Divyeshkumar Amrubthai Patel

• Tiusanen, Ville; Patel, Divyeshkumar Amrubthai; Xia, Jihan; Xu, Chi; Datta, Subhamoy & Yun, Ji [Show all 13 contributors for this article] (2026). Classical enhancers couple cis-regulatory logic with transcriptional condensates and 3D genome architecture. bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology. doi: 10.64898/2026.01.23.701252. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Abstract Deciphering the regulatory logic of enhancers remains a central question in understanding cell- and tissue-specific gene expression in multicellular organisms. This is particularly pertinent at multipartite enhancer clusters such as super-enhancers, where multiple enhancers contribute to the expression of a single gene. Gene expression has been studied largely through sequence-dependent recruitment of transcription factors (TF) and co-activators, whereas 3D chromatin structure has been attributed to architectural proteins such as cohesion and CTCF 1–3 . However, the contribution of DNA sequence encoded in enhancers to shaping higher-order genome organization remains poorly understood. Here we show that classical enhancers, embedded within multipartite super-enhancer structures, act as determinant regulatory elements that initiate the gene regulatory cascade by linking DNA sequence recognition to 3D chromatin architecture. Classical enhancers are more evolutionarily conserved and display stronger regulatory activity than facilitator elements, which lack intrinsic enhancer activity but potentiate classical enhancer function. We show that classical enhancers are selectively bound by specific TFs with strong intrinsically disordered regions, such as NFE2L2 in liver cancer cells, capable of driving transcriptional condensate formation through phase separation. NFE2L2 depletion reduced enhancer activity and induced widespread chromatin reorganization, characterized by increased cohesin and CTCF occupancy at super-enhancer boundaries and beyond. This “cohesin clogging” impaired DNA loop extrusion, led to formation of smaller topologically associated domains, and weakened enhancer–promoter contacts. These findings highlight that sequence-specific TFs have multifaceted roles beyond transcriptional control, establishing a direct mechanistic link between enhancer sequence, TF binding, condensate formation, and 3D genome organization, with the regulatory logic being encoded in the DNA sequence itself.

• Patel, Divyeshkumar Amrubthai; Tiusanen, Ville; Karttunen, Konsta; Pihlajamaa, Paivi & Sahu, Biswajyoti (2025). Cancer cell type-specific derepression of transposable elements by inhibition of chromatin modifier enzymes. Communications Biology. 8. doi: 10.1038/s42003-025-08413-0. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Derepression of transposable elements (TE) by epigenetic therapy leads to the activation of immune response in cancer cells. However, the molecular mechanism of TE regulation by distinct chromatin modifier enzymes (CME) in context of p53 is still elusive. Here, we used FDA-approved epigenetic drugs to systematically inhibit distinct CMEs in p53 wild-type and p53-mutant colorectal, esophageal, and prostate cancer cells. We show that distinct TE subfamilies are derepressed by inhibition of different CMEs in cell type-specific manner. Co-inhibition of DNMT and HDAC (DNMTi-HDACi) had the most consistent effect across cancer types. Loss of p53 results in stronger TE activation and TE-chimeric transcript expression and this effect is largely mediated by the non-genomic actions of p53. Robust immune response elicited by DNMTi-HDACi is due to induced inverted repeat Alu expression concomitant with reduced ADAR1-mediated Alu RNA editing. Collectively, our systematic analyses provide insights for rational use of epigenetic therapies in distinct cancers.

View all works in NVA