1
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Chang LH, Noordermeer D. Permeable TAD boundaries and their impact on genome-associated functions. Bioessays 2024; 46:e2400137. [PMID: 39093600 DOI: 10.1002/bies.202400137] [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: 06/05/2024] [Revised: 07/12/2024] [Accepted: 07/17/2024] [Indexed: 08/04/2024]
Abstract
TAD boundaries are genomic elements that separate biological processes in neighboring domains by blocking DNA loops that are formed through Cohesin-mediated loop extrusion. Most TAD boundaries consist of arrays of binding sites for the CTCF protein, whose interaction with the Cohesin complex blocks loop extrusion. TAD boundaries are not fully impermeable though and allow a limited amount of inter-TAD loop formation. Based on the reanalysis of Nano-C data, a multicontact Chromosome Conformation Capture assay, we propose a model whereby clustered CTCF binding sites promote the successive stalling of Cohesin and subsequent dissociation from the chromatin. A fraction of Cohesin nonetheless achieves boundary read-through. Due to a constant rate of Cohesin dissociation elsewhere in the genome, the maximum length of inter-TAD loops is restricted though. We speculate that the DNA-encoded organization of stalling sites regulates TAD boundary permeability and discuss implications for enhancer-promoter loop formation and other genomic processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li-Hsin Chang
- MRC Molecular Haematology Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Blood and Transplant Research Unit in Precision Cellular Therapeutics, National Institute of Health Research, Oxford, UK
| | - Daan Noordermeer
- CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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2
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Zhao S, Sun J, Chang Q, Pang S, Zhang N, Fan Y, Liu J. CTCF-activated FUCA1 functions as a tumor suppressor by promoting autophagy flux and serum α-L-fucosidase serves as a potential biomarker for prognosis in ccRCC. Cancer Cell Int 2024; 24:327. [PMID: 39342260 PMCID: PMC11439243 DOI: 10.1186/s12935-024-03502-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2024] [Accepted: 09/05/2024] [Indexed: 10/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Notably, clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is characterized by a distinct metabolic tumor phenotype that involves the reprogramming of multiple metabolic pathways. Although there is increasing evidence linking FUCA1 to malignancies, its specific role and downstream signaling pathways in ccRCC remain poorly understood. Here we found that FUCA1 expression was significantly downregulated in ccRCC tissues, which also predicts poor prognosis of ccRCCpatients. Moreover, enhancing FUCA1 expression resulted in reduced invasion and migration of ccRCC cells, further indicating its protective role. CHIP-qPCR and luciferase assays showed that CTCF was an upstream transcription factor of FUCA1 and could reverse the effects caused by FUCA1 inactivation. The change in FUCA1 led to changes in the results of various autophagy-related proteins and the mRFP-GFP-LC3 dual fluorescence system, indicating that it may play a role in the fusion stage of autophagy. Protein-protein interaction analysis revealed that FUCA2 exhibited the closest interaction with FUCA1 and strongly predicted the prognosis of ccRCC patients. Additionally, serum AFU encoded by FUCA2 could serve as a valuable predictor for survival in ccRCC patients. FUCA1 suppresses invasion and migration of ccRCC cells, with its activity being modulated by CTCF. FUCA1 regulates the autophagy process in ccRCC cells by influencing the fusion between autophagosomes and lysosomes. FUCA2 shares similarities with FUCA1, and elevated serum AFU levels along with increased expression of FUCA2 are indicative of a favorable prognosis in ccRCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuo Zhao
- Department of Urology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, 107 Wenhuaxi Road Jinan, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China
| | - Jiajia Sun
- Department of Urology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, 107 Wenhuaxi Road Jinan, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China
| | - Qinzheng Chang
- Department of Urology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, 107 Wenhuaxi Road Jinan, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China
| | - Shuo Pang
- Department of Urology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, 107 Wenhuaxi Road Jinan, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China
| | - Nianzhao Zhang
- Department of Urology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, 107 Wenhuaxi Road Jinan, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China
| | - Yidong Fan
- Department of Urology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, 107 Wenhuaxi Road Jinan, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China.
| | - Jikai Liu
- Department of Urology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, 107 Wenhuaxi Road Jinan, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China.
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3
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Hong CKY, Wu Y, Erickson AA, Li J, Federico AJ, Cohen BA. Massively parallel characterization of insulator activity across the genome. Nat Commun 2024; 15:8350. [PMID: 39333469 PMCID: PMC11436800 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52599-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 09/15/2024] [Indexed: 09/29/2024] Open
Abstract
A key question in regulatory genomics is whether cis-regulatory elements (CREs) are modular elements that can function anywhere in the genome, or whether they are adapted to certain genomic locations. To distinguish between these possibilities we develop MPIRE (Massively Parallel Integrated Regulatory Elements), a technology for recurrently assaying CREs at thousands of defined locations across the genome in parallel. MPIRE allows us to separate the intrinsic activity of CREs from the effects of their genomic environments. We apply MPIRE to assay three insulator sequences at thousands of genomic locations and find that each insulator functions in locations with distinguishable properties. All three insulators can block enhancers, but each insulator blocks specific enhancers at specific locations. However, only ALOXE3 appears to block heterochromatin silencing. We conclude that insulator function is highly context dependent and that MPIRE is a robust method for revealing the context dependencies of CREs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clarice K Y Hong
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Yawei Wu
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Alyssa A Erickson
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Jie Li
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Arnold J Federico
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Barak A Cohen
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA.
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA.
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4
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Ortabozkoyun H, Huang PY, Gonzalez-Buendia E, Cho H, Kim SY, Tsirigos A, Mazzoni EO, Reinberg D. Members of an array of zinc-finger proteins specify distinct Hox chromatin boundaries. Mol Cell 2024; 84:3406-3422.e6. [PMID: 39173638 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2024.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Revised: 05/06/2024] [Accepted: 08/05/2024] [Indexed: 08/24/2024]
Abstract
Partitioning of repressive from actively transcribed chromatin in mammalian cells fosters cell-type-specific gene expression patterns. While this partitioning is reconstructed during differentiation, the chromatin occupancy of the key insulator, CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF), is unchanged at the developmentally important Hox clusters. Thus, dynamic changes in chromatin boundaries must entail other activities. Given its requirement for chromatin loop formation, we examined cohesin-based chromatin occupancy without known insulators, CTCF and Myc-associated zinc-finger protein (MAZ), and identified a family of zinc-finger proteins (ZNFs), some of which exhibit tissue-specific expression. Two such ZNFs foster chromatin boundaries at the Hox clusters that are distinct from each other and from MAZ. PATZ1 was critical to the thoracolumbar boundary in differentiating motor neurons and mouse skeleton, while ZNF263 contributed to cervicothoracic boundaries. We propose that these insulating activities act with cohesin, alone or combinatorially, with or without CTCF, to implement precise positional identity and cell fate during development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Havva Ortabozkoyun
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA; Department of Human Genetics, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA; Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA.
| | - Pin-Yao Huang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Edgar Gonzalez-Buendia
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA; Department of Human Genetics, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA; Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Hyein Cho
- Department of Pathology, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Applied Bioinformatics Laboratories, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Medicine, Division of Precision Medicine, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Sang Y Kim
- Department of Pathology, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Aristotelis Tsirigos
- Department of Pathology, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Applied Bioinformatics Laboratories, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Institute for Computational Medicine, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Esteban O Mazzoni
- Department of Cell Biology, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Danny Reinberg
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA; Department of Human Genetics, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA; Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA.
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5
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Titus KR, Simandi Z, Chandrashekar H, Paquet D, Phillips-Cremins JE. Cell-type-specific loops linked to RNA polymerase II elongation in human neural differentiation. CELL GENOMICS 2024; 4:100606. [PMID: 38991604 PMCID: PMC11406193 DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2024.100606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2023] [Revised: 05/11/2024] [Accepted: 06/17/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024]
Abstract
DNA is folded into higher-order structures that shape and are shaped by genome function. The role of long-range loops in the establishment of new gene expression patterns during cell fate transitions remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate the link between cell-specific loops and RNA polymerase II (RNA Pol II) during neural lineage commitment. We find thousands of loops decommissioned or gained de novo upon differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) to neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and post-mitotic neurons. During hiPSC-to-NPC and NPC-to-neuron transitions, genes changing from RNA Pol II initiation to elongation are >4-fold more likely to anchor cell-specific loops than repressed genes. Elongated genes exhibit significant mRNA upregulation when connected in cell-specific promoter-enhancer loops but not invariant promoter-enhancer loops or promoter-promoter loops or when unlooped. Genes transitioning from repression to RNA Pol II initiation exhibit a slight mRNA increase independent of loop status. Our data link cell-specific loops and robust RNA Pol II-mediated elongation during neural cell fate transitions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katelyn R Titus
- Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Epigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Zoltan Simandi
- Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Epigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Harshini Chandrashekar
- Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Epigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Dominik Paquet
- Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany; Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), Munich, Germany
| | - Jennifer E Phillips-Cremins
- Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Epigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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6
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Ortabozkoyun H, Huang PY, Gonzalez-Buendia E, Cho H, Kim SY, Tsirigos A, Mazzoni EO, Reinberg D. Members of an array of zinc finger proteins specify distinct Hox chromatin boundaries. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.04.25.538167. [PMID: 37162865 PMCID: PMC10168243 DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.25.538167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Partitioning of repressive from actively transcribed chromatin in mammalian cells fosters cell-type specific gene expression patterns. While this partitioning is reconstructed during differentiation, the chromatin occupancy of the key insulator, CTCF, is unchanged at the developmentally important Hox clusters. Thus, dynamic changes in chromatin boundaries must entail other activities. Given its requirement for chromatin loop formation, we examined cohesin-based chromatin occupancy without known insulators, CTCF and MAZ, and identified a family of zinc finger proteins (ZNFs), some of which exhibit tissue-specific expression. Two such ZNFs foster chromatin boundaries at the Hox clusters that are distinct from each other and from MAZ. PATZ1 was critical to the thoracolumbar boundary in differentiating motor neurons and mouse skeleton, while ZNF263 contributed to cervicothoracic boundaries. We propose that these insulating activities act with cohesin, alone or combinatorially, with or without CTCF, to implement precise positional identity and cell fate during development.
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7
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Guntur AR, Smith JE, Brahmandam A, DeBauche P, Cronmiller C, Lundell MJ. ZFH-2 is required for Drosophila ovarian follicle development and is expressed at the band/interband boundaries of polytene chromosomes. Dev Biol 2023; 504:1-11. [PMID: 37666353 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2023.09.001] [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: 04/06/2023] [Revised: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023]
Abstract
The transcription factor ZFH-2 has well-documented roles in Drosophila neurogenesis and other developmental processes. Here we provide the first evidence that ZFH-2 has a role in oogenesis. We demonstrate that ZFH-2 is expressed in the wild-type ovary and that a loss of zfh-2 function produces a mutant ovary phenotype where egg chambers are reduced in number and fused. We also show that a loss of zfh-2 function can suppress a daughterless loss-of-function ovary phenotype suggesting a possible genetic relationship between these two genes in the ovary. We also show that ZFH-2 is located at the boundary between bands and interbands on polytene chromosomes and that at a subset of these sites ZFH-2 colocalizes with the insulator/promoter cofactor CP190.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ananya R Guntur
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX, 78249, USA
| | - John E Smith
- Department of Biology, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400328, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA
| | - Archana Brahmandam
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX, 78249, USA
| | - Phillip DeBauche
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX, 78249, USA
| | - Claire Cronmiller
- Department of Biology, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400328, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA
| | - Martha J Lundell
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX, 78249, USA.
