Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 31, 2026

Repressing Gene Transcription by Redirecting Cellular Machinery with Chemical Epigenetic Modifiers
Published on: September 20, 2018
B-type lamins maintain transcriptional homeostasis by spatially controlling chromatin-speckle proximity
Geun-Seup Shin1, Jinho Kim1, Ji-Young Kim1
1Department of Life Science, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
B-type lamins are essential nuclear scaffold proteins known to maintain peripheral heterochromatin through lamina-associated domains (LADs). Here, we identify an unexpected role for B-type lamins in preserving transcriptional output by regulating chromatin proximity to nuclear speckles, key hubs of transcription and RNA processing. Using TSA-Seq mapping and RNA-Seq in lamin-depleted human cells, we show that most differentially expressed genes are located in non-LAD, speckle-associated chromatin domains. Lamin depletion causes euchromatin to relocate away from nuclear speckles, resulting in global transcriptional repression accompanied by alterations in RNA processing and reduced cell viability. In contrast, heterochromatin gains speckle proximity and exhibits aberrant transcriptional activation. Integrative epigenomic analyses reveal that these spatial chromatin rearrangements precede disruption of speckle-associated domains (SPADs), including genes involved in cell viability and RNA metabolism. Together, our findings uncover a speckle-centered regulatory axis governed by B-type lamins and highlight chromatin-speckle proximity as a key spatial parameter in nuclear gene regulation.
Related Concept Videos
Chromatin Position Affects Gene Expression
Topologically Associated Domains (TADs)
The 3-dimensional positioning of chromatin in the nucleus influences the...
Spreading of Chromatin Modifications
Writers
The writer...
Inheritance of Chromatin Structures
Heterochromatin
Constitutive heterochromatin: It is a highly compact region of chromatin that is mostly concentrated in the centromere and telomere. Unlike euchromatin, the amino acid at...
Heterochromatin
Euchromatin
Euchromatin is the less dense region of the chromatin and stains lighter. Euchromatin contains histone H3 extensively...

