Understanding the chromatin remodeling code

Life and living beings under the perspective of organic macrocodes

A powerful and concise concept of life is crucial for studies aiming to understand the characteristics that emerged from an inorganic world. Among biologists, the most accepted argument define life under a top-down strategy by looking into the shared characteristics observed in all cellular organisms. This is often made highlighting (i) autonomy and (ii) evolutionary capacity as fundamental characteristics observed in all cellular organisms. Along the present work, we assume the framework of code biology considering that biology started with the emergence of the first organic code by self-organization. We reinforces that the conceptual structure of life should be reallocated from the ontology class of Matter to its sister class of Process. Along the emergence and early evolution of biological systems, biological codes changed from open systems of "naked" molecules (at the progenote era), to close, encapsulated systems (at the organismic era). Living beings appeared at the very moment when nucleic acids with coding properties became encapsulated. This led to the origin of viruses and, then, to the origin of cells. In this context, we propose that the single character that makes a clear distinction between the abiotic and the biotic world is the capacity to process organic codes. Thus, life appears with the self-assembly of a genetic code and evolves by the emergence of other overlapping codes. Once life has been clearly conceptualized, we go further to conceptualize organisms, parents, lineages, and species in terms of code biology.

Gene-regulatory interactions in embryonic stem cells represent cell-type specific gene regulatory programs

Pluripotency, the ability of embryonic stem cells to differentiate into specialized cell types, is determined by ESC-specific gene regulators such as transcription factors and chromatin modification factors. It is not well understood how ESCs are poised for differentiation, however, and methods are needed for prognosis of the molecular changes in the differentiation of ESCs into specific organs. We describe a new approach to infer cell-type specific gene regulatory programs based on gene regulatory interactions in ESCs. Our method infers the molecular logic of gene regulatory mechanisms by mapping the position-specific combinatory patterns of numerous regulators in ESCs into cell-type specific gene regulations. We validate the proposed approach by recapitulating the RNA-seq and microarray data of neuronal progenitor cells, adult liver cells, and ESCs from the integrated patterns of diverse gene regulators in ESCs. We find that the collective functions of diverse gene regulators in ESCs represent distinct gene regulatory programs in specialized cell types. Our new approach expands our understanding of the differential gene regulatory information in developments encoded in regulatory networks of ESCs.

"Feature Detection" vs. "Predictive Coding" Models of Plant Behavior

In this article we consider the possibility that plants exhibit anticipatory behavior, a mark of intelligence. If plants are able to anticipate and respond accordingly to varying states of their surroundings, as opposed to merely responding online to environmental contingencies, then such capacity may be in principle testable, and subject to empirical scrutiny. Our main thesis is that adaptive behavior can only take place by way of a mechanism that predicts the environmental sources of sensory stimulation. We propose to test for anticipation in plants experimentally by contrasting two empirical hypotheses: “feature detection” and “predictive coding.” We spell out what these contrasting hypotheses consist of by way of illustration from the animal literature, and consider how to transfer the rationale involved to the plant literature.

DNA context represents transcription regulation of the gene in mouse embryonic stem cells

Understanding gene regulatory information in DNA remains a significant challenge in biomedical research. This study presents a computational approach to infer gene regulatory programs from primary DNA sequences. Using DNA around transcription start sites as attributes, our model predicts gene regulation in the gene. We find that H3K27ac around TSS is an informative descriptor of the transcription program in mouse embryonic stem cells. We build a computational model inferring the cell-type-specific H3K27ac signatures in the DNA around TSS. A comparison of embryonic stem cell and liver cell-specific H3K27ac signatures in DNA shows that the H3K27ac signatures in DNA around TSS efficiently distinguish the cell-type specific H3K27ac peaks and the gene regulation. The arrangement of the H3K27ac signatures inferred from the DNA represents the transcription regulation of the gene in mESC. We show that the DNA around transcription start sites is associated with the gene regulatory program by specific interaction with H3K27ac.

Immunocytochemical and immunogold analyses of histone H4 acetylation during Chara vulgaris spermiogenesis

Histone acetylation is one of the epigenetic modifications which play a significant role in chromatin remodeling during spermiogenesis. Acetylation of the histone H4 makes the exchange of nucleoproteins easy. Research on mouse spermatogenesis showed that H4 histone acetylated at Lys 12 (H4K12ac) was specific only to spermatids. Immunocytochemical studies of Chara vulgaris spermatids with the use of antibodies against the histone H4K12ac revealed positive reactions in spermatid nuclei at stages I-VII. This reaction, connected with nuclear condensation, was much stronger at the early stages of spermiogenesis than later on. Moreover, it showed that at the stages V-VII in spermatid nuclei the presence of the histone H4K12ac corresponded with DNA double-strand breaks. Electron microscopy studies with the use of immunogold technique revealed an almost twofold difference between the mean total numbers of gold grains in the examined chromatin in both stages. This study showed nearly equal distribution of gold grains on condensed and non-condensed chromatin of spermatids at the stage III/IV (48.11% and 51.89%, respectively). In the later stage-VI, when chromatin condensation proceeded, labeling of condensed chromatin reached 57.27%, while in the case of non-condensed chromatin it dropped to 42.73%. The percentage analysis also revealed an increase (above 9%) in condensed chromatin labeling in relation to the stage III/IV. Intensive acetylation of histone H4 at the early stages is correlated with DNA DSBs and transcriptional activity. It facilitates chromatin loosening, which enables the correct course of chromatin remodeling at a later stage. Histone γH2AX also influences chromatin structure in many biological processes in different cell types. Current studies reveal other similarities regarding histone H4 acetylation, not only between Chara and mammals but between invertebrates (molluscs) and vertebrates (bony fishes) as well.

Chromatin structure and gene expression changes associated with loss of MOP1 activity in Zea mays

Though the mechanisms governing nuclear organization are not well understood, it is apparent that epigenetic modifications coordinately modulate chromatin organization as well as transcription. In maize, MEDIATOR OF PARAMUTATION1 (MOP1) is required for 24 nt siRNA-mediated epigenetic regulation and transcriptional gene silencing via a putative Pol IV- RdDM pathway. To elucidate the mechanisms of nuclear chromatin organization, we investigated the relationship between chromatin structure and transcription in response to loss of MOP1 function. We used a microarray based micrococcal nuclease sensitivity assay to identify genome-wide changes in chromatin structure in mop1-1 immature ears and observed an increase in chromatin accessibility at chromosome arms associated with loss of MOP1 function. Within the many genes misregulated in mop1 mutants, we identified one subset likely to be direct targets of epigenetic transcriptional silencing via Pol-IV RdDM. We found that target specificity for MOP1-mediated RdDM activity is governed by multiple signals that include accumulation of 24 nt siRNAs and the presence of specific classes of gene-proximal transposons, but neither of these attributes alone is sufficient to predict transcriptional misregulation in mop1-1 homozygous mutants. Our results suggest a role for MOP1 in regulation of higher-order chromatin organization where loss of MOP1 activity at a subset of loci triggers a broader cascade of transcriptional consequences and genome-wide changes in chromatin structure.