1
|
Houzelstein D, Eozenou C, Lagos CF, Elzaiat M, Bignon-Topalovic J, Gonzalez I, Laville V, Schlick L, Wankanit S, Madon P, Kirtane J, Athalye A, Buonocore F, Bigou S, Conway GS, Bohl D, Achermann JC, Bashamboo A, McElreavey K. A conserved NR5A1-responsive enhancer regulates SRY in testis-determination. Nat Commun 2024; 15:2796. [PMID: 38555298 PMCID: PMC10981742 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47162-2] [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: 07/10/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024] Open
Abstract
The Y-linked SRY gene initiates mammalian testis-determination. However, how the expression of SRY is regulated remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that a conserved steroidogenic factor-1 (SF-1)/NR5A1 binding enhancer is required for appropriate SRY expression to initiate testis-determination in humans. Comparative sequence analysis of SRY 5' regions in mammals identified an evolutionary conserved SF-1/NR5A1-binding motif within a 250 bp region of open chromatin located 5 kilobases upstream of the SRY transcription start site. Genomic analysis of 46,XY individuals with disrupted testis-determination, including a large multigenerational family, identified unique single-base substitutions of highly conserved residues within the SF-1/NR5A1-binding element. In silico modelling and in vitro assays demonstrate the enhancer properties of the NR5A1 motif. Deletion of this hemizygous element by genome-editing, in a novel in vitro cellular model recapitulating human Sertoli cell formation, resulted in a significant reduction in expression of SRY. Therefore, human NR5A1 acts as a regulatory switch between testis and ovary development by upregulating SRY expression, a role that may predate the eutherian radiation. We show that disruption of an enhancer can phenocopy variants in the coding regions of SRY that cause human testis dysgenesis. Since disease causing variants in enhancers are currently rare, the regulation of gene expression in testis-determination offers a paradigm to define enhancer activity in a key developmental process.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Denis Houzelstein
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Human Developmental Genetics Unit, F-75015, Paris, France.
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS, UMR 3738, Paris, France.
| | - Caroline Eozenou
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Human Developmental Genetics Unit, F-75015, Paris, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS, UMR 3738, Paris, France
- Institut Cochin, Université Paris Cité, INSERM, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Carlos F Lagos
- Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery Lab, Escuela de Química y Farmacia, Facultad de Medicina y Ciencia, Universidad San Sebastián, Campus Los Leones, Lota 2465 Providencia, 7510157, Santiago, Chile
- Centro Ciencia & Vida, Fundación Ciencia & Vida, Av. del Valle Norte 725, Huechuraba, 8580702, Santiago, Chile
| | - Maëva Elzaiat
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Human Developmental Genetics Unit, F-75015, Paris, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS, UMR 3738, Paris, France
| | - Joelle Bignon-Topalovic
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Human Developmental Genetics Unit, F-75015, Paris, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS, UMR 3738, Paris, France
| | - Inma Gonzalez
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS, UMR 3738, Paris, France
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Epigenomics, Proliferation, and the Identity of Cells Unit, F-75015, Paris, France
| | - Vincent Laville
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS, UMR 3738, Paris, France
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Stem Cells and Development Unit, F-75015, Paris, France
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Hub, F-75015, Paris, France
| | - Laurène Schlick
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Human Developmental Genetics Unit, F-75015, Paris, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS, UMR 3738, Paris, France
| | - Somboon Wankanit
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Human Developmental Genetics Unit, F-75015, Paris, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS, UMR 3738, Paris, France
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Prochi Madon
- Department of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, India
| | - Jyotsna Kirtane
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, India
| | - Arundhati Athalye
- Department of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, India
| | - Federica Buonocore
- Genetics and Genomic Medicine Research & Teaching Department, UCL GOS Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Stéphanie Bigou
- ICV-iPS core facility, Sorbonne Université, Institut du Cerveau - Paris Brain Institute - ICM, Inserm, CNRS, APHP, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France
| | - Gerard S Conway
- Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Delphine Bohl
- ICV-iPS core facility, Sorbonne Université, Institut du Cerveau - Paris Brain Institute - ICM, Inserm, CNRS, APHP, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France
- Sorbonne Université, Institut du Cerveau - Paris Brain Institute - ICM, Inserm, CNRS, APHP, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France
| | - John C Achermann
- Genetics and Genomic Medicine Research & Teaching Department, UCL GOS Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Anu Bashamboo
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Human Developmental Genetics Unit, F-75015, Paris, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS, UMR 3738, Paris, France
| | - Ken McElreavey
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Human Developmental Genetics Unit, F-75015, Paris, France.
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS, UMR 3738, Paris, France.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Lack N, Altintas UB, Seo JH, Giambartolomei C, Ozturan D, Fortunato B, Nelson G, Goldman S, Adelman K, Hach F, Freedman M. Decoding the Epigenetics and Chromatin Loop Dynamics of Androgen Receptor-Mediated Transcription. RESEARCH SQUARE 2024:rs.3.rs-3854707. [PMID: 38352568 PMCID: PMC10862967 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3854707/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/21/2024]
Abstract
Androgen receptor (AR)-mediated transcription plays a critical role in normal prostate development and prostate cancer growth. AR drives gene expression by binding to thousands of cis-regulatory elements (CRE) that loop to hundreds of target promoters. With multiple CREs interacting with a single promoter, it remains unclear how individual AR bound CREs contribute to gene expression. To characterize the involvement of these CREs, we investigated the AR-driven epigenetic and chromosomal chromatin looping changes. We collected a kinetic multi-omic dataset comprised of steady-state mRNA, chromatin accessibility, transcription factor binding, histone modifications, chromatin looping, and nascent RNA. Using an integrated regulatory network, we found that AR binding induces sequential changes in the epigenetic features at CREs, independent of gene expression. Further, we showed that binding of AR does not result in a substantial rewiring of chromatin loops, but instead increases the contact frequency of pre-existing loops to target promoters. Our results show that gene expression strongly correlates to the changes in contact frequency. We then proposed and experimentally validated an unbalanced multi-enhancer model where the impact on gene expression of AR-bound enhancers is heterogeneous, and is proportional to their contact frequency with target gene promoters. Overall, these findings provide new insight into AR-mediated gene expression upon acute androgen simulation and develop a mechanistic framework to investigate nuclear receptor mediated perturbations.
Collapse
|
3
|
Garza AB, Garcia R, Solis LM, Halfon MS, Girgis HZ. EnhancerTracker: Comparing cell-type-specific enhancer activity of DNA sequence triplets via an ensemble of deep convolutional neural networks. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.12.23.573198. [PMID: 38187673 PMCID: PMC10769370 DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.23.573198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
Motivation Transcriptional enhancers - unlike promoters - are unrestrained by distance or strand orientation with respect to their target genes, making their computational identification a challenge. Further, there are insufficient numbers of confirmed enhancers for many cell types, preventing robust training of machine-learning-based models for enhancer prediction for such cell types. Results We present EnhancerTracker , a novel tool that leverages an ensemble of deep separable convolutional neural networks to identify cell-type-specific enhancers with the need of only two confirmed enhancers. EnhancerTracker is trained, validated, and tested on 52,789 putative enhancers obtained from the FANTOM5 Project and control sequences derived from the human genome. Unlike available tools, which accept one sequence at a time, the input to our tool is three sequences; the first two are enhancers active in the same cell type. EnhancerTracker outputs 1 if the third sequence is an enhancer active in the same cell type(s) where the first two enhancers are active. It outputs 0 otherwise. On a held-out set (15%), EnhancerTracker achieved an accuracy of 64%, a specificity of 93%, a recall of 35%, a precision of 84%, and an F1 score of 49%. Availability and implementation https://github.com/BioinformaticsToolsmith/EnhancerTracker. Contact hani.girgis@tamuk.edu.
