Transcription processes compete with loop extrusion to homogenize promoter and enhancer dynamics

Abstract

The spatiotemporal configuration of genes with distal regulatory elements is believed to be crucial for transcriptional control, but full mechanistic understanding is lacking. We combine simultaneous live tracking of pairs of genomic loci and nascent transcripts with molecular dynamics simulations to assess the <i>Sox2</i> gene and its enhancer. We find that both loci exhibit more constrained mobility than control sequences due to stalled cohesin at CCCTC-binding factor sites. Strikingly, enhancer mobility becomes constrained on transcriptional firing, homogenizing its dynamics with the gene promoter, suggestive of their cotranscriptional sharing of a nuclear microenvironment. Furthermore, we find transcription and loop extrusion to be antagonistic processes constraining regulatory loci. These findings indicate that modulating chromatin mobility can be an additional, underestimated means for effective gene regulation.