A multiscale chromatin collapse underlies vascular pathology in Hutchinson -Gilford progeria syndrome

Abstract

Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a devastating premature aging disorder driven by the accumulation of the lamin A variant, progerin, leading to severe vascular pathology. While epigenetic alterations are implicated, the spatiotemporal reorganization of the higher-order chromatin and its functional impact on vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) transcription remain poorly defined. Through an integrated, longitudinal multi-omics approach combining in situ high-throughput chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) and Cleavage Under Targets and Tagmentation (CUT&Tag) profiling of CTCF, SMC1A, H3K27me3, H3K27ac, and H3K36me3 with transcriptomic analyses from control and HGPS iPSC-derived VSMCs, we reveal that global topologically associating domain (TAD) architecture remains largely intact in HGPS. However, the internal chromatin states of TADs undergo dynamic, passage-specific remodeling, characterized by a progressive accumulation of broad H3K27me3-repressed domains. This is accompanied by a loss of A/B compartment segregation, as confirmed by DNA-FISH, and a pronounced depletion of interchromosomal intermingling, specifically surrounding downregulated genes, suggesting that these interchromosomal contacts are essential for maintaining transcriptional competence in normal VSMCs. Crucially, we uncover widespread rewiring of enhancer-promoter (E-P) loops, which is linked to the dysregulation of genes critical for vascular development, extracellular matrix organization, and atherosclerosis. Our study demonstrates that spatiotemporal redistribution of repressive histone marks and reorganization of E-P interactions within a structurally resilient TAD framework underpin widespread transcriptional dysregulation in HGPS vascular pathogenesis. This uncovers a critical dissociation between higher-order chromatin architecture and histone modification landscape, providing a mechanistic basis for the failure of vascular homeostasis in progeria.