Zebrafish eaf1 suppresses foxo3b expression to modulate transcriptional activity of gata1 and spi1 in primitive hematopoiesis

Foxo3-mediated physiological cell competition ensures robust tissue patterning throughout vertebrate development

Unfit cells with defective signalling or gene expression are eliminated through competition with neighbouring cells. However, physiological roles and mechanisms of cell competition in vertebrates remain unclear. In addition, universal mechanisms regulating diverse cell competition are unknown. Using zebrafish imaging, we reveal that cell competition ensures robust patterning of the spinal cord and muscle through elimination of cells with unfit sonic hedgehog activity, driven by cadherin-mediated communication between unfit and neighbouring fit cells and subsequent activation of the Smad-Foxo3-reactive oxygen species axis. We identify Foxo3 as a common marker of loser cells in various types of cell competition in zebrafish and mice. Foxo3-mediated physiological cell competition is required for eliminating various naturally generated unfit cells and for the consequent precise patterning during zebrafish embryogenesis and organogenesis. Given the implication of Foxo3 downregulation in age-related diseases, cell competition may be a defence system to prevent abnormalities throughout development and adult homeostasis.

Zebrafish ELL-associated factors Eaf1/2 modulate erythropoiesis via regulating gata1a expression and WNT signaling to facilitate hypoxia tolerance

EAF1 and EAF2, the eleven-nineteen lysine-rich leukemia (ELL)-associated factors which can assemble to the super elongation complex (AFF1/4, AF9/ENL, ELL, and P-TEFb), are reported to participate in RNA polymerase II to actively regulate a variety of biological processes, including leukemia and embryogenesis, but whether and how EAF1/2 function in hematopoietic system related hypoxia tolerance during embryogenesis remains unclear. Here, we unveiled that deletion of EAF1/2 (eaf1^-/- and eaf2^-/-) caused reduction in hypoxia tolerance in zebrafish, leading to reduced erythropoiesis during hematopoietic processes. Meanwhile, eaf1^-/- and eaf2^-/- mutants showed significant reduction in the expression of key transcriptional regulators scl, lmo2, and gata1a in erythropoiesis at both 24 h post fertilization (hpf) and 72 hpf, with gata1a downregulated while scl and lmo2 upregulated at 14 hpf. Mechanistically, eaf1^-/- and eaf2^-/- mutants exhibited significant changes in the expression of epigenetic modified histones, with a significant increase in the binding enrichment of modified histone H3K27me3 in gata1a promoter rather than scl and lmo2 promoters. Additionally, eaf1^-/- and eaf2^-/- mutants exhibited a dynamic expression of canonical WNT/β-catenin signaling during erythropoiesis, with significant reduction in p-β-Catenin level and in the binding enrichment of both scl and lmo2 promoters with the WNT transcriptional factor TCF4 at 24 hpf. These findings demonstrate an important role of Eaf1/2 in erythropoiesis in zebrafish and may have shed some light on regeneration medicine for anemia and related diseases and on molecular basis for fish economic or productive traits, such as growth, disease resistance, hypoxia tolerance, and so on.

Inflammatory response in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells triggered by activating SHP2 mutations evokes blood defects

Gain-of-function mutations in the protein-tyrosine phosphatase SHP2 are the most frequently occurring mutations in sporadic juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) and JMML-like myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) associated with Noonan syndrome (NS). Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) are the disease propagating cells of JMML. Here, we explored transcriptomes of HSPCs with SHP2 mutations derived from JMML patients and a novel NS zebrafish model. In addition to major NS traits, CRISPR/Cas9 knock-in Shp2D61G mutant zebrafish recapitulated a JMML-like MPN phenotype, including myeloid lineage hyperproliferation, ex vivo growth of myeloid colonies, and in vivo transplantability of HSPCs. Single-cell mRNA sequencing of HSPCs from Shp2D61G zebrafish embryos and bulk sequencing of HSPCs from JMML patients revealed an overlapping inflammatory gene expression pattern. Strikingly, an anti-inflammatory agent rescued JMML-like MPN in Shp2D61G zebrafish embryos. Our results indicate that a common inflammatory response was triggered in the HSPCs from sporadic JMML patients and syndromic NS zebrafish, which potentiated MPN and may represent a future target for JMML therapies.

Sequence, structural and functional conservation among the human and fission yeast ELL and EAF transcription elongation factors

BACKGROUND

Transcription elongation is a dynamic and tightly regulated step of gene expression in eukaryotic cells. Eleven nineteen Lysine rich Leukemia (ELL) and ELL Associated Factors (EAF) family of conserved proteins are required for efficient RNA polymerase II-mediated transcription elongation. Orthologs of these proteins have been identified in different organisms, including fission yeast and humans.