Collapse
|
4
|
Ying P, Chen C, Lu Z, Chen S, Zhang M, Cai Y, Zhang F, Huang J, Fan L, Ning C, Li Y, Wang W, Geng H, Liu Y, Tian W, Yang Z, Liu J, Huang C, Yang X, Xu B, Li H, Zhu X, Li N, Li B, Wei Y, Zhu Y, Tian J, Miao X. Genome-wide enhancer-gene regulatory maps link causal variants to target genes underlying human cancer risk. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5958. [PMID: 37749132 PMCID: PMC10520073 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41690-z] [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: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies have identified numerous variants associated with human complex traits, most of which reside in the non-coding regions, but biological mechanisms remain unclear. However, assigning function to the non-coding elements is still challenging. Here we apply Activity-by-Contact (ABC) model to evaluate enhancer-gene regulation effect by integrating multi-omics data and identified 544,849 connections across 20 cancer types. ABC model outperforms previous approaches in linking regulatory variants to target genes. Furthermore, we identify over 30,000 enhancer-gene connections in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues. By integrating large-scale population cohorts (23,813 cases and 29,973 controls) and multipronged functional assays, we demonstrate an ABC regulatory variant rs4810856 associated with CRC risk (Odds Ratio = 1.11, 95%CI = 1.05-1.16, P = 4.02 × 10-5) by acting as an allele-specific enhancer to distally facilitate PREX1, CSE1L and STAU1 expression, which synergistically activate p-AKT signaling. Our study provides comprehensive regulation maps and illuminates a single variant regulating multiple genes, providing insights into cancer etiology.
Collapse
Grants
- Distinguished Young Scholars of China (NSFC-81925032), Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC-82130098), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2042022rc0026, 2042023kf1005),Knowledge Innovation Program of Wuhan (2023020201010060).
- Youth Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC-82003547), Program of Health Commission of Hubei Province (WJ2023M045) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (WHU: 2042022kf1031).
- The National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars (NSFC-82322058), Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC-82103929, NSFC-82273713), Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by cst(2022QNRC001), National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of Hubei Province of China (2023AFA046), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (WHU:2042022kf1205) and Knowledge Innovation Program of Wuhan (whkxjsj011, 2023020201010073).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pingting Ying
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
- Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Can Chen
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
- Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Zequn Lu
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
- Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Shuoni Chen
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Ming Zhang
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Yimin Cai
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Fuwei Zhang
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Jinyu Huang
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Linyun Fan
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Caibo Ning
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Yanmin Li
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Wenzhuo Wang
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Hui Geng
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Yizhuo Liu
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Wen Tian
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Zhiyong Yang
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Jiuyang Liu
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Chaoqun Huang
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Xiaojun Yang
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Bin Xu
- Cancer Center, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430060, China
| | - Heng Li
- Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China
| | - Xu Zhu
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Ni Li
- Office of Cancer Screening, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100021, China
| | - Bin Li
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Yongchang Wei
- Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Hubei Cancer Clinical Study Center, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Ying Zhu
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Jianbo Tian
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China.
- Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China.
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China.
| | - Xiaoping Miao
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China.
- Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China.
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China.
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Sciences and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Rahme GJ, Javed NM, Puorro KL, Xin S, Hovestadt V, Johnstone SE, Bernstein BE. Modeling epigenetic lesions that cause gliomas. Cell 2023; 186:3674-3685.e14. [PMID: 37494934 PMCID: PMC10530192 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.06.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
Epigenetic lesions that disrupt regulatory elements represent potential cancer drivers. However, we lack experimental models for validating their tumorigenic impact. Here, we model aberrations arising in isocitrate dehydrogenase-mutant gliomas, which exhibit DNA hypermethylation. We focus on a CTCF insulator near the PDGFRA oncogene that is recurrently disrupted by methylation in these tumors. We demonstrate that disruption of the syntenic insulator in mouse oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) allows an OPC-specific enhancer to contact and induce Pdgfra, thereby increasing proliferation. We show that a second lesion, methylation-dependent silencing of the Cdkn2a tumor suppressor, cooperates with insulator loss in OPCs. Coordinate inactivation of the Pdgfra insulator and Cdkn2a drives gliomagenesis in vivo. Despite locus synteny, the insulator is CpG-rich only in humans, a feature that may confer human glioma risk but complicates mouse modeling. Our study demonstrates the capacity of recurrent epigenetic lesions to drive OPC proliferation in vitro and gliomagenesis in vivo.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gilbert J Rahme
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Departments of Cell Biology and Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Nauman M Javed
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Departments of Cell Biology and Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Kaitlyn L Puorro
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Shouhui Xin
- Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Volker Hovestadt
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Sarah E Johnstone
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Department of Pathology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Bradley E Bernstein
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Departments of Cell Biology and Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Tenney AP, Di Gioia SA, Webb BD, Chan WM, de Boer E, Garnai SJ, Barry BJ, Ray T, Kosicki M, Robson CD, Zhang Z, Collins TE, Gelber A, Pratt BM, Fujiwara Y, Varshney A, Lek M, Warburton PE, Van Ryzin C, Lehky TJ, Zalewski C, King KA, Brewer CC, Thurm A, Snow J, Facio FM, Narisu N, Bonnycastle LL, Swift A, Chines PS, Bell JL, Mohan S, Whitman MC, Staffieri SE, Elder JE, Demer JL, Torres A, Rachid E, Al-Haddad C, Boustany RM, Mackey DA, Brady AF, Fenollar-Cortés M, Fradin M, Kleefstra T, Padberg GW, Raskin S, Sato MT, Orkin SH, Parker SCJ, Hadlock TA, Vissers LELM, van Bokhoven H, Jabs EW, Collins FS, Pennacchio LA, Manoli I, Engle EC. Noncoding variants alter GATA2 expression in rhombomere 4 motor neurons and cause dominant hereditary congenital facial paresis. Nat Genet 2023; 55:1149-1163. [PMID: 37386251 PMCID: PMC10335940 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-023-01424-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023]
Abstract
Hereditary congenital facial paresis type 1 (HCFP1) is an autosomal dominant disorder of absent or limited facial movement that maps to chromosome 3q21-q22 and is hypothesized to result from facial branchial motor neuron (FBMN) maldevelopment. In the present study, we report that HCFP1 results from heterozygous duplications within a neuron-specific GATA2 regulatory region that includes two enhancers and one silencer, and from noncoding single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) within the silencer. Some SNVs impair binding of NR2F1 to the silencer in vitro and in vivo and attenuate in vivo enhancer reporter expression in FBMNs. Gata2 and its effector Gata3 are essential for inner-ear efferent neuron (IEE) but not FBMN development. A humanized HCFP1 mouse model extends Gata2 expression, favors the formation of IEEs over FBMNs and is rescued by conditional loss of Gata3. These findings highlight the importance of temporal gene regulation in development and of noncoding variation in rare mendelian disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alan P Tenney
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Silvio Alessandro Di Gioia
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY, USA
| | - Bryn D Webb
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Wai-Man Chan
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
| | - Elke de Boer
- Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Sarah J Garnai
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Brenda J Barry
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
| | - Tammy Ray
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Michael Kosicki
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Caroline D Robson
- Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Zhongyang Zhang
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Thomas E Collins