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8
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Bose S, Saha S, Goswami H, Shanmugam G, Sarkar K. Involvement of CCCTC-binding factor in epigenetic regulation of cancer. Mol Biol Rep 2023; 50:10383-10398. [PMID: 37840067 DOI: 10.1007/s11033-023-08879-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023]
Abstract
A major global health burden continues to be borne by the complex and multifaceted disease of cancer. Epigenetic changes, which are essential for the emergence and spread of cancer, have drawn a huge amount of attention recently. The CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF), which takes part in a wide range of cellular processes including genomic imprinting, X chromosome inactivation, 3D chromatin architecture, local modifications of histone, and RNA polymerase II-mediated gene transcription, stands out among the diverse array of epigenetic regulators. CTCF not only functions as an architectural protein but also modulates DNA methylation and histone modifications. Epigenetic regulation of cancer has already been the focus of plenty of studies. Understanding the role of CTCF in the cancer epigenetic landscape may lead to the development of novel targeted therapeutic strategies for cancer. CTCF has already earned its status as a tumor suppressor gene by acting like a homeostatic regulator of genome integrity and function. Moreover, CTCF has a direct effect on many important transcriptional regulators that control the cell cycle, apoptosis, senescence, and differentiation. As we learn more about CTCF-mediated epigenetic modifications and transcriptional regulations, the possibility of utilizing CTCF as a diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for cancer will also increase. Thus, the current review intends to promote personalized and precision-based therapeutics for cancer patients by shedding light on the complex interplay between CTCF and epigenetic processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sayani Bose
- Department of Biotechnology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, 603203, India
| | - Srawsta Saha
- Department of Biotechnology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, 603203, India
| | - Harsita Goswami
- Department of Biotechnology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, 603203, India
| | - Geetha Shanmugam
- Department of Biotechnology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, 603203, India
| | - Koustav Sarkar
- Department of Biotechnology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, 603203, India.
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9
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Sachs P, Bergmaier P, Treutwein K, Mermoud JE. The Conserved Chromatin Remodeler SMARCAD1 Interacts with TFIIIC and Architectural Proteins in Human and Mouse. Genes (Basel) 2023; 14:1793. [PMID: 37761933 PMCID: PMC10530723 DOI: 10.3390/genes14091793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Revised: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 09/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
In vertebrates, SMARCAD1 participates in transcriptional regulation, heterochromatin maintenance, DNA repair, and replication. The molecular basis underlying its involvement in these processes is not well understood. We identified the RNA polymerase III general transcription factor TFIIIC as an interaction partner of native SMARCAD1 in mouse and human models using endogenous co-immunoprecipitations. TFIIIC has dual functionality, acting as a general transcription factor and as a genome organizer separating chromatin domains. We found that its partnership with SMARCAD1 is conserved across different mammalian cell types, from somatic to pluripotent cells. Using purified proteins, we confirmed that their interaction is direct. A gene expression analysis suggested that SMARCAD1 is dispensable for TFIIIC function as an RNA polymerase III transcription factor in mouse ESCs. The distribution of TFIIIC and SMARCAD1 in the ESC genome is distinct, and unlike in yeast, SMARCAD1 is not enriched at active tRNA genes. Further analysis of SMARCAD1-binding partners in pluripotent and differentiated mammalian cells reveals that SMARCAD1 associates with several factors that have key regulatory roles in chromatin organization, such as cohesin, laminB, and DDX5. Together, our work suggests for the first time that the SMARCAD1 enzyme participates in genome organization in mammalian nuclei through interactions with architectural proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Parysatis Sachs
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Tumor Research, Philipps University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany
- CMC Development, R&D, Sanofi, 65926 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Philipp Bergmaier
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Tumor Research, Philipps University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany
- Global Development Operations, R&D, Merck Healthcare, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Katrin Treutwein
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Tumor Research, Philipps University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Jacqueline E. Mermoud
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Tumor Research, Philipps University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany
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10
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Zhang M, Ehmann ME, Matukumalli S, Boob AG, Gilbert DM, Zhao H. SHIELD: a platform for high-throughput screening of barrier-type DNA elements in human cells. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5616. [PMID: 37699958 PMCID: PMC10497619 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41468-3] [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: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Chromatin boundary elements contribute to the partitioning of mammalian genomes into topological domains to regulate gene expression. Certain boundary elements are adopted as DNA insulators for safe and stable transgene expression in mammalian cells. These elements, however, are ill-defined and less characterized in the non-coding genome, partially due to the lack of a platform to readily evaluate boundary-associated activities of putative DNA sequences. Here we report SHIELD (Site-specific Heterochromatin Insertion of Elements at Lamina-associated Domains), a platform tailored for the high-throughput screening of barrier-type DNA elements in human cells. SHIELD takes advantage of the high specificity of serine integrase at heterochromatin, and exploits the natural heterochromatin spreading inside lamina-associated domains (LADs) for the discovery of potent barrier elements. We adopt SHIELD to evaluate the barrier activity of 1000 DNA elements in a high-throughput manner and identify 8 candidates with barrier activities comparable to the core region of cHS4 element in human HCT116 cells. We anticipate SHIELD could facilitate the discovery of novel barrier DNA elements from the non-coding genome in human cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meng Zhang
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Mary Elisabeth Ehmann
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Srija Matukumalli
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Aashutosh Girish Boob
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - David M Gilbert
- San Diego Biomedical Research Institute, San Diego, CA, 92121, USA
| | - Huimin Zhao
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
- Department of Chemistry, Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
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11
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Dai Q. Blocking the blocker. eLife 2023; 12:e92076. [PMID: 37698172 PMCID: PMC10497280 DOI: 10.7554/elife.92076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/13/2023] Open
Abstract
An unexpected interaction between a long non-coding RNA locus and a genetic insulator called Fub-1 has an important role in gene regulation during development in Drosophila.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Dai
- Department of Molecular Bioscience, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm UniversityStockholmSweden
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12
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Rogac M, Kovanda A, Lovrečić L, Peterlin B. Optical genome mapping in an atypical Pelizaeus-Merzbacher prenatal challenge. Front Genet 2023; 14:1173426. [PMID: 37560384 PMCID: PMC10407396 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1173426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Pathogenic genetic variants represent a challenge in prenatal counseling, especially when clinical presentation in familial carriers is atypical. We describe a prenatal case involving a microarray-detected duplication of PLP1 which causes X-linked Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease, a progressive hypomyelinating leukodystrophy. Because of atypical clinical presentation in an older male child, the duplication was examined using a novel technology, optical genome mapping, and was found to be an inverted duplication, which has not been previously described. Simultaneously, segregation analysis identified another healthy adult male carrier of this unique structural rearrangement. The novel PLP1 structural variant was reclassified, and a healthy boy was delivered. In conclusion, we suggest that examining structural variants with novel methods is warranted especially in cases with atypical clinical presentation and may in these cases lead to improved prenatal and postnatal genetic counseling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mihael Rogac
- Clinical Institute of Genomic Medicine, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Anja Kovanda
- Clinical Institute of Genomic Medicine, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Luca Lovrečić
- Clinical Institute of Genomic Medicine, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Borut Peterlin
- Clinical Institute of Genomic Medicine, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
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13
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Villao-Uzho L, Chávez-Navarrete T, Pacheco-Coello R, Sánchez-Timm E, Santos-Ordóñez E. Plant Promoters: Their Identification, Characterization, and Role in Gene Regulation. Genes (Basel) 2023; 14:1226. [PMID: 37372407 DOI: 10.3390/genes14061226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Revised: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
One of the strategies to overcome diseases or abiotic stress in crops is the use of improved varieties. Genetic improvement could be accomplished through different methods, including conventional breeding, induced mutation, genetic transformation, or gene editing. The gene function and regulated expression through promoters are necessary for transgenic crops to improve specific traits. The variety of promoter sequences has increased in the generation of genetically modified crops because they could lead to the expression of the gene responsible for the improved trait in a specific manner. Therefore, the characterization of the promoter activity is necessary for the generation of biotechnological crops. That is why several analyses have focused on identifying and isolating promoters using techniques such as reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), genetic libraries, cloning, and sequencing. Promoter analysis involves the plant genetic transformation method, a potent tool for determining the promoter activity and function of genes in plants, contributing to understanding gene regulation and plant development. Furthermore, the study of promoters that play a fundamental role in gene regulation is highly relevant. The study of regulation and development in transgenic organisms has made it possible to understand the benefits of directing gene expression in a temporal, spatial, and even controlled manner, confirming the great diversity of promoters discovered and developed. Therefore, promoters are a crucial tool in biotechnological processes to ensure the correct expression of a gene. This review highlights various types of promoters and their functionality in the generation of genetically modified crops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liliana Villao-Uzho
- Biotechnological Research Center of Ecuador, ESPOL Polytechnic University, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Gustavo Galindo Campus Km. 30.5 Vía Perimetral, Guayaquil 090902, Ecuador
| | - Tatiana Chávez-Navarrete
- Biotechnological Research Center of Ecuador, ESPOL Polytechnic University, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Gustavo Galindo Campus Km. 30.5 Vía Perimetral, Guayaquil 090902, Ecuador
| | - Ricardo Pacheco-Coello
- Biotechnological Research Center of Ecuador, ESPOL Polytechnic University, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Gustavo Galindo Campus Km. 30.5 Vía Perimetral, Guayaquil 090902, Ecuador
| | - Eduardo Sánchez-Timm
- Biotechnological Research Center of Ecuador, ESPOL Polytechnic University, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Gustavo Galindo Campus Km. 30.5 Vía Perimetral, Guayaquil 090902, Ecuador
- Faculty of Life Sciences, ESPOL Polytechnic University, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Gustavo Galindo Campus Km. 30.5 Vía Perimetral, Guayaquil 090902, Ecuador
| | - Efrén Santos-Ordóñez
- Biotechnological Research Center of Ecuador, ESPOL Polytechnic University, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Gustavo Galindo Campus Km. 30.5 Vía Perimetral, Guayaquil 090902, Ecuador
- Faculty of Life Sciences, ESPOL Polytechnic University, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Gustavo Galindo Campus Km. 30.5 Vía Perimetral, Guayaquil 090902, Ecuador
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14
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Dupont C, Chahar D, Trullo A, Gostan T, Surcis C, Grimaud C, Fisher D, Feil R, Llères D. Evidence for low nanocompaction of heterochromatin in living embryonic stem cells. EMBO J 2023:e110286. [PMID: 37082862 DOI: 10.15252/embj.2021110286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Revised: 03/22/2023] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite advances in the identification of chromatin regulators and genome interactions, the principles of higher-order chromatin structure have remained elusive. Here, we applied FLIM-FRET microscopy to analyse, in living cells, the spatial organisation of nanometre range proximity between nucleosomes, which we called "nanocompaction." Both in naive embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and in ESC-derived epiblast-like cells (EpiLCs), we find that, contrary to expectations, constitutive heterochromatin is much less compacted than bulk chromatin. The opposite was observed in fixed cells. HP1α knockdown increased nanocompaction in living ESCs, but this was overridden by loss of HP1β, indicating the existence of a dynamic HP1-dependent low compaction state in pluripotent cells. Depletion of H4K20me2/3 abrogated nanocompaction, while increased H4K20me3 levels accompanied the nuclear reorganisation during EpiLCs induction. Finally, the knockout of the nuclear cellular-proliferation marker Ki-67 strongly reduced both interphase and mitotic heterochromatin nanocompaction in ESCs. Our data indicate that, contrary to prevailing models, heterochromatin is not highly compacted at the nanoscale but resides in a dynamic low nanocompaction state that depends on H4K20me2/3, the balance between HP1 isoforms, and Ki-67.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire Dupont
- Institute of Molecular Genetics of Montpellier (IGMM), CNRS, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Dhanvantri Chahar
- Institute of Molecular Genetics of Montpellier (IGMM), CNRS, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Antonio Trullo
- Institute of Molecular Genetics of Montpellier (IGMM), CNRS, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Thierry Gostan
- Institute of Molecular Genetics of Montpellier (IGMM), CNRS, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Caroline Surcis
- Institute of Molecular Genetics of Montpellier (IGMM), CNRS, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Charlotte Grimaud
- Institute of Human Genetics (IGH), CNRS, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Daniel Fisher
- Institute of Molecular Genetics of Montpellier (IGMM), CNRS, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Robert Feil
- Institute of Molecular Genetics of Montpellier (IGMM), CNRS, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - David Llères
- Institute of Molecular Genetics of Montpellier (IGMM), CNRS, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
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15
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Patterns of Heterochromatin Transitions Linked to Changes in the Expression of Plasmodium falciparum Clonally Variant Genes. Microbiol Spectr 2023; 11:e0304922. [PMID: 36515553 PMCID: PMC9927496 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.03049-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The survival of malaria parasites in the changing human blood environment largely depends on their ability to alter gene expression by epigenetic mechanisms. The active state of Plasmodium falciparum clonally variant genes (CVGs) is associated with euchromatin characterized by the histone mark H3K9ac, whereas the silenced state is characterized by H3K9me3-based heterochromatin. Expression switches are linked to euchromatin-heterochromatin transitions, but these transitions have not been characterized for the majority of CVGs. To define the heterochromatin distribution patterns associated with the alternative transcriptional states of CVGs, we compared H3K9me3 occupancy at a genome-wide level among several parasite subclones of the same genetic background that differed in the transcriptional state of many CVGs. We found that de novo heterochromatin formation or the complete disruption of a heterochromatin domain is a relatively rare event, and for the majority of CVGs, expression switches can be explained by the expansion or retraction of heterochromatin domains. We identified different modalities of heterochromatin changes linked to transcriptional differences, but despite this complexity, heterochromatin distribution patterns generally enable the prediction of the transcriptional state of specific CVGs. We also found that in some subclones, several var genes were simultaneously in an active state. Furthermore, the heterochromatin levels in the putative regulatory region of the gdv1 antisense noncoding RNA, a regulator of sexual commitment, varied between parasite lines with different sexual conversion rates. IMPORTANCE The malaria parasite P. falciparum is responsible for more than half a million deaths every year. P. falciparum clonally variant genes (CVGs) mediate fundamental host-parasite interactions and play a key role in parasite adaptation to fluctuations in the conditions of the human host. The expression of CVGs is regulated at the epigenetic level by changes in the distribution of a type of chromatin called heterochromatin. Here, we describe at a genome-wide level the changes in the heterochromatin distribution associated with the different transcriptional states of CVGs. Our results also reveal a likely role for heterochromatin at a particular locus in determining the parasite investment in transmission to mosquitoes. Additionally, this data set will enable the prediction of the transcriptional state of CVGs from epigenomic data, which is important for the study of parasite adaptation to the conditions of the host in natural malaria infections.
