U54CA261694U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) R01EB017753U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) R01EB030876U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) R35GM133557
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Chromatin organization regulates gene expression, with nanoscale heterochromatin domains playing a fundamental role. Their size varies with microenvironmental stiffness and epigenetic interventions, but how these factors regulate their formation and influence transcription remains unclear. To address this, we developed a sequencing-informed copolymer model that simulates chromatin evolution through diffusion and active epigenetic reactions. Our model predicts the formation of nanoscale heterochromatin domains and quantifies how domain size scales with epigenetic reaction rates, showing that epigenetic and compaction changes primarily occur at domain boundaries. We validated these predictions via Hi-C and super-resolution imaging of hyperacetylated melanoma cells and identified differential expression of metastasis-related genes through RNA-seq. We validated our findings in hMSCs, where epigenetic reaction rates respond to microenvironmental stiffness. Conclusively, our simulations reveal that heterochromatin domain boundaries regulate gene expression and epigenetic memory. These findings demonstrate how external cues drive chromatin organization and transcriptional memory in development and disease.

Indexed as

HeterochromatinPolymersCell Line, TumorChromatinEpigenesis, GeneticHistonesHumansMelanomaChromatinHeterochromatinHistonesPolymers

Identifiers

PMID40268925
PMCPMC12019571

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.