Anders Sejr Hansen

Inherited resilience to clonal hematopoiesis by modifying stem cell RNA regulation Somatic mutations that increase the fitness of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) drive their expansion in clonal hematopoiesis (CH) and predispose individuals to blood cancers. Population variation in t...

New @science.org today
Discovery of a genomic variant that protects against blood cancer by reducing risk of CHIP (blood stem cell mutation clones, common with aging)
@bloodgenes.bsky.social
@kharaslab.bsky.social
science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Dynamics of microcompartment formation at the mitosis-to-G1 transition Nature Structural & Molecular Biology - Goel et al. produce high-resolution three-dimensional genome structure mapping from mitosis to G1 phase to show unseen interactions between enhancers and...

We co-submitted this article with the work of @andersshansen.bsky.social , @irate-physicist.bsky.social , and authors, who characterize similar cre microcompartments : rdcu.be/eWK1u

Interphase chromosome conformation is specified by distinct folding programmes inherited through mitotic chromosomes or the cytoplasm Nature Cell Biology - Schooley et al. find that mitotically bookmarked loci drive a transient chromosome folding state during G1 entry that is subsequently modulated by factors inherited through...

Happy to share that my postdoc work with @jobdekker.bsky.social is out!
rdcu.be/eWHD2

We characterize interphase chromatin folding programs with distinct modes of mitotic inheritance and identify the chromosome-intrinsic capacity to form a microcompartment of active CREs during mitotic exit.

Happy #FluorescenceFriday! Meet our CCCTC-binding factor cell line and plasmid. It illuminates a binding site involved in transcription and is available for just the cost of shipping!

📦 @coriellinstitute.bsky.social and @addgene.bsky.social

Dynamics of microcompartment formation at the mitosis-to-G1 transition - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology Goel et al. produce high-resolution three-dimensional genome structure mapping from mitosis to G1 phase to show unseen interactions between enhancers and promoters in prometaphase. Polymer modeling in...

Be sure to also check out the great paper from @andersshansen.bsky.social and colleagues where they discover microcompartments on mitotic chromosomes using Region Capture Micro-C. Exciting times for those interested in chromosome conformation during cell division!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Inheriting chromosome conformation - Nature Cell Biology Chromosomes unfold and refold each time cells divide. A study by Schooley et al. demonstrates that chromosome-intrinsic and cytoplasmic factors uniquely contribute to interphase chromosome structure, with new possibilities for how gene expression programs are passed from mother cells to daughter cells.

Excited to share a News & Views highlighting a new, excellent paper from @jobdekker.bsky.social and @allanaschooley.bsky.social!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Dynamics of microcompartment formation at the mitosis-to-G1 transition - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology Goel et al. produce high-resolution three-dimensional genome structure mapping from mitosis to G1 phase to show unseen interactions between enhancers and promoters in prometaphase. Polymer modeling in...

See this recent paper by @andersshansen.bsky.social that discovers similar microcompartmentalization during mitotic exit:

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Inheriting chromosome conformation - Nature Cell Biology Chromosomes unfold and refold each time cells divide. A study by Schooley et al. demonstrates that chromosome-intrinsic and cytoplasmic factors uniquely contribute to interphase chromosome structure, ...

And also see this nice News and Views by @kyleeagen.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Congrats to @allanaschooley.bsky.social et al. @jobdekker.bsky.social on this beautiful paper, using a very elegant experimental system, to discover a chromosome intrinsic 3D genome folding program and microcompartmentalization of CREs at mitotic exit:

Region Capture Micro-C and 3D Genome Structure (Anders Sejr Hansen)

Excellent @activemotifusa.bsky.social epigenetics podcast w @andersshansen.bsky.social

It’s interesting, while going through specific projects and lines of questioning, the conversation acts as a nice reflection of the state of our field (fields?)

Lots of ideas!

open.spotify.com/episode/19Nd...

MIT professor Nuno Loureiro killed in shooting at his Brookline, Massachusetts home MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro was killed in a shooting at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts.

An MIT lab director was killed in a shooting at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts Monday night, the school confirmed.

No one is in custody, Brookline police deputy superintendent said.

Our (Viraat Goel, @andersshansen.bsky.social et al) paper Dynamics of microcompartment formation during the M-to-G1 transition is in this month's @natsmb.nature.com -- thanks to NSMB editors and staff for the cover space and art! www.nature.com/nsmb/volumes...
See quoted posts for quick summary

SET1/MLL complexes control transcription independently of H3K4me3 Histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) at gene promoters is thought to play a central role in gene transcription. H3K4 methylation is deposited by the SET1 (A/B) and MLL (1-4) multi-protein comp...

An early Christmas present for those interested in chromatin and transcription! Fantastic work from @au-ho-yu.bsky.social and @aleksszczurek.bsky.social . Thanks to Inge and Michiel for their help. Please repost!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Absolutely fantastic Epigenetics and Genomics session on the latest frontiers of enhancer biology by @andersshansen.bsky.social, Martin Rivas and Mira Kassouf at the @ash.hematology.org annual meeting. Chaired by Megan McNerney.