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alon Gelber
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Brandon M Pratt
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yuko Fujiwara
- Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Arushi Varshney
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Monkol Lek
- Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Peter E Warburton
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Center for Advanced Genomics Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Carol Van Ryzin
- Metabolic Medicine Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Tanya J Lehky
- EMG Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Christopher Zalewski
- Audiology Unit, Otolaryngology Branch, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Kelly A King
- Audiology Unit, Otolaryngology Branch, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Carmen C Brewer
- Audiology Unit, Otolaryngology Branch, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Audrey Thurm
- Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Phenotyping Service, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Joseph Snow
- Office of the Clinical Director, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Flavia M Facio
- Center for Precision Health Research, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Invitae Corporation, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Narisu Narisu
- Center for Precision Health Research, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Lori L Bonnycastle
- Center for Precision Health Research, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Amy Swift
- Center for Precision Health Research, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Peter S Chines
- Center for Precision Health Research, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Jessica L Bell
- Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Suresh Mohan
- Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Mary C Whitman
- F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sandra E Staffieri
- Centre for Eye Research Australia, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, and University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Ophthalmology, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - James E Elder
- Department of Ophthalmology, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Joseph L Demer
- Stein Eye Institute and Departments of Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Alcy Torres
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center, Boston University Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Elza Rachid
- Department of Ophthalmology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Christiane Al-Haddad
- Department of Ophthalmology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Rose-Mary Boustany
- Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine/Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - David A Mackey
- Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Angela F Brady
- North West Thames Regional Genetics Service, Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, UK
| | - María Fenollar-Cortés
- Unidad de Genética Clínica, Instituto de Medicina del Laboratorio. IdISSC, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Melanie Fradin
- Service de Génétique Clinique, CHU Rennes, Centre Labellisé Anomalies du Développement, Rennes, France
| | - Tjitske Kleefstra
- Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Center of Excellence for Neuropsychiatry, Vincent van Gogh Institute for Psychiatry, Venray, the Netherlands
| | - George W Padberg
- Department of Neurology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Salmo Raskin
- Centro de Aconselhamento e Laboratório Genetika, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Mario Teruo Sato
- Department of Ophthalmology & Otorhinolaryngology, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Stuart H Orkin
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
- Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Stephen C J Parker
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Tessa A Hadlock
- Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Lisenka E L M Vissers
- Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Hans van Bokhoven
- Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Ethylin Wang Jabs
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Cell, Developmental, and Regenerative Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Francis S Collins
- Center for Precision Health Research, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Len A Pennacchio
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Irini Manoli
- Metabolic Medicine Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Elizabeth C Engle
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA.
- Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Kamal A, Arnold C, Claringbould A, Moussa R, Servaas NH, Kholmatov M, Daga N, Nogina D, Mueller‐Dott S, Reyes‐Palomares A, Palla G, Sigalova O, Bunina D, Pabst C, Zaugg JB. GRaNIE and GRaNPA: inference and evaluation of enhancer-mediated gene regulatory networks. Mol Syst Biol 2023; 19:e11627. [PMID: 37073532 PMCID: PMC10258561 DOI: 10.15252/msb.202311627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 04/01/2023] [Accepted: 04/03/2023] [Indexed: 04/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Enhancers play a vital role in gene regulation and are critical in mediating the impact of noncoding genetic variants associated with complex traits. Enhancer activity is a cell-type-specific process regulated by transcription factors (TFs), epigenetic mechanisms and genetic variants. Despite the strong mechanistic link between TFs and enhancers, we currently lack a framework for jointly analysing them in cell-type-specific gene regulatory networks (GRN). Equally important, we lack an unbiased way of assessing the biological significance of inferred GRNs since no complete ground truth exists. To address these gaps, we present GRaNIE (Gene Regulatory Network Inference including Enhancers) and GRaNPA (Gene Regulatory Network Performance Analysis). GRaNIE (https://git.embl.de/grp-zaugg/GRaNIE) builds enhancer-mediated GRNs based on covariation of chromatin accessibility and RNA-seq across samples (e.g. individuals), while GRaNPA (https://git.embl.de/grp-zaugg/GRaNPA) assesses the performance of GRNs for predicting cell-type-specific differential expression. We demonstrate their power by investigating gene regulatory mechanisms underlying the response of macrophages to infection, cancer and common genetic traits including autoimmune diseases. Finally, our methods identify the TF PURA as a putative regulator of pro-inflammatory macrophage polarisation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aryan Kamal
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology UnitHeidelbergGermany
- Faculty of BiosciencesCollaboration for Joint PhD Degree between EMBL and Heidelberg UniversityHeidelbergGermany
| | - Christian Arnold
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology UnitHeidelbergGermany
| | - Annique Claringbould
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology UnitHeidelbergGermany
| | - Rim Moussa
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology UnitHeidelbergGermany
| | - Nila H Servaas
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology UnitHeidelbergGermany
| | - Maksim Kholmatov
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology UnitHeidelbergGermany
| | - Neha Daga
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology UnitHeidelbergGermany
| | - Daria Nogina
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology UnitHeidelbergGermany
| | - Sophia Mueller‐Dott
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology UnitHeidelbergGermany
| | - Armando Reyes‐Palomares
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology UnitHeidelbergGermany
- Present address:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyComplutense University of MadridMadridSpain
| | - Giovanni Palla
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology UnitHeidelbergGermany
- Present address:
Institute of Computational BiologyHelmholtz Center MunichOberschleißheimGermany
| | - Olga Sigalova
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology UnitHeidelbergGermany
- Faculty of BiosciencesCollaboration for Joint PhD Degree between EMBL and Heidelberg UniversityHeidelbergGermany
| | - Daria Bunina
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology UnitHeidelbergGermany
| | - Caroline Pabst
- Department of Medicine V, Hematology, Oncology and RheumatologyUniversity Hospital HeidelbergHeidelbergGermany
- Molecular Medicine Partnership UnitUniversity of HeidelbergHeidelbergGermany
| | - Judith B Zaugg
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology UnitHeidelbergGermany
- Molecular Medicine Partnership UnitUniversity of HeidelbergHeidelbergGermany
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
A Kaleidoscope of Keratin Gene Expression and the Mosaic of Its Regulatory Mechanisms. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24065603. [PMID: 36982676 PMCID: PMC10052683 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24065603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Keratins are a family of intermediate filament-forming proteins highly specific to epithelial cells. A combination of expressed keratin genes is a defining property of the epithelium belonging to a certain type, organ/tissue, cell differentiation potential, and at normal or pathological conditions. In a variety of processes such as differentiation and maturation, as well as during acute or chronic injury and malignant transformation, keratin expression undergoes switching: an initial keratin profile changes accordingly to changed cell functions and location within a tissue as well as other parameters of cellular phenotype and physiology. Tight control of keratin expression implies the presence of complex regulatory landscapes within the keratin gene loci. Here, we highlight patterns of keratin expression in different biological conditions and summarize disparate data on mechanisms controlling keratin expression at the level of genomic regulatory elements, transcription factors (TFs), and chromatin spatial structure.
