Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40779393›Full record

ArticleCell reports2025

Bicoid-nucleosome competition sets a concentration threshold for transcription constrained by genome replication.

Eleanor A Degen, Corinne Croslyn, Niall M Mangan, Shelby A Blythe

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cell reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing 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

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Breaking anterior-posterior symmetry in the moth flybioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Eleanor A DegenInterdisciplinary Biological Sciences Graduate Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA; Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. Electronic address: degeneleanor@gmail.com.
Corinne CroslynInterdisciplinary Biological Sciences Graduate Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA; Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
Niall M ManganDepartment of Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA; NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology, Chicago, IL, USA.
Shelby A BlytheDepartment of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA; NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology, Chicago, IL, USA. Electronic address: shelby.blythe@gmail.com.

Funding

CELLULAR &MOLECULAR BASIS OF DISEASE TRAINING PROGRAMT32GM008061 · NIGMS · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · PI CARTHEW, RICHARD W. · 1985 to 2022
$17.1M
Defining epigenetic mechanisms for embryonic patterningR01HD101563 · NICHD · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · PI Shelby Alexander Blythe · 2021 to 2026
$2.0M
NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD101563NIGMS NIH HHS T32 GM008061
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Transcription factors (TFs) regulate gene expression despite constraints from chromatin structure and the cell cycle. Here, we examine the concentration-dependent regulation of hunchback by the Bicoid morphogen through a combination of quantitative imaging, mathematical modeling, and epigenomics in Drosophila embryos. By live imaging of MS2 reporters, we find that, following mitosis, the timing of transcriptional activation driven by the hunchback P2 (hbP2) enhancer directly reflects Bicoid concentration. We build a stochastic model that can explain in vivo onset time distributions by accounting for both the competition between Bicoid and nucleosomes at hbP2 and a negative influence of DNA replication on transcriptional elongation. Experimental modulation of nucleosome stability alters onset time distributions and the posterior boundary of hunchback expression. We conclude that TF-nucleosome competition is the molecular mechanism whereby the Bicoid morphogen gradient specifies the posterior boundary of hunchback expression.

Indexed as

DNA-Binding ProteinsDNA ReplicationDrosophila melanogasterDrosophila ProteinsHomeodomain ProteinsNucleosomesTrans-ActivatorsTranscription FactorsTranscription, GeneticAnimalsGene Expression Regulation, Developmentalbcd protein, DrosophilaDNA-Binding ProteinsDrosophila Proteinshb protein, DrosophilaHomeodomain ProteinsNucleosomesTrans-ActivatorsTranscription Factorschromatincomputational modelingCP: Developmental biologyCP: Molecular biologyDNA replicationDrosophilaEmbryonic patterningmorphogenMS2 reporternucleosometranscription factor

Identifiers

PMID40779393
PMCPMC12425142

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.