This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: After an injury, DNA not only changes its activity but also the way it is organized spatially within the cell nucleus. In this process, certain regions of DNA establish new physical contacts through chromatin loops that act as bridges, bringing together sequences that are far apart in the genome's linear sequence.
Now, a study has identified—in an animal model—the formation of these loops as an essential step in tissue regeneration after an injury. The study, published in the journal Science Advances, was led by Montserrat Corominas, professor in the Faculty of Biology and the Institute of Biomedicine at the University of Barcelona (IBUB), with the participation of the team led by Marc Martí-Renom, an ICREA researcher at the National Center for Genomic Analysis (CNAG)—based at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB-UB)—and at the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG), as well as researchers from the University of Lausanne (Switzerland). The results show that tissue regeneration depends not only on the genes that are switched on or off after an injury, but also on how DNA is reorganized within the cell nucleus.
The discovery reveals the three-dimensional architecture of the genome as a new layer of regulation that is essential for regenerative processes. In the cell nucleus, DNA associates with proteins to form a structure known as chromatin, which organizes the genome in eukaryotic cells. "This chromatin adopts a complex three-dimensional architecture that allows contacts to be established between regions of the genome that are far apart and regulates which genes are activated or remain inactive at any given moment," explains Corominas, a member of the UB's Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics.
It is not yet fully understood how changes in genome architecture influence gene activity during tissue regeneration. However, the evidence suggests that the regenerative potential of affected tissues is closely linked to the dynamics of chromatin state and structure. In the study, the team used imaginal disks from the wing of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model to study regeneration.
"Importantly, we have identified three of these DNA loops and have experimentally demonstrated that they are necessary for efficient regeneration," notes Carlos Camilleri-Robles (UB-IBUB), one of the lead authors of the article. "When we altered the regions responsible for their formation, the tissues' regenerative capacity was significantly reduced, while the organism's normal development remained virtually unaffected." "Overall, our results identify a previously unknown role for genome architecture in tissue repair and reveal an additional layer of regulation of gene expression during regeneration," concludes Palmira Llorens-Giralt (UB-IBUB), first author of the article. Palmira Llorens-Giralt et al, 3D genome organization in tissue regeneration involves long-range chromatin loops, Science Advances (2026).
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aea8281 BA art history, MA material culture. Former museum editor, paramedic, and transplant coordinator. Editing for Science X since 2021.
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