Collapse
|
9
|
Mohammed Ismail W, Mazzone A, Ghiraldini FG, Kaur J, Bains M, Munankarmy A, Bagwell MS, Safgren SL, Moore-Weiss J, Buciuc M, Shimp L, Leach KA, Duarte LF, Nagi CS, Carcamo S, Chung CY, Hasson D, Dadgar N, Zhong J, Lee JH, Couch FJ, Revzin A, Ordog T, Bernstein E, Gaspar-Maia A. MacroH2A histone variants modulate enhancer activity to repress oncogenic programs and cellular reprogramming. Commun Biol 2023; 6:215. [PMID: 36823213 PMCID: PMC9950461 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04571-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Considerable efforts have been made to characterize active enhancer elements, which can be annotated by accessible chromatin and H3 lysine 27 acetylation (H3K27ac). However, apart from poised enhancers that are observed in early stages of development and putative silencers, the functional significance of cis-regulatory elements lacking H3K27ac is poorly understood. Here we show that macroH2A histone variants mark a subset of enhancers in normal and cancer cells, which we coined 'macro-Bound Enhancers', that modulate enhancer activity. We find macroH2A variants localized at enhancer elements that are devoid of H3K27ac in a cell type-specific manner, indicating a role for macroH2A at inactive enhancers to maintain cell identity. In following, reactivation of macro-bound enhancers is associated with oncogenic programs in breast cancer and their repressive role is correlated with the activity of macroH2A2 as a negative regulator of BRD4 chromatin occupancy. Finally, through single cell epigenomic profiling of normal mammary stem cells derived from mice, we show that macroH2A deficiency facilitates increased activity of transcription factors associated with stem cell activity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wazim Mohammed Ismail
- Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Epigenomics program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Amelia Mazzone
- Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Epigenomics program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Flavia G Ghiraldini
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jagneet Kaur
- Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Epigenomics program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Manvir Bains
- Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Epigenomics program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Amik Munankarmy
- Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Epigenomics program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Monique S Bagwell
- Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Epigenomics program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Stephanie L Safgren
- Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Epigenomics program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - John Moore-Weiss
- Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Epigenomics program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Marina Buciuc
- Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Epigenomics program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Lynzie Shimp
- Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Epigenomics program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Kelsey A Leach
- Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Epigenomics program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Luis F Duarte
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Chandandeep S Nagi
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Saul Carcamo
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Tisch Cancer Institute Bioinformatics for Next Generation Sequencing (BiNGS) Shared Resource Facility, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Chi-Yeh Chung
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Dan Hasson
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Tisch Cancer Institute Bioinformatics for Next Generation Sequencing (BiNGS) Shared Resource Facility, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Neda Dadgar
- Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Jian Zhong
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Epigenomics program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Jeong-Heon Lee
- Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Epigenomics program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Fergus J Couch
- Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Alexander Revzin
- Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Tamas Ordog
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Epigenomics program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Emily Bernstein
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Alexandre Gaspar-Maia
- Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
- Center for Individualized Medicine, Epigenomics program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Harris CS, Miaskowski CA, Conley YP, Hammer MJ, Dhruva AA, Levine JD, Olshen AB, Kober KM. Gastrointestinal Symptom Cluster is Associated With Epigenetic Regulation of Lymphotoxin Beta in Oncology Patients Receiving Chemotherapy. Biol Res Nurs 2023; 25:51-64. [PMID: 35929442 PMCID: PMC9900252 DOI: 10.1177/10998004221115863] [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] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES While the gastrointestinal symptom cluster (GISC) is common in patients receiving chemotherapy, limited information is available on its underlying mechanism(s). Emerging evidence suggests a role for inflammatory processes through the actions of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway. This study evaluated for associations between a GISC and levels of DNA methylation for genes within this pathway. METHODS Prior to their second or third cycle of chemotherapy, 1071 outpatients reported symptom occurrence using the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale. A GISC was identified using exploratory factor analysis. Differential methylation analyses were performed in two independent samples using EPIC (n = 925) and 450K (n = 146) microarrays. Trans expression-associated CpG (eCpG) loci for 56 NF-κB signaling pathway genes were evaluated. Loci significance were assessed using an exploratory false discovery rate (FDR) of 25% for the EPIC sample. For the validation assessment using the 450K sample, significance was assessed at an unadjusted p-value of 0.05. RESULTS For the EPIC sample, the GISC was associated with increased expression of lymphotoxin beta (LTB) at one differentially methylated trans eCpG locus (cg03171795; FDR = 0.168). This association was not validated in the 450K sample. CONCLUSIONS This study is the first to identify an association between a GISC and epigenetic regulation of a gene that is involved in the initiation of gastrointestinal immune responses. Findings suggest that increased LTB expression by hypermethylation of a trans eCpG locus is involved in the occurrence of this cluster in patients receiving chemotherapy. LTB may be a potential therapeutic target for this common cluster.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Christine A. Miaskowski
- School of Nursing, University of
California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- School of Medicine, University of
California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Yvette P. Conley
- School of Nursing, University of
Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Marilyn J. Hammer
- The Phyllis F. Cantor Center for
Research in Nursing and Patient Care Services, Dana-Farber Cancer
Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Anand A. Dhruva
- School of Medicine, University of
California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Jon D. Levine
- School of Medicine, University of
California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Adam B. Olshen
- School of Medicine, University of
California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Kord M. Kober
- School of Nursing, University of
California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Hnf1b renal expression directed by a distal enhancer responsive to Pax8. Sci Rep 2022; 12:19921. [PMID: 36402859 PMCID: PMC9675860 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-21171-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 09/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Xenopus provides a simple and efficient model system to study nephrogenesis and explore the mechanisms causing renal developmental defects in human. Hnf1b (hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 homeobox b), a gene whose mutations are the most commonly identified genetic cause of developmental kidney disease, is required for the acquisition of a proximo-intermediate nephron segment in Xenopus as well as in mouse. Genetic networks involved in Hnf1b expression during kidney development remain poorly understood. We decided to explore the transcriptional regulation of Hnf1b in the developing Xenopus pronephros and mammalian renal cells. Using phylogenetic footprinting, we identified an evolutionary conserved sequence (CNS1) located several kilobases (kb) upstream the Hnf1b transcription start and harboring epigenomic marks characteristics of a distal enhancer in embryonic and adult renal cells in mammals. By means of functional expression assays in Xenopus and mammalian renal cell lines we showed that CNS1 displays enhancer activity in renal tissue. Using CRISPR/cas9 editing in Xenopus tropicalis, we demonstrated the in vivo functional relevance of CNS1 in driving hnf1b expression in the pronephros. We further showed the importance of Pax8-CNS1 interaction for CNS1 enhancer activity allowing us to conclude that Hnf1b is a direct target of Pax8. Our work identified for the first time a Hnf1b renal specific enhancer and may open important perspectives into the diagnosis for congenital kidney anomalies in human, as well as modeling HNF1B-related diseases.
