# Molecular Analysis of Transcriptional Enhancers in Hematopoiesis

> **NIH NIH R01** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · $436,481

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Deciphering mechanisms that control lineage-specific gene transcription during hematopoiesis is critical for
identifying fundamental principles of cellular differentiation and new therapies for blood disorders. Enhancers
are noncoding cis-acting DNA sequences that control cell fate by directing spatiotemporal gene expression.
Despite the increasing availability of genome-wide profiles of putative enhancers, it remains difficult to
elucidate the molecular processes controlling enhancer function during lineage differentiation, highlighting a
major impediment for understanding the major determinants of normal and pathological hematopoiesis. The
challenges we are now facing are to characterize the regulatory components of lineage-defining enhancers in
physiologically relevant contexts and to interrogate their in vivo function during lineage specification.
Addressing these challenges requires a shift from enhancer mapping studies to detailed characterization of
their molecular composition in native chromatin during cellular differentiation. The objectives of this project are
to determine the protein and RNA complexes controlling enhancer activation in situ, and to establish the in vivo
function of lineage-specifying enhancers during erythroid cell differentiation and hematopoiesis. The central
hypothesis is that enhancers are assembled by combinations of tissue-specific transcription factors, chromatin
regulators, and RNA complexes to direct long-range chromatin interactions for lineage-specific gene
transcription. This hypothesis has been formulated on the basis of the substantial progresses made during the
prior funding period of this project, including the development of CRISPR/dCas9-based affinity capture of
locus-specific chromatin interactions and enhancer-targeting epigenetic perturbation systems for in vivo
interrogation of enhancer function. Using these approaches, we uncovered the organizational principles
controlling erythroid lineage-specific super-enhancers and established new molecular links between
hierarchical organization of 3D chromatin structures and in vivo enhancer function. Guided by these
preliminary data, our hypothesis will be tested by three specific aims: 1) Determine enhancer-regulating
chromatin complexes during cellular differentiation by dCas9-based proximity labeling. 2) Identify and
characterize chromatin-associated RNAs that control enhancer structure and function. 3) Elucidate the in vivo
function of “hub” enhancers in hematopoiesis by single-cell CRISPR epigenetic perturbation. Together these
studies will not only elucidate mechanisms for the transcriptional control of principal determinants of cellular
differentiation, but also establish new tools for the analysis of enhancer structure-function in situ and in vivo.
Such results are expected to advance our mechanistic understanding of the causal relationships between
enhancer composition and in vivo function during hematopoiesis. Ultimately, these fi...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10297679
- **Project number:** 2R01DK111430-06
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Jian Xu
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $436,481
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2016-09-19 → 2026-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10297679

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10297679, Molecular Analysis of Transcriptional Enhancers in Hematopoiesis (2R01DK111430-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10297679. Licensed CC0.

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