METHODS AND RESULTS

In the present study, we have examined the sequence, structural and functional conservation between the fission yeast and human ELL and EAF orthologs. Our computational analysis revealed that these proteins share some sequence characteristics, and were predominantly disordered in both organisms. Our functional complementation assays revealed that both human ELL and EAF proteins could complement the lack of ell1⁺ or eaf1⁺ in Schizosaccharomyces pombe respectively. Furthermore, our domain mapping experiments demonstrated that both the amino and carboxyl terminal domains of human EAF proteins could functionally complement the S. pombe eaf1 deletion phenotypes. However, only the carboxyl-terminus domain of human ELL was able to partially rescue the phenotypes associated with lack of ell1⁺ in S. pombe.

CONCLUSIONS

Collectively, our work adds ELL-EAF to the increasing list of human-yeast complementation gene pairs, wherein the simpler fission yeast can be used to further enhance our understanding of the role of these proteins in transcription elongation and human disease.

Arabidopsis thaliana possesses two novel ELL associated factor homologs

Transcription elongation is one of the key steps at which RNA polymerase II-directed expression of protein-coding genes is regulated in eukaryotic cells. Different proteins have been shown to control this process, including the ELL/EAF family. ELL Associated Factors (EAFs) were first discovered in a yeast two-hybrid screen as interaction partners of the human ELL (Eleven nineteen Lysine-rich Leukemia) transcription elongation factor. Subsequently, they have been identified in different organisms, including Schizosaccharomyces pombe. However, no homolog(s) of EAF has as yet been characterized from plants. In the present work, we identified EAF orthologous sequences in different plants and have characterized two novel Arabidopsis thaliana EAF homologs, AtEAF-1 (At1g71080) and AtEAF-2 (At5g38050). Sequence analysis showed that both AtEAF-1 and AtEAF-2 exhibit similarity with its S. pombe EAF counterpart. Moreover, both Arabidopsis thaliana and S. pombe EAF orthologs share conserved sequence characteristic features. Computational tools also predicted a high degree of disorder in regions towards the carboxyl terminus of these EAF proteins. We demonstrate that AtEAF-2, but not AtEAF-1 functionally complements growth deficiencies of Schizosaccharomyces pombe eaf mutant. We also show that only AtEAF-1 displays transactivation potential resembling the S. pombe EAF ortholog. Subsequent expression analysis in A. thaliana showed that both homologs were expressed at varying levels during different developmental stages and in different tissues tested in the study. Individual null-mutants of either AtEAF-1 or AtEAF-2 are developmentally normal implying their functional redundancy. Taken together, our results provide first evidence that A. thaliana also possesses functional EAF proteins, suggesting an evolutionary conservation of these proteins across organisms.

Zebrafish Hif3α modulates erythropoiesis via regulation of gata1 to facilitate hypoxia tolerance

The hypoxia-inducible factors 1α and 2α (HIF1α and HIF2α) are master regulators of the cellular response to O_2. In addition to HIF1α and HIF2α, HIF3α is another identified member of the HIFα family. Even though the question of whether some HIF3α isoforms have transcriptional activity or repressive activity is still under debate, it is evident that the full length of HIF3α acts as a transcription factor. However, its function in hypoxia signaling is largely unknown. Here, we show that loss of hif3 a in zebrafish reduced hypoxia tolerance. Further assays indicated that erythrocyte number was decreased because red blood cell maturation was impeded by hif3 a disruption. We found that gata1 expression was downregulated in hif3 a null zebrafish, as were several hematopoietic marker genes, including alas2, band3, hbae1, hbae3 and hbbe1 Hif3α recognized the hypoxia response element located in the promoter of gata1 and directly bound to the promoter to transactivate gata1 expression. Our results suggested that hif3 a facilities hypoxia tolerance by modulating erythropoiesis via gata1 regulation.

Modulation of redox and insulin signaling underlie the anti-hyperglycemic and antioxidant effects of diphenyl diselenide in zebrafish