Collapse
|
12
|
Nair SJ, Suter T, Wang S, Yang L, Yang F, Rosenfeld MG. Transcriptional enhancers at 40: evolution of a viral DNA element to nuclear architectural structures. Trends Genet 2022; 38:1019-1047. [PMID: 35811173 PMCID: PMC9474616 DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2022.05.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Revised: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Gene regulation by transcriptional enhancers is the dominant mechanism driving cell type- and signal-specific transcriptional diversity in metazoans. However, over four decades since the original discovery, how enhancers operate in the nuclear space remains largely enigmatic. Recent multidisciplinary efforts combining real-time imaging, genome sequencing, and biophysical strategies provide insightful but conflicting models of enhancer-mediated gene control. Here, we review the discovery and progress in enhancer biology, emphasizing the recent findings that acutely activated enhancers assemble regulatory machinery as mesoscale architectural structures with distinct physical properties. These findings help formulate novel models that explain several mysterious features of the assembly of transcriptional enhancers and the mechanisms of spatial control of gene expression.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sreejith J Nair
- Department of Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USA.
| | - Tom Suter
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department and School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Susan Wang
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department and School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Cellular and Molecular Medicine Graduate Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Lu Yang
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department and School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Feng Yang
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department and School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Michael G Rosenfeld
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department and School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Liang X, Brooks MJ, Swaroop A. Developmental genome-wide occupancy analysis of bZIP transcription factor NRL uncovers the role of c-Jun in early differentiation of rod photoreceptors in the mammalian retina. Hum Mol Genet 2022; 31:3914-3933. [PMID: 35776116 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddac143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2022] [Revised: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The basic motif-leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor NRL determines rod photoreceptor cell fate during retinal development, and its loss leads to cone-only retina in mice. NRL works synergistically with homeodomain protein CRX and other regulatory factors to control the transcription of most genes associated with rod morphogenesis and functional maturation, which span over a period of several weeks in the mammalian retina. We predicted that NRL gradually establishes rod cell identity and function by temporal and dynamic regulation of stage-specific transcriptional targets. Therefore, we mapped the genomic occupancy of NRL at four stages of mouse photoreceptor differentiation by CUT&RUN analysis. Dynamics of NRL-binding revealed concordance with the corresponding changes in transcriptome of the developing rods. Notably, we identified c-Jun proto-oncogene as one of the targets of NRL, which could bind to specific cis-elements in the c-Jun promoter and modulate its activity in HEK293 cells. Coimmunoprecipitation studies showed association of NRL with c-Jun, also a bZIP protein, in transfected cells as well as in developing mouse retina. Additionally, shRNA-mediated knockdown of c-Jun in the mouse retina in vivo resulted in altered expression of almost 1000 genes, with reduced expression of phototransduction genes and many direct targets of NRL in rod photoreceptors. We propose that c-Jun-NRL heterodimers prime the NRL-directed transcriptional program in neonatal rod photoreceptors before high NRL expression suppresses c-Jun at later stages. Our study highlights a broader cooperation among cell-type restricted and widely expressed bZIP proteins, such as c-Jun, in specific spatiotemporal contexts during cellular differentiation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xulong Liang
- Neurobiology, Neurodegeneration and Repair Laboratory, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, 6 Center Drive, MSC0610, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Matthew J Brooks
- Neurobiology, Neurodegeneration and Repair Laboratory, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, 6 Center Drive, MSC0610, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Anand Swaroop
- Neurobiology, Neurodegeneration and Repair Laboratory, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, 6 Center Drive, MSC0610, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Munday RM, Haque R, Jan NJ, Wojcik GL, Marie C, Duchen D, Mentzer AJ, Nayak U, Korpe P, Kirkpatrick BD, Petri WA, Duggal P. Genome-Wide Association Study of Campylobacter -Positive Diarrhea Identifies Genes Involved in Toxin Processing and Inflammatory Response. mBio 2022; 13:e0055622. [PMID: 35420468 PMCID: PMC9239263 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.00556-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Accepted: 03/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Diarrhea is responsible for the deaths of more than 500,000 children each year, many of whom reside in low-to-middle-income countries (LMICs). Additionally, children with multiple diarrheal infections early in life have increased growth stunting and malnutrition and decreased vaccine efficacy. Two bacteria that contribute to the burden of diarrhea are Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli, both are endemic in Bangladesh. However, not all children that are exposed to these pathogens, including Campylobacter, will experience diarrhea. We hypothesized that host genetics may influence susceptibility to Campylobacter infections and performed a genome-wide association study in 534 children from two independent birth cohorts in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Infants were monitored for diarrhea for the first 2 years of life and only defined as controls if all diarrheal samples in the first year were negative for Campylobacter jejuni/C. coli. Each cohort was analyzed separately under an additive model and adjusted for length-for-age z-scores at birth and 12 months, sex, water treatment, and ancestry. In a fixed effect inverse-variance weighted meta-analysis of these two cohorts, we identified a genome-wide significant region on chromosome 8 in intron 4 of the rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 10 gene (ARHGEF10). Individuals with the G allele (rs13281104) had a 2-fold lower risk of having a Campylobacter-associated diarrheal episode than individuals with the A allele (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.58, P = 3.6 × 10-7). This SNP is associated with decreased expression of the neighboring gene, CLN8, which may be involved in the transport of the cytolethal distending toxin produced by Campylobacter. IMPORTANCE Children in low-to-middle-income countries often suffer from multiple enteric infections in their first few years of life, many of which have the potential for long-lasting effects. These children are already likely to be malnourished and underweight, and chronic intestinal disturbances exacerbate these conditions. Despite public health interventions aimed at improving water, sanitation, and hygiene, enteric infections are still a leading cause of death for children under five. Previous work has included transmission dynamics, pathogen characteristics, and evaluation of interventions. Here, we examined the role of host genetic variation in susceptibility to diarrhea-associated Campylobacter infection. In our meta-analysis of two independent birth cohorts from Dhaka, Bangladesh, we found that children carrying a specific genetic variant (rs13281104, in an intron of ARHGEF10) were half as likely to have a diarrhea-associated Campylobacter infection in their first year of life. This protective effect may be achieved by decreasing gene expression and thereby impacting host-pathogen interactions and host immune response.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca M. Munday
- Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Rashidul Haque
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Ning-Jiun Jan
- Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases and International Health, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Genevieve L. Wojcik
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Chelsea Marie
- Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases and International Health, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Dylan Duchen
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Alexander J. Mentzer
- The Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK
| | - Uma Nayak
- Center for Public Health Genomics and Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Poonum Korpe
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Beth D. Kirkpatrick
- University of Vermont College of Medicine and Vaccine Testing Center, Burlington, Vermont, USA
| | - William A. Petri
- Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases and International Health, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Priya Duggal
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Le DH. A network-based method for predicting disease-associated enhancers. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0260432. [PMID: 34879086 PMCID: PMC8654176 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2021] [Accepted: 11/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Enhancers regulate transcription of target genes, causing a change in expression level. Thus, the aberrant activity of enhancers can lead to diseases. To date, a large number of enhancers have been identified, yet a small portion of them have been found to be associated with diseases. This raises a pressing need to develop computational methods to predict associations between diseases and enhancers. Results In this study, we assumed that enhancers sharing target genes could be associated with similar diseases to predict the association. Thus, we built an enhancer functional interaction network by connecting enhancers significantly sharing target genes, then developed a network diffusion method RWDisEnh, based on a random walk with restart algorithm, on networks of diseases and enhancers to globally measure the degree of the association between diseases and enhancers. RWDisEnh performed best when the disease similarities are integrated with the enhancer functional interaction network by known disease-enhancer associations in the form of a heterogeneous network of diseases and enhancers. It was also superior to another network diffusion method, i.e., PageRank with Priors, and a neighborhood-based one, i.e., MaxLink, which simply chooses the closest neighbors of known disease-associated enhancers. Finally, we showed that RWDisEnh could predict novel enhancers, which are either directly or indirectly associated with diseases. Conclusions Taken together, RWDisEnh could be a potential method for predicting disease-enhancer associations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Duc-Hau Le
