1
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Ietswaart R, Smalec BM, Xu A, Choquet K, McShane E, Jowhar ZM, Guegler CK, Baxter-Koenigs AR, West ER, Fu BXH, Gilbert L, Floor SN, Churchman LS. Genome-wide quantification of RNA flow across subcellular compartments reveals determinants of the mammalian transcript life cycle. Mol Cell 2024; 84:2765-2784.e16. [PMID: 38964322 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2024.06.008] [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: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 06/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/06/2024]
Abstract
Dissecting the regulatory mechanisms controlling mammalian transcripts from production to degradation requires quantitative measurements of mRNA flow across the cell. We developed subcellular TimeLapse-seq to measure the rates at which RNAs are released from chromatin, exported from the nucleus, loaded onto polysomes, and degraded within the nucleus and cytoplasm in human and mouse cells. These rates varied substantially, yet transcripts from genes with related functions or targeted by the same transcription factors and RNA-binding proteins flowed across subcellular compartments with similar kinetics. Verifying these associations uncovered a link between DDX3X and nuclear export. For hundreds of RNA metabolism genes, most transcripts with retained introns were degraded by the nuclear exosome, while the remaining molecules were exported with stable cytoplasmic lifespans. Transcripts residing on chromatin for longer had extended poly(A) tails, whereas the reverse was observed for cytoplasmic mRNAs. Finally, machine learning identified molecular features that predicted the diverse life cycles of mRNAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Ietswaart
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - Brendan M Smalec
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Albert Xu
- Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Karine Choquet
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Erik McShane
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Ziad Mohamoud Jowhar
- Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Chantal K Guegler
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Autum R Baxter-Koenigs
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Emma R West
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | | | - Luke Gilbert
- Arc Institute, Palo Alto, CA 94305, USA; Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; Department of Urology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94518, USA
| | - Stephen N Floor
- Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
| | - L Stirling Churchman
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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2
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Cranney CW, Meyer JG. Multi-dataset Integration and Residual Connections Improve Proteome Prediction from Transcriptomes using Deep Learning. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.08.602560. [PMID: 39026798 PMCID: PMC11257616 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.08.602560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
Proteomes are well known to poorly correlate with transcriptomes measured from the same sample. While connected, the complex processes that impact the relationships between transcript and protein quantities remains an open research topic. Many studies have attempted to predict proteomes from transcriptomes with limited success. Here we use publicly available data from the Clinical Proteomics Tumor Analysis Consortium to show that deep learning models designed by neural architecture search (NAS) achieve improved prediction accuracy of proteome quantities from transcriptomics. We find that this benefit is largely due to including a residual connection in the architecture that allows input information to be remembered near the end of the network. Finally, we explore which groups of transcripts are functionally important for protein prediction using model interpretation with SHAP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caleb W Cranney
- Department of Computational Biomedicine, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles CA 90048
- Smidt Heart Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles CA 90048
- Advanced Clinical Biosystems Research Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles CA 90048
| | - Jesse G Meyer
- Department of Computational Biomedicine, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles CA 90048
- Smidt Heart Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles CA 90048
- Advanced Clinical Biosystems Research Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles CA 90048
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3
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Guo Q, Deng T, Du Y, Yao W, Tian W, Liao H, Wang Y, Li J, Yan W, Li Y. Impact of DEHP on mitochondria-associated endoplasmic reticulum membranes and reproductive toxicity in ovary. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2024; 282:116679. [PMID: 38981393 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2024.116679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2024] [Revised: 06/12/2024] [Accepted: 06/30/2024] [Indexed: 07/11/2024]
Abstract
Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is a widely recognized environmental endocrine disruptor that potentially impacts female reproductive function, although the specific mechanisms leading to such impairment remain unclear. A growing body of research has revealed that the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondrial function significantly influence oocyte quality. The structure of mitochondria-associated endoplasmic reticulum membranes (MAMs) is crucial for facilitating the exchange of Ca2+, lipids, and metabolites. This study aimed to investigate the alterations in the composition and function of MAMs after DEHP exposure and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of ovarian toxicity. The female mice were exposed to DEHP at doses of 5 and 500 mg/kg/day for one month. The results revealed that DEHP exposure led to reduced serum anti-Müllerian hormone levels and increased atretic follicles in mice. DEHP induced endoplasmic reticulum stress and disrupted calcium homeostasis in oocytes. Furthermore, DEHP impaired the mitochondrial function of oocytes and reduced their membrane potential, and promoting apoptosis. Similar results were observed in human granulosa cells after exposure to mono-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP, metabolites of DEHP) in vitro. Proteomic analysis and transmission electron microscopy revealed modifications in the functional proteins and structure of the MAMs, and the suppression of oxidative phosphorylation pathways. The findings of this investigation provide a new perspective on the mechanism underlying the reproductive toxicity of DEHP in females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qingchun Guo
- Reproductive Medicine Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Taoran Deng
- Reproductive Medicine Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Yaoyao Du
- Reproductive Medicine Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Wen Yao
- General Hospital of Central Theater Command, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Wenqu Tian
- Reproductive Medicine Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Hongmei Liao
- Reproductive Medicine Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Yi Wang
- Reproductive Medicine Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Juan Li
- Reproductive Medicine Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Wei Yan
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China.
| | - Yufeng Li
- Reproductive Medicine Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China.
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4
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Zhuravskaya A, Yap K, Hamid F, Makeyev EV. Alternative splicing coupled to nonsense-mediated decay coordinates downregulation of non-neuronal genes in developing mouse neurons. Genome Biol 2024; 25:162. [PMID: 38902825 PMCID: PMC11188260 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-024-03305-8] [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: 07/08/2023] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The functional coupling between alternative pre-mRNA splicing (AS) and the mRNA quality control mechanism called nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) can modulate transcript abundance. Previous studies have identified several examples of such a regulation in developing neurons. However, the systems-level effects of AS-NMD in this context are poorly understood. RESULTS We developed an R package, factR2, which offers a comprehensive suite of AS-NMD analysis functions. Using this tool, we conducted a longitudinal analysis of gene expression in pluripotent stem cells undergoing induced neuronal differentiation. Our analysis uncovers hundreds of AS-NMD events with significant potential to regulate gene expression. Notably, this regulation is significantly overrepresented in specific functional groups of developmentally downregulated genes. Particularly strong association with gene downregulation is detected for alternative cassette exons stimulating NMD upon their inclusion into mature mRNA. By combining bioinformatic analyses with CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing and other experimental approaches we show that NMD-stimulating cassette exons regulated by the RNA-binding protein PTBP1 dampen the expression of their genes in developing neurons. We also provided evidence that the inclusion of NMD-stimulating cassette exons into mature mRNAs is temporally coordinated with NMD-independent gene repression mechanisms. CONCLUSIONS Our study provides an accessible workflow for the discovery and prioritization of AS-NMD targets. It further argues that the AS-NMD pathway plays a widespread role in developing neurons by facilitating the downregulation of functionally related non-neuronal genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Zhuravskaya
- Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King's College London, London, SE1 1UL, UK
| | - Karen Yap
- Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King's College London, London, SE1 1UL, UK
| | - Fursham Hamid
- Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King's College London, London, SE1 1UL, UK.
| | - Eugene V Makeyev
- Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King's College London, London, SE1 1UL, UK.
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5
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Bedi K, Magnuson B, Narayanan IV, McShane A, Ashaka M, Paulsen MT, Wilson TE, Ljungman M. Isoform and pathway-specific regulation of post-transcriptional RNA processing in human cells. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.12.598705. [PMID: 38915566 PMCID: PMC11195214 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.12.598705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/26/2024]
Abstract
Steady-state levels of RNA transcripts are controlled by their rates of synthesis and degradation. Here we used nascent RNA Bru-seq and BruChase-seq to profile RNA dynamics across 16 human cell lines as part of ENCODE4 Deeply Profiled Cell Lines collection. We show that RNA turnover dynamics differ widely between transcripts of different genes and between different classes of RNA. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed that transcripts encoding proteins belonging to the same pathway often show similar turnover dynamics. Furthermore, transcript isoforms show distinct dynamics suggesting that RNA turnover is important in regulating mRNA isoform choice. Finally, splicing across newly made transcripts appears to be cooperative with either all or none type splicing. These data sets generated as part of ENCODE4 illustrate the intricate and coordinated regulation of RNA dynamics in controlling gene expression to allow for the precise coordination of cellular functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karan Bedi
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Rogel Cancer Center and Center for RNA Biomedicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Brian Magnuson
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Department of Pathology and Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | | | - Ariel McShane
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Mario Ashaka
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Michelle T Paulsen
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Thomas E Wilson
- Rogel Cancer Center and Center for RNA Biomedicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Department of Pathology and Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Mats Ljungman
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Rogel Cancer Center and Center for RNA Biomedicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
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6
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Narasipura EA, Fenton OS. Advances in non-viral mRNA delivery to the spleen. Biomater Sci 2024; 12:3027-3044. [PMID: 38712531 PMCID: PMC11175841 DOI: 10.1039/d4bm00038b] [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] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
Developing safe and effective delivery strategies for localizing messenger RNA (mRNA) payloads to the spleen is an important goal in the field of genetic medicine. Accomplishing this goal is challenging due to the instability, size, and charge of mRNA payloads. Here, we provide an analysis of non-viral delivery technologies that have been developed to deliver mRNA payloads to the spleen. Specifically, our review begins by outlining the unique anatomy and potential targets for mRNA delivery within the spleen. Next, we describe approaches in mRNA sequence engineering that can be used to improve mRNA delivery to the spleen. Then, we describe advances in non-viral carrier systems that can package and deliver mRNA payloads to the spleen, highlighting key advances in the literature in lipid nanoparticle (LNP) and polymer nanoparticle (PNP) technology platforms. Finally, we provide commentary and outlook on how splenic mRNA delivery may afford next-generation treatments for autoimmune disorders and cancers. In undertaking this approach, our goal with this review is to both establish a fundamental understanding of drug delivery challenges associated with localizing mRNA payloads to the spleen, while also broadly highlighting the potential to use these genetic medicines to treat disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eshan A Narasipura
- Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
| | - Owen S Fenton
- Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
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7
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Nemudraia A, Nemudryi A, Wiedenheft B. Repair of CRISPR-guided RNA breaks enables site-specific RNA excision in human cells. Science 2024; 384:808-814. [PMID: 38662916 PMCID: PMC11175973 DOI: 10.1126/science.adk5518] [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: 08/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024]
Abstract
Genome editing with CRISPR RNA-guided endonucleases generates DNA breaks that are resolved by cellular DNA repair machinery. However, analogous methods to manipulate RNA remain unavailable. We show that site-specific RNA breaks generated with type-III CRISPR complexes are repaired in human cells and that this repair can be used for programmable deletions in human transcripts to restore gene function. Collectively, this work establishes a technology for precise RNA manipulation with potential therapeutic applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Nemudraia
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Montana State University; Bozeman, MT, 59717, USA
| | - Artem Nemudryi
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Montana State University; Bozeman, MT, 59717, USA
| | - Blake Wiedenheft
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Montana State University; Bozeman, MT, 59717, USA
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8
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Singh K, Showalter CA, Manring HR, Haque SJ, Chakravarti A. "Oh, Dear We Are in Tribble": An Overview of the Oncogenic Functions of Tribbles 1. Cancers (Basel) 2024; 16:1889. [PMID: 38791967 PMCID: PMC11120034 DOI: 10.3390/cancers16101889] [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: 04/18/2024] [Revised: 05/11/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Pseudokinases are catalytically inactive proteins in the human genome that lack the ability to transfer phosphate from ATP to their substrates. The Tribbles family of pseudokinases contains three members: Tribbles 1, 2, and 3. Tribbles 1 has recently gained importance because of its involvement in various diseases, including cancer. It acts as a scaffolding protein that brings about the degradation of its substrate proteins, such as C/EBPα/β, MLXIPL, and RAR/RXRα, among others, via the ubiquitin proteasome system. It also serves as an adapter protein, which sequesters different protein molecules and activates their downstream signaling, leading to processes, such as cell survival, cell proliferation, and lipid metabolism. It has been implicated in cancers such as AML, prostate cancer, breast cancer, CRC, HCC, and glioma, where it activates oncogenic signaling pathways such as PI3K-AKT and MAPK and inhibits the anti-tumor function of p53. TRIB1 also causes treatment resistance in cancers such as NSCLC, breast cancer, glioma, and promyelocytic leukemia. All these effects make TRIB1 a potential drug target. However, the lack of a catalytic domain renders TRIB1 "undruggable", but knowledge about its structure, conformational changes during substrate binding, and substrate binding sites provides an opportunity to design small-molecule inhibitors against specific TRIB1 interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Arnab Chakravarti
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
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9
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Maizels RJ, Snell DM, Briscoe J. Reconstructing developmental trajectories using latent dynamical systems and time-resolved transcriptomics. Cell Syst 2024; 15:411-424.e9. [PMID: 38754365 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2024.04.004] [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: 09/19/2023] [Revised: 02/01/2024] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
The snapshot nature of single-cell transcriptomics presents a challenge for studying the dynamics of cell fate decisions. Metabolic labeling and splicing can provide temporal information at single-cell level, but current methods have limitations. Here, we present a framework that overcomes these limitations: experimentally, we developed sci-FATE2, an optimized method for metabolic labeling with increased data quality, which we used to profile 45,000 embryonic stem (ES) cells differentiating into neural tube identities. Computationally, we developed a two-stage framework for dynamical modeling: VelvetVAE, a variational autoencoder (VAE) for velocity inference that outperforms all other tools tested, and VelvetSDE, a neural stochastic differential equation (nSDE) framework for simulating trajectory distributions. These recapitulate underlying dataset distributions and capture features such as decision boundaries between alternative fates and fate-specific gene expression. These methods recast single-cell analyses from descriptions of observed data to models of the dynamics that generated them, providing a framework for investigating developmental fate decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rory J Maizels
- The Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, London NW1 1AT, UK; University College, London, UK
| | - Daniel M Snell
- The Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, London NW1 1AT, UK
| | - James Briscoe
- The Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, London NW1 1AT, UK.
