Stepwise de novo establishment of inactive X chromosome architecture in early development [MEF Cut&Run]

X chromosome inactivation (XCI) triggers drastic reorganization of chromatin architecture, which in turn facilitates XCI. However, how the 3D organization is de novo established during XCI in vivo remains poorly understood. Mouse embryos present an ideal model, as they undergo imprinted XCI, X chromosome reactivation (XCR) and subsequent random XCI. Using low-input Hi-C, we revealed a unique chromatin structure of the inactive X chromosome (Xi) during both imprinted and random XCI in early mouse embryos. A bipartite structure featured by two megadomains separated by Xist (X-megadomains), emerges in extraembryonic lineages, derived extraembryonic endoderm (XEN) cells, and also transiently in embryonic lineages. X-megadomains then diminish in adult tissues, where previously reported Dxz4-delineated megadomains (D-megadomains) appear in a strain-specific manner. Mechanistically, X-megadomains coincide with developmentally controlled activities of regulatory regions near Xist (XRRs), and loss of XRR disrupts X-megadomains. CUT&RUN revealed strong enrichment of CTCF and cohesin near Xist, despite global depletion, on Xi in embryos and XEN cells. X-megadomains are also impaired when Xist is silenced, accompanied by global cohesin restoration, or when residual cohesin is degraded, suggesting that X-megadomain formation is promoted by both global cohesin depletion and local cohesin loading. Importantly, the loss of cohesin leads to ectopic activation of regulatory elements and genes near Xist. Hence, these data reveal programming of chromatin architecture during de novo establishment of mammalian XCI in vivo, and suggest that cohesin mediates self-insulation of gene activity of essential escapees amid global silencing.