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16
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Urban EA, Chernoff C, Layng KV, Han J, Anderson C, Konzman D, Johnston RJ. Activating and repressing gene expression between chromosomes during stochastic fate specification. Cell Rep 2023; 42:111910. [PMID: 36640351 PMCID: PMC9976292 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Revised: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
DNA elements act across long genomic distances to regulate gene expression. During transvection in Drosophila, DNA elements on one allele of a gene act between chromosomes to regulate expression of the other allele. Little is known about the biological roles and developmental regulation of transvection. Here, we study the stochastic expression of spineless (ss) in photoreceptors in the fly eye to understand transvection. We determine a biological role for transvection in regulating expression of naturally occurring ss alleles. We identify DNA elements required for activating and repressing transvection. Different enhancers participate in transvection at different times during development to promote gene expression and specify cell fates. Bringing a silencer element on a heterologous chromosome into proximity with the ss locus "reconstitutes" the gene, leading to repression. Our studies show that transvection regulates gene expression via distinct DNA elements at specific timepoints in development, with implications for genome organization and architecture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A. Urban
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA,These authors contributed equally
| | - Chaim Chernoff
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA,Present address: Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard University, 7 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA,These authors contributed equally
| | - Kayla Viets Layng
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Jeong Han
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Caitlin Anderson
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Daniel Konzman
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Robert J. Johnston
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA,Lead contact,Correspondence:
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17
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Hyle J, Djekidel MN, Williams J, Wright S, Shao Y, Xu B, Li C. Auxin-inducible degron 2 system deciphers functions of CTCF domains in transcriptional regulation. Genome Biol 2023; 24:14. [PMID: 36698211 PMCID: PMC9878928 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-022-02843-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND CTCF is a well-established chromatin architectural protein that also plays various roles in transcriptional regulation. While CTCF biology has been extensively studied, how the domains of CTCF function to regulate transcription remains unknown. Additionally, the original auxin-inducible degron 1 (AID1) system has limitations in investigating the function of CTCF. RESULTS We employ an improved auxin-inducible degron technology, AID2, to facilitate the study of acute depletion of CTCF while overcoming the limitations of the previous AID system. As previously observed through the AID1 system and steady-state RNA analysis, the new AID2 system combined with SLAM-seq confirms that CTCF depletion leads to modest nascent and steady-state transcript changes. A CTCF domain sgRNA library screening identifies the zinc finger (ZF) domain as the region within CTCF with the most functional relevance, including ZFs 1 and 10. Removal of ZFs 1 and 10 reveals genomic regions that independently require these ZFs for DNA binding and transcriptional regulation. Notably, loci regulated by either ZF1 or ZF10 exhibit unique CTCF binding motifs specific to each ZF. CONCLUSIONS By extensively comparing the AID1 and AID2 systems for CTCF degradation in SEM cells, we confirm that AID2 degradation is superior for achieving miniAID-tagged protein degradation without the limitations of the AID1 system. The model we create that combines AID2 depletion of CTCF with exogenous overexpression of CTCF mutants allows us to demonstrate how peripheral ZFs intricately orchestrate transcriptional regulation in a cellular context for the first time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith Hyle
- Department of Tumor Cell Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Mohamed Nadhir Djekidel
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Justin Williams
- Department of Tumor Cell Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Shaela Wright
- Department of Tumor Cell Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Ying Shao
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA
| | - Beisi Xu
- Center for Applied Bioinformatics, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA.
| | - Chunliang Li
- Department of Tumor Cell Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA.
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18
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Cabrera A, Edelstein HI, Glykofrydis F, Love KS, Palacios S, Tycko J, Zhang M, Lensch S, Shields CE, Livingston M, Weiss R, Zhao H, Haynes KA, Morsut L, Chen YY, Khalil AS, Wong WW, Collins JJ, Rosser SJ, Polizzi K, Elowitz MB, Fussenegger M, Hilton IB, Leonard JN, Bintu L, Galloway KE, Deans TL. The sound of silence: Transgene silencing in mammalian cell engineering. Cell Syst 2022; 13:950-973. [PMID: 36549273 PMCID: PMC9880859 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2022.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2022] [Revised: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
To elucidate principles operating in native biological systems and to develop novel biotechnologies, synthetic biology aims to build and integrate synthetic gene circuits within native transcriptional networks. The utility of synthetic gene circuits for cell engineering relies on the ability to control the expression of all constituent transgene components. Transgene silencing, defined as the loss of expression over time, persists as an obstacle for engineering primary cells and stem cells with transgenic cargos. In this review, we highlight the challenge that transgene silencing poses to the robust engineering of mammalian cells, outline potential molecular mechanisms of silencing, and present approaches for preventing transgene silencing. We conclude with a perspective identifying future research directions for improving the performance of synthetic gene circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan Cabrera
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA; Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Hailey I Edelstein
- Center for Synthetic Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA; The Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Fokion Glykofrydis
- Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033-9080, USA
| | - Kasey S Love
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Sebastian Palacios
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Josh Tycko
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Meng Zhang
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Sarah Lensch
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Cara E Shields
- Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Mark Livingston
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Ron Weiss
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Synthetic Biology Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Huimin Zhao
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Karmella A Haynes
- Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Leonardo Morsut
- Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033-9080, USA
| | - Yvonne Y Chen
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy Center at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Ahmad S Khalil
- Biological Design Center and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Wilson W Wong
- Biological Design Center and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - James J Collins
- Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033-9080, USA; Synthetic Biology Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA; Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Susan J Rosser
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Karen Polizzi
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, UK; Imperial College Centre for Synthetic Biology, South Kensington Campus, London, UK
| | - Michael B Elowitz
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Martin Fussenegger
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland; Faculty of Science, University of Basel, Mattenstrasse 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland
| | - Isaac B Hilton
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA
| | - Joshua N Leonard
- Center for Synthetic Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA; The Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Lacramioara Bintu
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Kate E Galloway
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Tara L Deans
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
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19
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Jiang L, Liu Y, Wen Z, Yang Y, Singer SD, Bennett D, Xu W, Su Z, Yu Z, Cohn J, Luo X, Liu Z, Chae H, Que Q, Liu Z. CW198 acts as a genetic insulator to block enhancer-promoter interaction in plants. Transgenic Res 2022; 31:647-660. [PMID: 36053433 DOI: 10.1007/s11248-022-00326-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Insulators in vertebrates play a role in genome architecture and orchestrate temporo-spatial enhancer-promoter interactions. In plants, insulators and their associated binding factors have not been documented as of yet, largely as a result of a lack of characterized insulators. In this study, we took a comprehensive strategy to identify and validate the enhancer-blocking insulator CW198. We show that a 1.08-kb CW198 fragment from Arabidopsis can, when interposed between an enhancer and a promoter, efficiently abrogate the activation function of both constitutive and floral organ-specific enhancers in transgenic Arabidopsis and tobacco plants. In plants, both transcriptional crosstalk and spreading of histone modifications were rarely detectable across CW198, which resembles the insulation property observed across the CTCF insulator in the mammalian genome. Taken together, our findings support that CW198 acts as an enhancer-blocking insulator in both Arabidopsis and tobacco. The significance of the present findings and their relevance to the mitigation of mutual interference between enhancers and promoters, as well as multiple promoters in transgenes, is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Jiang
- College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.,USDA-ARS, -Appalachian Fruit Research Station, 2217 Wiltshire Road, Kearneysville, WV, 25430, USA
| | - Yue Liu
- College of Horticulture, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China
| | - Zhifeng Wen
- USDA-ARS, -Appalachian Fruit Research Station, 2217 Wiltshire Road, Kearneysville, WV, 25430, USA.,College of Horticulture, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China
| | - Yingjun Yang
- USDA-ARS, -Appalachian Fruit Research Station, 2217 Wiltshire Road, Kearneysville, WV, 25430, USA.,Forestry College, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471023, China
| | - Stacy D Singer
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, Lethbridge, AB, T1J 4B1, Canada
| | - Dennis Bennett
- USDA-ARS, -Appalachian Fruit Research Station, 2217 Wiltshire Road, Kearneysville, WV, 25430, USA
| | - Wenying Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Zhen Su
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Zhifang Yu
- College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Josh Cohn
- Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA
| | - Xi Luo
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Zhongchi Liu
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Hyunsook Chae
- Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA
| | - Qiudeng Que
- Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA
| | - Zongrang Liu
- USDA-ARS, -Appalachian Fruit Research Station, 2217 Wiltshire Road, Kearneysville, WV, 25430, USA.