- School of Computer Science and Engineering, Thuyloi University, Hanoi, Vietnam
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Maurya SS. Role of Enhancers in Development and Diseases. EPIGENOMES 2021; 5:epigenomes5040021. [PMID: 34968246 PMCID: PMC8715447 DOI: 10.3390/epigenomes5040021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2021] [Revised: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Enhancers are cis-regulatory elements containing short DNA sequences that serve as binding sites for pioneer/regulatory transcription factors, thus orchestrating the regulation of genes critical for lineage determination. The activity of enhancer elements is believed to be determined by transcription factor binding, thus determining the cell state identity during development. Precise spatio-temporal control of the transcriptome during lineage specification requires the coordinated binding of lineage-specific transcription factors to enhancers. Thus, enhancers are the primary determinants of cell identity. Numerous studies have explored the role and mechanism of enhancers during development and disease, and various basic questions related to the functions and mechanisms of enhancers have not yet been fully answered. In this review, we discuss the recently published literature regarding the roles of enhancers, which are critical for various biological processes governing development. Furthermore, we also highlight that altered enhancer landscapes provide an essential context to understand the etiologies and mechanisms behind numerous complex human diseases, providing new avenues for effective enhancer-based therapeutic interventions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shailendra S Maurya
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Developmental Biology, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Guan W, Yang N, Zuo X, Wang X, Cao P, Chu Y, Qin Z, Cheng H, Shi X, Ma T, Xu Z, Sun Y. Heritable Variants in the Chromosome 1q22 Locus Increase Gastric Cancer Risk via Altered Chromatin Looping and Increased UBAP2L Expression. Mol Cancer Res 2021; 19:1992-2002. [PMID: 34535561 DOI: 10.1158/1541-7786.mcr-21-0001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2021] [Revised: 06/21/2021] [Accepted: 09/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have implicated the 1q22 gastric cancer risk locus in disease, but little is known about its underlying oncogenic functions. This study represents a systematic investigation of the biological significance and potential mechanism associated with the gastric cancer risk of SNP rs2075570(C>T) in 1q22. We identified two functional germline variations (rs2049805-C and rs2974931-G) in an active enhancer in a 64.8 kb high-linkage disequilibrium block of rs2075570. The enhancer upregulated ubiquitin associated protein 2 like (UBAP2L) gene expression over a 960 kb distance by chromatin looping. Gastric cancer tissues expressed significantly higher levels of UBAP2L than was observed in the matched noncancerous tissues, and the UBAP2L expression was negatively correlated with patient survival. Downregulation of UBAP2L inhibited the proliferation and invasion of human gastric cancer cells in vitro and in a xenograft mouse model. Notably, the two mutant variations significantly enforced the enhancer activity and UBAP2L expression. In conclusion, this study revealed two causal variations in the 1q22 region using tag-SNP rs2075570 as a genetic marker. These variations may affect the occurrence and progression of gastric cancer by reinforcing the expression of the 1q22-Enh enhancer-regulated UBAP2L target gene. IMPLICATIONS: Our study provides an important clue of how noncoding germline variations contribute to gastric cancer, which gives a novel insight into understanding the genetic mechanism of gastric cancer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wei Guan
- Key Laboratory of Human Functional Genomics of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.,Department of General Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Nan Yang
- Key Laboratory of Human Functional Genomics of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Xianglin Zuo
- Key Laboratory of Human Functional Genomics of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.,Department of Cell Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Xuchun Wang
- Key Laboratory of Human Functional Genomics of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.,Department of Cell Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Pingping Cao
- Key Laboratory of Human Functional Genomics of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.,Department of Cell Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Ying Chu
- Key Laboratory of Human Functional Genomics of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.,Department of Cell Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Zhongyong Qin
- Key Laboratory of Human Functional Genomics of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.,Department of Cell Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - He Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Human Functional Genomics of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.,Department of Cell Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Xiao Shi
- Key Laboratory of Human Functional Genomics of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.,Department of Cell Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Tingzheng Ma
- Key Laboratory of Human Functional Genomics of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.,Department of Cell Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Zekuan Xu
- Department of General Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. .,Jiangsu Key Lab of Cancer Biomarkers, Prevention & Treatment, Collaborative Innovation Center for Personalized Cancer Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yujie Sun
- Key Laboratory of Human Functional Genomics of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. .,Department of Cell Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.,Jiangsu Key Lab of Cancer Biomarkers, Prevention & Treatment, Collaborative Innovation Center for Personalized Cancer Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Claringbould A, Zaugg JB. Enhancers in disease: molecular basis and emerging treatment strategies. Trends Mol Med 2021; 27:1060-1073. [PMID: 34420874 DOI: 10.1016/j.molmed.2021.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2021] [Revised: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Enhancers are genomic sequences that play a key role in regulating tissue-specific gene expression levels. An increasing number of diseases are linked to impaired enhancer function through chromosomal rearrangement, genetic variation within enhancers, or epigenetic modulation. Here, we review how these enhancer disruptions have recently been implicated in congenital disorders, cancers, and common complex diseases and address the implications for diagnosis and treatment. Although further fundamental research into enhancer function, target genes, and context is required, enhancer-targeting drugs and gene editing approaches show great therapeutic promise for a range of diseases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Annique Claringbould
- Structural and Computational Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Judith B Zaugg
- Structural and Computational Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Monfils K, Barakat TS. Models behind the mystery of establishing enhancer-promoter interactions. Eur J Cell Biol 2021; 100:151170. [PMID: 34246183 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejcb.2021.151170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Revised: 06/30/2021] [Accepted: 07/02/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Enhancers and promoters are transcriptional regulatory elements whose facilitated interactions increase gene expression. Enhancer DNA sequences can be located far away from the promoter sequences that they regulate. Currently, the mechanism facilitating the establishment of enhancer-promoter interactions remains unclear. However, mutations causing errors in these interactions have been linked to cancer and disease, further conveying the need to understand the full mechanism. This review discusses multiple models that have been proposed to describe how enhancers go the distance to interact with promoters. Evidence supporting loop formation models is reviewed in addition to more complex hypotheses involving aspects of 3D chromatin organization and phase separation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn Monfils
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, PO Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Tahsin Stefan Barakat
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, PO Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Sahlén P, Yanhu L, Xu J, Kubinyi E, Wang GD, Savolainen P. Variants That Differentiate Wolf and Dog Populations Are Enriched in Regulatory Elements. Genome Biol Evol 2021; 13:6261009. [PMID: 33929504 PMCID: PMC8086526 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evab076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Research on the genetics of domestication most often focuses on the protein-coding exons. However, exons cover only a minor part (1–2%) of the canine genome, whereas functional mutations may be located also in regions beyond the exome, in regulatory regions. Therefore, a large proportion of phenotypical differences between dogs and wolves may remain genetically unexplained. In this study, we identified variants that have high allelic frequency differences (i.e., highly differentiated variants) between wolves and dogs across the canine genome and investigated the potential functionality. We found that the enrichment of highly differentiated variants was substantially higher in promoters than in exons and that such variants were enriched also in enhancers. Several enriched pathways were identified including oxytocin signaling, carbohydrate digestion and absorption, cancer risk, and facial and body features, many of which reflect phenotypes of potential importance during domestication, including phenotypes of the domestication syndrome. The results highlight the importance of regulatory mutations during dog domestication and motivate the functional annotation of the noncoding part of the canine genome.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pelin Sahlén
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology, School of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Liu Yanhu
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Jinrui Xu
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Eniko Kubinyi