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10
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Forouzanfar F, Plassard D, Furst A, Moreno D, Oliveira KA, Reina-San-Martin B, Tora L, Molina N, Mendoza M. Gene-specific RNA homeostasis revealed by perturbation of coactivator complexes. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.30.577960. [PMID: 38352321 PMCID: PMC10862879 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.30.577960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
Transcript buffering entails the reciprocal modulation of mRNA synthesis and degradation rates to maintain stable RNA levels under varying cellular conditions. Current research supports a global, non-sequence-specific connection between mRNA synthesis and degradation, but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, we investigated changes in RNA metabolism following acute depletion of TIP60/KAT5, the acetyltransferase subunit of the NuA4 transcriptional coactivator complex, in mouse embryonic stem cells. By combining RNA sequencing of nuclear, cytoplasmic, and newly synthesised transcript fractions with biophysical modelling, we demonstrate that TIP60 predominantly enhances transcription of numerous genes, while a smaller set of genes undergoes TIP60-dependent transcriptional repression. Surprisingly, transcription changes caused by TIP60 depletion were offset by corresponding changes in RNA nuclear export and cytoplasmic stability, indicating gene-specific buffering mechanisms. Similarly, disruption of the unrelated ATAC coactivator complex also resulted in gene-specific transcript buffering. These findings reveal that transcript buffering functions at a gene-specific level and suggest that cells dynamically adjust RNA splicing, export, and degradation in response to individual RNA synthesis alterations, thereby sustaining cellular homeostasis.
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11
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Lin F, Lin ST, Wang J, Geisert EE. Optimizing retinal ganglion cell nuclear staining for automated cell counting. Exp Eye Res 2024; 242:109881. [PMID: 38554800 PMCID: PMC11055661 DOI: 10.1016/j.exer.2024.109881] [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: 01/27/2024] [Revised: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
The retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) serve as the critical pathway for transmitting visual information from the retina to the brain, yet they can be dramatically impacted by diseases such as glaucoma. When investigating disease processes affecting RGCs in mouse models, accurately quantifying affected cells becomes essential. However, the use of pan RGC markers like RBPMS or THY1 presents challenges in accurate total cell counting. While Brn3a serves as a reliable RGC nuclear marker for automated counting, it fails to encompass all RGC subtypes in mice. To address this limitation and enable precise automated counting, our research endeavors to develop a method for labeling nuclei in all RGC subtypes. Investigating RGC subtypes labeled with the nuclear marker POU6F2 revealed that numerous RGCs unlabeled by Brn3a were, in fact, labeled with POU6F2. We hypothesize that using antibodies against both Brn3a and POU6F2 would label virtually all RGC nuclei in the mouse retina. Our experiments confirmed that staining retinas with both markers resulted in the labeling of all RGCs. Additionally, when using the cell body marker RBPMS known to label all mouse RGCs, all RBPMS-labeled cells also exhibited Brn3a or POU6F2 labeling. This combination of Brn3a and POU6F2 antibodies provides a pan-RGC nuclear stain, facilitating accurate automated counting by labeling cell nuclei in the retina.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fangyu Lin
- Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University, 1365B Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Su-Ting Lin
- Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University, 1365B Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Jiaxing Wang
- Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University, 1365B Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Eldon E Geisert
- Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University, 1365B Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
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12
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Uriu K, Hernandez-Sanchez JP, Kojima S. Impacts of the feedback loop between sense-antisense RNAs in regulating circadian rhythms. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.28.591560. [PMID: 38746188 PMCID: PMC11092440 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.28.591560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Antisense transcripts are a unique group of non-coding RNAs that are transcribed from the opposite strand of a sense coding gene in an antisense orientation. Even though they do not encode a protein, these transcripts play a regulatory role in a variety of biological processes, including circadian rhythms. We and others found an antisense transcript, Per2AS , that is transcribed from the strand opposite the sense transcript Period2 ( Per2 ) and exhibits a rhythmic and antiphasic expression pattern compared to Per2 in mouse. By assuming that Per2AS and Per2 mutually repress each other, our previous mathematical model predicted that Per2AS regulates the robustness and the amplitude of circadian rhythms. In this study, we revised our previous model and developed a new mathematical model that mechanistically described the mutually repressive relationship between Per2 and Per2AS via transcriptional interference. We found that the simulation results are largely consistent with experimental observations including the counterintuitive ones that could not be fully explained by our previous model. These results indicate that our revised model serves as a foundation to build more detailed models in the future to better understand the impact of Per2AS-Per2 interaction in the mammalian circadian clock. Our mechanistic description of Per2AS-Per2 interaction can also be extended to other mathematical models that involve sense-antisense RNA pairs that mutually repress each other.
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13
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Lorenzo-Orts L, Pauli A. The molecular mechanisms underpinning maternal mRNA dormancy. Biochem Soc Trans 2024; 52:861-871. [PMID: 38477334 PMCID: PMC11088918 DOI: 10.1042/bst20231122] [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: 12/14/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024]
Abstract
A large number of mRNAs of maternal origin are produced during oogenesis and deposited in the oocyte. Since transcription stops at the onset of meiosis during oogenesis and does not resume until later in embryogenesis, maternal mRNAs are the only templates for protein synthesis during this period. To ensure that a protein is made in the right place at the right time, the translation of maternal mRNAs must be activated at a specific stage of development. Here we summarize our current understanding of the sophisticated mechanisms that contribute to the temporal repression of maternal mRNAs, termed maternal mRNA dormancy. We discuss mechanisms at the level of the RNA itself, such as the regulation of polyadenine tail length and RNA modifications, as well as at the level of RNA-binding proteins, which often block the assembly of translation initiation complexes at the 5' end of an mRNA or recruit mRNAs to specific subcellular compartments. We also review microRNAs and other mechanisms that contribute to repressing translation, such as ribosome dormancy. Importantly, the mechanisms responsible for mRNA dormancy during the oocyte-to-embryo transition are also relevant to cellular quiescence in other biological contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Lorenzo-Orts
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Andrea Pauli
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria
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14
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Mulas C. Control of cell state transitions by post-transcriptional regulation. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230050. [PMID: 38432322 PMCID: PMC10909504 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0050] [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: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 03/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Cell state transitions are prevalent in biology, playing a fundamental role in development, homeostasis and repair. Dysregulation of cell state transitions can lead to or occur in a wide range of diseases. In this letter, I explore and highlight the role of post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms in determining the dynamics of cell state transitions. I propose that regulation of protein levels after transcription provides an under-appreciated regulatory route to obtain fast and sharp transitions between distinct cell states. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Causes and consequences of stochastic processes in development and disease'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carla Mulas
- Altos Labs Cambridge Institute of Science, Granta Park, Cambridge, CB21 6GP, UK
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15
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Wang J, Zhu H, Gan J, Liang G, Li L, Zhao Y. Engineered mRNA Delivery Systems for Biomedical Applications. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2024; 36:e2308029. [PMID: 37805865 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202308029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Revised: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/09/2023]
Abstract
Messenger RNA (mRNA)-based therapeutic strategies have shown remarkable promise in preventing and treating a staggering range of diseases. Optimizing the structure and delivery system of engineered mRNA has greatly improved its stability, immunogenicity, and protein expression levels, which has led to a wider range of uses for mRNA therapeutics. Herein, a thorough analysis of the optimization strategies used in the structure of mRNA is first provided and delivery systems are described in great detail. Furthermore, the latest advancements in biomedical engineering for mRNA technology, including its applications in combatting infectious diseases, treating cancer, providing protein replacement therapy, conducting gene editing, and more, are summarized. Lastly, a perspective on forthcoming challenges and prospects concerning the advancement of mRNA therapeutics is offered. Despite these challenges, mRNA-based therapeutics remain promising, with the potential to revolutionize disease treatment and contribute to significant advancements in the biomedical field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ji Wang
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China
| | - Haofang Zhu
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China
| | - Jingjing Gan
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China
| | - Gaofeng Liang
- Institute of Organoids on Chips Translational Research, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou, 450009, China
| | - Ling Li
- Department of Endocrinology, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009, China
| | - Yuanjin Zhao
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China
- Institute of Organoids on Chips Translational Research, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou, 450009, China
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16
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Chang MY, Chan CK, Brune JE, Manicone AM, Bomsztyk K, Frevert CW, Altemeier WA. Regulation of Versican Expression in Macrophages is Mediated by Canonical Type I Interferon Signaling via ISGF3. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.14.585097. [PMID: 38559011 PMCID: PMC10980001 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.14.585097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Growing evidence supports a role for versican as an important component of the inflammatory response, with both pro- and anti-inflammatory roles depending on the specific context of the system or disease under investigation. Our goal is to understand the regulation of macrophage-derived versican and the role it plays in innate immunity. In previous work, we showed that LPS triggers a signaling cascade involving TLR4, the Trif adaptor, type I interferons, and the type I interferon receptor, leading to increased versican expression by macrophages. In the present study, we used a combination of chromatin immunoprecipitation, siRNA, chemical inhibitors, and mouse model approaches to investigate the regulatory events downstream of the type I interferon receptor to better define the mechanism controlling versican expression. Results indicate that transcriptional regulation by canonical type I interferon signaling via the heterotrimeric transcription factor, ISGF3, controls versican expression in macrophages exposed to LPS. This pathway is not dependent on MAPK signaling, which has been shown to regulate versican expression in other cell types. The stability of versican mRNA may also contribute to prolonged versican expression in macrophages. These findings strongly support a role for macrophage-derived versican as a type I interferon-stimulated gene and further our understanding of versican's role in regulating inflammation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary Y. Chang
- Department of Comparative Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
- Center for Lung Biology, University of Washington at South Lake Union, Seattle, WA
| | - Christina K. Chan
- Department of Comparative Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
- Center for Lung Biology, University of Washington at South Lake Union, Seattle, WA
| | - Jourdan E. Brune