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20
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Takeuchi C, Yokoshi M, Kondo S, Shibuya A, Saito K, Fukaya T, Siomi H, Iwasaki Y. Mod(mdg4) variants repress telomeric retrotransposon HeT-A by blocking subtelomeric enhancers. Nucleic Acids Res 2022; 50:11580-11599. [PMID: 36373634 PMCID: PMC9723646 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac1034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Revised: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 10/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Telomeres in Drosophila are composed of sequential non-LTR retrotransposons HeT-A, TART and TAHRE. Although they are repressed by the PIWI-piRNA pathway or heterochromatin in the germline, the regulation of these retrotransposons in somatic cells is poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrated that specific splice variants of Mod(mdg4) repress HeT-A by blocking subtelomeric enhancers in ovarian somatic cells. Among the variants, we found that the Mod(mdg4)-N variant represses HeT-A expression the most efficiently. Subtelomeric sequences bound by Mod(mdg4)-N block enhancer activity within subtelomeric TAS-R repeats. This enhancer-blocking activity is increased by the tandem association of Mod(mdg4)-N to repetitive subtelomeric sequences. In addition, the association of Mod(mdg4)-N couples with the recruitment of RNA polymerase II to the subtelomeres, which reinforces its enhancer-blocking function. Our findings provide novel insights into how telomeric retrotransposons are regulated by the specific variants of insulator proteins associated with subtelomeric sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chikara Takeuchi
- Department of Molecular Biology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan
| | - Moe Yokoshi
- Laboratory of Transcription Dynamics, Research Center for Biological Visualization, Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan
| | - Shu Kondo
- Department of Chromosome Science, National Institute of Genetics, Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS), Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan
| | - Aoi Shibuya
- Department of Molecular Biology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan
| | - Kuniaki Saito
- Department of Chromosome Science, National Institute of Genetics, Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS), Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan
| | - Takashi Fukaya
- Laboratory of Transcription Dynamics, Research Center for Biological Visualization, Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan,Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan
| | | | - Yuka W Iwasaki
- To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +81 3 5363 3529; Fax: +81 3 5363 3266;
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21
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Higgins S, Akpokiro V, Westcott A, Oluwadare O. TADMaster: a comprehensive web-based tool for the analysis of topologically associated domains. BMC Bioinformatics 2022; 23:463. [PMID: 36333787 PMCID: PMC9636664 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-022-05020-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Chromosome conformation capture and its derivatives have provided substantial genetic data for understanding how chromatin self-organizes. These techniques have identified regions of high intrasequence interactions called topologically associated domains (TADs). TADs are structural and functional units that shape chromosomes and influence genomic expression. Many of these domains differ across cell development and can be impacted by diseases. Thus, analysis of the identified domains can provide insight into genome regulation. Hence, there are many approaches to identifying such domains across many cell lines. Despite the availability of multiple tools for TAD detection, TAD callers' speed, flexibility, result inconsistency, and reproducibility remain challenges in this research area. Results In this work, we developed a computational webserver called TADMaster that provides an analysis suite to directly evaluate the concordance level and robustness of two or more TAD data on any given genome region. The suite provides multiple visual and quantitative metrics to compare the identified domains' number, size, and various comparisons of shared domains, domain boundaries, and domain overlap. Conclusions TADMaster is an efficient and easy-to-use web application that provides a set of consensus and unique TADs to inform the choice of TADs. It can be accessed at http://tadmaster.io and is also available as a containerized application that can be deployed and run locally on any platform or operating system. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12859-022-05020-2.
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22
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Sizer RE, Chahid N, Butterfield SP, Donze D, Bryant NJ, White RJ. TFIIIC-based chromatin insulators through eukaryotic evolution. Gene X 2022; 835:146533. [PMID: 35623477 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2022.146533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Revised: 04/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Eukaryotic chromosomes are divided into domains with distinct structural and functional properties, such as differing levels of chromatin compaction and gene transcription. Domains of relatively compact chromatin and minimal transcription are termed heterochromatic, whereas euchromatin is more open and actively transcribed. Insulators separate these domains and maintain their distinct features. Disruption of insulators can cause diseases such as cancer. Many insulators contain tRNA genes (tDNAs), examples of which have been shown to block the spread of activating or silencing activities. This characteristic of specific tDNAs is conserved through evolution, such that human tDNAs can serve as barriers to the spread of silencing in fission yeast. Here we demonstrate that tDNAs from the methylotrophic fungus Pichia pastoris can function effectively as insulators in distantly-related budding yeast. Key to the function of tDNAs as insulators is TFIIIC, a transcription factor that is also required for their expression. TFIIIC binds additional loci besides tDNAs, some of which have insulator activity. Although the mechanistic basis of TFIIIC-based insulation has been studied extensively in yeast, it is largely uncharacterized in metazoa. Utilising publicly-available genome-wide ChIP-seq data, we consider the extent to which mechanisms conserved from yeast to man may suffice to allow efficient insulation by TFIIIC in the more challenging chromatin environments of metazoa and suggest features that may have been acquired during evolution to cope with new challenges. We demonstrate the widespread presence at human tDNAs of USF1, a transcription factor with well-established barrier activity in vertebrates. We predict that tDNA-based insulators in higher organisms have evolved through incorporation of modules, such as binding sites for factors like USF1 and CTCF that are absent from yeasts, thereby strengthening function and providing opportunities for regulation between cell types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca E Sizer
- Department of Biology, The University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Nisreen Chahid
- Department of Biology, The University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
| | | | - David Donze
- Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
| | - Nia J Bryant
- Department of Biology, The University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Robert J White
- Department of Biology, The University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK.
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23
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Rejano-Gordillo C, Ordiales-Talavero A, Nacarino-Palma A, Merino JM, González-Rico FJ, Fernández-Salguero PM. Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor: From Homeostasis to Tumor Progression. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:884004. [PMID: 35465323 PMCID: PMC9022225 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.884004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Transcription factor aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) has emerged as one of the main regulators involved both in different homeostatic cell functions and tumor progression. Being a member of the family of basic-helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcriptional regulators, this intracellular receptor has become a key member in differentiation, pluripotency, chromatin dynamics and cell reprogramming processes, with plenty of new targets identified in the last decade. Besides this role in tissue homeostasis, one enthralling feature of AHR is its capacity of acting as an oncogene or tumor suppressor depending on the specific organ, tissue and cell type. Together with its well-known modulation of cell adhesion and migration in a cell-type specific manner in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), this duality has also contributed to the arise of its clinical interest, highlighting a new potential as therapeutic tool, diagnosis and prognosis marker. Therefore, a deregulation of AHR-controlled pathways may have a causal role in contributing to physiological and homeostatic failures, tumor progression and dissemination. With that firmly in mind, this review will address the remarkable capability of AHR to exert a different function influenced by the phenotype of the target cell and its potential consequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Rejano-Gordillo
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Genética, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
| | - Ana Ordiales-Talavero
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Genética, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
| | - Ana Nacarino-Palma
- Chronic Diseases Research Centre (CEDOC), Rua Do Instituto Bacteriológico, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Jaime M. Merino
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Genética, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
| | - Francisco J. González-Rico
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Genética, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
- *Correspondence: Francisco J. González-Rico, ; Pedro M. Fernández-Salguero,
| | - Pedro M. Fernández-Salguero
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Genética, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
- *Correspondence: Francisco J. González-Rico, ; Pedro M. Fernández-Salguero,
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24
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Boyling A, Perez-Siles G, Kennerson ML. Structural Variation at a Disease Mutation Hotspot: Strategies to Investigate Gene Regulation and the 3D Genome. Front Genet 2022; 13:842860. [PMID: 35401663 PMCID: PMC8990796 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.842860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A rare form of X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy, CMTX3, is caused by an interchromosomal insertion occurring at chromosome Xq27.1. Interestingly, eight other disease phenotypes have been associated with insertions (or insertion-deletions) occurring at the same genetic locus. To date, the pathogenic mechanism underlying most of these diseases remains unsolved, although local gene dysregulation has clearly been implicated in at least two phenotypes. The challenges of accessing disease-relevant tissue and modelling these complex genomic rearrangements has led to this research impasse. We argue that recent technological advancements can overcome many of these challenges, particularly induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and their capacity to provide access to patient-derived disease-relevant tissue. However, to date these valuable tools have not been utilized to investigate the disease-associated insertions at chromosome Xq27.1. Therefore, using CMTX3 as a reference disease, we propose an experimental approach that can be used to explore these complex mutations, as well as similar structural variants located elsewhere in the genome. The mutational hotspot at Xq27.1 is a valuable disease paradigm with the potential to improve our understanding of the pathogenic consequences of complex structural variation, and more broadly, refine our knowledge of the multifaceted process of long-range gene regulation. Intergenic structural variation is a critically understudied class of mutation, although it is likely to contribute significantly to unsolved genetic disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra Boyling
- Northcott Neuroscience Laboratory, ANZAC Research Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- *Correspondence: Alexandra Boyling, ; Marina L. Kennerson,
| | - Gonzalo Perez-Siles
- Northcott Neuroscience Laboratory, ANZAC Research Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Marina L. Kennerson
- Northcott Neuroscience Laboratory, ANZAC Research Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Molecular Medicine Laboratory, Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- *Correspondence: Alexandra Boyling, ; Marina L. Kennerson,
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25
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Ortabozkoyun H, Huang PY, Cho H, Narendra V, LeRoy G, Gonzalez-Buendia E, Skok JA, Tsirigos A, Mazzoni EO, Reinberg D. CRISPR and biochemical screens identify MAZ as a cofactor in CTCF-mediated insulation at Hox clusters. Nat Genet 2022; 54:202-212. [PMID: 35145304 PMCID: PMC8837555 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-021-01008-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2021] [Accepted: 12/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) is critical to three-dimensional genome organization. Upon differentiation, CTCF insulates active and repressed genes within Hox gene clusters. We conducted a genome-wide CRISPR knockout (KO) screen to identify genes required for CTCF-boundary activity at the HoxA cluster, complemented by biochemical approaches. Among the candidates, we identified Myc-associated zinc-finger protein (MAZ) as a cofactor in CTCF insulation. MAZ colocalizes with CTCF at chromatin borders and, similar to CTCF, interacts with the cohesin subunit RAD21. MAZ KO disrupts gene expression and local contacts within topologically associating domains. Similar to CTCF motif deletions, MAZ motif deletions lead to derepression of posterior Hox genes immediately after CTCF boundaries upon differentiation, giving rise to homeotic transformations in mouse. Thus, MAZ is a factor contributing to appropriate insulation, gene expression and genomic architecture during development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Havva Ortabozkoyun
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Pin-Yao Huang
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Hyunwoo Cho
