Endogenous fine-mapping and prioritization of functional regulatory elements in complex genetic loci
Most genetic loci linked to polygenic traits are in non-coding regions, with complex regulation and linkage disequilibrium (LD), complicating causal variant and gene prioritization. We used multiplexed single-cell CRISPR interference and activation perturbations to investigate cis-regulatory element (CRE) and gene expression relationships within tight LD in the endogenous chromatin context. We demonstrated the prevalence of multiple causality in perfect LD (pLD) for independent expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) and uncovered fine-grained genetic effects on gene expression within pLD, which are difficult to decipher using traditional eQTL fine-mapping or existing computational methods. We found that over one-third of the causal CREs lack classical epigenetic markers prior to perturbation, and we functionally validated one of these hidden regulatory mechanisms. Leveraging Multiome single-cell epigenetic and sequence perturbations, we highlighted the regulatory plasticity of the human genome. Our study will guide the exploration of missing causal mechanisms underlying molecular trait regulation and disease development.
Authors
- X. Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5711-1332)
- Yao Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6527-9802)
- Xianfu Yi
- Pak C. Sham (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2533-7270)
- Hongcheng Yao
- Miaoxin Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4733-0109)
- Weixin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7167-2010)
- Dandan Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2594-8434)
- Ke Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6097-9431)
- Wange Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5848-3189)
- Wei Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6346-2216)
- Jianhua Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0602-6482)
- Zhao Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3226-3908)
- Yichen Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5726-9383)
- Jing Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6841-6983)
- Kexin Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4248-7681)
- Yupeng Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8887-9547)
- Lin Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5329-5031)
- Mulin Jun Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3598-3679)
- Xinlei Chu
- Xinran Xu
- Chengyue Wu
- Xueqi Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8725-7505)
Institutions
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Wenzhou Medical University (CN)
- Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital (CN)
- Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University (CN)
- Zhejiang Lab (CN)
- The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University (CN)
- Tianjin Medical University (CN)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Guangzhou Medical University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Cell Genomics
- Published
- 2025-08-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100982
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- CRISPR and Genetic Engineering
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.61