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Split-Pool Recognition of Interactions by Tag Extension (SPRITE) (Mitch Guttman)

Episode 119

February 22, 2024

In this episode of the Epigenetics Podcast, we talked with Mitch Guttman from California Institute of Technology about his work on characterising the 3D interactions of the genome using Split-Pool Recognition of Interactions by Tag Extension (SPRITE).

Mitch Guttman discusses his exploration of the long non-coding RNA Xist, which plays a crucial role in X chromosome inactivation. He explains how they discovered that Xist is present everywhere in the nucleus, not just in specific locations on the X chromosome. Through their research, they identified critical proteins like SHARP that are involved in X chromosome silencing.

The discussion then shifts to SPRITE, a method they developed to map multi-way contacts and generalize beyond DNA to include RNA and proteins. They compare SPRITE to classical proximity ligation methods like Hi-C and discuss how cluster sizes in SPRITE can estimate 3D distances between molecules. The conversation also touches upon the potential of applying SPRITE to single-cell experiments, allowing for the mapping of higher order nucleic acid interactions and tracking the connectivity of DNA fragments in individual cells.