- Department of Pathology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Applied Bioinformatics Laboratories, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Radiation Oncology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Varun Narendra
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Gary LeRoy
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Edgar Gonzalez-Buendia
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jane A Skok
- Department of Pathology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Aristotelis Tsirigos
- Department of Pathology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Applied Bioinformatics Laboratories, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Institute for Computational Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Danny Reinberg
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
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26
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Liu H, Jiang L, Wen Z, Yang Y, Singer SD, Bennett D, Xu W, Su Z, Yu Z, Cohn J, Chae H, Que Q, Liu Y, Liu C, Liu Z. Rice RS2-9, which is bound by transcription factor OSH1, blocks enhancer-promoter interactions in plants. THE PLANT JOURNAL : FOR CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2022; 109:541-554. [PMID: 34773305 PMCID: PMC9303810 DOI: 10.1111/tpj.15574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Insulators characterized in Drosophila and mammals have been shown to play a key role in the restriction of promiscuous enhancer-promoter interactions, as well as reshaping the topological landscape of chromosomes. Yet the role of insulators in plants remains poorly understood, in large part because of a lack of well-characterized insulators and binding factor(s). In this study, we isolated a 1.2-kb RS2-9 insulator from the Oryza sativa (rice) genome that can, when interposed between an enhancer and promoter, efficiently block the activation function of both constitutive and floral organ-specific enhancers in transgenic Arabidopsis and Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco). In the rice genome, the genes flanking RS2-9 exhibit an absence of mutual transcriptional interactions, as well as a lack of histone modification spread. We further determined that O. sativa Homeobox 1 (OSH1) bound two regions of RS2-9, as well as over 50 000 additional sites in the rice genome, the majority of which resided in intergenic regions. Mutation of one of the two OSH1-binding sites in RS2-9 impaired insulation activity by up to 60%, whereas the mutation of both binding sites virtually abolished insulator function. We also demonstrated that OSH1 binding sites were associated with 72% of the boundaries of topologically associated domains (TADs) identified in the rice genome, which is comparable to the 77% of TAD boundaries bound by the insulator CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) in mammals. Taken together, our findings indicate that OSH1-RS2-9 acts as a true insulator in plants, and highlight a potential role for OSH1 in gene insulation and topological organization in plant genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huawei Liu
- USDA‐ARS, Appalachian Fruit Research StationKearneysvilleWest Virginia25430USA
- College of Food Science and TechnologyNanjing Agricultural UniversityNanjing210095China
| | - Li Jiang
- USDA‐ARS, Appalachian Fruit Research StationKearneysvilleWest Virginia25430USA
- College of Food Science and TechnologyNanjing Agricultural UniversityNanjing210095China
| | - Zhifeng Wen
- USDA‐ARS, Appalachian Fruit Research StationKearneysvilleWest Virginia25430USA
- College of HorticultureFujian Agriculture and Forestry UniversityFuzhou350002China
| | - Yingjun Yang
- USDA‐ARS, Appalachian Fruit Research StationKearneysvilleWest Virginia25430USA
- Forestry CollegeHenan University of Science and TechnologyLuoyang471023China
| | - Stacy D. Singer
- Agriculture and Agri‐Food CanadaLethbridge Research and Development CentreLethbridgeAlbertaT1J 4B1Canada
| | - Dennis Bennett
- USDA‐ARS, Appalachian Fruit Research StationKearneysvilleWest Virginia25430USA
| | - Wenying Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and BiochemistryCollege of Biological SciencesChina Agricultural UniversityBeijing100193China
| | - Zhen Su
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and BiochemistryCollege of Biological SciencesChina Agricultural UniversityBeijing100193China
| | - Zhifang Yu
- College of Food Science and TechnologyNanjing Agricultural UniversityNanjing210095China
| | - Jonathan Cohn
- Syngenta Crop ProtectionLLCResearch Triangle ParkNorth Carolina27709USA
| | - Hyunsook Chae
- Syngenta Crop ProtectionLLCResearch Triangle ParkNorth Carolina27709USA
| | - Qiudeng Que
- Syngenta Crop ProtectionLLCResearch Triangle ParkNorth Carolina27709USA
| | - Yue Liu
- College of HorticultureQingdao Agricultural UniversityQingdao266109China
| | - Chang Liu
- Department of EpigeneticsUniversity of HohenheimStuttgart70599Germany
| | - Zongrang Liu
- USDA‐ARS, Appalachian Fruit Research StationKearneysvilleWest Virginia25430USA
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27
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Romanov SE, Kalashnikova DA, Laktionov PP. Methods of massive parallel reporter assays for investigation of enhancers. Vavilovskii Zhurnal Genet Selektsii 2021; 25:344-355. [PMID: 34901731 PMCID: PMC8627875 DOI: 10.18699/vj21.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Revised: 03/28/2021] [Accepted: 03/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The correct deployment of genetic programs for development and differentiation relies on finely coordinated regulation of specific gene sets. Genomic regulatory elements play an exceptional role in this process. There are few types of gene regulatory elements, including promoters, enhancers, insulators and silencers. Alterations of gene regulatory elements may cause various pathologies, including cancer, congenital disorders and autoimmune diseases. The development of high-throughput genomic assays has made it possible to significantly accelerate the accumulation of information about the characteristic epigenetic properties of regulatory elements. In combination with high-throughput studies focused on the genome-wide distribution of epigenetic marks, regulatory proteins and the spatial structure of chromatin, this significantly expands the understanding of the principles of epigenetic regulation of genes and allows potential regulatory elements to be searched for in silico. However, common experimental approaches used to study the local characteristics of chromatin have a number of technical limitations that may reduce the reliability of computational identification of genomic regulatory sequences. Taking into account the variability of the functions of epigenetic determinants and complex multicomponent regulation of genomic elements activity, their functional verification is often required. A plethora of methods have been developed to study the functional role of regulatory elements on the genome scale. Common experimental approaches for in silico identification of regulatory elements and their inherent technical limitations will be described. The present review is focused on original high-throughput methods of enhancer activity reporter analysis that are currently used to validate predicted regulatory elements and to perform de novo searches. The methods described allow assessing the functional role of the nucleotide sequence of a regulatory element, to determine its exact boundaries and to assess the influence of the local state of chromatin on the activity of enhancers and gene expression. These approaches have contributed substantially to the understanding of the fundamental principles of gene regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- S E Romanov
- Novosibirsk State University, Epigenetics Laboratory, Department of Natural Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Genomics Laboratory, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - D A Kalashnikova
- Novosibirsk State University, Epigenetics Laboratory, Department of Natural Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Genomics Laboratory, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - P P Laktionov
- Novosibirsk State University, Epigenetics Laboratory, Department of Natural Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Genomics Laboratory, Novosibirsk, Russia
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28
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Oh HJ, Aguilar R, Kesner B, Lee HG, Kriz AJ, Chu HP, Lee JT. Jpx RNA regulates CTCF anchor site selection and formation of chromosome loops. Cell 2021; 184:6157-6173.e24. [PMID: 34856126 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2021] [Revised: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Chromosome loops shift dynamically during development, homeostasis, and disease. CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) is known to anchor loops and construct 3D genomes, but how anchor sites are selected is not yet understood. Here, we unveil Jpx RNA as a determinant of anchor selectivity. Jpx RNA targets thousands of genomic sites, preferentially binding promoters of active genes. Depleting Jpx RNA causes ectopic CTCF binding, massive shifts in chromosome looping, and downregulation of >700 Jpx target genes. Without Jpx, thousands of lost loops are replaced by de novo loops anchored by ectopic CTCF sites. Although Jpx controls CTCF binding on a genome-wide basis, it acts selectively at the subset of developmentally sensitive CTCF sites. Specifically, Jpx targets low-affinity CTCF motifs and displaces CTCF protein through competitive inhibition. We conclude that Jpx acts as a CTCF release factor and shapes the 3D genome by regulating anchor site usage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyun Jung Oh
- Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Rodrigo Aguilar
- Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Barry Kesner
- Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Hun-Goo Lee
- Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Andrea J Kriz
- Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Hsueh-Ping Chu
- Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Jeannie T Lee
- Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
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29
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Lee WK, Cheng SY. Targeting transcriptional regulators for treatment of anaplastic thyroid cancer. JOURNAL OF CANCER METASTASIS AND TREATMENT 2021; 7. [PMID: 34761120 PMCID: PMC8577520 DOI: 10.20517/2394-4722.2021.58] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Dysregulation of genes perpetuates cancer progression. During carcinogenesis, cancer cells acquire dependency of aberrant transcriptional programs (known as “transcription addiction”) to meet the high demands for uncontrolled proliferation. The needs for particular transcription programs for cancer growth could be cancer-type-selective. The dependencies of certain transcription regulators could be exploited for therapeutic benefits. Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is an extremely aggressive human cancer for which new treatment modalities are urgently needed. Its resistance to conventional treatments and the lack of therapeutic options for improving survival might have been attributed to extensive genetic heterogeneity due to subsequent evolving genetic alterations and clonal selections during carcinogenesis. Despite this genetic complexity, mounting evidence has revealed a characteristic transcriptional addiction of ATC cells resulting in evolving diverse oncogenic signaling for cancer cell survival. The transcriptional addiction has presented a huge challenge for effective targeting as shown by the failure of previous targeted therapies. However, an emerging notion is that many different oncogenic signaling pathways activated by multiple upstream driver mutations might ultimately converge on the transcriptional responses, which would provide an opportunity to target transcriptional regulators for treatment of ATC. Here, we review the current understanding of how genetic alterations in cancer distorted the transcription program, leading to acquisition of transcriptional addiction. We also highlight recent findings from studies aiming to exploit the opportunity for targeting transcription regulators as potential therapeutics for ATC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Woo Kyung Lee
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Sheue-Yann Cheng
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
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30
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Thomas AL, Marsman J, Antony J, Schierding W, O’Sullivan JM, Horsfield JA. Transcriptional Regulation of RUNX1: An Informatics Analysis. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:1175. [PMID: 34440349 PMCID: PMC8395016 DOI: 10.3390/genes12081175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Revised: 07/26/2021] [Accepted: 07/28/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The RUNX1/AML1 gene encodes a developmental transcription factor that is an important regulator of haematopoiesis in vertebrates. Genetic disruptions to the RUNX1 gene are frequently associated with acute myeloid leukaemia. Gene regulatory elements (REs), such as enhancers located in non-coding DNA, are likely to be important for Runx1 transcription. Non-coding elements that modulate Runx1 expression have been investigated over several decades, but how and when these REs function remains poorly understood. Here we used bioinformatic methods and functional data to characterise the regulatory landscape of vertebrate Runx1. We identified REs that are conserved between human and mouse, many of which produce enhancer RNAs in diverse tissues. Genome-wide association studies detected single nucleotide polymorphisms in REs, some of which correlate with gene expression quantitative trait loci in tissues in which the RE is active. Our analyses also suggest that REs can be variant in haematological malignancies. In summary, our analysis identifies features of the RUNX1 regulatory landscape that are likely to be important for the regulation of this gene in normal and malignant haematopoiesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amarni L. Thomas
- Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand; (A.L.T.); (J.A.)
| | - Judith Marsman
- Department of Cardiology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands;
| | - Jisha Antony
- Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand; (A.L.T.); (J.A.)
- The Maurice Wilkins Centre for Biodiscovery, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand;
| | - William Schierding
- Liggins Institute, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand;
| | - Justin M. O’Sullivan
- The Maurice Wilkins Centre for Biodiscovery, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand;
- Liggins Institute, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand;
- MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
| | - Julia A. Horsfield
- Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand; (A.L.T.); (J.A.)
