Within each cell, specific patterns of open chromatin expose the cis regulatory elements required for proper spatiotemporal regulation of gene expression. To further understand the complex mechanisms that modulate gene expression in the human brain, we generated maps of neuronal and non-neuronal chromatin accessibility across 14 distinct brain regions of 5 adult individuals. Chromatin structure varies markedly by cell type and, across the brain, the most extensive differences are seen between neurons of the cortical regions, hippocampus, thalamus, and striatum. Differentially accessible chromatin overlaps with neuropsychiatric trait variants and identifies differences in molecular pathways and biological functions. Transcription factor footprinting and regulatory divergence analyses identify protein coding and long noncoding RNA with cell type and brain region specificity. Overall, these findings emphasize the importance of conducting cell-type and region-specific epigenetic studies to elucidate regulatory and disease-associated mechanisms in the human brain.
Fullard JF, Hauberg ME, Bendl J, Egervari G, Cirnaru MD, Reach SM, Motl J, Ehrlich ME, Hurd YL, Roussos P (2018) An atlas of chromatin accessibility in the adult human brain. Genome Research.Preview Changes (opens in a new tab)
Data access
You can view the open chromatin tracks in the UCSC genome browser as a track hub by clicking these links: hg19 / hg38. Additionally, you can access the GEO page for access to the individual sample data here or download BED files with region- & cell-type specific peaks (hg19, hg38), consensus peaks (hg19, hg38), raw count matrix (here), and normalized count matrix (here).