TEAD4 antagonizes cellular senescence by remodeling chromatin accessibility at enhancer regions

Abstract Dramatic alterations in epigenetic landscapes are known to impact genome accessibility and transcription. Extensive evidence demonstrates that senescent cells undergo significant changes in chromatin structure; however, the mechanisms underlying the crosstalk between epigenetic parameters and gene expression profiles have not been fully elucidated. In the present study, we delineate the genome-wide redistribution of accessible chromatin regions that lead to broad transcriptome effects during senescence. We report that the distinct senescence-activated accessibility regions (SAAs) are always distributed in H3K27ac-occupied enhancer regions, where the SAAs are responsible for elevated flanking SASP expression and aberrant cellular signaling relevant to SASP secretion. Mechanistically, a single transcription factor, TEAD4, moves away from H3K27ac-labled SAAs to allow for prominent chromatin accessibility reconstruction during senescence. The enhanced SAA signal driven by TEAD4 suppression subsequently induces a robust increase in the expression of adjacent SASP genes and the secretion of downstream factors, which contribute to the progression of senescence. Our findings illustrate a dynamic landscape of chromatin accessibility following senescence entry, and further reveal an insightful function for TEAD4 in regulating the broad chromatin state that modulates the overall transcriptional program of SASP genes.