- Department of Comparative Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
- Center for Lung Biology, University of Washington at South Lake Union, Seattle, WA
| | - Anne M. Manicone
- Center for Lung Biology, University of Washington at South Lake Union, Seattle, WA
- Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
| | - Karol Bomsztyk
- Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
| | - Charles W. Frevert
- Department of Comparative Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
- Center for Lung Biology, University of Washington at South Lake Union, Seattle, WA
- Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
| | - William A. Altemeier
- Center for Lung Biology, University of Washington at South Lake Union, Seattle, WA
- Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
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17
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Michielsen L, Reinders MJT, Mahfouz A. Predicting cell population-specific gene expression from genomic sequence. FRONTIERS IN BIOINFORMATICS 2024; 4:1347276. [PMID: 38501113 PMCID: PMC10944912 DOI: 10.3389/fbinf.2024.1347276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Most regulatory elements, especially enhancer sequences, are cell population-specific. One could even argue that a distinct set of regulatory elements is what defines a cell population. However, discovering which non-coding regions of the DNA are essential in which context, and as a result, which genes are expressed, is a difficult task. Some computational models tackle this problem by predicting gene expression directly from the genomic sequence. These models are currently limited to predicting bulk measurements and mainly make tissue-specific predictions. Here, we present a model that leverages single-cell RNA-sequencing data to predict gene expression. We show that cell population-specific models outperform tissue-specific models, especially when the expression profile of a cell population and the corresponding tissue are dissimilar. Further, we show that our model can prioritize GWAS variants and learn motifs of transcription factor binding sites. We envision that our model can be useful for delineating cell population-specific regulatory elements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lieke Michielsen
- Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden Computational Biology Center, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
- Delft Bioinformatics Lab, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
| | - Marcel J. T. Reinders
- Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden Computational Biology Center, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
- Delft Bioinformatics Lab, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
| | - Ahmed Mahfouz
- Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden Computational Biology Center, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
- Delft Bioinformatics Lab, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
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18
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Sharma V, Swaminathan K, Shukla R. The Ribosome Hypothesis: Decoding Mood Disorder Complexity. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:2815. [PMID: 38474062 PMCID: PMC10931790 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25052815] [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: 01/19/2024] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Several types of mood disorders lie along a continuum, with nebulous boundaries between them. Understanding the mechanisms that contribute to mood disorder complexity is critical for effective treatment. However, present treatments are largely centered around neurotransmission and receptor-based hypotheses, which, given the high instance of treatment resistance, fail to adequately explain the complexities of mood disorders. In this opinion piece, based on our recent results, we propose a ribosome hypothesis of mood disorders. We suggest that any hypothesis seeking to explain the diverse nature of mood disorders must incorporate infrastructure diversity that results in a wide range of effects. Ribosomes, with their mobility across neurites and complex composition, have the potential to become specialized during stress; thus, ribosome diversity and dysregulation are well suited to explaining mood disorder complexity. Here, we first establish a framework connecting ribosomes to the current state of knowledge associated with mood disorders. Then, we describe the potential mechanisms through which ribosomes could homeostatically regulate systems to manifest diverse mood disorder phenotypes and discuss approaches for substantiating the ribosome hypothesis. Investigating these mechanisms as therapeutic targets holds promise for transdiagnostic avenues targeting mood disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vandana Sharma
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA;
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
| | - Karthik Swaminathan
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA;
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
| | - Rammohan Shukla
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA;
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
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19
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Liao Y. Emerging tools for uncovering genetic and transcriptomic heterogeneities in bacteria. Biophys Rev 2024; 16:109-124. [PMID: 38495445 PMCID: PMC10937887 DOI: 10.1007/s12551-023-01178-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Bacterial communities display an astonishing degree of heterogeneities among their constituent cells across both the genomic and transcriptomic levels, giving rise to diverse social interactions and stress-adaptation strategies indispensable for proliferating in the natural environment (Ackermann in Nat Rev Microbiol 13:497-508, 2015). Our knowledge about bacterial heterogeneities and their physiological ramifications critically depends on our ability to unambiguously resolve the genetic and phenotypic states of the individual cells that make up the population. In this short review, I highlight several recently developed methods for studying bacterial heterogeneities, primarily focusing on single-cell techniques based on advanced sequencing and microscopy technologies. I will discuss the working principle of each technique as well as the types of problems each technique is best positioned to address. With significant improvements in resolution and throughput, these emerging tools together offer unprecedented and complementary views of various types of heterogeneities found within bacterial populations, paving the way for mechanistic dissections and systematic interventions in laboratory and clinical settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Liao
- Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR, China
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20
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Cao S, Buchholz KS, Tan P, Stowe JC, Wang A, Fowler A, Knaus KR, Khalilimeybodi A, Zambon AC, Omens JH, Saucerman JJ, McCulloch AD. Differential sensitivity to longitudinal and transverse stretch mediates transcriptional responses in mouse neonatal ventricular myocytes. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2024; 326:H370-H384. [PMID: 38063811 PMCID: PMC11245882 DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00562.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
To identify how cardiomyocyte mechanosensitive signaling pathways are regulated by anisotropic stretch, micropatterned mouse neonatal cardiomyocytes were stretched primarily longitudinally or transversely to the myofiber axis. Four hours of static, longitudinal stretch induced differential expression of 557 genes, compared with 30 induced by transverse stretch, measured using RNA-seq. A logic-based ordinary differential equation model of the cardiac myocyte mechanosignaling network, extended to include the transcriptional regulation and expression of 784 genes, correctly predicted measured expression changes due to anisotropic stretch with 69% accuracy. The model also predicted published transcriptional responses to mechanical load in vitro or in vivo with 63-91% accuracy. The observed differences between transverse and longitudinal stretch responses were not explained by differential activation of specific pathways but rather by an approximately twofold greater sensitivity to longitudinal stretch than transverse stretch. In vitro experiments confirmed model predictions that stretch-induced gene expression is more sensitive to angiotensin II and endothelin-1, via RhoA and MAP kinases, than to the three membrane ion channels upstream of calcium signaling in the network. Quantitative cardiomyocyte gene expression differs substantially with the axis of maximum principal stretch relative to the myofilament axis, but this difference is due primarily to differences in stretch sensitivity rather than to selective activation of mechanosignaling pathways.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Anisotropic stretch applied to micropatterned neonatal mouse ventricular myocytes induced markedly greater acute transcriptional responses when the major axis of stretch was parallel to the myofilament axis than when it was transverse. Analysis with a novel quantitative network model of mechanoregulated cardiomyocyte gene expression suggests that this difference is explained by higher cell sensitivity to longitudinal loading than transverse loading than by the activation of differential signaling pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shulin Cao
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
| | - Kyle S Buchholz
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
| | - Philip Tan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
| | - Jennifer C Stowe
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
| | - Ariel Wang
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
| | - Annabelle Fowler
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
| | - Katherine R Knaus
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
| | - Ali Khalilimeybodi
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
| | - Alexander C Zambon
- Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, Keck Graduate Institute, Claremont, California, United States
| | - Jeffrey H Omens
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
| | - Jeffrey J Saucerman
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
| | - Andrew D McCulloch
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
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21
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Yang L, Lyu J, Li X, Guo G, Zhou X, Chen T, Lin Y, Li T. Phase separation as a possible mechanism for dosage sensitivity. Genome Biol 2024; 25:17. [PMID: 38225666 PMCID: PMC10789095 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-023-03128-z] [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: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/17/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Deletion of haploinsufficient genes or duplication of triplosensitive ones results in phenotypic effects in a concentration-dependent manner, and the mechanisms underlying these dosage-sensitive effects remain elusive. Phase separation drives functional compartmentalization of biomolecules in a concentration-dependent manner as well, which suggests a potential link between these two processes, and warrants further systematic investigation. RESULTS Here we provide bioinformatic and experimental evidence to show a close link between phase separation and dosage sensitivity. We first demonstrate that haploinsufficient or triplosensitive gene products exhibit a higher tendency to undergo phase separation. Assessing the well-established dosage-sensitive genes HNRNPK, PAX6, and PQBP1 with experiments, we show that these proteins undergo phase separation. Critically, pathogenic variations in dosage-sensitive genes disturb the phase separation process either through reduced protein levels, or loss of phase-separation-prone regions. Analysis of multi-omics data further demonstrates that loss-of-function genetic perturbations on phase-separating genes cause similar dysfunction phenotypes as dosage-sensitive gene perturbations. In addition, dosage-sensitive scores derived from population genetics data predict phase-separating proteins with much better performance than available sequence-based predictors, further illustrating close ties between these two parameters. CONCLUSIONS Together, our study shows that phase separation is functionally linked to dosage sensitivity and provides novel insights for phase-separating protein prediction from the perspective of population genetics data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liang Yang
- Department of Medical Bioinformatics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Jiali Lyu
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Tsinghua-Peking Joint Centre for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
| | - Xi Li
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Tsinghua-Peking Joint Centre for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
| | - Gaigai Guo
- Department of Medical Bioinformatics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Xueya Zhou
- Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | - Taoyu Chen
- Department of Medical Bioinformatics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Yi Lin
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Tsinghua-Peking Joint Centre for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
| | - Tingting Li
- Department of Medical Bioinformatics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, 100191, China.
- Key Laboratory for Neuroscience, Ministry of Education/National Health Commission of China, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China.
