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Meisel RP, Asgari D, Schlamp F, Unckless RL. Induction and inhibition of Drosophila X chromosome gene expression are both impeded by the dosage compensation complex. G3 (BETHESDA, MD.) 2022; 12:6632659. [PMID: 35792851 PMCID: PMC9434221 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkac165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Sex chromosomes frequently differ from the autosomes in the frequencies of genes with sexually dimorphic or tissue-specific expression. Multiple hypotheses have been put forth to explain the unique gene content of the X chromosome, including selection against male-beneficial X-linked alleles, expression limits imposed by the haploid dosage of the X in males, and interference by the dosage compensation complex on expression in males. Here, we investigate these hypotheses by examining differential gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster following several treatments that have widespread transcriptomic effects: bacterial infection, viral infection, and abiotic stress. We found that genes that are induced (upregulated) by these biotic and abiotic treatments are frequently under-represented on the X chromosome, but so are those that are repressed (downregulated) following treatment. We further show that whether a gene is bound by the dosage compensation complex in males can largely explain the paucity of both up- and downregulated genes on the X chromosome. Specifically, genes that are bound by the dosage compensation complex, or close to a dosage compensation complex high-affinity site, are unlikely to be up- or downregulated after treatment. This relationship, however, could partially be explained by a correlation between differential expression and breadth of expression across tissues. Nonetheless, our results suggest that dosage compensation complex binding, or the associated chromatin modifications, inhibit both up- and downregulation of X chromosome gene expression within specific contexts, including tissue-specific expression. We propose multiple possible mechanisms of action for the effect, including a role of Males absent on the first, a component of the dosage compensation complex, as a dampener of gene expression variance in both males and females. This effect could explain why the Drosophila X chromosome is depauperate in genes with tissue-specific or induced expression, while the mammalian X has an excess of genes with tissue-specific expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard P Meisel
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, 3455 Cullen Blvd, Houston, TX 77204-5001, USA
| | - Danial Asgari
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, 3455 Cullen Blvd, Houston, TX 77204-5001, USA
| | - Florencia Schlamp
- Department of Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 435 E 30th St, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Robert L Unckless
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, 4055 Haworth Hall, 1200 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
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Lentini A, Cheng H, Noble JC, Papanicolaou N, Coucoravas C, Andrews N, Deng Q, Enge M, Reinius B. Elastic dosage compensation by X-chromosome upregulation. Nat Commun 2022; 13:1854. [PMID: 35388014 PMCID: PMC8987076 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29414-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 03/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
X-chromosome inactivation and X-upregulation are the fundamental modes of chromosome-wide gene regulation that collectively achieve dosage compensation in mammals, but the regulatory link between the two remains elusive and the X-upregulation dynamics are unknown. Here, we use allele-resolved single-cell RNA-seq combined with chromatin accessibility profiling and finely dissect their separate effects on RNA levels during mouse development. Surprisingly, we uncover that X-upregulation elastically tunes expression dosage in a sex- and lineage-specific manner, and moreover along varying degrees of X-inactivation progression. Male blastomeres achieve X-upregulation upon zygotic genome activation while females experience two distinct waves of upregulation, upon imprinted and random X-inactivation; and ablation of Xist impedes female X-upregulation. Female cells carrying two active X chromosomes lack upregulation, yet their collective RNA output exceeds that of a single hyperactive allele. Importantly, this conflicts the conventional dosage compensation model in which naïve female cells are initially subject to biallelic X-upregulation followed by X-inactivation of one allele to correct the X dosage. Together, our study provides key insights to the chain of events of dosage compensation, explaining how transcript copy numbers can remain remarkably stable across developmental windows wherein severe dose imbalance would otherwise be experienced by the cell.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Lentini
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Huaitao Cheng
- Department of Oncology and Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - J C Noble
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Natali Papanicolaou
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Christos Coucoravas
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Nathanael Andrews
- Department of Oncology and Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Qiaolin Deng
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Martin Enge
- Department of Oncology and Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Björn Reinius
