Serial genomic inversions induce tissue-specific architectural stripes, gene misexpression and congenital malformations

Balanced chromosomal rearrangements such as inversions and translocations can cause congenital disease or cancer by inappropriately rewiring promoter–enhancer contacts 1 , 2 . To study the potentially pathogenic consequences of balanced chromosomal rearrangements, we generated a series of genomic inversions by placing an active limb enhancer cluster from the Epha4 regulatory domain at different positions within a neighbouring gene-dense region and investigated their effects on gene regulation in vivo in mice. Expression studies and high-throughput chromosome conformation capture from embryonic limb buds showed that the enhancer cluster activated several genes downstream that are located within asymmetric regions of contact, the so-called architectural stripes 3 . The ectopic activation of genes led to a limb phenotype that could be rescued by deleting the CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) anchor of the stripe. Architectural stripes appear to be driven by enhancer activity, because they do not form in mouse embryonic stem cells. Furthermore, we show that architectural stripes are a frequent feature of developmental three-dimensional genome architecture often associated with active enhancers. Therefore, balanced chromosomal rearrangements can induce ectopic gene expression and the formation of asymmetric chromatin contact patterns that are dependent on CTCF anchors and enhancer activity. Kraft et al. show that chromosomal inversions that relocate a limb enhancer can establish asymmetric stripes of the enhancer with downstream genes, resulting in ectopic gene expression and limb phenotypes.