POGZ safeguards neuronal gene chromatin architecture and transcription

Disruption of chromatin organization is a common pathogenic mechanism in neurodevelopmental disorders, yet how changes in 3D genome architecture relate to transcriptional dysfunction in the developing brain remains unclear. POGZ, a transposase-derived chromatin regulator mutated in White-Sutton syndrome and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), has been linked to both heterochromatin and accessible regulatory DNA, but its in vivo function in the brain is unresolved. Using immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry in embryonic day 13.5 (E13.5) mouse cortex, we identify the H3K9 methyltransferases G9a/GLP as principal POGZ interactors, placing POGZ within the core H3K9 methylation machinery in vivo. We find that POGZ loss in embryonic mouse cortex drives bidirectional, megabase-scale redistribution of H3K9me3, with ectopic losses and gains over discrete neuronal gene loci. In developing Pogz-/- cortex, regions with H3K9me3 gains are repositioned to the nuclear lamina and exhibit strengthened B-compartment scores by Micro-C, locus-restricted erosion of TAD architecture, weakened boundary insulation, and reduced CTCF occupancy. Within these domains, nascent RNA synthesis at neuronal genes is markedly diminished. These results identify POGZ as a G9a/GLP-associated chromatin regulator that protects neurodevelopmental gene domains from heterochromatinization and perinuclear sequestering, preserving 3D architecture and transcription during cortical development.