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Talon I, Janiszewski A, Theeuwes B, Lefevre T, Song J, Bervoets G, Vanheer L, De Geest N, Poovathingal S, Allsop R, Marine JC, Rambow F, Voet T, Pasque V. Enhanced chromatin accessibility contributes to X chromosome dosage compensation in mammals. Genome Biol 2021; 22:302. [PMID: 34724962 PMCID: PMC8558763 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-021-02518-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 10/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Precise gene dosage of the X chromosomes is critical for normal development and cellular function. In mice, XX female somatic cells show transcriptional X chromosome upregulation of their single active X chromosome, while the other X chromosome is inactive. Moreover, the inactive X chromosome is reactivated during development in the inner cell mass and in germ cells through X chromosome reactivation, which can be studied in vitro by reprogramming of somatic cells to pluripotency. How chromatin processes and gene regulatory networks evolved to regulate X chromosome dosage in the somatic state and during X chromosome reactivation remains unclear. RESULTS Using genome-wide approaches, allele-specific ATAC-seq and single-cell RNA-seq, in female embryonic fibroblasts and during reprogramming to pluripotency, we show that chromatin accessibility on the upregulated mammalian active X chromosome is increased compared to autosomes. We further show that increased accessibility on the active X chromosome is erased by reprogramming, accompanied by erasure of transcriptional X chromosome upregulation and the loss of increased transcriptional burst frequency. In addition, we characterize gene regulatory networks during reprogramming and X chromosome reactivation, revealing changes in regulatory states. Our data show that ZFP42/REX1, a pluripotency-associated gene that evolved specifically in placental mammals, targets multiple X-linked genes, suggesting an evolutionary link between ZFP42/REX1, X chromosome reactivation, and pluripotency. CONCLUSIONS Our data reveal the existence of intrinsic compensatory mechanisms that involve modulation of chromatin accessibility to counteract X-to-Autosome gene dosage imbalances caused by evolutionary or in vitro X chromosome loss and X chromosome inactivation in mammalian cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Talon
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Cellular Reprogramming and Epigenetic Regulation, KU Leuven – University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- KU Leuven Institute for Single Cell Omics (LISCO), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Stem Cell Institute (SCIL), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Adrian Janiszewski
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Cellular Reprogramming and Epigenetic Regulation, KU Leuven – University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- KU Leuven Institute for Single Cell Omics (LISCO), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Stem Cell Institute (SCIL), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bart Theeuwes
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Cellular Reprogramming and Epigenetic Regulation, KU Leuven – University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Stem Cell Institute (SCIL), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Thomas Lefevre
- Laboratory of Reproductive Genomics, Centre for Human Genetics, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Juan Song
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Cellular Reprogramming and Epigenetic Regulation, KU Leuven – University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Stem Cell Institute (SCIL), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Greet Bervoets
- Laboratory for Molecular Cancer Biology, VIB Center for Cancer Biology, VIB, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Oncology, Laboratory for Molecular Cancer Biology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lotte Vanheer
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Cellular Reprogramming and Epigenetic Regulation, KU Leuven – University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- KU Leuven Institute for Single Cell Omics (LISCO), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Stem Cell Institute (SCIL), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Natalie De Geest
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Cellular Reprogramming and Epigenetic Regulation, KU Leuven – University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Stem Cell Institute (SCIL), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Suresh Poovathingal
- KU Leuven Institute for Single Cell Omics (LISCO), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Ryan Allsop
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Cellular Reprogramming and Epigenetic Regulation, KU Leuven – University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- KU Leuven Institute for Single Cell Omics (LISCO), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Stem Cell Institute (SCIL), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jean-Christophe Marine
- KU Leuven Institute for Single Cell Omics (LISCO), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Laboratory for Molecular Cancer Biology, VIB Center for Cancer Biology, VIB, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Oncology, Laboratory for Molecular Cancer Biology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Florian Rambow
- KU Leuven Institute for Single Cell Omics (LISCO), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Laboratory for Molecular Cancer Biology, VIB Center for Cancer Biology, VIB, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Thierry Voet
- KU Leuven Institute for Single Cell Omics (LISCO), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Laboratory of Reproductive Genomics, Centre for Human Genetics, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Vincent Pasque