- Department of Ethology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Guo-Dong Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Peter Savolainen
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology, School of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Lee AJ, Jung I. Functional annotation of lung cancer‒associated genetic variants by cell type‒specific epigenome and long-range chromatin interactome. Genomics Inform 2021; 19:e3. [PMID: 33840167 PMCID: PMC8042303 DOI: 10.5808/gi.20073] [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: 12/03/2020] [Accepted: 01/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Functional interpretation of noncoding genetic variants associated with complex human diseases and traits remains a challenge. In an effort to enhance our understanding of common germline variants associated with lung cancer, we categorize regulatory elements based on eight major cell types of human lung tissue. Our results show that 21.68% of lung cancer‒associated risk variants are linked to noncoding regulatory elements, nearly half of which are cell type‒specific. Integrative analysis of high-resolution long-range chromatin interactome maps and single-cell RNA-sequencing data of lung tumors uncovers number of putative target genes of these variants and functionally relevant cell types, which display a potential biological link to cancer susceptibility. The present study greatly expands the scope of functional annotation of lung cancer‒associated genetic risk factors and dictates probable cell types involved in lung carcinogenesis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew J Lee
- Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Korea
| | - Inkyung Jung
- Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Korea
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Figiel DM, Elsayed R, Nelson AC. Investigating the molecular guts of endoderm formation using zebrafish. Brief Funct Genomics 2021:elab013. [PMID: 33754635 DOI: 10.1093/bfgp/elab013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2020] [Revised: 01/27/2021] [Accepted: 02/19/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The vertebrate endoderm makes major contributions to the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts and all associated organs. Zebrafish and humans share a high degree of genetic homology and strikingly similar endodermal organ systems. Combined with a multitude of experimental advantages, zebrafish are an attractive model organism to study endoderm development and disease. Recent functional genomics studies have shed considerable light on the gene regulatory programs governing early zebrafish endoderm development, while advances in biological and technological approaches stand to further revolutionize our ability to investigate endoderm formation, function and disease. Here, we discuss the present understanding of endoderm specification in zebrafish compared to other vertebrates, how current and emerging methods will allow refined and enhanced analysis of endoderm formation, and how integration with human data will allow modeling of the link between non-coding sequence variants and human disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniela M Figiel
- Medical Research Council Doctoral Training Partnership in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research at Warwick Medical School
| | - Randa Elsayed
- Medical Research Council Doctoral Training Partnership in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research at Warwick Medical School
| | | |
Collapse
|
23
|
Le NQK, Ho QT, Nguyen TTD, Ou YY. A transformer architecture based on BERT and 2D convolutional neural network to identify DNA enhancers from sequence information. Brief Bioinform 2021; 22:6128847. [PMID: 33539511 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbab005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Revised: 01/01/2021] [Accepted: 01/03/2021] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Recently, language representation models have drawn a lot of attention in the natural language processing field due to their remarkable results. Among them, bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) has proven to be a simple, yet powerful language model that achieved novel state-of-the-art performance. BERT adopted the concept of contextualized word embedding to capture the semantics and context of the words in which they appeared. In this study, we present a novel technique by incorporating BERT-based multilingual model in bioinformatics to represent the information of DNA sequences. We treated DNA sequences as natural sentences and then used BERT models to transform them into fixed-length numerical matrices. As a case study, we applied our method to DNA enhancer prediction, which is a well-known and challenging problem in this field. We then observed that our BERT-based features improved more than 5-10% in terms of sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and Matthews correlation coefficient compared to the current state-of-the-art features in bioinformatics. Moreover, advanced experiments show that deep learning (as represented by 2D convolutional neural networks; CNN) holds potential in learning BERT features better than other traditional machine learning techniques. In conclusion, we suggest that BERT and 2D CNNs could open a new avenue in biological modeling using sequence information.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nguyen Quoc Khanh Le
- Professional Master Program in Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Quang-Thai Ho
- College of Information and Communication Technology, Can Tho University, Vietnam
| | | | - Yu-Yen Ou
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Yuan Ze University, Taiwan
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Cooper-Knock J, Zhang S, Kenna KP, Moll T, Franklin JP, Allen S, Nezhad HG, Iacoangeli A, Yacovzada NY, Eitan C, Hornstein E, Elhaik E, Celadova P, Bose D, Farhan S, Fishilevich S, Lancet D, Morrison KE, Shaw CE, Al-Chalabi A, Veldink JH, Kirby J, Snyder MP, Shaw PJ. Rare Variant Burden Analysis within Enhancers Identifies CAV1 as an ALS Risk Gene. Cell Rep 2020; 33:108456. [PMID: 33264630 PMCID: PMC7710676 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Revised: 09/15/2020] [Accepted: 11/09/2020] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an incurable neurodegenerative disease. CAV1 and CAV2 organize membrane lipid rafts (MLRs) important for cell signaling and neuronal survival, and overexpression of CAV1 ameliorates ALS phenotypes in vivo. Genome-wide association studies localize a large proportion of ALS risk variants within the non-coding genome, but further characterization has been limited by lack of appropriate tools. By designing and applying a pipeline to identify pathogenic genetic variation within enhancer elements responsible for regulating gene expression, we identify disease-associated variation within CAV1/CAV2 enhancers, which replicate in an independent cohort. Discovered enhancer mutations reduce CAV1/CAV2 expression and disrupt MLRs in patient-derived cells, and CRISPR-Cas9 perturbation proximate to a patient mutation is sufficient to reduce CAV1/CAV2 expression in neurons. Additional enrichment of ALS-associated mutations within CAV1 exons positions CAV1 as an ALS risk gene. We propose CAV1/CAV2 overexpression as a personalized medicine target for ALS.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Johnathan Cooper-Knock
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
| | - Sai Zhang
- Stanford Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine, Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Kevin P Kenna
- Department of Neurology, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Tobias Moll
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - John P Franklin
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Samantha Allen
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Helia Ghahremani Nezhad
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Alfredo Iacoangeli
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Nancy Y Yacovzada
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Chen Eitan
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Eran Hornstein
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Eran Elhaik
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Petra Celadova
- Sheffield Institute for Nucleic Acids, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Daniel Bose
- Sheffield Institute for Nucleic Acids, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Sali Farhan
- Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Simon Fishilevich
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Doron Lancet
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | | | - Christopher E Shaw
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Ammar Al-Chalabi
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Jan H Veldink
- Department of Neurology, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Janine Kirby
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Michael P Snyder
- Stanford Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine, Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Pamela J Shaw
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Environmental Epigenetics of Diesel Particulate Matter Toxicogenomics. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2020; 17:ijerph17207386. [PMID: 33050454 PMCID: PMC7650680 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17207386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2020] [Revised: 10/07/2020] [Accepted: 10/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by disruptions in social communication and behavioral flexibility. Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to ASD risk. Epidemiologic studies indicate that roadway vehicle exhaust and in utero exposure to diesel particulate matter (DPM) are associated with ASD. Using the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD), we identified genes connected to DPM exposure and ASD, extracted the known enhancers/promoters of the identified genes, and integrated this with Assay for Transposase Accessible Chromatin (ATAC-seq) data from DPM-exposed human neural progenitor cells. Enhancer/promoter elements with significantly different chromosome accessibility revealed enriched DNA sequence motifs with transcription factor binding sites for EGR1. Variant extraction for linkage disequilibrium blocks of these regions followed by analysis through Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) revealed multiple neurological trait associations including exploratory eye movement and brain volume measurement. This approach highlights the effects of pollution on the regulatory regions of genes implicated in ASD by genetic studies, indicating convergence of genetic and environmental factors on molecular networks that contribute to ASD. Integration of publicly available data from the CTD, cell culture exposure studies, and phenotypic genetics synergize extensive evidence of chemical exposures on gene regulation for altered brain development.
