Minnesota Researchers Debut PARTAGE Multiomics Method to Map Genomic Disruption in Cancer Cells

U of Minnesota researchers develop PARTAGE, a new method to simultaneously measure DNA replication, gene activity, and copy number in cancer cells.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 9, 2026, 4:08 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from University of Minnesota Medical School and Genome Research

Synthesizing Multi-Layered Genomic Data into a Unified View

The development of the PARTAGE methodology marks a significant departure from traditional genomic analysis, which typically requires separate experiments to study DNA duplication, structural changes, and gene expression.By integrating these measurements into a single experimental framework, researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School have eliminated the variability often introduced by comparing data from independent batches of samples.According to Dr. Juan Carlos Rivera-Mulia, the study's principal investigator, this holistic perspective is essential for understanding the dynamic orchestration of the genome.The ability to connect these disparate layers of biological information allows scientists to visualize the complex regulatory networks that sustain healthy cells or, conversely, drive the instability seen in malignant ones.

Technical Innovation in Single-Sample Multiomics

The PARTAGE process involves labeling newly synthesized DNA strands with nucleotide analogs and utilizing fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) to isolate synchronized nuclei at specific stages of the cell cycle. This technical precision enables the simultaneous capture of nascent DNA for replication mapping and total nuclear RNA for transcriptomic profiling. Because the method can isolate pure populations of nuclei in the G1 phase, it provides an exceptionally accurate map of copy number variations (CNV). This tripartite data acquisition strategy not only conserves precious biological material but also ensures that the correlations between replication timing and gene expression are based on the exact same cellular context.

Validating the Link Between Replication Timing and Gene Expression

A central finding of the study is the confirmation of a robust linkage between early DNA replication and active gene expression. PARTAGE demonstrated that gene-rich domains tend to replicate earlier in the S-phase, reflecting an active chromatin state that is highly conducive to transcription. While this correlation has been suggested by previous "gold-standard" methods, PARTAGE achieves this result with high-fidelity resolution in a single experiment. This finding reinforces the model that the timing of DNA duplication is not random but is instead a tightly regulated program that is co-dependent on the 3D organizat...