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22
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Palazzo AF, Qiu Y, Kang YM. mRNA nuclear export: how mRNA identity features distinguish functional RNAs from junk transcripts. RNA Biol 2024; 21:1-12. [PMID: 38091265 PMCID: PMC10732640 DOI: 10.1080/15476286.2023.2293339] [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] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The division of the cellular space into nucleoplasm and cytoplasm promotes quality control mechanisms that prevent misprocessed mRNAs and junk RNAs from gaining access to the translational machinery. Here, we explore how properly processed mRNAs are distinguished from both misprocessed mRNAs and junk RNAs by the presence or absence of various 'identity features'.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Yi Qiu
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Yoon Mo Kang
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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23
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El-Baky NA, Amara AA, Uversky VN, Redwan EM. Intrinsic factors behind long COVID: III. Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and its components. J Cell Biochem 2024; 125:22-44. [PMID: 38098317 DOI: 10.1002/jcb.30514] [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: 09/04/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 01/16/2024]
Abstract
Considerable research has been done in investigating SARS-CoV-2 infection, its characteristics, and host immune response. However, debate is still ongoing over the emergence of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). A multitude of long-lasting symptoms have been reported several weeks after the primary acute SARS-CoV-2 infection that resemble several other viral infections. Thousands of research articles have described various post-COVID-19 conditions. Yet, the evidence around these ongoing health problems, the reasons behind them, and their molecular underpinnings are scarce. These persistent symptoms are also known as long COVID-19. The persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and/or its components in host tissues can lead to long COVID. For example, the presence of viral nucleocapsid protein and RNA was detected in the skin, appendix, and breast tissues of some long COVID patients. The persistence of viral RNA was reported in multiple anatomic sites, including non-respiratory tissues such as the adrenal gland, ocular tissue, small intestine, lymph nodes, myocardium, and sciatic nerve. Distinctive viral spike sequence variants were also found in non-respiratory tissues. Interestingly, prolonged detection of viral subgenomic RNA was observed across all tissues, sometimes in multiple tissues of the same patient, which likely reflects recent but defective viral replication. Moreover, the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA was noticed throughout the brain at autopsy, as late as 230 days following symptom onset among unvaccinated patients who died of severe infection. Here, we review the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and its components as an intrinsic factor behind long COVID. We also highlight the immunological consequences of this viral persistence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nawal Abd El-Baky
- Protein Research Department, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute (GEBRI), City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTA-City), New Borg El-Arab City, Egypt
| | - Amro A Amara
- Protein Research Department, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute (GEBRI), City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTA-City), New Borg El-Arab City, Egypt
| | - Vladimir N Uversky
- Department of Molecular Medicine, USF Health Byrd Alzheimer's Research Institute, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA
| | - Elrashdy M Redwan
- Biological Sciences Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
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24
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García-Blay Ó, Verhagen PGA, Martin B, Hansen MMK. Exploring the role of transcriptional and post-transcriptional processes in mRNA co-expression. Bioessays 2023; 45:e2300130. [PMID: 37926676 DOI: 10.1002/bies.202300130] [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: 07/12/2023] [Revised: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023]
Abstract
Co-expression of two or more genes at the single-cell level is usually associated with functional co-regulation. While mRNA co-expression-measured as the correlation in mRNA levels-can be influenced by both transcriptional and post-transcriptional events, transcriptional regulation is typically considered dominant. We review and connect the literature describing transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of co-expression. To enhance our understanding, we integrate four datasets spanning single-cell gene expression data, single-cell promoter activity data and individual transcript half-lives. Confirming expectations, we find that positive co-expression necessitates promoter coordination and similar mRNA half-lives. Surprisingly, negative co-expression is favored by differences in mRNA half-lives, contrary to initial predictions from stochastic simulations. Notably, this association manifests specifically within clusters of genes. We further observe a striking compensation between promoter coordination and mRNA half-lives, which additional stochastic simulations suggest might give rise to the observed co-expression patterns. These findings raise intriguing questions about the functional advantages conferred by this compensation between distal kinetic steps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Óscar García-Blay
- Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University, AJ, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Pieter G A Verhagen
- Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University, AJ, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Benjamin Martin
- Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University, AJ, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Maike M K Hansen
- Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University, AJ, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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25
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Granata S, Stallone G, Zaza G. mRNA as a medicine in nephrology: the future is now. Clin Kidney J 2023; 16:2349-2356. [PMID: 38046026 PMCID: PMC10689145 DOI: 10.1093/ckj/sfad196] [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: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The successful employment of messenger RNA (mRNA) as vaccine therapy for the prevention of COVID-19 infection has spotlighted the attention of scientific community onto the potential clinical application of these molecules as innovative and alternative therapeutic approaches in different fields of medicine. As therapy, mRNAs may be advantageous due to their unique biological properties of targeting almost any genetic component within the cell, many of which may be unreachable using other pharmacological/therapeutic approaches, and encoding any proteins and peptides without the need for their transport into the nuclei of the target cells. Additionally, these molecules may be rapidly designed/produced and clinically tested. Once the chemistry of the RNA and its delivery system are optimized, the cost of developing novel variants of these medications for new selected clinical disorders is significantly reduced. However, although potentially useful as new therapeutic weapons against several kidney diseases, the complex architecture of kidney and the inability of nanoparticles that accommodate oligonucleotides to cross the integral glomerular filtration barrier have largely decreased their potential employment in nephrology. However, in the next few years, the technical improvements in mRNA that increase translational efficiency, modulate innate and adaptive immunogenicity, and increase their delivery at the site of action will overcome these limitations. Therefore, this review has the scope of summarizing the key strengths of these RNA-based therapies and illustrating potential future directions and challenges of this promising technology for widespread therapeutic use in nephrology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simona Granata
- Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
| | - Giovanni Stallone
- Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
| | - Gianluigi Zaza
- Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
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26
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Pianfetti E, Lovino M, Ficarra E, Martignetti L. MiREx: mRNA levels prediction from gene sequence and miRNA target knowledge. BMC Bioinformatics 2023; 24:443. [PMID: 37993778 PMCID: PMC10666312 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-023-05560-1] [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: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Messenger RNA (mRNA) has an essential role in the protein production process. Predicting mRNA expression levels accurately is crucial for understanding gene regulation, and various models (statistical and neural network-based) have been developed for this purpose. A few models predict mRNA expression levels from the DNA sequence, exploiting the DNA sequence and gene features (e.g., number of exons/introns, gene length). Other models include information about long-range interaction molecules (i.e., enhancers/silencers) and transcriptional regulators as predictive features, such as transcription factors (TFs) and small RNAs (e.g., microRNAs - miRNAs). Recently, a convolutional neural network (CNN) model, called Xpresso, has been proposed for mRNA expression level prediction leveraging the promoter sequence and mRNAs' half-life features (gene features). To push forward the mRNA level prediction, we present miREx, a CNN-based tool that includes information about miRNA targets and expression levels in the model. Indeed, each miRNA can target specific genes, and the model exploits this information to guide the learning process. In detail, not all miRNAs are included, only a selected subset with the highest impact on the model. MiREx has been evaluated on four cancer primary sites from the genomics data commons (GDC) database: lung, kidney, breast, and corpus uteri. Results show that mRNA level prediction benefits from selected miRNA targets and expression information. Future model developments could include other transcriptional regulators or be trained with proteomics data to infer protein levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Pianfetti
- Department of Engineering, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Vivarelli 10/1, Modena, 41225, Italy
| | - Marta Lovino
- Department of Engineering, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Vivarelli 10/1, Modena, 41225, Italy.
| | - Elisa Ficarra
- Department of Engineering, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Vivarelli 10/1, Modena, 41225, Italy
| | - Loredana Martignetti
- Institut Curie, Rue d'Ulm 26, Paris, 75005, France.
- Inserm U900, Paris, France.
- CBIO-Centre for Computational Biology, Paris, France.
- PSL Research University, Paris, France.
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27
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Gorin G, Yoshida S, Pachter L. Assessing Markovian and Delay Models for Single-Nucleus RNA Sequencing. Bull Math Biol 2023; 85:114. [PMID: 37828255 DOI: 10.1007/s11538-023-01213-9] [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: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
The serial nature of reactions involved in the RNA life-cycle motivates the incorporation of delays in models of transcriptional dynamics. The models couple a transcriptional process to a fairly general set of delayed monomolecular reactions with no feedback. We provide numerical strategies for calculating the RNA copy number distributions induced by these models, and solve several systems with splicing, degradation, and catalysis. An analysis of single-cell and single-nucleus RNA sequencing data using these models reveals that the kinetics of nuclear export do not appear to require invocation of a non-Markovian waiting time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gennady Gorin
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
| | - Shawn Yoshida
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
| | - Lior Pachter
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA.
- Department of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA.
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28
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Chevalier C, Dorignac J, Ibrahim Y, Choquet A, David A, Ripoll J, Rivals E, Geniet F, Walliser NO, Palmeri J, Parmeggiani A, Walter JC. Physical modeling of ribosomes along messenger RNA: Estimating kinetic parameters from ribosome profiling experiments using a ballistic model. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1011522. [PMID: 37862386 PMCID: PMC10659217 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011522] [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: 03/31/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 09/17/2023] [Indexed: 10/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Gene expression is the synthesis of proteins from the information encoded on DNA. One of the two main steps of gene expression is the translation of messenger RNA (mRNA) into polypeptide sequences of amino acids. Here, by taking into account mRNA degradation, we model the motion of ribosomes along mRNA with a ballistic model where particles advance along a filament without excluded volume interactions. Unidirectional models of transport have previously been used to fit the average density of ribosomes obtained by the experimental ribo-sequencing (Ribo-seq) technique in order to obtain the kinetic rates. The degradation rate is not, however, accounted for and experimental data from different experiments are needed to have enough parameters for the fit. Here, we propose an entirely novel experimental setup and theoretical framework consisting in splitting the mRNAs into categories depending on the number of ribosomes from one to four. We solve analytically the ballistic model for a fixed number of ribosomes per mRNA, study the different regimes of degradation, and propose a criterion for the quality of the inverse fit. The proposed method provides a high sensitivity to the mRNA degradation rate. The additional equations coming from using the monosome (single ribosome) and polysome (arbitrary number) ribo-seq profiles enable us to determine all the kinetic rates in terms of the experimentally accessible mRNA degradation rate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carole Chevalier
- Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (L2C), Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France
| | - Jérôme Dorignac
- Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (L2C), Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France
| | - Yahaya Ibrahim
- Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (L2C), Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina, Nigeria
| | - Armelle Choquet
- Institut de Génétique Fonctionelle (IGF), Montpellier University, CNRS, Montpellier, France
| | - Alexandre David
- Institut de Génétique Fonctionelle (IGF), Montpellier University, CNRS, Montpellier, France
| | - Julie Ripoll
- Laboratoire d’Informatique, de Robotique et de Microélectronique de Montpellier (LIRMM), Montpellier University, CNRS, Montpellier, France
| | - Eric Rivals
- Laboratoire d’Informatique, de Robotique et de Microélectronique de Montpellier (LIRMM), Montpellier University, CNRS, Montpellier, France
| | - Frédéric Geniet
- Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (L2C), Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France
| | - Nils-Ole Walliser
- Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (L2C), Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France
| | - John Palmeri
- Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (L2C), Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France
| | - Andrea Parmeggiani
- Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (L2C), Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France
| | - Jean-Charles Walter
- Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (L2C), Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France
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29
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Burkart SS, Schweinoch D, Frankish J, Sparn C, Wüst S, Urban C, Merlo M, Magalhães VG, Piras A, Pichlmair A, Willemsen J, Kaderali L, Binder M. High-resolution kinetic characterization of the RIG-I-signaling pathway and the antiviral response. Life Sci Alliance 2023; 6:e202302059. [PMID: 37558422 PMCID: PMC10412806 DOI: 10.26508/lsa.202302059] [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: 03/24/2023] [Revised: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023] Open
Abstract