- The Maurice Wilkins Centre for Biodiscovery, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand;
- Genetics Otago Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
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31
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Huang H, Zhu Q, Jussila A, Han Y, Bintu B, Kern C, Conte M, Zhang Y, Bianco S, Chiariello AM, Yu M, Hu R, Tastemel M, Juric I, Hu M, Nicodemi M, Zhuang X, Ren B. CTCF mediates dosage- and sequence-context-dependent transcriptional insulation by forming local chromatin domains. Nat Genet 2021; 53:1064-1074. [PMID: 34002095 PMCID: PMC8853952 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-021-00863-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Accepted: 04/02/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Insulators play a critical role in spatiotemporal gene regulation in animals. The evolutionarily conserved CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) is required for insulator function in mammals, but not all of its binding sites act as insulators. Here we explore the sequence requirements of CTCF-mediated transcriptional insulation using a sensitive insulator reporter in mouse embryonic stem cells. We find that insulation potency depends on the number of CTCF-binding sites in tandem. Furthermore, CTCF-mediated insulation is dependent on upstream flanking sequences at its binding sites. CTCF-binding sites at topologically associating domain boundaries are more likely to function as insulators than those outside topologically associating domain boundaries, independently of binding strength. We demonstrate that insulators form local chromatin domain boundaries and weaken enhancer-promoter contacts. Taken together, our results provide genetic, molecular and structural evidence connecting chromatin topology to the action of insulators in the mammalian genome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Huang
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, La Jolla, California 92093, USA, University of California, San Diego, Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
| | - Quan Zhu
- University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Center for Epigenomics, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0653, USA
| | - Adam Jussila
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, La Jolla, California 92093, USA, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Graduate Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Yuanyuan Han
- University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Center for Epigenomics, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0653, USA
| | - Bogdan Bintu
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Colin Kern
- University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Center for Epigenomics, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0653, USA
| | - Mattia Conte
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli Federico II, and INFN Napoli, Complesso di Monte Sant’Angelo, Naples, Italy
| | - Yanxiao Zhang
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
| | - Simona Bianco
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli Federico II, and INFN Napoli, Complesso di Monte Sant’Angelo, Naples, Italy
| | - Andrea M. Chiariello
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli Federico II, and INFN Napoli, Complesso di Monte Sant’Angelo, Naples, Italy
| | - Miao Yu
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
| | - Rong Hu
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
| | - Melodi Tastemel
- University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0653, USA
| | - Ivan Juric
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
| | - Ming Hu
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
| | - Mario Nicodemi
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli Federico II, and INFN Napoli, Complesso di Monte Sant’Angelo, Naples, Italy, Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, Max Delbrück Centre (MDC) for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany., Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany
| | - Xiaowei Zhuang
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Bing Ren
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, La Jolla, California 92093, USA, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Center for Epigenomics, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0653, USA, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0653, USA, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Institute of Genomic Medicine, and Moores Cancer Center, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0653, USA,Correspondence:
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D’Agostino D, Liò P, Aldinucci M, Merelli I. Advantages of using graph databases to explore chromatin conformation capture experiments. BMC Bioinformatics 2021; 22:43. [PMID: 33902433 PMCID: PMC8073886 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-020-03937-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND High-throughput sequencing Chromosome Conformation Capture (Hi-C) allows the study of DNA interactions and 3D chromosome folding at the genome-wide scale. Usually, these data are represented as matrices describing the binary contacts among the different chromosome regions. On the other hand, a graph-based representation can be advantageous to describe the complex topology achieved by the DNA in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells. METHODS Here we discuss the use of a graph database for storing and analysing data achieved by performing Hi-C experiments. The main issue is the size of the produced data and, working with a graph-based representation, the consequent necessity of adequately managing a large number of edges (contacts) connecting nodes (genes), which represents the sources of information. For this, currently available graph visualisation tools and libraries fall short with Hi-C data. The use of graph databases, instead, supports both the analysis and the visualisation of the spatial pattern present in Hi-C data, in particular for comparing different experiments or for re-mapping omics data in a space-aware context efficiently. In particular, the possibility of describing graphs through statistical indicators and, even more, the capability of correlating them through statistical distributions allows highlighting similarities and differences among different Hi-C experiments, in different cell conditions or different cell types. RESULTS These concepts have been implemented in NeoHiC, an open-source and user-friendly web application for the progressive visualisation and analysis of Hi-C networks based on the use of the Neo4j graph database (version 3.5). CONCLUSION With the accumulation of more experiments, the tool will provide invaluable support to compare neighbours of genes across experiments and conditions, helping in highlighting changes in functional domains and identifying new co-organised genomic compartments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniele D’Agostino
- Institute of Electronics, Computer and Telecommunication Engineering, National Research Council of Italy, Genoa, Italy
| | - Pietro Liò
- Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Marco Aldinucci
- Computer Science Department, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Ivan Merelli
- Institute for Biomedical Technologies, National Research Council of Italy, Segrate, MI Italy
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King JT, Shakya A. Phase separation of DNA: From past to present. Biophys J 2021; 120:1139-1149. [PMID: 33582138 PMCID: PMC8059212 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2021.01.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2020] [Revised: 01/11/2021] [Accepted: 01/22/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Phase separation of biological molecules, such as nucleic acids and proteins, has garnered widespread attention across many fields in recent years. For instance, liquid-liquid phase separation has been implicated not only in membraneless intracellular organization but also in many biochemical processes, including transcription, translation, and cellular signaling. Here, we present a historical background of biological phase separation and survey current work on nuclear organization and its connection to DNA phase separation from the perspective of DNA sequence, structure, and genomic context.
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Affiliation(s)
- John T King
- Center for Soft and Living Matter, Institute for Basic Science, Ulsan, Republic of Korea.
| | - Anisha Shakya
- Center for Soft and Living Matter, Institute for Basic Science, Ulsan, Republic of Korea.
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Fernando N, Sciumè G, O'Shea JJ, Shih HY. Multi-Dimensional Gene Regulation in Innate and Adaptive Lymphocytes: A View From Regulomes. Front Immunol 2021; 12:655590. [PMID: 33841440 PMCID: PMC8034253 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.655590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The precise control of cytokine production by innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) and their T cell adaptive system counterparts is critical to mounting a proper host defense immune response without inducing collateral damage and autoimmunity. Unlike T cells that differentiate into functionally divergent subsets upon antigen recognition, ILCs are developmentally programmed to rapidly respond to environmental signals in a polarized manner, without the need of T cell receptor (TCR) signaling. The specification of cytokine production relies on dynamic regulation of cis-regulatory elements that involve multi-dimensional epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation, transcription factor binding, histone modification and DNA-DNA interactions that form chromatin loops. How these different layers of gene regulation coordinate with each other to fine tune cytokine production, and whether ILCs and their T cell analogs utilize the same regulatory strategy, remain largely unknown. Herein, we review the molecular mechanisms that underlie cell identity and functionality of helper T cells and ILCs, focusing on networks of transcription factors and cis-regulatory elements. We discuss how higher-order chromatin architecture orchestrates these components to construct lineage- and state-specific regulomes that support ordered immunoregulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nilisha Fernando
- Neuro-Immune Regulome Unit, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Giuseppe Sciumè
- Laboratory Affiliated to Istituto Pasteur Italia - Fondazione Cenci-Bolognetti, Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - John J O'Shea
- Lymphocyte Cell Biology Section, Molecular Immunology and Inflammation Branch, National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Han-Yu Shih
- Neuro-Immune Regulome Unit, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States.,National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
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The Dm-Myb Oncoprotein Contributes to Insulator Function and Stabilizes Repressive H3K27me3 PcG Domains. Cell Rep 2021; 30:3218-3228.e5. [PMID: 32160531 PMCID: PMC7172335 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.02.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2019] [Revised: 09/30/2019] [Accepted: 02/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Drosophila Myb (Dm-Myb) encodes a protein that plays a key role in regulation of mitotic phase genes. Here, we further refine its role in the context of a developing tissue as a potentiator of gene expression required for proper RNA polymerase II (RNA Pol II) function and efficient H3K4 methylation at promoters. In contrast to its role in gene activation, Myb is also required for repression of many genes, although no specific mechanism for this role has been proposed. We now reveal a critical role for Myb in contributing to insulator function, in part by promoting binding of insulator proteins BEAF-32 and CP190 and stabilizing H3K27me3 Polycomb-group (PcG) domains. In the absence of Myb, H3K27me3 is markedly reduced throughout the genome, leading to H3K4me3 spreading and gene derepression. Finally, Myb is enriched at boundaries that demarcate chromatin environments, including chromatin loop anchors. These results reveal functions of Myb that extend beyond transcriptional regulation. Myb has been considered a transcriptional activator of primarily M phase genes. Here, Santana et al. show that Myb also contributes to insulator function, in part by promoting binding of insulator factors, and is required to stabilize repressive domains in the genome.
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Hsu SJ, Stow EC, Simmons JR, Wallace HA, Lopez AM, Stroud S, Labrador M. Mutations in the insulator protein Suppressor of Hairy wing induce genome instability. Chromosoma 2020; 129:255-274. [PMID: 33140220 DOI: 10.1007/s00412-020-00743-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2020] [Revised: 10/21/2020] [Accepted: 10/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Insulator proteins orchestrate the three-dimensional organization of the genome. Insulators function by facilitating communications between regulatory sequences and gene promoters, allowing accurate gene transcription regulation during embryo development and cell differentiation. However, the role of insulator proteins beyond genome organization and transcription regulation remains unclear. Suppressor of Hairy wing [Su(Hw)] is a Drosophila insulator protein that plays an important function in female oogenesis. Here we find that su(Hw) has an unsuspected role in genome stability during cell differentiation. We show that su(Hw) mutant developing egg chambers have poorly formed microtubule organization centers (MTOCs) in the germarium and display mislocalization of the anterior/posterior axis specification factor gurken in later oogenesis stages. Additionally, eggshells from partially rescued su(Hw) mutant female germline exhibit dorsoventral patterning defects. These phenotypes are very similar to phenotypes found in the important class of spindle mutants or in piRNA pathway mutants in Drosophila, in which defects generally result from the failure of germ cells to repair DNA damage. Similarities between mutations in su(Hw) and spindle and piRNA mutants are further supported by an excess of DNA damage in nurse cells, and because Gurken localization defects are partially rescued by mutations in the ATR (mei-41) and Chk1 (grapes) DNA damage response genes. Finally, we also show that su(Hw) mutants produce an elevated number of chromosome breaks in dividing neuroblasts from larval brains. Together, these findings suggest that Su(Hw) is necessary for the maintenance of genome integrity during Drosophila development, in both germline and dividing somatic cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shih-Jui Hsu
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - Emily C Stow
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - James R Simmons
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - Heather A Wallace
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - Andrea Mancheno Lopez
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - Shannon Stroud
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - Mariano Labrador
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA.
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Abstract
Over a thousand diseases are caused by mutations that alter gene expression levels. The potential of nuclease-deficient zinc fingers, TALEs or CRISPR fusion systems to treat these diseases by modulating gene expression has recently emerged. These systems can be applied to modify the activity of gene-regulatory elements - promoters, enhancers, silencers and insulators, subsequently changing their target gene expression levels to achieve therapeutic benefits - an approach termed cis-regulation therapy (CRT). Here, we review emerging CRT technologies and assess their therapeutic potential for treating a wide range of diseases caused by abnormal gene dosage. The challenges facing the translation of CRT into the clinic are discussed.