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Cellular Reprogramming and Epigenetic Regulation, KU Leuven – University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- KU Leuven Institute for Single Cell Omics (LISCO), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Stem Cell Institute (SCIL), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
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Panda A, Zylicz JJ, Pasque V. New Insights into X-Chromosome Reactivation during Reprogramming to Pluripotency. Cells 2020; 9:E2706. [PMID: 33348832 PMCID: PMC7766869 DOI: 10.3390/cells9122706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2020] [Revised: 12/08/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Dosage compensation between the sexes results in one X chromosome being inactivated during female mammalian development. Chromosome-wide transcriptional silencing from the inactive X chromosome (Xi) in mammalian cells is erased in a process termed X-chromosome reactivation (XCR), which has emerged as a paradigm for studying the reversal of chromatin silencing. XCR is linked with germline development and induction of naive pluripotency in the epiblast, and also takes place upon reprogramming somatic cells to induced pluripotency. XCR depends on silencing of the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) X inactive specific transcript (Xist) and is linked with the erasure of chromatin silencing. Over the past years, the advent of transcriptomics and epigenomics has provided new insights into the transcriptional and chromatin dynamics with which XCR takes place. However, multiple questions remain unanswered about how chromatin and transcription related processes enable XCR. Here, we review recent work on establishing the transcriptional and chromatin kinetics of XCR, as well as discuss a model by which transcription factors mediate XCR not only via Xist repression, but also by direct targeting of X-linked genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amitesh Panda
- Laboratory of Cellular Reprogramming and Epigenetic Regulation, Department of Development and Regeneration, Leuven Stem Cell Institute, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium;
| | - Jan J. Zylicz
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark;
| | - Vincent Pasque
- Laboratory of Cellular Reprogramming and Epigenetic Regulation, Department of Development and Regeneration, Leuven Stem Cell Institute, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium;
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da Silva Francisco Junior R, Dos Santos Ferreira C, Santos E Silva JC, Terra Machado D, Côrtes Martins Y, Ramos V, Simões Carnivali G, Garcia AB, Medina-Acosta E. Pervasive Inter-Individual Variation in Allele-Specific Expression in Monozygotic Twins. Front Genet 2019; 10:1178. [PMID: 31850058 PMCID: PMC6887657 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2019.01178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2019] [Accepted: 10/24/2019] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite being developed from one zygote, heterokaryotypic monozygotic (MZ) co-twins exhibit discordant karyotypes. Epigenomic studies in biological samples from heterokaryotypic MZ co-twins are of the most significant value for assessing the effects on gene- and allele-specific expression of an extranumerary chromosomal copy or structural chromosomal disparities in otherwise nearly identical germline genetic contributions. Here, we use RNA-Seq data from existing repositories to establish within-pair correlations for the breadth and magnitude of allele-specific expression (ASE) in heterokaryotypic MZ co-twins discordant for trisomy 21 and maternal 21q inheritance, as well as homokaryotypic co-twins. We show that there is a genome-wide disparity at ASE sites between the heterokaryotypic MZ co-twins. Although most of the disparity corresponds to changes in the magnitude of biallelic imbalance, ASE sites switching from either strictly monoallelic to biallelic imbalance or the reverse occur in few genes that are known or predicted to be imprinted, subject to X-chromosome inactivation or A-to-I(G) RNA edited. We also uncovered comparable ASE differences between homokaryotypic MZ twins. The extent of ASE discordance in MZ twins (2.7%) was about 10-fold lower than the expected between pairs of unrelated, non-twin males or females. The results indicate that the observed within-pair dissimilarities in breadth and magnitude of ASE sites in the heterokaryotypic MZ co-twins could not solely be attributable to the aneuploidy and the missing allelic heritability at 21q.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Cristina Dos Santos Ferreira
- Laboratório de Biotecnologia, Núcleo de Diagnóstico e Investigação Molecular, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil
| | - Juan Carlo Santos E Silva
- Laboratório de Biotecnologia, Núcleo de Diagnóstico e Investigação Molecular, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil
| | - Douglas Terra Machado
- Laboratório de Biotecnologia, Núcleo de Diagnóstico e Investigação Molecular, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil
| | - Yasmmin Côrtes Martins
- Laboratório de Bioinformática, Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica, Petrópolis, Brazil
| | - Victor Ramos
- Department of Genetics, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Gustavo Simões Carnivali
- Department of Computational Science, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Ana Beatriz Garcia
- Laboratório de Biotecnologia, Núcleo de Diagnóstico e Investigação Molecular, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil
| | - Enrique Medina-Acosta
- Laboratório de Biotecnologia, Núcleo de Diagnóstico e Investigação Molecular, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil
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