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Li S, Yan B, Wu B, Su J, Lu J, Lam TW, Boheler KR, Poon ENY, Luo R. Integrated modeling framework reveals co-regulation of transcription factors, miRNAs and lncRNAs on cardiac developmental dynamics. Stem Cell Res Ther 2023; 14:247. [PMID: 37705079 PMCID: PMC10500942 DOI: 10.1186/s13287-023-03442-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023] Open
Abstract
AIMS Dissecting complex interactions among transcription factors (TFs), microRNAs (miRNAs) and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are central for understanding heart development and function. Although computational approaches and platforms have been described to infer relationships among regulatory factors and genes, current approaches do not adequately account for how highly diverse, interacting regulators that include noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) control cardiac gene expression dynamics over time. METHODS To overcome this limitation, we devised an integrated framework, cardiac gene regulatory modeling (CGRM) that integrates LogicTRN and regulatory component analysis bioinformatics modeling platforms to infer complex regulatory mechanisms. We then used CGRM to identify and compare the TF-ncRNA gene regulatory networks that govern early- and late-stage cardiomyocytes (CMs) generated by in vitro differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) and ventricular and atrial CMs isolated during in vivo human cardiac development. RESULTS Comparisons of in vitro versus in vivo derived CMs revealed conserved regulatory networks among TFs and ncRNAs in early cells that significantly diverged in late staged cells. We report that cardiac genes ("heart targets") expressed in early-stage hPSC-CMs are primarily regulated by MESP1, miR-1, miR-23, lncRNAs NEAT1 and MALAT1, while GATA6, HAND2, miR-200c, NEAT1 and MALAT1 are critical for late hPSC-CMs. The inferred TF-miRNA-lncRNA networks regulating heart development and contraction were similar among early-stage CMs, among individual hPSC-CM datasets and between in vitro and in vivo samples. However, genes related to apoptosis, cell cycle and proliferation, and transmembrane transport showed a high degree of divergence between in vitro and in vivo derived late-stage CMs. Overall, late-, but not early-stage CMs diverged greatly in the expression of "heart target" transcripts and their regulatory mechanisms. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, we find that hPSC-CMs are regulated in a cell autonomous manner during early development that diverges significantly as a function of time when compared to in vivo derived CMs. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of using CGRM to reveal dynamic and complex transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulatory interactions that underlie cell directed versus environment-dependent CM development. These results with in vitro versus in vivo derived CMs thus establish this approach for detailed analyses of heart disease and for the analysis of cell regulatory systems in other biomedical fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shumin Li
- Department of Computer Science, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China
| | - Bin Yan
- Department of Computer Science, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China
| | - Binbin Wu
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China
- Centre for Cardiovascular Genomics and Medicine, Lui Che Woo Institute of Innovative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China
| | - Junhao Su
- Department of Computer Science, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jianliang Lu
- Department of Computer Science, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China
| | - Tak-Wah Lam
- Department of Computer Science, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China
| | - Kenneth R Boheler
- The Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine and The Whiting School of Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
| | - Ellen Ngar-Yun Poon
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China.
- Centre for Cardiovascular Genomics and Medicine, Lui Che Woo Institute of Innovative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China.
- Hong Kong Hub of Paediatric Excellence (HK HOPE), The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Ruibang Luo
- Department of Computer Science, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China.
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Krup AL, Winchester SAB, Ranade SS, Agrawal A, Devine WP, Sinha T, Choudhary K, Dominguez MH, Thomas R, Black BL, Srivastava D, Bruneau BG. A Mesp1-dependent developmental breakpoint in transcriptional and epigenomic specification of early cardiac precursors. Development 2023; 150:dev201229. [PMID: 36994838 PMCID: PMC10259516 DOI: 10.1242/dev.201229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 03/31/2023]
Abstract
Transcriptional networks governing cardiac precursor cell (CPC) specification are incompletely understood owing, in part, to limitations in distinguishing CPCs from non-cardiac mesoderm in early gastrulation. We leveraged detection of early cardiac lineage transgenes within a granular single-cell transcriptomic time course of mouse embryos to identify emerging CPCs and describe their transcriptional profiles. Mesp1, a transiently expressed mesodermal transcription factor, is canonically described as an early regulator of cardiac specification. However, we observed perdurance of CPC transgene-expressing cells in Mesp1 mutants, albeit mislocalized, prompting us to investigate the scope of the role of Mesp1 in CPC emergence and differentiation. Mesp1 mutant CPCs failed to robustly activate markers of cardiomyocyte maturity and crucial cardiac transcription factors, yet they exhibited transcriptional profiles resembling cardiac mesoderm progressing towards cardiomyocyte fates. Single-cell chromatin accessibility analysis defined a Mesp1-dependent developmental breakpoint in cardiac lineage progression at a shift from mesendoderm transcriptional networks to those necessary for cardiac patterning and morphogenesis. These results reveal Mesp1-independent aspects of early CPC specification and underscore a Mesp1-dependent regulatory landscape required for progression through cardiogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis Leigh Krup
- Biomedical Sciences Program, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
- Gladstone Institutes of Cardiovascular Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Sarah A. B. Winchester
- Gladstone Institutes of Cardiovascular Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Sanjeev S. Ranade
- Gladstone Institutes of Cardiovascular Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Ayushi Agrawal
- Gladstone Institutes of Cardiovascular Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - W. Patrick Devine
- Department of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Tanvi Sinha
- Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Krishna Choudhary
- Gladstone Institutes of Cardiovascular Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Martin H. Dominguez
- Gladstone Institutes of Cardiovascular Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
- Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
- Cardiovascular Institute and Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Reuben Thomas
- Gladstone Institutes of Cardiovascular Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Brian L. Black
- Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Deepak Srivastava
- Gladstone Institutes of Cardiovascular Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
