Cut-C: cleavage under tethered nuclease for conformational capture

Background: Deciphering the 3D structure of the genome is essential for elucidating the regulatory mechanisms of gene expression in detail. Existing methods, such as chromosome conformation capture (3C) and Hi-C have enabled the identification of novel aspects of chromatin structure. Further identification of protein-centric chromatin conformation is enabled by coupling the Hi-C procedure with a conventional chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. However, these methods are time-consuming and require independent methods for validation.

Results: To simultaneously identify protein-centric chromatin conformation and target protein localization, we have developed Cut-C, a method that combines antibody-mediated cleavage by tethered nuclease with chromosome conformation capture to identify chromatin interactions mediated by a protein of interest. Applying Cut-C to H3K4me3, a histone modification enriched at active gene promoters, we have successfully identified chromatin loops mediated by H3K4me3 along with the genome-wide distribution of H3K4me3. Cut-C also identified chromatin loops mediated by CTCF, validating the general applicability of the method.

Conclusions: Cut-C identifies protein-centric chromatin conformations along with the genome-wide distribution of target proteins using simple procedures. The simplified protocol will improve the efficiency of analysing chromatin conformation using precious materials, such as clinical samples.