Chromatin accessibility classification of TAD boundaries discloses new chromatin insulators (Hi-C 2)

Structural proteins such as CTCF and the cohesin complex have been identified enriched at domain boundaries. However, we still lack a complete understanding of the function of boundaries and what makes one boundary more effective at insulating genomic interactions than others.

Here we have classified domain boundaries by chromatin accessibility and found there is a collection of transcription factors (ZNF316, REST and EMSY among others) that occupy boundaries with or without CTCF. We functionally demonstrate that DNA-binding motif edition for ZNF316 leads to domain boundary disruption and increased inter-domain interactions, suggesting ZNF316 as a new factor structuring chromatin and insulating interactions between regulatory elements.