- Roddenberry Center for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Benoit G. Bruneau
- Gladstone Institutes of Cardiovascular Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
- Roddenberry Center for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
- Institute of Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
- Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
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Haridhasapavalan KK, Ranjan SH, Bhattacharyya S, Thummer RP. Soluble expression, purification, and secondary structure determination of human MESP1 transcription factor. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2021; 105:2363-2376. [PMID: 33651130 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-021-11194-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Revised: 02/04/2021] [Accepted: 02/19/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Transcription factor MESP1 is a crucial factor regulating cardiac, hematopoietic, and skeletal myogenic development. Besides, it also contributes to the generation of functional cardiomyocytes. Here, we report the soluble expression and purification of the full-length human MESP1 protein from the heterologous system, which can be delivered into the target mammalian cells. To generate this biological macromolecule, we cloned its codon-optimized gene sequence fused to a nuclear localization sequence, a cell-penetrating peptide, and a His-tag into the protein expression vector and expressed in the bacterial system (E. coli strain BL21(DE3)). Subsequently, we have screened and identified the optimal expression parameters to obtain this recombinant fusion protein in soluble form from E. coli and examined its expression concerning the placement of fusion tags at either terminal. Further, we have purified this recombinant fusion protein to homogeneity under native conditions. Notably, this purified fusion protein has maintained its secondary structure after purification, primarily comprising α-helices and random coils. This molecular tool can potentially replace its genetic and viral forms in the cardiac reprogramming of fibroblasts to induce a cardiac transcriptional profile in an integration-free manner and elucidating its role in various biological processes and diseases. KEY POINTS: • Screening of the suitable gene construct was performed and identified. • Screening of optimal expression conditions was performed and identified. • Native purification of recombinant human MESP1 protein from E. coli was performed. • Recombinant MESP1 protein has retained its secondary structure after purification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krishna Kumar Haridhasapavalan
- Laboratory for Stem Cell Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, 781039, India
| | - Sujal Harsh Ranjan
- Laboratory for Stem Cell Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, 781039, India
| | - Srirupa Bhattacharyya
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, 781039, India
| | - Rajkumar P Thummer
- Laboratory for Stem Cell Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, 781039, India.
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Swedlund B, Lescroart F. Cardiopharyngeal Progenitor Specification: Multiple Roads to the Heart and Head Muscles. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2020; 12:a036731. [PMID: 31818856 PMCID: PMC7397823 DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a036731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
During embryonic development, the heart arises from various sources of undifferentiated mesodermal progenitors, with an additional contribution from ectodermal neural crest cells. Mesodermal cardiac progenitors are plastic and multipotent, but are nevertheless specified to a precise heart region and cell type very early during development. Recent findings have defined both this lineage plasticity and early commitment of cardiac progenitors, using a combination of single-cell and population analyses. In this review, we discuss several aspects of cardiac progenitor specification. We discuss their markers, fate potential in vitro and in vivo, early segregation and commitment, and also intrinsic and extrinsic cues regulating lineage restriction from multipotency to a specific cell type of the heart. Finally, we also discuss the subdivisions of the cardiopharyngeal field, and the shared origins of the heart with other mesodermal derivatives, including head and neck muscles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Swedlund
- Laboratory of Stem Cells and Cancer, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1070 Brussels, Belgium
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5
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Tandon N, Goller K, Wang F, Soibam B, Gagea M, Jain AK, Schwartz RJ, Liu Y. Aberrant expression of embryonic mesendoderm factor MESP1 promotes tumorigenesis. EBioMedicine 2019; 50:55-66. [PMID: 31761621 PMCID: PMC6921370 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2019.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2019] [Revised: 11/07/2019] [Accepted: 11/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Mesoderm Posterior 1 (MESP1) belongs to the family of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors. It is a master regulator of mesendoderm development, leading to formation of organs such as heart and lung. However, its role in adult pathophysiology remains unknown. Here, we report for the first time a previously-unknown association of MESP1 with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods MESP1 mRNA and protein levels were measured in NSCLC-derived cells by qPCR and immunoblotting respectively. Colony formation assay, colorimetric cell proliferation assay and soft agar colony formation assays were used to assess the effects of MESP1 knockdown and overexpression in vitro. RNA-sequencing and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-qPCR were used to determine direct target genes of MESP1. Subcutaneous injection of MESP1-depleted NSCLC cells in immuno-compromised mice was done to study the effects of MESP1 mediated tumor formation in vivo. Findings We found that MESP1 expression correlates with poor prognosis in NSCLC patients, and is critical for proliferation and survival of NSCLC-derived cells, thus implicating MESP1 as a lung cancer oncogene. Ectopic MESP1 expression cooperates with loss of tumor suppressor ARF to transform murine fibroblasts. Xenografts from MESP1-depleted cells showed decreased tumor growth in vivo. Global transcriptome analysis revealed a MESP1 DNA-binding-dependent gene signature associated with various hallmarks of cancer, suggesting that transcription activity of MESP1 is most likely responsible for its oncogenic abilities. Interpretation Our study demonstrates MESP1 as a previously-unknown lineage-survival oncogene in NSCLC which may serve as a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target for lung cancer in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neha Tandon
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Kristina Goller
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Fan Wang
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States; Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China
| | - Benjamin Soibam
- Computer Science and Engineering Technology, University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Mihai Gagea
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Abhinav K Jain
- Center for Cancer Epigenetics, Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Robert J Schwartz
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Yu Liu
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States.
