YY1 and Lig3 collaboratively regulate ecDNA biogenesis (CUT&Tag)

Extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) is an important carrier for the amplification of proto-oncogenes. It can not only drive cancer progression by increasing the copy number of oncogenes but also influence the transcriptional regulation of oncogenes by increasing chromatin accessibility and regulating chromatin interactions. Currently, the generation of ecDNA is rather complex and the exact mechanism remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the molecular mechanism underlying the generation of ecDNA in order to identify the targets for ecDNA-targeted drug therapies. We analyzed the chromatin landscape in COLO320-DM and COLO320-HSR cells through CUT&Tag. The results of CUT&Tag for Lig3, the open chromatin marker H3K27ac, and the promoter marker H3K4me3 showed that Lig3 was specifically enriched in the MYC ecDNA amplification regions and bound to a large number of open chromatin regions and promoter regions, indicating that Lig3 may be related to the formation of ecDNA and stably bind to ecDNA, thereby maintaining the integrity of the genes carried by ecDNA. Furthermore, we found that there were a large number of merge peaks between Lig3 and YY1 across the whole genome, which were abundantly occupied at the MYC ecDNA amplification sites. Meanwhile, we observed that in COLO320-DM cells (where oncogenes are amplified in the form of ecDNA), there was a significant enrichment of YY1 in the MYC amplification regions, while in COLO320-HSR cells (where oncogenes are amplified on the homogeneously staining regions, HSR), the peaks of YY1 were significantly decreased. Our data suggest that YY1 is essential for the generation of ecDNA. It forms a complex with Lig3 to jointly regulate the formation of ecDNA, and this complex can be detected as it resides on ecDNA for a relatively long period of time. This may also be related to the stability of ecDNA and its involvement in genomic regulation.