RIG-I recognizes viral dsRNA and activates a cell-autonomous antiviral response. Upon stimulation, it triggers a signaling cascade leading to the production of type I and III IFNs. IFNs are secreted and signal to elicit the expression of IFN-stimulated genes, establishing an antiviral state of the cell. The topology of this pathway has been studied intensively, however, its exact dynamics are less understood. Here, we employed electroporation to synchronously activate RIG-I, enabling us to characterize cell-intrinsic innate immune signaling at a high temporal resolution. Employing IFNAR1/IFNLR-deficient cells, we could differentiate primary RIG-I signaling from secondary signaling downstream of the IFN receptors. Based on these data, we developed a comprehensive mathematical model capable of simulating signaling downstream of dsRNA recognition by RIG-I and the feedback and signal amplification by IFN. We further investigated the impact of viral antagonists on signaling dynamics. Our work provides a comprehensive insight into the signaling events that occur early upon virus infection and opens new avenues to study and disentangle the complexity of the host-virus interface.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandy S Burkart
- Research Group "Dynamics of Early Viral Infection and the Innate Antiviral Response", Division Virus-Associated Carcinogenesis (F170), German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Darius Schweinoch
- Institute of Bioinformatics & Center for Functional Genomics of Microbes, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Jamie Frankish
- Research Group "Dynamics of Early Viral Infection and the Innate Antiviral Response", Division Virus-Associated Carcinogenesis (F170), German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Carola Sparn
- Research Group "Dynamics of Early Viral Infection and the Innate Antiviral Response", Division Virus-Associated Carcinogenesis (F170), German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sandra Wüst
- Research Group "Dynamics of Early Viral Infection and the Innate Antiviral Response", Division Virus-Associated Carcinogenesis (F170), German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Christian Urban
- Technical University of Munich, School of Medicine, Institute of Virology, Munich, Germany
| | - Marta Merlo
- Research Group "Dynamics of Early Viral Infection and the Innate Antiviral Response", Division Virus-Associated Carcinogenesis (F170), German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Vladimir G Magalhães
- Research Group "Dynamics of Early Viral Infection and the Innate Antiviral Response", Division Virus-Associated Carcinogenesis (F170), German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Antonio Piras
- Technical University of Munich, School of Medicine, Institute of Virology, Munich, Germany
| | - Andreas Pichlmair
- Technical University of Munich, School of Medicine, Institute of Virology, Munich, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Munich Partner Site, Munich, Germany
| | - Joschka Willemsen
- Research Group "Dynamics of Early Viral Infection and the Innate Antiviral Response", Division Virus-Associated Carcinogenesis (F170), German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Lars Kaderali
- Institute of Bioinformatics & Center for Functional Genomics of Microbes, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Marco Binder
- Research Group "Dynamics of Early Viral Infection and the Innate Antiviral Response", Division Virus-Associated Carcinogenesis (F170), German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
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30
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Zhang X, Eladawi MA, Ryan WG, Fan X, Prevoznik S, Devale T, Ramnani B, Malathi K, Sibille E, Mccullumsmith R, Tomoda T, Shukla R. Ribosomal dysregulation: A conserved pathophysiological mechanism in human depression and mouse chronic stress. PNAS NEXUS 2023; 2:pgad299. [PMID: 37822767 PMCID: PMC10563789 DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
The underlying biological mechanisms that contribute to the heterogeneity of major depressive disorder (MDD) presentation remain poorly understood, highlighting the need for a conceptual framework that can explain this variability and bridge the gap between animal models and clinical endpoints. Here, we hypothesize that comparative analysis of molecular data from different experimental systems of chronic stress, and MDD has the potential to provide insight into these mechanisms and address this gap. Thus, we compared transcriptomic profiles of brain tissue from postmortem MDD subjects and from mice exposed to chronic variable stress (CVS) to identify orthologous genes. Ribosomal protein genes (RPGs) were down-regulated, and associated ribosomal protein (RP) pseudogenes were up-regulated in both conditions. A seeded gene co-expression analysis using altered RPGs common between the MDD and CVS groups revealed that down-regulated RPGs homeostatically regulated the synaptic changes in both groups through a RP-pseudogene-driven mechanism. In vitro analysis demonstrated that the RPG dysregulation was a glucocorticoid-driven endocrine response to stress. In silico analysis further demonstrated that the dysregulation was reversed during remission from MDD and selectively responded to ketamine but not to imipramine. This study provides the first evidence that ribosomal dysregulation during stress is a conserved phenotype in human MDD and chronic stress-exposed mouse. Our results establish a foundation for the hypothesis that stress-induced alterations in RPGs and, consequently, ribosomes contribute to the synaptic dysregulation underlying MDD and chronic stress-related mood disorders. We discuss the role of ribosomal heterogeneity in the variable presentations of depression and other mood disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolu Zhang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Centre, Shreveport, LA 71105, USA
| | - Mahmoud Ali Eladawi
- Department of Neurosciences, College of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43614, USA
| | - William George Ryan
- Department of Neurosciences, College of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43614, USA
| | - Xiaoming Fan
- Department of Medicine, College of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43614, USA
| | - Stephen Prevoznik
- Department of Neurosciences, College of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43614, USA
| | - Trupti Devale
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43614, USA
| | - Barkha Ramnani
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43614, USA
| | - Krishnamurthy Malathi
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43614, USA
| | - Etienne Sibille
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Toronto, ON M5T 1R8, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 1R8, Canada
| | - Robert Mccullumsmith
- Department of Neurosciences, College of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43614, USA
- Neurosciences Institute, ProMedica, Toledo, OH 43614, USA
| | - Toshifumi Tomoda
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Toronto, ON M5T 1R8, Canada
| | - Rammohan Shukla
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
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31
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Jeong M, Lee Y, Park J, Jung H, Lee H. Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for in vivo RNA delivery and their breakthrough technology for future applications. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2023; 200:114990. [PMID: 37423563 DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2023.114990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
Abstract
RNA therapeutics show a significant breakthrough for the treatment of otherwise incurable diseases and genetic disorders by regulating disease-related gene expression. The successful development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines further emphasizes the potential of RNA therapeutics in the prevention of infectious diseases as well as in the treatment of chronic diseases. However, the efficient delivery of RNA into cells remains a challenge, and nanoparticle delivery systems such as lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are necessary to fully realize the potential of RNA therapeutics. While LNPs provide a highly efficient platform for the in vivo delivery of RNA by overcoming various biological barriers, several challenges remain to be resolved for further development and regulatory approval. These include a lack of targeted delivery to extrahepatic organs and a gradual loss of therapeutic potency with repeated doses. In this review, we highlight the fundamental aspects of LNPs and their uses in the development of novel RNA therapeutics. Recent advances in LNP-based therapeutics and preclinical/clinical studies are overviewed. Lastly, we discuss the current limitations of LNPs and introduce breakthrough technologies that might overcome these challenges in future applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michaela Jeong
- College of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, South Korea
| | - Yeji Lee
- College of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, South Korea
| | - Jeongeun Park
- College of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, South Korea
| | - Hyein Jung
- College of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, South Korea
| | - Hyukjin Lee
- College of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, South Korea.
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32
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Sexton T, Platania A, Erb C, Barbieri M, Molcrette B, Grandgirard E, de Kort M, Meabum K, Taylor T, Shchuka V, Kocanova S, Oliveira G, Mitchell J, Soutoglou E, Lenstra T, Molina N, Papantonis A, Bystricky K. Competition between transcription and loop extrusion modulates promoter and enhancer dynamics. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-3164817. [PMID: 37645793 PMCID: PMC10462181 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3164817/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
The spatiotemporal configuration of genes with distal regulatory elements, and the impact of chromatin mobility on transcription, remain unclear. Loop extrusion is an attractive model for bringing genetic elements together, but how this functionally interacts with transcription is also largely unknown. We combine live tracking of genomic loci and nascent transcripts with molecular dynamics simulations to assess the spatiotemporal arrangement of the Sox2 gene and its enhancer, in response to a battery of perturbations. We find a close link between chromatin mobility and transcriptional status: active elements display more constrained mobility, consistent with confinement within specialized nuclear sites, and alterations in enhancer mobility distinguish poised from transcribing alleles. Strikingly, we find that whereas loop extrusion and transcription factor-mediated clustering contribute to promoter-enhancer proximity, they have antagonistic effects on chromatin dynamics. This provides an experimental framework for the underappreciated role of chromatin dynamics in genome regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tom Sexton
- IGBMC (Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology)
| | | | - Cathie Erb
- IGBMC (Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Nacho Molina
- IGBMC (Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology)
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33
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Zhang Z, Liu R, Zhou H, Luo Y, Mu J, Fu J, Wu T, Chen B, Sang Q, Wang L. YBX2-dependent stabilization of oocyte mRNA through a reversible sponge-like cortical partition. Cell Res 2023; 33:640-643. [PMID: 37231128 PMCID: PMC10397258 DOI: 10.1038/s41422-023-00824-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Zhihua Zhang
- Institute of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, the Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, The State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Ruyi Liu
- Institute of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, the Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, The State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Hongbin Zhou
- Institute of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, the Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, The State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yuxi Luo
- Institute of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, the Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, The State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jian Mu
- Institute of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, the Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, The State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jing Fu
- Shanghai Ji Ai Genetics and IVF Institute, Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Tianyu Wu
- Institute of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, the Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, The State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Biaobang Chen
- NHC Key Lab of Reproduction Regulation (Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies), Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Qing Sang
- Institute of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, the Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, The State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Lei Wang
- Institute of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, the Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, The State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
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34
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Santos EW, Dias CC, Fock RA, Paredes-Gamero EJ, Zheng YM, Wang YX, Borelli P. Protein restriction impairs the response activation/responsivity of MAPK signaling pathway of hematopoietic stem cells. Nutr Res 2023; 116:12-23. [PMID: 37320947 DOI: 10.1016/j.nutres.2023.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Protein restriction (PR) leads to bone marrow hypoplasia with changes in stromal cellularity components of the extracellular matrix in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). However, the underlying signaling mechanisms are poorly understood. We hypothesize that PR impairs the HSC mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway response activation. Our aim is to evaluate the activation of MAPK and interleukin-3 (IL-3) proteins in HSC to explain PR-induced bone marrow hypoplasia, which causes altered proliferation and differentiation. C57BL/6 male mice were subjected to a low-protein diet (2% protein) or normoproteic (12% protein). PKC, PLCγ2, CaMKII, AKT, STAT3/5, ERK1/2, JNK, and p38d phosphorylation were evaluated by flow cytometry, and GATA1/2, PU.1, C/EBPα, NF-E2, and Ikz-3 genes (mRNAs) assessed by quantitative real-time-polymerase chain reaction. Pathway proteins, such as PLCγ2, JAK2, STAT3/5, PKC, and RAS do not respond to the IL-3 stimulus in PR, leading to lower activation of ERK1/2 and Ca2+ signaling pathways, consequently lowering the production of hematopoietic transcription factors. Colony forming units granulocyte-macrophage and colony forming units macrophage formation are impaired in PR even after being stimulated with IL-3. Long-term hematopoietic stem cells, short-term hematopoietic stem cells, granulocyte myeloid progenitor, and megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitor cells were significantly reduced in PR animals. This study shows for the first time that activation of MAPK pathway key proteins in HSCs is impaired in cases of PR. Several pathway proteins, such as PLCγ2, JAK2, STAT3, PKC, and RAS do not respond to IL-3 stimulation, leading to lower activation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 and consequently lower production of hematopoietic transcription factors GATA1/2, PU.1, C/EBPa, NF-E2, and Ikz3. These changes result in a reduction in colony-forming units, proliferation, and differentiation, leading to hypocellularity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ed Wilson Santos
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Albany Medical College, NY, USA; Experimental Hematology Laboratory, Department of Clinical e Toxicological Analyses, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Carolina Carvalho Dias
- Experimental Hematology Laboratory, Department of Clinical e Toxicological Analyses, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Ricardo Ambrósio Fock
- Experimental Hematology Laboratory, Department of Clinical e Toxicological Analyses, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Edgar Julian Paredes-Gamero
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Food and Nutrition (FACFAN), Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, 79070-900, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
| | - Yun-Min Zheng
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Albany Medical College, NY, USA.