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Melnikova LS, Georgiev PG, Golovnin AK. The Functions and Mechanisms of Action of Insulators in the Genomes of Higher Eukaryotes. Acta Naturae 2020; 12:15-33. [PMID: 33456975 PMCID: PMC7800606 DOI: 10.32607/actanaturae.11144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Accepted: 10/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The mechanisms underlying long-range interactions between chromatin regions and the principles of chromosomal architecture formation are currently under extensive scrutiny. A special class of regulatory elements known as insulators is believed to be involved in the regulation of specific long-range interactions between enhancers and promoters. This review focuses on the insulators of Drosophila and mammals, and it also briefly characterizes the proteins responsible for their functional activity. It was initially believed that the main properties of insulators are blocking of enhancers and the formation of independent transcription domains. We present experimental data proving that the chromatin loops formed by insulators play only an auxiliary role in enhancer blocking. The review also discusses the mechanisms involved in the formation of topologically associating domains and their role in the formation of the chromosomal architecture and regulation of gene transcription.
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Affiliation(s)
- L. S. Melnikova
- Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119334 Russia
| | - P. G. Georgiev
- Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119334 Russia
| | - A. K. Golovnin
- Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119334 Russia
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Gonçalves CS, Le Boiteux E, Arnaud P, Costa BM. HOX gene cluster (de)regulation in brain: from neurodevelopment to malignant glial tumours. Cell Mol Life Sci 2020; 77:3797-3821. [PMID: 32239260 PMCID: PMC11105007 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-020-03508-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2019] [Revised: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
HOX genes encode a family of evolutionarily conserved homeodomain transcription factors that are crucial both during development and adult life. In humans, 39 HOX genes are arranged in four clusters (HOXA, B, C, and D) in chromosomes 7, 17, 12, and 2, respectively. During embryonic development, particular epigenetic states accompany their expression along the anterior-posterior body axis. This tightly regulated temporal-spatial expression pattern reflects their relative chromosomal localization, and is critical for normal embryonic brain development when HOX genes are mainly expressed in the hindbrain and mostly absent in the forebrain region. Epigenetic marks, mostly polycomb-associated, are dynamically regulated at HOX loci and regulatory regions to ensure the finely tuned HOX activation and repression, highlighting a crucial epigenetic plasticity necessary for homeostatic development. HOX genes are essentially absent in healthy adult brain, whereas they are detected in malignant brain tumours, namely gliomas, where HOX genes display critical roles by regulating several hallmarks of cancer. Here, we review the major mechanisms involved in HOX genes (de)regulation in the brain, from embryonic to adult stages, in physiological and oncologic conditions. We focus particularly on the emerging causes of HOX gene deregulation in glioma, as well as on their functional and clinical implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Céline S Gonçalves
- Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal
- ICVS/3B's - PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal
| | - Elisa Le Boiteux
- Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, INSERM-iGReD, Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - Philippe Arnaud
- Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, INSERM-iGReD, Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - Bruno M Costa
- Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal.
- ICVS/3B's - PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal.
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Paredes O, Romo-Vázquez R, Román-Godínez I, Vélez-Pérez H, Salido-Ruiz RA, Morales JA. Frequency spectra characterization of noncoding human genomic sequences. Genes Genomics 2020; 42:1215-1226. [DOI: 10.1007/s13258-020-00980-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2019] [Accepted: 04/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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41
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Heurteau A, Perrois C, Depierre D, Fosseprez O, Humbert J, Schaak S, Cuvier O. Insulator-based loops mediate the spreading of H3K27me3 over distant micro-domains repressing euchromatin genes. Genome Biol 2020; 21:193. [PMID: 32746892 PMCID: PMC7397589 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-020-02106-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [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: 07/24/2019] [Accepted: 07/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Chromosomes are subdivided spatially to delimit long-range interactions into topologically associating domains (TADs). TADs are often flanked by chromatin insulators and transcription units that may participate in such demarcation. Remarkably, single-cell Drosophila TAD units correspond to dynamic heterochromatin nano-compartments that can self-assemble. The influence of insulators on such dynamic compartmentalization remains unclear. Moreover, to what extent heterochromatin domains are fully compartmentalized away from active genes remains unclear from Drosophila to human.
Results
Here, we identify H3K27me3 micro-domains genome-wide in Drosophila, which are attributed to the three-dimensional spreading of heterochromatin marks into euchromatin. Whereas depletion of insulator proteins increases H3K27me3 spreading locally, across heterochromatin borders, it concomitantly decreases H3K27me3 levels at distant micro-domains discrete sites. Quantifying long-range interactions suggests that random interactions between heterochromatin TADs and neighbor euchromatin cannot predict the presence of micro-domains, arguing against the hypothesis that they reflect defects in self-folding or in insulating repressive TADs. Rather, micro-domains are predicted by specific long-range interactions with the TAD borders bound by insulator proteins and co-factors required for looping. Accordingly, H3K27me3 spreading to distant sites is impaired by insulator mutants that compromise recruitment of looping co-factors. Both depletions and insulator mutants significantly reduce H3K27me3 micro-domains, deregulating the flanking genes.
Conclusions
Our data highlight a new regulatory mode of H3K27me3 by insulator-based long-range interactions controlling distant euchromatic genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Heurteau
- Chromatin Dynamics and Cell Proliferation, Center of Integrative Biology (CBI), Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire Eucaryote (LBME), CNRS, Université Fédérale Paul Sabatier de Toulouse (UPS), F-31000, Toulouse, France
| | - Charlène Perrois
- Chromatin Dynamics and Cell Proliferation, Center of Integrative Biology (CBI), Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire Eucaryote (LBME), CNRS, Université Fédérale Paul Sabatier de Toulouse (UPS), F-31000, Toulouse, France
| | - David Depierre
- Chromatin Dynamics and Cell Proliferation, Center of Integrative Biology (CBI), Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire Eucaryote (LBME), CNRS, Université Fédérale Paul Sabatier de Toulouse (UPS), F-31000, Toulouse, France
| | - Olivier Fosseprez
- Chromatin Dynamics and Cell Proliferation, Center of Integrative Biology (CBI), Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire Eucaryote (LBME), CNRS, Université Fédérale Paul Sabatier de Toulouse (UPS), F-31000, Toulouse, France
| | - Jonathan Humbert
- Chromatin Dynamics and Cell Proliferation, Center of Integrative Biology (CBI), Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire Eucaryote (LBME), CNRS, Université Fédérale Paul Sabatier de Toulouse (UPS), F-31000, Toulouse, France
- St. Patrick Research Group in Basic Oncology, Laval University Cancer Research Center, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec City, Quebec, QC, G1R 3S3, Canada
| | - Stéphane Schaak
- Chromatin Dynamics and Cell Proliferation, Center of Integrative Biology (CBI), Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire Eucaryote (LBME), CNRS, Université Fédérale Paul Sabatier de Toulouse (UPS), F-31000, Toulouse, France
| | - Olivier Cuvier
- Chromatin Dynamics and Cell Proliferation, Center of Integrative Biology (CBI), Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire Eucaryote (LBME), CNRS, Université Fédérale Paul Sabatier de Toulouse (UPS), F-31000, Toulouse, France.
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Wu Q, Liu P, Wang L. Many facades of CTCF unified by its coding for three-dimensional genome architecture. J Genet Genomics 2020; 47:407-424. [PMID: 33187878 DOI: 10.1016/j.jgg.2020.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2020] [Revised: 04/15/2020] [Accepted: 06/01/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) is a multifunctional zinc finger protein that is conserved in metazoan species. CTCF is consistently found to play an important role in many diverse biological processes. CTCF/cohesin-mediated active chromatin 'loop extrusion' architects three-dimensional (3D) genome folding. The 3D architectural role of CTCF underlies its multifarious functions, including developmental regulation of gene expression, protocadherin (Pcdh) promoter choice in the nervous system, immunoglobulin (Ig) and T-cell receptor (Tcr) V(D)J recombination in the immune system, homeobox (Hox) gene control during limb development, as well as many other aspects of biology. Here, we review the pleiotropic functions of CTCF from the perspective of its essential role in 3D genome architecture and topological promoter/enhancer selection. We envision the 3D genome as an enormous complex architecture, with tens of thousands of CTCF sites as connecting nodes and CTCF proteins as mysterious bonds that glue together genomic building parts with distinct articulation joints. In particular, we focus on the internal mechanisms by which CTCF controls higher order chromatin structures that manifest its many façades of physiological and pathological functions. We also discuss the dichotomic role of CTCF sites as intriguing 3D genome nodes for seemingly contradictory 'looping bridges' and 'topological insulators' to frame a beautiful magnificent house for a cell's nuclear home.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Wu
- MOE Key Lab of Systems Biomedicine, State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Center for Comparative Biomedicine, Institute of Systems Biomedicine, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Shanghai, 200240, China.
| | - Peifeng Liu
- MOE Key Lab of Systems Biomedicine, State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Center for Comparative Biomedicine, Institute of Systems Biomedicine, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Shanghai, 200240, China
| | - Leyang Wang
- MOE Key Lab of Systems Biomedicine, State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Center for Comparative Biomedicine, Institute of Systems Biomedicine, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Shanghai, 200240, China
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43
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Kong S, Li Q, Zhang G, Li Q, Huang Q, Huang L, Zhang H, Huang Y, Peng Y, Qin B, Zhang Y. Exonuclease combinations reduce noises in 3D genomics technologies. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:e44. [PMID: 32128590 PMCID: PMC7192622 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2019] [Revised: 02/04/2020] [Accepted: 02/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Chromosome conformation-capture technologies are widely used in 3D genomics; however, experimentally, such methods have high-noise limitations and, therefore, require significant bioinformatics efforts to extract reliable distal interactions. Miscellaneous undesired linear DNAs, present during proximity-ligation, represent a main noise source, which needs to be minimized or eliminated. In this study, different exonuclease combinations were tested to remove linear DNA fragments from a circularized DNA preparation. This method efficiently removed linear DNAs, raised the proportion of annulation and increased the valid-pairs ratio from ∼40% to ∼80% for enhanced interaction detection in standard Hi-C. This strategy is applicable for development of various 3D genomics technologies, or optimization of Hi-C sequencing efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyuan Kong
- Animal Functional Genomics Group, Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518120, China
| | - Qing Li
- Animal Functional Genomics Group, Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518120, China
| | - Gaolin Zhang
- Animal Functional Genomics Group, Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518120, China
| | - Qiujia Li
- Animal Functional Genomics Group, Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518120, China
| | - Qitong Huang
- Animal Functional Genomics Group, Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518120, China
| | - Lei Huang
- Animal Functional Genomics Group, Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518120, China
| | - Hui Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510530, China
| | - Yinghua Huang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510530, China
| | - Yanling Peng
- Animal Functional Genomics Group, Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518120, China
| | - Baoming Qin
- CAS Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510530, China
| | - Yubo Zhang
- Animal Functional Genomics Group, Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518120, China
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Funikov SY, Rezvykh AP, Kulikova DA, Zelentsova ES, Protsenko LA, Chuvakova LN, Tyukmaeva VI, Arkhipova IR, Evgen'ev MB. Adaptation of gene loci to heterochromatin in the course of Drosophila evolution is associated with insulator proteins. Sci Rep 2020; 10:11893. [PMID: 32681087 PMCID: PMC7368049 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-68879-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2020] [Accepted: 06/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Pericentromeric heterochromatin is generally composed of repetitive DNA forming a transcriptionally repressive environment. Dozens of genes were embedded into pericentromeric heterochromatin during evolution of Drosophilidae lineage while retaining activity. However, factors that contribute to insusceptibility of gene loci to transcriptional silencing remain unknown. Here, we find that the promoter region of genes that can be embedded in both euchromatin and heterochromatin exhibits a conserved structure throughout the Drosophila phylogeny and carries motifs for binding of certain chromatin remodeling factors, including insulator proteins. Using ChIP-seq data, we demonstrate that evolutionary gene relocation between euchromatin and pericentric heterochromatin occurred with preservation of sites of insulation of BEAF-32 in evolutionarily distant species, i.e. D. melanogaster and D. virilis. Moreover, promoters of virtually all protein-coding genes located in heterochromatin in D. melanogaster are enriched with insulator proteins BEAF-32, GAF and dCTCF. Applying RNA-seq of a BEAF-32 mutant, we show that the impairment of BEAF-32 function has a complex effect on gene expression in D. melanogaster, affecting even those genes that lack BEAF-32 association in their promoters. We propose that conserved intrinsic properties of genes, such as sites of insulation near the promoter regions, may contribute to adaptation of genes to the heterochromatic environment and, hence, facilitate the evolutionary relocation of genes loci between euchromatin and heterochromatin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergei Yu Funikov
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russia
| | - Alexander P Rezvykh
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russia.,Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, Russia
| | - Dina A Kulikova
- Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Elena S Zelentsova
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russia
| | - Lyudmila A Protsenko
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russia.,Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, Russia
| | - Lyubov N Chuvakova
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russia
| | - Venera I Tyukmaeva
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Irina R Arkhipova
- Josephine Bay Paul Center for Comparative Molecular Biology and Evolution, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, USA
| | - Michael B Evgen'ev
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russia.