The organic selenium compound diphenyl diselenide (DD) has been recognized as an antioxidant and neuroprotective agent, exerting an anti-hyperglycemic effect in experimental models of diabetes. However, the precise mechanisms involved in the protection are unclear. Using the zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model organism, here we investigated biomarkers underlying the protective effects of DD against hyperglycemia, targeting in a transcriptional approach the redox and insulin-signaling pathway. Fish were fed on a diet containing DD (3 mg/kg) for 74 days. In the last 14 days, they were exposed to a 111 mM glucose solution to induce a hyperglycemic state. DD reduced blood glucose levels as well as normalized the brain mRNA transcription of four insulin receptors-coding genes (Insra1, Insra2, Insrb1, Insrb2), which were down-regulated by glucose. DD alone caused an up-regulation of relative mRNA transcription in both Insra receptors and glucose transporter 3 genes. DD counteracted hyperglycemia-induced lipid peroxidation, protein and thiol depletion. Along with the decreased activity of antioxidant enzymes SOD and GPx, the brain of hyperglycemic fish presented a reduction in mRNA transcription of FoxO3A, FoxO3B, Nrf2, GPx3A, SOD1, and SOD2 genes. Besides normalizing the transcriptional levels, DD caused an up-regulation of relative mRNAs that encode Nrf2, FoxO1A, FOXO3A, GPx4A, PTP1B, AKT and SelP. Collectively, our findings suggest that the antioxidant and anti-hyperglycemic actions of DD in a zebrafish diabetes model are likely associated with the regulation of the oxidative stress resistance and the insulin-signaling pathway and that could be related to the modulation at mRNA level of two important transcription factors, Nrf2 and FoxO.

Zebrafish phd3 Negatively Regulates Antiviral Responses via Suppression of Irf7 Transactivity Independent of Its Prolyl Hydroxylase Activity

Prolyl hydroxylase domain (PHD)-containing enzyme 3 belongs to the Caenorhabditis elegans gene egl-9 family of prolyl hydroxylases, which has initially been revealed to hydroxylate hypoxia-inducible factor α (HIF-α) and mediate HIF-α degradation. In addition to modulating its target function by hydroxylation, PHD3 has been also shown to influence its binding partners' function independent of its prolyl hydroxylase activity. In this study, we report that overexpression of zebrafish phd3 suppresses cellular antiviral response. Moreover, disruption of phd3 in zebrafish increases the survival rate upon spring viremia of carp virus exposure. Further assays indicate that phd3 interacts with irf7 through the C-terminal IRF association domain of irf7 and diminishes K63-linked ubiquitination of irf7. However, the enzymatic activity of phd3 is not required for phd3 to inhibit irf7 transactivity. This study provides novel insights into phd3 function and sheds new light on the regulation of irf7 in retinoic acid-inducible gene I-like receptor signaling.

Keeping RNA polymerase II on the run: Functions of MLL fusion partners in transcriptional regulation

Since the identification of key MLL fusion partners as transcription elongation factors regulating expression of HOX cluster genes during hematopoiesis, extensive work from the last decade has resulted in significant progress in our overall mechanistic understanding of role of MLL fusion partner proteins in transcriptional regulation of diverse set of genes beyond just the HOX cluster. In this review, we are going to detail overall understanding of role of MLL fusion partner proteins in transcriptional regulation and thus provide mechanistic insights into possible MLL fusion protein-mediated transcriptional misregulation leading to aberrant hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis.

Structure function characterization of the ELL Associated Factor (EAF) from Schizosaccharomyces pombe

EAF (ELL Associated Factor) proteins interact with the transcription elongation factor, ELL (Eleven nineteen Lysine rich Leukemia) and enhance its ability to stimulate RNA polymerase II-mediated transcriptional elongation in vitro. Schizosaccharomyces pombe contains a single homolog of EAF (SpEAF), which is not essential for survival of S. pombe in contrast to its essential higher eukaryotic homologs. The physiological role of SpEAF is not well understood. In this study, we show that S. pombe EAF is important in regulating growth of S. pombe cells during normal growth conditions. Moreover, SpEAF is also essential for survival under conditions of DNA damage, while its deletion does not affect growth under environmental stress conditions. Our in vivo structure-function studies further demonstrate that while both the amino and carboxyl terminal domains of SpEAF possess the potential to activate transcription, only the amino terminal domain of SpEAF is involved in interaction with the S. pombe ELL protein. The carboxyl-terminus of SpEAF is required for rescue of the growth defect under normal and DNA damaging conditions that is associated with the absence of SpEAF. Using bioinformatics and circular dichroism spectroscopy, we show that the carboxyl-terminus of SpEAF has a disordered conformation. Furthermore, addition of trifluoroethanol triggered its transition from a disordered to α-helical conformation. Taken together, the results presented here identify novel structural and functional features of SpEAF protein, providing insights into how EAF proteins may enforce transcriptional control of gene expression.