| | - Yong-Xiao Wang
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Albany Medical College, NY, USA.
| | - Primavera Borelli
- Experimental Hematology Laboratory, Department of Clinical e Toxicological Analyses, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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Chen S, Lai W, Li Y, Liu Y, Jiang J, Li X, Jiang G, Wang H. Aberrant DNA N 6 -methyladenine incorporation via adenylate kinase 1 is suppressed by ADAL deaminase-dependent 2'-deoxynucleotide pool sanitation. EMBO J 2023; 42:e113684. [PMID: 37366109 PMCID: PMC10390868 DOI: 10.15252/embj.2023113684] [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: 02/03/2023] [Revised: 05/30/2023] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Intracellular decay of N6 -methyladenine (m6A)-containing RNA potentially induces aberrant N6 -methyl-2'-adenine (6mdA) misincorporation into DNA. Biophysically, misincorporated 6mdA may destabilize the DNA duplex in a manner similar to bona fide methylated 6mdA DNA, thereby affecting DNA replication and transcription. Utilizing heavy stable isotope labeling and ultrasensitive UHPLC-MS/MS assay, we demonstrate that intracellular m6A-RNA decay does not generate free 6mdA species, nor lead to any misincorporated DNA 6mdA in most mammalian cell lines tested, unveiling the existence of a sanitation mechanism that prevents 6mdA misincorporation. Depletion of deaminase ADAL increases the levels of free 6mdA species, concomitant with the presence of DNA-misincorporated 6mdA resulting from intracellular RNA m6A decay, suggesting that ADAL catabolizes 6mdAMP in vivo. Furthermore, we show that the overexpression of adenylate kinase 1 (AK1) promotes 6mdA misincorporation, while AK1 knockdown diminishes 6mdA incorporation, in ADAL-deficient cells. We conclude that ADAL together with other factors (such as MTH1) contributes to 2'-deoxynucleotide pool sanitation in most cells but compromised sanitation (e.g., in NIH3T3 cells) and increased AK1 expression may facilitate aberrant 6mdA incorporation. This sanitation mechanism may provide a framework for the maintenance of the epigenetic 6mdA landscape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaokun Chen
- The State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco‐Environmental SciencesChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
- School of Chemical SciencesUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Weiyi Lai
- The State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco‐Environmental SciencesChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Yanan Li
- Institute of Environment and Health, Institute for Advanced StudyUCASHangzhouChina
| | - Yan Liu
- The State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco‐Environmental SciencesChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Jie Jiang
- Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and PreventionShenzhenChina
| | - Xiangjun Li
- School of Chemical SciencesUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Guibin Jiang
- The State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco‐Environmental SciencesChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
- Institute of Environment and Health, Institute for Advanced StudyUCASHangzhouChina
| | - Hailin Wang
- The State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco‐Environmental SciencesChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
- Institute of Environment and Health, Institute for Advanced StudyUCASHangzhouChina
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36
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Shui B, Beyett TS, Chen Z, Li X, La Rocca G, Gazlay WM, Eck MJ, Lau KS, Ventura A, Haigis KM. Oncogenic K-Ras suppresses global miRNA function. Mol Cell 2023; 83:2509-2523.e13. [PMID: 37402366 PMCID: PMC10527862 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.06.008] [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: 11/02/2022] [Revised: 05/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023]
Abstract
K-Ras frequently acquires gain-of-function mutations (K-RasG12D being the most common) that trigger significant transcriptomic and proteomic changes to drive tumorigenesis. Nevertheless, oncogenic K-Ras-induced dysregulation of post-transcriptional regulators such as microRNAs (miRNAs) during oncogenesis is poorly understood. Here, we report that K-RasG12D promotes global suppression of miRNA activity, resulting in the upregulation of hundreds of targets. We constructed a comprehensive profile of physiological miRNA targets in mouse colonic epithelium and tumors expressing K-RasG12D using Halo-enhanced Argonaute pull-down. Combining this with parallel datasets of chromatin accessibility, transcriptome, and proteome, we uncovered that K-RasG12D suppressed the expression of Csnk1a1 and Csnk2a1, subsequently decreasing Ago2 phosphorylation at Ser825/829/832/835. Hypo-phosphorylated Ago2 increased binding to mRNAs while reducing its activity to repress miRNA targets. Our findings connect a potent regulatory mechanism of global miRNA activity to K-Ras in a pathophysiological context and provide a mechanistic link between oncogenic K-Ras and the post-transcriptional upregulation of miRNA targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bing Shui
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Division of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Tyler S Beyett
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Zhengyi Chen
- Epithelial Biology Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Chemical and Physical Biology Program, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Xiaoyi Li
- Cancer Biology and Genetics Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA; Louis V. Gerstner Jr. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Gaspare La Rocca
- Cancer Biology and Genetics Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - William M Gazlay
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125, USA
| | - Michael J Eck
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Ken S Lau
- Epithelial Biology Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Chemical and Physical Biology Program, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Andrea Ventura
- Cancer Biology and Genetics Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Kevin M Haigis
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Harvard Digestive Disease Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
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Li Y, Yi Y, Lv J, Gao X, Yu Y, Babu S, Bruno I, Zhao D, Xia B, Peng W, Zhu J, Chen H, Zhang L, Cao Q, Chen K. Low RNA stability signifies increased post-transcriptional regulation of cell identity genes. Nucleic Acids Res 2023; 51:6020-6038. [PMID: 37125636 PMCID: PMC10325912 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2021] [Revised: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Cell identity genes are distinct from other genes with respect to the epigenetic mechanisms to activate their transcription, e.g. by super-enhancers and broad H3K4me3 domains. However, it remains unclear whether their post-transcriptional regulation is also unique. We performed a systematic analysis of transcriptome-wide RNA stability in nine cell types and found that unstable transcripts were enriched in cell identity-related pathways while stable transcripts were enriched in housekeeping pathways. Joint analyses of RNA stability and chromatin state revealed significant enrichment of super-enhancers and broad H3K4me3 domains at the gene loci of unstable transcripts. Intriguingly, the RNA m6A methyltransferase, METTL3, preferentially binds to chromatin at super-enhancers, broad H3K4me3 domains and their associated genes. METTL3 binding intensity is positively correlated with RNA m6A methylation and negatively correlated with RNA stability of cell identity genes, probably due to co-transcriptional m6A modifications promoting RNA decay. Nanopore direct RNA-sequencing showed that METTL3 knockdown has a stronger effect on RNA m6A and mRNA stability for cell identity genes. Our data suggest a run-and-brake model, where cell identity genes undergo both frequent transcription and fast RNA decay to achieve precise regulation of RNA expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanqiang Li
- Basic and Translational Research Division, Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Houston Methodist Research Institute, The Methodist Hospital System, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Yang Yi
- Department of Urology, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
| | - Jie Lv
- Houston Methodist Research Institute, The Methodist Hospital System, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Xinlei Gao
- Basic and Translational Research Division, Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Houston Methodist Research Institute, The Methodist Hospital System, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Yang Yu
- Basic and Translational Research Division, Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Sahana Suresh Babu
- Houston Methodist Research Institute, The Methodist Hospital System, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Ivone Bruno
- Houston Methodist Research Institute, The Methodist Hospital System, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Dongyu Zhao
- Basic and Translational Research Division, Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Houston Methodist Research Institute, The Methodist Hospital System, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Bo Xia
- Houston Methodist Research Institute, The Methodist Hospital System, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Weiqun Peng
- Department of Physics, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Jun Zhu
- Systems Biology Center, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Hong Chen
- Vascular Biology Program, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Lili Zhang
- Basic and Translational Research Division, Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Houston Methodist Research Institute, The Methodist Hospital System, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Qi Cao
- Department of Urology, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
| | - Kaifu Chen
- Basic and Translational Research Division, Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Houston Methodist Research Institute, The Methodist Hospital System, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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Alachkar N, Norton D, Wolkensdorfer Z, Muldoon M, Paszek P. Variability of the innate immune response is globally constrained by transcriptional bursting. Front Mol Biosci 2023; 10:1176107. [PMID: 37441161 PMCID: PMC10333517 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1176107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Transcription of almost all mammalian genes occurs in stochastic bursts, however the fundamental control mechanisms that allow appropriate single-cell responses remain unresolved. Here we utilise single cell genomics data and stochastic models of transcription to perform global analysis of the toll-like receptor (TLR)-induced gene expression variability. Based on analysis of more than 2000 TLR-response genes across multiple experimental conditions we demonstrate that the single-cell, gene-by-gene expression variability can be empirically described by a linear function of the population mean. We show that response heterogeneity of individual genes can be characterised by the slope of the mean-variance line, which captures how cells respond to stimulus and provides insight into evolutionary differences between species. We further demonstrate that linear relationships theoretically determine the underlying transcriptional bursting kinetics, revealing different regulatory modes of TLR response heterogeneity. Stochastic modelling of temporal scRNA-seq count distributions demonstrates that increased response variability is associated with larger and more frequent transcriptional bursts, which emerge via increased complexity of transcriptional regulatory networks between genes and different species. Overall, we provide a methodology relying on inference of empirical mean-variance relationships from single cell data and new insights into control of innate immune response variability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nissrin Alachkar
- Division of Immunology, Immunity to Infection and Respiratory Medicine, Lydia Becker Institute of Immunology and Inflammation, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Dale Norton
- Division of Immunology, Immunity to Infection and Respiratory Medicine, Lydia Becker Institute of Immunology and Inflammation, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Zsofia Wolkensdorfer
- Division of Immunology, Immunity to Infection and Respiratory Medicine, Lydia Becker Institute of Immunology and Inflammation, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Mark Muldoon
- Department of Mathematics, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Pawel Paszek
- Division of Immunology, Immunity to Infection and Respiratory Medicine, Lydia Becker Institute of Immunology and Inflammation, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
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Abstract
Chemical modifications on mRNA represent a critical layer of gene expression regulation. Research in this area has continued to accelerate over the last decade, as more modifications are being characterized with increasing depth and breadth. mRNA modifications have been demonstrated to influence nearly every step from the early phases of transcript synthesis in the nucleus through to their decay in the cytoplasm, but in many cases, the molecular mechanisms involved in these processes remain mysterious. Here, we highlight recent work that has elucidated the roles of mRNA modifications throughout the mRNA life cycle, describe gaps in our understanding and remaining open questions, and offer some forward-looking perspective on future directions in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wendy V Gilbert
- Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA;
| | - Sigrid Nachtergaele
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA;
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Wang E, Li Y, Li H, Liu Y, Ming R, Wei J, Du P, Li X, Zong S, Xiao H. METTL3 Reduces Oxidative Stress-induced Apoptosis in Presbycusis by Regulating the N6-methyladenosine Level of SIRT1 mRNA. Neuroscience 2023; 521:110-122. [PMID: 37087022 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2023.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2022] [Revised: 02/26/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2023] [Indexed: 04/24/2023]
Abstract