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Vahdat S, Pahlavan S, Mahmoudi E, Barekat M, Ansari H, Bakhshandeh B, Aghdami N, Baharvand H. Expansion of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-derived Early Cardiovascular Progenitor Cells by a Cocktail of Signaling Factors. Sci Rep 2019; 9:16006. [PMID: 31690816 PMCID: PMC6831601 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-52516-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2019] [Accepted: 10/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Cardiovascular progenitor cells (CPCs) derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) are proposed to be invaluable cell sources for experimental and clinical studies. This wide range of applications necessitates large-scale production of CPCs in an in vitro culture system, which enables both expansion and maintenance of these cells. In this study, we aimed to develop a defined and efficient culture medium that uses signaling factors for large-scale expansion of early CPCs, called cardiogenic mesodermal cells (CMCs), which were derived from hPSCs. Chemical screening resulted in a medium that contained a reproducible combination of three factors (A83-01, bFGF, and CHIR99021) that generated 1014 CMCs after 10 passages without the propensity for tumorigenicity. Expanded CMCs retained their gene expression pattern, chromosomal stability, and differentiation tendency through several passages and showed both the safety and possible cardio-protective potentials when transplanted into the infarcted rat myocardium. These CMCs were efficiently cryopreserved for an extended period of time. This culture medium could be used for both adherent and suspension culture conditions, for which the latter is required for large-scale CMC production. Taken together, hPSC-derived CMCs exhibited self-renewal capacity in our simple, reproducible, and defined medium. These cells might ultimately be potential, promising cell sources for cardiovascular studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sadaf Vahdat
- Department of Stem Cells and Developmental Biology, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
- Department of Biotechnology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Sara Pahlavan
- Department of Stem Cells and Developmental Biology, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
| | - Elena Mahmoudi
- Department of Stem Cells and Developmental Biology, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
| | - Maryam Barekat
- Department of Stem Cells and Developmental Biology, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
| | - Hassan Ansari
- Department of Stem Cells and Developmental Biology, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
| | - Behnaz Bakhshandeh
- Department of Biotechnology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Nasser Aghdami
- Department of Regenerative Medicine, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
| | - Hossein Baharvand
- Department of Stem Cells and Developmental Biology, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.
- Department of Developmental Biology, University of Science and Culture, Tehran, Iran.
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Core transcriptional signatures of phase change in the migratory locust. Protein Cell 2019; 10:883-901. [PMID: 31292921 PMCID: PMC6881432 DOI: 10.1007/s13238-019-0648-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2019] [Accepted: 06/17/2019] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Phenotypic plasticity plays fundamental roles in successful adaptation of animals in response to environmental variations. Here, to reveal the transcriptome reprogramming in locust phase change, a typical phenotypic plasticity, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of multiple phase-related transcriptomic datasets of the migratory locust. We defined PhaseCore genes according to their contribution to phase differentiation by the adjustment for confounding principal components analysis algorithm (AC-PCA). Compared with other genes, PhaseCore genes predicted phase status with over 87.5% accuracy and displayed more unique gene attributes including the faster evolution rate, higher CpG content and higher specific expression level. Then, we identified 20 transcription factors (TFs) named PhaseCoreTF genes that are associated with the regulation of PhaseCore genes. Finally, we experimentally verified the regulatory roles of three representative TFs (Hr4, Hr46, and grh) in phase change by RNAi. Our findings revealed that core transcriptional signatures are involved in the global regulation of locust phase changes, suggesting a potential common mechanism underlying phenotypic plasticity in insects. The expression and network data are accessible in an online resource called LocustMine (http://www.locustmine.org:8080/locustmine).
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