6:2 fluorotelomer carboxylic acid (6:2 FTCA) exposure induces developmental toxicity and inhibits the formation of erythrocytes during zebrafish embryogenesis

Saturated fluorotelomer carboxylic acids (FTCAs) are intermediates in the degradation of fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) to perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs). Recent studies have detected FTCAs in precipitation, surface waters, and wildlife, but few studies have focused on their toxicity. In this study, zebrafish embryos were exposed to different concentrations of 6:2 FTCA (0, 4, 8, and 12mg/L) from 6 to 120h post-fertilization (hpf) to investigate its developmental toxicity. Results showed that 6:2 FTCA exposure decreased the hatching and survival percentages, reduced the heart rate, and increased the malformation of zebrafish embryos. The median lethal concentration of 6:2 FTCA was 7.33mg/L at 120 hpf, which was lower than that of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), thus indicating higher toxicity for zebrafish. The most common developmental malformation was pericardial edema, which appeared in the 8 and 12mg/L 6:2 FTCA-exposed embryos from 60 hpf. Using o-dianisidine staining, we found that the hemoglobin content in embryos was reduced in a concentration-dependent manner after 6:2 FTCA exposure at 72 hpf. Based on quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (q-RT-PCR) and whole-mount in situ hybridization, the transcriptional levels of hemoglobin markers (hbae1, hbbe1, and hbae3) were down-regulated at 48 and 72 hpf, even though no observed malformation appeared in zebrafish at 48 hpf. Moreover, 6:2 FTCA exposure decreased the protein level of gata1, a principal early erythrocytic marker, in Tg (gata1:DsRed) transgenic zebrafish at 72 hpf. We analyzed the transcriptional level of other erythrocyte-related genes using q-RT-PCR assay. For heme formation, the transcription of alas2, which encodes the key enzyme for heme biosynthesis, was down-regulated after 6:2 FTCA exposure, whereas the transcription of ho-1, which is related to heme degradation, was up-regulated at 48 and 72 hpf. The transcriptional patterns of gata1 and gata2, which are related to erythroid differentiation, differed. At 48 hpf, the mRNA level of gata2 was significantly increased, whereas that of gata1 exhibited no significant changes in any treatment group. At 72 hpf, the expressions of both were down-regulated in a concentration-dependent manner. Taken together, 6:2 FTCA exposure decreased the erythrocyte number and disrupted erythroid differentiation during zebrafish embryonic development. Our results suggest that 6:2 FTCA can cause developmental toxicity in zebrafish embryos, and that FTCAs exhibit greater toxicity than that of PFCAs.

Zebrafish foxo3b Negatively Regulates Antiviral Response through Suppressing the Transactivity of irf3 and irf7

Forkhead box O (FOXO)3, a member of the FOXO family of transcription factors, plays key roles in various cellular processes, including development, longevity, reproduction, and metabolism. Recently, FOXO3 has also been shown to be involved in modulating the immune response. However, how FOXO3 regulates immunity and the underlying mechanisms are still largely unknown. In this study, we show that zebrafish (Danio rerio) foxo3b, an ortholog of mammalian FOXO3, is induced by polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid stimulation and spring viremia of carp virus (SVCV) infection. We found that foxo3b interacted with irf3 and irf7 to inhibit ifr3/irf7 transcriptional activity, thus resulting in suppression of SVCV or polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid-induced IFN activation. By suppressing expression of key antiviral genes, foxo3b negatively regulated the cellular antiviral response. Furthermore, upon SVCV infection, the expression of the key antiviral genes was significantly enhanced in foxo3b-null zebrafish larvae compared with wild-type larvae. Additionally, the replication of SVCV was inhibited in foxo3b-null zebrafish larvae, leading to a higher survival rate. Our findings suggest that by suppressing irf3/irf7 activity, zebrafish foxo3b negatively regulates the antiviral response, implicating the vital role of the FOXO gene family in innate immunity.

CD71(high) population represents primitive erythroblasts derived from mouse embryonic stem cells

The CD71/Ter119 combination has been widely used to reflect dynamic maturation of erythrocytes in vivo. However, because CD71 is expressed on all proliferating cells, it is unclear whether it can be utilized as an erythrocyte-specific marker during differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). In this study, we revealed that a population expressing high level of CD71 (CD71(high)) during mouse ESC differentiation represented an in vitro counterpart of yolk sac-derived primitive erythroblasts (EryPs) isolated at 8.5days post coitum. In addition, these CD71(high) cells went through "maturational globin switching" and enucleated during terminal differentiation in vitro that were similar to the yolk sac-derived EryPs in vivo. We further demonstrated that the formation of CD71(high) population was regulated differentially by key factors including Scl, HoxB4, Eaf1, and Klf1. Taken together, our study provides a technical advance that allows efficient segregation of EryPs from differentiated ESCs in vitro for further understanding molecular regulation during primitive erythropoiesis.