N6-methyl adenosine (m6A) modification is known to play a crucial role in various aging-related diseases. However, its involvement in presbycusis, a type of age-related hearing loss, is not yet clear. We examined the changes in oxidative stress levels in both plasma of presbycusis patients and mice. To determine the expression of m6A and its functional enzymes, we used liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and RT-PCR to analyze the total RNA of presbycusis patients blood cells (n = 8). Additionally, we detected the expression of m6A functional enzymes in the cochlea of presbycusis mice using immunohistochemistry. We assessed the effects of m6A methyltransferase METTL3 on SIRT1 protein expression, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and apoptosis in an oxidative stress model of organ of Corti 1 (OC1) cells. To observe the effect on SIRT1 protein expression, we interfered with the m6A recognition protein IGF2BP3 using siRNA. In both presbycusis patients and mice, there was an increased level of oxidative stress in plasma.There was a decrease in the expression of m6A, METTL3, and IGF2BP3 in presbycusis patients blood cells. The expression of METTL3 and IGF2BP3 was also reduced in the cochlea of presbycusis mice. In OC1 cells, METTL3 positively regulated SIRT1 protein levels, while reversely regulated the level of ROS and apoptosis. IGF2BP3 was found to be involved in the regulation of SIRT1 protein expression. In addition, METTL3 may play a protective role in oxidative stress-induced injury of OC1 cells, while both METTL3 and IGF2BP3 cooperatively regulate the level of m6A and the fate of SIRT1 mRNA in OC1 cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enhao Wang
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Yang Li
- Department of Prosthodontics, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, National Engineering Laboratory for Digital and Material Technology of Stomatology, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Beijing Key Laboratory of Digital Stomatology, Beijing, China
| | - Hejie Li
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Yingzhao Liu
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Ruijie Ming
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Jiahui Wei
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Peiyu Du
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Xiangrui Li
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Shimin Zong
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
| | - Hongjun Xiao
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
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Zou Y, Ma X, Chen Q, Xu E, Yu J, Tang Y, Wang D, Yu S, Qiu L. Nightshift work can induce oxidative DNA damage: a pilot study. BMC Public Health 2023; 23:891. [PMID: 37189122 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-15742-4] [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: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Regular sleep is very important for human health; however, the short-term and long-term effects of nightshift with sleep deprivation and disturbance on human metabolism, such as oxidative stress, have not been effectively evaluated based on a realistic cohort. We conducted the first long-term follow-up cohort study to evaluate the effect of nightshift work on DNA damage. METHODS We recruited 16 healthy volunteers (aged 33 ± 5 years) working night shifts at the Department of Laboratory Medicine at a local hospital. Their matched serum and urine samples were collected at four time points: before, during (twice), and after the nightshift period. The levels of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanosine (8-oxoG) and 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG), two important nucleic-acid damage markers, were accurately determined based on a robust self-established LC‒MS/MS method. The Mann-Whitney U or Kruskal-Wallis test was used for comparisons, and Pearson's or Spearman's correlation analysis was used to calculate the correlation coefficients. RESULTS The levels of serum 8-oxodG, estimated glomerular filtration rate-corrected serum 8-oxodG, and the serum-to-urine 8-oxodG ratio significantly increased during the nightshift period. These levels were significantly higher than pre-nightshift work level even after 1 month of discontinuation, but no such significant change was found for 8-oxoG. Moreover, 8-oxoG and 8-oxodG levels were significantly positively associated with many routine biomarkers, such as total bilirubin and urea levels, and significantly negatively associated with serum lipids, such as total cholesterol levels. CONCLUSION The results of our cohort study suggested that working night shifts may increase oxidative DNA damage even after a month of discontinuing nightshift work. Further studies with large-scale cohorts, different nightshift modes, and longer follow-up times are needed to clarify the short- and long-term effects of night shifts on DNA damage and find effective solutions to combat the negative effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yutong Zou
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 1 Shuaifu Yuan, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, PR China
| | - Xiaoli Ma
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 1 Shuaifu Yuan, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, PR China
- Medical Science Research Center (MRC), Peking Union Medical College, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100730, China
| | - Qian Chen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 1 Shuaifu Yuan, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, PR China
| | - Ermu Xu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 1 Shuaifu Yuan, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, PR China
| | - Jialei Yu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 1 Shuaifu Yuan, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, PR China
| | - Yueming Tang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 1 Shuaifu Yuan, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, PR China
| | - Danchen Wang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 1 Shuaifu Yuan, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, PR China
| | - Songlin Yu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 1 Shuaifu Yuan, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, PR China.
| | - Ling Qiu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 1 Shuaifu Yuan, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, PR China.
- State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 1 Shuaifu Yuan, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100730, PR China.
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42
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Chen B, Julg B, Mohandas S, Bradfute SB. Viral persistence, reactivation, and mechanisms of long COVID. eLife 2023; 12:e86015. [PMID: 37140960 PMCID: PMC10159620 DOI: 10.7554/elife.86015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 58.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 global pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has infected hundreds of millions of individuals. Following COVID-19 infection, a subset can develop a wide range of chronic symptoms affecting diverse organ systems referred to as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), also known as long COVID. A National Institutes of Health-sponsored initiative, RECOVER: Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery, has sought to understand the basis of long COVID in a large cohort. Given the range of symptoms that occur in long COVID, the mechanisms that may underlie these diverse symptoms may also be diverse. In this review, we focus on the emerging literature supporting the role(s) that viral persistence or reactivation of viruses may play in PASC. Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA or antigens is reported in some organs, yet the mechanism by which they do so and how they may be associated with pathogenic immune responses is unclear. Understanding the mechanisms of persistence of RNA, antigen or other reactivated viruses and how they may relate to specific inflammatory responses that drive symptoms of PASC may provide a rationale for treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Chen
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiNew YorkUnited States
| | - Boris Julg
- Infectious Diseases Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT and HarvardBostonUnited States
| | - Sindhu Mohandas
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Steven B Bradfute
- Center for Global Health, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences CenterAlbuquerqueUnited States
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43
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Platania A, Erb C, Barbieri M, Molcrette B, Grandgirard E, de Kort MAC, Meaburn K, Taylor T, Shchuka VM, Kocanova S, Oliveira GM, Mitchell JA, Soutoglou E, Lenstra TL, Molina N, Papantonis A, Bystricky K, Sexton T. Competition between transcription and loop extrusion modulates promoter and enhancer dynamics. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.04.25.538222. [PMID: 37162887 PMCID: PMC10168261 DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.25.538222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
The spatiotemporal configuration of genes with distal regulatory elements, and the impact of chromatin mobility on transcription, remain unclear. Loop extrusion is an attractive model for bringing genetic elements together, but how this functionally interacts with transcription is also largely unknown. We combine live tracking of genomic loci and nascent transcripts with molecular dynamics simulations to assess the 4D arrangement of the Sox2 gene and its enhancer, in response to a battery of perturbations. We find that alterations in chromatin mobility, not promoter-enhancer distance, is more informative about transcriptional status. Active elements display more constrained mobility, consistent with confinement within specialized nuclear sites, and alterations in enhancer mobility distinguish poised from transcribing alleles. Strikingly, we find that whereas loop extrusion and transcription factor-mediated clustering contribute to promoter-enhancer proximity, they have antagonistic effects on chromatin dynamics. This provides an experimental framework for the underappreciated role of chromatin dynamics in genome regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angeliki Platania
- Department of Functional Genomics and Cancer, Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), UMR7104, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, U1258, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, University of Strasbourg, 6704 Illkirch, France
| | - Cathie Erb
- Department of Functional Genomics and Cancer, Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), UMR7104, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, U1258, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, University of Strasbourg, 6704 Illkirch, France
| | - Mariano Barbieri
- Translational Epigenetics Group, Institute of Pathology, University Medical Centre Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Bastien Molcrette
- Department of Functional Genomics and Cancer, Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), UMR7104, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, U1258, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, University of Strasbourg, 6704 Illkirch, France
| | - Erwan Grandgirard
- Department of Functional Genomics and Cancer, Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), UMR7104, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, U1258, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, University of Strasbourg, 6704 Illkirch, France
| | - Marit AC de Kort
- Division of Gene Regulation, the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Oncode Institute, 1066CX Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Karen Meaburn
- Genome Damage and Stability Centre, Sussex University, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - Tiegh Taylor
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M55 3G5, Canada
| | - Virlana M Shchuka
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M55 3G5, Canada
| | - Silvia Kocanova
- Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology unit (MCD), Centre de Biologie Integrative (CBI) University of Toulouse Paul Sabatier, CNRS, 31062 Toulouse, France
| | - Guilherme Monteiro Oliveira
- Department of Functional Genomics and Cancer, Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), UMR7104, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, U1258, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, University of Strasbourg, 6704 Illkirch, France
| | - Jennifer A Mitchell
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M55 3G5, Canada
| | - Evi Soutoglou
- Genome Damage and Stability Centre, Sussex University, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - Tineke L Lenstra
- Division of Gene Regulation, the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Oncode Institute, 1066CX Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Nacho Molina
- Department of Functional Genomics and Cancer, Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), UMR7104, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, U1258, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, University of Strasbourg, 6704 Illkirch, France
| | - Argyris Papantonis
- Translational Epigenetics Group, Institute of Pathology, University Medical Centre Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Kerstin Bystricky
- Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology unit (MCD), Centre de Biologie Integrative (CBI) University of Toulouse Paul Sabatier, CNRS, 31062 Toulouse, France
- Institut Universitaire de France (IUF)
| | - Tom Sexton
- Department of Functional Genomics and Cancer, Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), UMR7104, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, U1258, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, University of Strasbourg, 6704 Illkirch, France
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Liu C, Kudo T, Ye X, Gascoigne K. Cell-to-cell variability in Myc dynamics drives transcriptional heterogeneity in cancer cells. Cell Rep 2023; 42:112401. [PMID: 37060565 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112401] [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: 10/14/2022] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 04/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Cell-to-cell heterogeneity is vital for tumor evolution and survival. How cancer cells achieve and exploit this heterogeneity remains an active area of research. Here, we identify c-Myc as a highly heterogeneously expressed transcription factor and an orchestrator of transcriptional and phenotypic diversity in cancer cells. By monitoring endogenous c-Myc protein in individual living cells, we report the surprising pulsatile nature of c-Myc expression and the extensive cell-to-cell variability in its dynamics. We further show that heterogeneity in c-Myc dynamics leads to variable target gene transcription and that timing of c-Myc expression predicts cell-cycle progression rates and drug sensitivities. Together, our data advocate for a model in which cancer cells increase the heterogeneity of functionally diverse transcription factors such as c-Myc to rapidly survey transcriptional landscapes and survive stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chad Liu
- Department of Discovery Oncology, Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Takamasa Kudo
- Department of Cellular and Tissue Genomics, Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Xin Ye
- Department of Discovery Oncology, Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Karen Gascoigne
- Department of Discovery Oncology, Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA.
