Does mitotic activity inversely correlate with HiC interactions data?

Question

[Kasthuri]

At least at the outset, it appears if the interchromosomal interactions are higher as determined by HiC then we might expect lower mitotic activity and vice-versa. Can anyone confirm this or suggest relevant literature that validates/invalidates this hypothesis?

Thanks!

Answer 1

[Jean-Karim Heriche]

By mitotic activity, I assume you mean the cell(s) being in mitosis otherwise, please clarify what you mean by this. As chromosomes are condensed in mitosis, you expect to see more short range interactions and no particular structure compared to interphase. You may want to have a look at this paper.

[Kasthuri]

Thanks! Yes, I realized the HiC interactions are mapped during interphase. This is my exact question: Let's say I capture some cells and do a HiC on it. If none of the cells is undergoing mitosis, and all of them have passed the mitotic stage, are the interactions reflective of underlying cell density?

[Jean-Karim Heriche]

HiC gives you an idea of the structure of the genome. Unless you know how to correlate particular features of genome architecture to cell density, I don't see how HiC could inform on cell density.