Browsing by Author "Rao, Suhas S. P."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    A rapid, low-cost, and highly sensitive SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic based on whole-genome sequencing
    (Public Library of Science, 2023) Adastra, Per A.; Durand, Neva C.; Mitra, Namita; Pulido, Saul Godinez; Mahajan, Ragini; Blackburn, Alyssa; Colaric, Zane L.; Theisen, Joshua W. M.; Weisz, David; Dudchenko, Olga; Gnirke, Andreas; Rao, Suhas S. P.; Kaur, Parwinder; Aiden, Erez Lieberman; Aiden, Aviva Presser; Center for Theoretical Biological Physics
    Early detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection is key to managing the current global pandemic, as evidence shows the virus is most contagious on or before symptom onset. Here, we introduce a low-cost, high-throughput method for diagnosing and studying SARS-CoV-2 infection. Dubbed Pathogen-Oriented Low-Cost Assembly & Re-Sequencing (POLAR), this method amplifies the entirety of the SARS-CoV-2 genome. This contrasts with typical RT-PCR-based diagnostic tests, which amplify only a few loci. To achieve this goal, we combine a SARS-CoV-2 enrichment method developed by the ARTIC Network (https://artic.network/) with short-read DNA sequencing and de novo genome assembly. Using this method, we can reliably (>95% accuracy) detect SARS-CoV-2 at a concentration of 84 genome equivalents per milliliter (GE/mL). The vast majority of diagnostic methods meeting our analytical criteria that are currently authorized for use by the United States Food and Drug Administration with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Emergency Use Authorization require higher concentrations of the virus to achieve this degree of sensitivity and specificity. In addition, we can reliably assemble the SARS-CoV-2 genome in the sample, often with no gaps and perfect accuracy given sufficient viral load. The genotypic data in these genome assemblies enable the more effective analysis of disease spread than is possible with an ordinary binary diagnostic. These data can also help identify vaccine and drug targets. Finally, we show that the diagnoses obtained using POLAR of positive and negative clinical nasal mid-turbinate swab samples 100% match those obtained in a clinical diagnostic lab using the Center for Disease Control’s 2019-Novel Coronavirus test. Using POLAR, a single person can manually process 192 samples over an 8-hour experiment at the cost of ~$36 per patient (as of December 7th, 2022), enabling a 24-hour turnaround with sequencing and data analysis time. We anticipate that further testing and refinement will allow greater sensitivity using this approach.
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    Chromatin alternates between A and B compartments at kilobase scale for subgenic organization
    (Springer Nature, 2023) Harris, Hannah L.; Gu, Huiya; Olshansky, Moshe; Wang, Ailun; Farabella, Irene; Eliaz, Yossi; Kalluchi, Achyuth; Krishna, Akshay; Jacobs, Mozes; Cauer, Gesine; Pham, Melanie; Rao, Suhas S. P.; Dudchenko, Olga; Omer, Arina; Mohajeri, Kiana; Kim, Sungjae; Nichols, Michael H.; Davis, Eric S.; Gkountaroulis, Dimos; Udupa, Devika; Aiden, Aviva Presser; Corces, Victor G.; Phanstiel, Douglas H.; Noble, William Stafford; Nir, Guy; Di Pierro, Michele; Seo, Jeong-Sun; Talkowski, Michael E.; Aiden, Erez Lieberman; Rowley, M. Jordan; Center for Theoretical Biological Physics
    Nuclear compartments are prominent features of 3D chromatin organization, but sequencing depth limitations have impeded investigation at ultra fine-scale. CTCF loops are generally studied at a finer scale, but the impact of looping on proximal interactions remains enigmatic. Here, we critically examine nuclear compartments and CTCF loop-proximal interactions using a combination of in situ Hi-C at unparalleled depth, algorithm development, and biophysical modeling. Producing a large Hi-C map with 33 billion contacts in conjunction with an algorithm for performing principal component analysis on sparse, super massive matrices (POSSUMM), we resolve compartments to 500 bp. Our results demonstrate that essentially all active promoters and distal enhancers localize in the A compartment, even when flanking sequences do not. Furthermore, we find that the TSS and TTS of paused genes are often segregated into separate compartments. We then identify diffuse interactions that radiate from CTCF loop anchors, which correlate with strong enhancer-promoter interactions and proximal transcription. We also find that these diffuse interactions depend on CTCF’s RNA binding domains. In this work, we demonstrate features of fine-scale chromatin organization consistent with a revised model in which compartments are more precise than commonly thought while CTCF loops are more protracted.
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    Depletion of lamins B1 and B2 promotes chromatin mobility and induces differential gene expression by a mesoscale-motion-dependent mechanism
    (Springer Nature, 2024) Pujadas Liwag, Emily M.; Wei, Xiaolong; Acosta, Nicolas; Carter, Lucas M.; Yang, Jiekun; Almassalha, Luay M.; Jain, Surbhi; Daneshkhah, Ali; Rao, Suhas S. P.; Seker-Polat, Fidan; MacQuarrie, Kyle L.; Ibarra, Joe; Agrawal, Vasundhara; Aiden, Erez Lieberman; Kanemaki, Masato T.; Backman, Vadim; Adli, Mazhar; Center for Theoretical Biological Physics
    B-type lamins are critical nuclear envelope proteins that interact with the three-dimensional genomic architecture. However, identifying the direct roles of B-lamins on dynamic genome organization has been challenging as their joint depletion severely impacts cell viability. To overcome this, we engineered mammalian cells to rapidly and completely degrade endogenous B-type lamins using Auxin-inducible degron technology.
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    Topologically Associated Domains Delineate Susceptibility to Somatic Hypermutation
    (Elsevier, 2019) Senigl, Filip; Maman, Yaakov; Dinesh, Ravi K.; Alinikula, Jukka; Seth, Rashu B.; Pecnova, Lubomira; Omer, Arina D.; Rao, Suhas S. P.; Weisz, David; Buerstedde, Jean-Marie; Aiden, Erez Lieberman; Casellas, Rafael; Hejnar, Jiri; Schatz, David G.; Center for Theoretical Biological Physics
    Somatic hypermutation (SHM) introduces point mutations into immunoglobulin (Ig) genes but also causes mutations in other parts of the genome. We have used lentiviral SHM reporter vectors to identify regions of the genome that are susceptible (“hot”) and resistant (“cold”) to SHM, revealing that SHM susceptibility and resistance are often properties of entire topologically associated domains (TADs). Comparison of hot and cold TADs reveals that while levels of transcription are equivalent, hot TADs are enriched for the cohesin loader NIPBL, super-enhancers, markers of paused/stalled RNA polymerase 2, and multiple important B cell transcription factors. We demonstrate that at least some hot TADs contain enhancers that possess SHM targeting activity and that insertion of a strong Ig SHM-targeting element into a cold TAD renders it hot. Our findings lead to a model for SHM susceptibility involving the cooperative action of cis-acting SHM targeting elements and the dynamic and architectural properties of TADs.