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45
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Rhodes C, Lewis C, Price K, Valentine A, Creighton MRA, Boone E, Seashols-Williams S. Evaluation and Verification of a microRNA Panel Using Quadratic Discriminant Analysis for the Classification of Human Body Fluids in DNA Extracts. Genes (Basel) 2023; 14:genes14050968. [PMID: 37239328 DOI: 10.3390/genes14050968] [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: 03/17/2023] [Revised: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/22/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
There is significant interest in the use of miRNA analysis for forensic body fluid identification. Demonstrated co-extraction and detection in DNA extracts could make the use of miRNAs a more streamlined molecular body fluid identification method than other RNA-based methods. We previously reported a reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) panel of eight miRNAs that classified venous and menstrual blood, feces, urine, saliva, semen, and vaginal secretions using a quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA) model with 93% accuracy in RNA extracts. Herein, miRNA expression in DNA extracts from 50 donors of each body fluid were tested using the model. Initially, a classification rate of 87% was obtained, which increased to 92% when three additional miRNAs were added. Body fluid identification was found to be reliable across population samples of mixed ages, ethnicities, and sex, with 72-98% of the unknown samples classifying correctly. The model was then tested against compromised samples and over biological cycles, where classification accuracy varied, depending on the body fluid. In conclusion, we demonstrated the ability to classify body fluids using miRNA expression from DNA extracts, eliminating the need for RNA extraction, greatly reducing evidentiary sample consumption and processing time in forensic laboratories, but acknowledge that compromised semen and saliva samples can fail to classify properly, and mixed sample classification remains untested and may have limitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ciara Rhodes
- Department of Forensic Science, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 843079, 1015 Floyd Ave., Richmond, VA 23284-3079, USA
- Integrative Life Sciences Program, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 842030, 1000 West Cary St., Richmond, VA 23284-2030, USA
| | - Carolyn Lewis
- Department of Forensic Science, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 843079, 1015 Floyd Ave., Richmond, VA 23284-3079, USA
- Integrative Life Sciences Program, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 842030, 1000 West Cary St., Richmond, VA 23284-2030, USA
| | - Kelsey Price
- Department of Forensic Science, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 843079, 1015 Floyd Ave., Richmond, VA 23284-3079, USA
| | - Anaya Valentine
- Department of Forensic Science, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 843079, 1015 Floyd Ave., Richmond, VA 23284-3079, USA
| | - Mary-Randall A Creighton
- Center for Biological Data Science, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 842030, 1015 Floyd Ave., Richmond, VA 23284-2030, USA
| | - Edward Boone
- Department of Statistical Sciences and Operations Research, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 843083, 1015 Floyd Ave., Richmond, VA 23284-3083, USA
| | - Sarah Seashols-Williams
- Department of Forensic Science, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 843079, 1015 Floyd Ave., Richmond, VA 23284-3079, USA
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Martinez-Corral R, Park M, Biette KM, Friedrich D, Scholes C, Khalil AS, Gunawardena J, DePace AH. Transcriptional kinetic synergy: A complex landscape revealed by integrating modeling and synthetic biology. Cell Syst 2023; 14:324-339.e7. [PMID: 37080164 PMCID: PMC10472254 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2023.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Revised: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2023]
Abstract
Transcription factors (TFs) control gene expression, often acting synergistically. Classical thermodynamic models offer a biophysical explanation for synergy based on binding cooperativity and regulated recruitment of RNA polymerase. Because transcription requires polymerase to transition through multiple states, recent work suggests that "kinetic synergy" can arise through TFs acting on distinct steps of the transcription cycle. These types of synergy are not mutually exclusive and are difficult to disentangle conceptually and experimentally. Here, we model and build a synthetic circuit in which TFs bind to a single shared site on DNA, such that TFs cannot synergize by simultaneous binding. We model mRNA production as a function of both TF binding and regulation of the transcription cycle, revealing a complex landscape dependent on TF concentration, DNA binding affinity, and regulatory activity. We use synthetic TFs to confirm that the transcription cycle must be integrated with recruitment for a quantitative understanding of gene regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Minhee Park
- Biological Design Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Kelly M Biette
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Dhana Friedrich
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Clarissa Scholes
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Ahmad S Khalil
- Biological Design Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Jeremy Gunawardena
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Angela H DePace
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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47
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Jana S, Dines M, Lalzar M, Lamprecht R. Fear Conditioning Leads to Enduring Alterations in RNA Transcripts in Hippocampal Neuropil that are Dependent on EphB2 Forward Signaling. Mol Neurobiol 2023; 60:2320-2329. [PMID: 36637747 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-022-03191-w] [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: 07/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/23/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Alterations in mRNA transcription have been associated with changes in brain functions. We wanted to examine if fear conditioning causes long-term changes in transcriptome profiles in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and hippocampus using RNA-Seq and laser microdissection microscopy. We further aimed to uncover whether these changes are involved in memory formation by monitoring their levels in EphB2lacZ/lacZ mice, which lack EphB2 forward signaling and can form short-term fear conditioning memory but not long-term fear conditioning memory. We found transcriptome signatures unique to each brain region that are comprise of specific cellular pathways. We also revealed that fear conditioning leads to alterations in mRNAs levels 24 h after training in hippocampal neuropil, but not in hippocampal cell layers or BLA. The two main groups of altered mRNAs encode proteins involved in neuronal transmission, neuronal morphogenesis and neuronal development and the vast majority are known to be enriched in neurons. None of these mRNAs levels were altered by fear conditioning in EphB2lacZ/lacZ mice, which were also impaired in long-term fear memory. We show here that fear conditioning leads to an enduring alteration in mRNAs levels in hippocampal neuropil that is dependent on processes mediated by EphB2 that are needed for long-term memory formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Subhajit Jana
- Sagol Department of Neurobiology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Monica Dines
- Sagol Department of Neurobiology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Maya Lalzar
- Bioinformatics Service Unit, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Raphael Lamprecht
- Sagol Department of Neurobiology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
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48
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Popovic R, Yu Y, Leal NS, Fedele G, Loh SHY, Martins LM. Upregulation of Tribbles decreases body weight and increases sleep duration. Dis Model Mech 2023; 16:dmm049942. [PMID: 37083954 PMCID: PMC10151826 DOI: 10.1242/dmm.049942] [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: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 03/16/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Eukaryotic Tribbles proteins are pseudoenzymes that regulate multiple aspects of intracellular signalling. Both Drosophila melanogaster and mammalian members of this family of pseudokinases act as negative regulators of insulin signalling. Mammalian tribbles pseudokinase (TRIB) genes have also been linked to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with increased body weight, sleep problems and increased long-term mortality. Here, we investigated how manipulating the expression of Tribbles impacts body weight, sleep and mortality. We showed that the overexpression of Drosophila tribbles (trbl) in the fly fat body reduces both body weight and lifespan in adult flies without affecting food intake. Furthermore, it decreases the levels of Drosophila insulin-like peptide 2 (DILP2; ILP2) and increases night-time sleep. The three genes encoding TRIBs of mammals, TRIB1, TRIB2 and TRIB3, show both common and unique features. As the three human TRIB genes share features with Drosophila trbl, we further explored the links between TRIB genetic variants and both body weight and sleep in the human population. We identified associations between the polymorphisms and expression levels of the pseudokinases and markers of body weight and sleep duration. We conclude that Tribbles pseudokinases are involved in the control of body weight, lifespan and sleep.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebeka Popovic
- MRC Toxicology Unit, University of Cambridge, Gleeson Building, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QR, UK
| | - Yizhou Yu
- MRC Toxicology Unit, University of Cambridge, Gleeson Building, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QR, UK
| | - Nuno Santos Leal
- MRC Toxicology Unit, University of Cambridge, Gleeson Building, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QR, UK
| | - Giorgio Fedele
- MRC Toxicology Unit, University of Cambridge, Gleeson Building, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QR, UK
| | - Samantha H. Y. Loh
- MRC Toxicology Unit, University of Cambridge, Gleeson Building, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QR, UK
| | - L. Miguel Martins
- MRC Toxicology Unit, University of Cambridge, Gleeson Building, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QR, UK
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49
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Calia GP, Chen X, Zuckerman B, Weinberger LS. Comparative analysis between single-cell RNA-seq and single-molecule RNA FISH indicates that the pyrimidine nucleobase idoxuridine (IdU) globally amplifies transcriptional noise. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.03.14.532632. [PMID: 36993609 PMCID: PMC10055090 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.14.532632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
Stochastic fluctuations (noise) in transcription generate substantial cell-to-cell variability, but the physiological roles of noise have remained difficult to determine in the absence of generalized noise-modulation approaches. Previous single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) suggested that the pyrimidine-base analog (5'-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine, IdU) could generally amplify noise without substantially altering mean-expression levels but scRNA-seq technical drawbacks potentially obscured the penetrance of IdU-induced transcriptional noise amplification. Here we quantify global-vs.-partial penetrance of IdU-induced noise amplification by assessing scRNA-seq data using numerous normalization algorithms and directly quantifying noise using single-molecule RNA FISH (smFISH) for a panel of genes from across the transcriptome. Alternate scRNA-seq analyses indicate IdU-induced noise amplification for ~90% of genes, and smFISH data verified noise amplification for ~90% of tested genes. Collectively, this analysis indicates which scRNA-seq algorithms are appropriate for quantifying noise and argues that IdU is a globally penetrant noise-enhancer molecule that could enable investigations of the physiological impacts of transcriptional noise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuliana P. Calia
- Gladstone|UCSF Center for Cell Circuitry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158
| | - Xinyue Chen
- Gladstone|UCSF Center for Cell Circuitry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158
| | - Binyamin Zuckerman
- Gladstone|UCSF Center for Cell Circuitry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158
| | - Leor S. Weinberger
- Gladstone|UCSF Center for Cell Circuitry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158
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50
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Brocato ER, Wolstenholme JT. Adolescent binge ethanol impacts H3K36me3 regulation of synaptic genes. Front Mol Neurosci 2023; 16:1082104. [PMID: 36937047 PMCID: PMC10020663 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2023.1082104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2022] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Adolescence is marked in part by the ongoing development of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Binge ethanol use during this critical stage in neurodevelopment induces significant structural changes to the PFC, as well as cognitive and behavioral deficits that can last into adulthood. Previous studies showed that adolescent binge ethanol causes lasting deficits in working memory, decreases in the expression of chromatin remodeling genes responsible for the methylation of histone 3 lysine 36 (H3K36), and global decreases in H3K36 in the PFC. H3K36me3 is present within the coding region of actively-transcribed genes, and safeguards against aberrant, cryptic transcription by RNA Polymerase II. We hypothesize that altered methylation of H3K36 could play a role in adolescent binge ethanol-induced memory deficits. To investigate this at the molecular level, ethanol (4 g/kg, i.g.) or water was administered intermittently to adolescent mice. RNA-and ChIP-sequencing were then performed within the same tissue to determine gene expression changes and identify genes and loci where H3K36me3 was disrupted by ethanol. We further assessed ethanol-induced changes at the transcription level with differential exon-use and cryptic transcription analysis - a hallmark of decreased H3K36me3. Here, we found ethanol-induced changes to the gene expression and H3K36me3-regulation of synaptic-related genes in all our analyses. Notably, H3K36me3 was differentially trimethylated between ethanol and control conditions at synaptic-related genes, and Snap25 and Cplx1 showed evidence of cryptic transcription in males and females treated with ethanol during adolescence. Our results provide preliminary evidence that ethanol-induced changes to H3K36me3 during adolescent neurodevelopment may be linked to synaptic dysregulation at the transcriptional level, which may explain the reported ethanol-induced changes to PFC synaptic function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily R. Brocato
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States
| | - Jennifer T. Wolstenholme
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States
- VCU Alcohol Research Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States
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