Chromatin remodeller Chd7 is developmentally regulated in the neural crest by tissue-specific transcription factors

Abstract

Neurocristopathies such as CHARGE syndrome result from aberrant neural crest development. A large proportion of CHARGE cases are attributed to mutations in the gene encoding CHD7, chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 7, which remodels chromatin. While the role for CHD7 in neural crest development is well documented, it remains elusive how this seemingly ubiquitous factor is specifically upregulated in neural crest cells. Here, we use epigenomic profiling of chick neural crest to identify a cohort of enhancers regulating Chd7 expression in neural crest cells and other tissues. We functionally validate upstream transcription factor binding at candidate enhancers, revealing novel epistatic relationships between neural crest master regulators and Chd7. To our knowledge, this is the first report of tissue-specific regulation of a chromatin remodeller. Furthermore, we find conserved enhancer features in human embryonic epigenomic data and validate the activity of the human equivalent CHD7 enhancers in the chick embryo. Collectively our findings embed Chd7 in the neural crest gene regulatory network and offer potentially clinically relevant elements for interpreting CHARGE syndrome cases without causative allocation.