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45
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Stansfield JC, Cresswell KG, Dozmorov MG. multiHiCcompare: joint normalization and comparative analysis of complex Hi-C experiments. Bioinformatics 2020; 35:2916-2923. [PMID: 30668639 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btz048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2018] [Revised: 12/14/2018] [Accepted: 01/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
MOTIVATION With the development of chromatin conformation capture technology and its high-throughput derivative Hi-C sequencing, studies of the three-dimensional interactome of the genome that involve multiple Hi-C datasets are becoming available. To account for the technology-driven biases unique to each dataset, there is a distinct need for methods to jointly normalize multiple Hi-C datasets. Previous attempts at removing biases from Hi-C data have made use of techniques which normalize individual Hi-C datasets, or, at best, jointly normalize two datasets. RESULTS Here, we present multiHiCcompare, a cyclic loess regression-based joint normalization technique for removing biases across multiple Hi-C datasets. In contrast to other normalization techniques, it properly handles the Hi-C-specific decay of chromatin interaction frequencies with the increasing distance between interacting regions. multiHiCcompare uses the general linear model framework for comparative analysis of multiple Hi-C datasets, adapted for the Hi-C-specific decay of chromatin interaction frequencies. multiHiCcompare outperforms other methods when detecting a priori known chromatin interaction differences from jointly normalized datasets. Applied to the analysis of auxin-treated versus untreated experiments, and CTCF depletion experiments, multiHiCcompare was able to recover the expected epigenetic and gene expression signatures of loss of chromatin interactions and reveal novel insights. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION multiHiCcompare is freely available on GitHub and as a Bioconductor R package https://bioconductor.org/packages/multiHiCcompare. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
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Affiliation(s)
- John C Stansfield
- Department of Biostatistics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Kellen G Cresswell
- Department of Biostatistics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Mikhail G Dozmorov
- Department of Biostatistics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
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46
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Llorà-Batlle O, Tintó-Font E, Cortés A. Transcriptional variation in malaria parasites: why and how. Brief Funct Genomics 2020; 18:329-341. [PMID: 31114839 DOI: 10.1093/bfgp/elz009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2018] [Revised: 02/04/2019] [Accepted: 04/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Transcriptional differences enable the generation of alternative phenotypes from the same genome. In malaria parasites, transcriptional plasticity plays a major role in the process of adaptation to fluctuations in the environment. Multiple studies with culture-adapted parasites and field isolates are starting to unravel the different transcriptional alternatives available to Plasmodium falciparum and the underlying molecular mechanisms. Here we discuss how epigenetic variation, directed transcriptional responses and also genetic changes that affect transcript levels can all contribute to transcriptional variation and, ultimately, parasite survival. Some transcriptional changes are driven by stochastic events. These changes can occur spontaneously, resulting in heterogeneity within parasite populations that provides the grounds for adaptation by dynamic natural selection. However, transcriptional changes can also occur in response to external cues. A better understanding of the mechanisms that the parasite has evolved to alter its transcriptome may ultimately contribute to the design of strategies to combat malaria to which the parasite cannot adapt.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oriol Llorà-Batlle
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Elisabet Tintó-Font
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
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47
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Diehl AG, Ouyang N, Boyle AP. Transposable elements contribute to cell and species-specific chromatin looping and gene regulation in mammalian genomes. Nat Commun 2020; 11:1796. [PMID: 32286261 PMCID: PMC7156512 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15520-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2019] [Accepted: 03/14/2020] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Chromatin looping is important for gene regulation, and studies of 3D chromatin structure across species and cell types have improved our understanding of the principles governing chromatin looping. However, 3D genome evolution and its relationship with natural selection remains largely unexplored. In mammals, the CTCF protein defines the boundaries of most chromatin loops, and variations in CTCF occupancy are associated with looping divergence. While many CTCF binding sites fall within transposable elements (TEs), their contribution to 3D chromatin structural evolution is unknown. Here we report the relative contributions of TE-driven CTCF binding site expansions to conserved and divergent chromatin looping in human and mouse. We demonstrate that TE-derived CTCF binding divergence may explain a large fraction of variable loops. These variable loops contribute significantly to corresponding gene expression variability across cells and species, possibly by refining sub-TAD-scale loop contacts responsible for cell-type-specific enhancer-promoter interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam G Diehl
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Ningxin Ouyang
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Alan P Boyle
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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48
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The conserved regulatory basis of mRNA contributions to the early Drosophila embryo differs between the maternal and zygotic genomes. PLoS Genet 2020; 16:e1008645. [PMID: 32226006 PMCID: PMC7145188 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2019] [Revised: 04/09/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The gene products that drive early development are critical for setting up developmental trajectories in all animals. The earliest stages of development are fueled by maternally provided mRNAs until the zygote can take over transcription of its own genome. In early development, both maternally deposited and zygotically transcribed gene products have been well characterized in model systems. Previously, we demonstrated that across the genus Drosophila, maternal and zygotic mRNAs are largely conserved but also showed a surprising amount of change across species, with more differences evolving at the zygotic stage than the maternal stage. In this study, we use comparative methods to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms underlying maternal deposition and zygotic transcription across species. Through motif analysis, we discovered considerable conservation of regulatory mechanisms associated with maternal transcription, as compared to zygotic transcription. We also found that the regulatory mechanisms active in the maternal and zygotic genomes are quite different. For maternally deposited genes, we uncovered many signals that are consistent with transcriptional regulation at the level of chromatin state through factors enriched in the ovary, rather than precisely controlled gene-specific factors. For genes expressed only by the zygotic genome, we found evidence for previously identified regulators such as Zelda and GAGA-factor, with multiple analyses pointing toward gene-specific regulation. The observed mechanisms of regulation are consistent with what is known about regulation in these two genomes: during oogenesis, the maternal genome is optimized to quickly produce a large volume of transcripts to provide to the oocyte; after zygotic genome activation, mechanisms are employed to activate transcription of specific genes in a spatiotemporally precise manner. Thus the genetic architecture of the maternal and zygotic genomes, and the specific requirements for the transcripts present at each stage of embryogenesis, determine the regulatory mechanisms responsible for transcripts present at these stages.
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49
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Jia Z, Li J, Ge X, Wu Y, Guo Y, Wu Q. Tandem CTCF sites function as insulators to balance spatial chromatin contacts and topological enhancer-promoter selection. Genome Biol 2020; 21:75. [PMID: 32293525 PMCID: PMC7087399 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-020-01984-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2020] [Accepted: 03/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND CTCF is a key insulator-binding protein, and mammalian genomes contain numerous CTCF sites, many of which are organized in tandem. RESULTS Using CRISPR DNA-fragment editing, in conjunction with chromosome conformation capture, we find that CTCF sites, if located between enhancers and promoters in the protocadherin (Pcdh) and β-globin clusters, function as an enhancer-blocking insulator by forming distinct directional chromatin loops, regardless whether enhancers contain CTCF sites or not. Moreover, computational simulation in silico and genetic deletions in vivo as well as dCas9 blocking in vitro revealed balanced promoter usage in cell populations and stochastic monoallelic expression in single cells by large arrays of tandem CTCF sites in the Pcdh and immunoglobulin heavy chain (Igh) clusters. Furthermore, CTCF insulators promote, counter-intuitively, long-range chromatin interactions with distal directional CTCF sites, consistent with the cohesin "loop extrusion" model. Finally, gene expression levels are negatively correlated with CTCF insulators located between enhancers and promoters on a genome-wide scale. Thus, single CTCF insulators ensure proper enhancer insulation and promoter activation while tandem CTCF topological insulators determine balanced spatial contacts and promoter choice. CONCLUSIONS These findings have interesting implications on the role of topological chromatin insulators in 3D genome folding and developmental gene regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhilian Jia
- MOE Key Lab of Systems Biomedicine, Center for Comparative Biomedicine, State Key Lab of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Shanghai Cancer Institute, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, Institute of Systems Biomedicine, Xin Hua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China
| | - Jingwei Li
- MOE Key Lab of Systems Biomedicine, Center for Comparative Biomedicine, State Key Lab of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Shanghai Cancer Institute, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, Institute of Systems Biomedicine, Xin Hua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China
| | - Xiao Ge
- MOE Key Lab of Systems Biomedicine, Center for Comparative Biomedicine, State Key Lab of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Shanghai Cancer Institute, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, Institute of Systems Biomedicine, Xin Hua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China
| | - Yonghu Wu
- MOE Key Lab of Systems Biomedicine, Center for Comparative Biomedicine, State Key Lab of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Shanghai Cancer Institute, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, Institute of Systems Biomedicine, Xin Hua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China
| | - Ya Guo
- MOE Key Lab of Systems Biomedicine, Center for Comparative Biomedicine, State Key Lab of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Shanghai Cancer Institute, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, Institute of Systems Biomedicine, Xin Hua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China
| | - Qiang Wu
- MOE Key Lab of Systems Biomedicine, Center for Comparative Biomedicine, State Key Lab of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Shanghai Cancer Institute, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, Institute of Systems Biomedicine, Xin Hua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China.
- The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510150, China.
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50
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Cresswell KG, Dozmorov MG. TADCompare: An R Package for Differential and Temporal Analysis of Topologically Associated Domains. Front Genet 2020; 11:158. [PMID: 32211023 PMCID: PMC7076128 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2020.00158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2019] [Accepted: 02/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent research using chromatin conformation capture technologies, such as Hi-C, has demonstrated the importance of topologically associated domains (TADs) and smaller chromatin loops, collectively referred hereafter as "interacting domains." Many such domains change during development or disease, and exhibit cell- and condition-specific differences. Quantification of the dynamic behavior of interacting domains will help to better understand genome regulation. Methods for comparing interacting domains between cells and conditions are highly limited. We developed TADCompare, a method for differential analysis of boundaries of interacting domains between two or more Hi-C datasets. TADCompare is based on a spectral clustering-derived measure called the eigenvector gap, which enables a loci-by-loci comparison of boundary differences. Using this measure, we introduce methods for identifying differential and consensus boundaries of interacting domains and tracking boundary changes over time. We further propose a novel framework for the systematic classification of boundary changes. Colocalization- and gene enrichment analysis of different types of boundary changes demonstrated distinct biological functionality associated with them. TADCompare is available on https://github.com/dozmorovlab/TADCompare and Bioconductor (submitted).
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