Here is a copy of last year's Twitter thread explaining our preprint - jump to (21) for the new stuff 👀

Synergy between cis-regulatory elements can render cohesin dispensable for distal enhancer function

now revised and journal accepted at www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

🧵👇

Wonderful to see the beautiful preprint from Sabate et al now published - TADs are also dynamic structures in human cells, with remarkably similar parameters between mESCs and HCT116 cells
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

In this episode we talked with @andersshansen.bsky.social from MIT about his work on the impact of 3D genome structures on gene expression and advanced techniques like Region Capture Micro-C for mapping genome organisation. #podcast #epigenetics

Listen here: activemotif.com/podcasts-and...

Alternate proteins from the same gene contribute differently to health and rare disease | Whitehead Institute Iain Cheeseman and colleagues reveal the underappreciated role of single genes producing multiple proteins in atypical presentations of rare disease, and present case studies of affected patients thro...

From an accidental discovery of hidden biology to a new framework to understanding and diagnosing rare disease. Thrilled to share the most recent work from our lab and the amazing Jimmy Ly.

wi.mit.edu/news/alterna...

🧬🔬🦠🧫🧪@science.org Escherichia coli with a 57-codon genetic code | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Thanks also very much to Anne Trafton from MIT News for writing a nice article about the findings:
news.mit.edu/2025/surpris...

Interphase chromosome conformation is specified by distinct folding programs inherited via mitotic chromosomes or through the cytoplasm Identity-specific interphase chromosome conformation must be re-established each time a cell divides. To understand how interphase folding is inherited, we developed an experimental approach that phys...

Nice, they have such an elegant system to study chromosome conformation without nuclear import in their preprint www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... and it was really nice to see we both came to similar findings and to be able to coordinate.

Dynamics of microcompartment formation at the mitosis-to-G1 transition As cells exit mitosis and enter G1, mitotic chromosomes decompact and transcription is reestablished. Previously, Hi-C studies showed that essentially all interphase 3D genome features including A/B-c...

(8/8) Finally our preprint www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... was co-submitted with the amazing work of @allanaschooley.bsky.social @jobdekker.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... whose preprint should also be online soon and finds similar concepts in a different system. Thanks for coordinating!

(7/n) This was a wonderful team effort led by Viraat Goel, @irate-physicist.bsky.social @nicholas-aboreden.bsky.social James Jusuf in collab with Leonid Mirny and Gerd Blobel.
Thanks also to @dimitristypas.bsky.social @natsmb.nature.com and the reviewers for steering and improving the paper

Dynamics of microcompartment formation at the mitosis-to-G1 transition - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology Goel et al. produce high-resolution three-dimensional genome structure mapping from mitosis to G1 phase to show unseen interactions between enhancers and promoters in prometaphase. Polymer modeling in...

(6/n) Any cell change that changes chromosome compaction (e.g. mitosis, differentiation, mechanical, osmotic) would be expected to result in stronger A/B/micro-compartments without strongly affecting loop extrusion.
E.g. 2-fold compaction --> 6-fold MC dot change
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

(5/n) We think mitotic microcompartments are largely driven by entropy
Going back to thermo, G = H - T*S
We typically think in terms of H (e.g. affinity), but S is equally important.

Prediction: all affinity-driven interactions (A/B-compartments, microcompartments) should be favored by compaction

(4/n) Why are microcompartments stronger in mitosis?
Simulations from @irate-physicist.bsky.social point to compaction.
Mitotic chr 2-3x more compacted --> lower configurational entropy --> lower entropic penalty for forming microcompartments --> microcompartment formation favored in mitosis!

(3/n) Do mitotic microcompartments have a transcriptional function?
Prior work from @chrishsiung.bsky.social Gerd Blobel discovered 'mitotic transcriptional spiking', where ~half of genes transcriptionally spike in mitosis.
We now show that microcompartment dot number and strength predicts spiking

(2/n) Previously, it was thought that all 'patterned 3D genome structure' is entirely lost in mitosis. Using High-Res RCMC, we unexpectedly find that not only do microcompartments form during mitosis, they are actually stronger in mitosis than in interphase.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Our collab w. V Goel, @nicholas-aboreden.bsky.social , J Jusuf, G Blobel, L Mirny, @irate-physicist.bsky.social out in @natsmb.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Was co-submitted with @allanaschooley.bsky.social @jobdekker.bsky.social whose paper should also come out soon

Brief thread 👇

Dynamics of microcompartment formation at the mitosis-to-G1 transition - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology Goel et al. produce high-resolution three-dimensional genome structure mapping from mitosis to G1 phase to show unseen interactions between enhancers and promoters in prometaphase. Polymer modeling in...

Very happy that this insightful story by @andersshansen.bsky.social is out @natsmb.nature.com, www.nature.com/articles/s41.... A nice press release explaining the progress also from the home institute @mitdeptofbe.bsky.social here: news.mit.edu/2025/surpris...