Collapse
|
26
|
Smith M. MRNA Transcription, Translation, and Defects in Developmental Cognitive and Behavioral Disorders. Front Mol Biosci 2020; 7:577710. [PMID: 33102526 PMCID: PMC7545264 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2020.577710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Accepted: 08/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The growth of expertise in molecular techniques, their application to clinical evaluations, and the establishment of databases with molecular genetic information has led to greater insights into the roles of molecular processes related to gene expression in neurodevelopment and functioning. The goal of this review is to examine new insights into messenger RNA transcription, translation, and cellular protein synthesis and the relevance of genetically determined alterations in these processes in neurodevelopmental, cognitive, and behavioral disorders.
Collapse
|
27
|
Pan HX, Zhao YW, Mei JP, Fang ZH, Wang Y, Zhou X, Zhou YJ, Zhang R, Zhang KL, Jiang L, Zeng Q, He Y, Wang Z, Liu ZH, Xu Q, Sun QY, Yang Y, Hu YC, Chen YS, Du J, Lei LF, Zhang HN, Wang CY, Yan XX, Shen L, Jiang H, Tan JQ, Li JC, Tang BS, Guo JF. GCH1 variants contribute to the risk and earlier age-at-onset of Parkinson's disease: a two-cohort case-control study. Transl Neurodegener 2020; 9:31. [PMID: 32746945 PMCID: PMC7401216 DOI: 10.1186/s40035-020-00212-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2020] [Accepted: 07/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Common and rare variants of guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase 1 (GCH1) gene may play important roles in Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, there is a lack of comprehensive analysis of GCH1 genotypes, especially in non-coding regions. The aim of this study was to explore the genetic characteristics of GCH1, including rare and common variants in coding and non-coding regions, in a large population of PD patients in Chinese mainland, as well as the phenotypic characteristics of GCH1 variant carriers. Methods In the first cohort of this case-control study, we performed whole-exome sequencing in 1555 patients with early-onset or familial PD and 2234 healthy controls; then in the second cohort, whole-genome sequencing was performed in sporadic late-onset PD samples (1962 patients), as well as 1279 controls. Variants at target GCH1 regions were extracted, and then genetic and detailed phenotypic data were analyzed using regression models and the sequence kernel association test. We also performed a meta-analysis to correlate deleterious GCH1 variants with age at onset (AAO) in PD patients. Results For coding variants, we identified a significant burden of GCH1 deleterious variants in early-onset or familial PD cases compared to controls (1.2% vs 0.1%, P < 0.0001). In the analysis of possible regulatory variants in GCH1 non-coding regions, rs12323905 (P = 0.001, odds ratio = 1.19, 95%CI 1.07–1.32) was significantly associated with PD, and variant sets in untranslated regions and intron regions, GCH1 brain-specific expression quantitative trait loci, and two possible promoter/enhancer (GH14J054857 and GH14J054880) were suggestively associated with PD. Genotype-phenotype correlation analysis revealed that the carriers of GCH1 deleterious variants manifested younger AAO (P < 0.0001), and had milder motor symptoms, milder fatigue symptoms and more autonomic nervous dysfunctions. Meta-analysis of six studies demonstrated 6.4-year earlier onset in GCH1 deleterious variant carriers (P = 0.0009). Conclusions The results highlight the importance of deleterious variants and non-coding variants of GCH1 in PD in Chinese mainland and suggest that GCH1 mutation can influence the PD phenotype, which may help design experimental studies to elucidate the mechanisms of GCH1 in the pathogenesis of PD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hong-Xu Pan
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China.,National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Yu-Wen Zhao
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China.,National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Jun-Pu Mei
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Zheng-Huan Fang
- Centre for Medical Genetics and Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Yige Wang
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Xun Zhou
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Yang-Jie Zhou
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Rui Zhang
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Kai-Lin Zhang
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Li Jiang
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Qian Zeng
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Yan He
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Zheng Wang
- Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Zhen-Hua Liu
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Qian Xu
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Qi-Ying Sun
- Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Yang Yang
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Ya-Cen Hu
- Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Ya-Se Chen
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Juan Du
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Li-Fang Lei
- Department of Neurology, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, China
| | - Hai-Nan Zhang
- Department of Neurology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410011, China
| | - Chun-Yu Wang
- Department of Neurology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410011, China
| | - Xin-Xiang Yan
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Lu Shen
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China.,National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China.,Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Hong Jiang
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China.,National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China.,Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Jie-Qiong Tan
- Centre for Medical Genetics and Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Jin-Chen Li
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China.,Centre for Medical Genetics and Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China.,Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China
| | - Bei-Sha Tang
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China. .,National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China. .,Centre for Medical Genetics and Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China. .,Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China.
| | - Ji-Feng Guo
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China. .,National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China. .,Centre for Medical Genetics and Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China. .,Key Laboratory of Hunan Province in Neurodegenerative Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, China.
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
The Role of Noncoding Variants in Heritable Disease. Trends Genet 2020; 36:880-891. [PMID: 32741549 DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2020.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2020] [Revised: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 07/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The genetic basis of disease has largely focused on coding regions. However, it has become clear that a large proportion of the noncoding genome is functional and harbors genetic variants that contribute to disease etiology. Here, we review recent examples of inherited noncoding alterations that are responsible for Mendelian disorders or act to influence complex traits. We explore both rare and common genetic variants and discuss the wide range of mechanisms by which they affect gene regulation to promote disease. We also debate the challenges and progress associated with identifying and interpreting the functional and clinical significance of genetic variation in the context of the noncoding regulatory landscape.
Collapse
|
29
|
Osmala M, Lähdesmäki H. Enhancer prediction in the human genome by probabilistic modelling of the chromatin feature patterns. BMC Bioinformatics 2020; 21:317. [PMID: 32689977 PMCID: PMC7370432 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-020-03621-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2019] [Accepted: 06/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The binding sites of transcription factors (TFs) and the localisation of histone modifications in the human genome can be quantified by the chromatin immunoprecipitation assay coupled with next-generation sequencing (ChIP-seq). The resulting chromatin feature data has been successfully adopted for genome-wide enhancer identification by several unsupervised and supervised machine learning methods. However, the current methods predict different numbers and different sets of enhancers for the same cell type and do not utilise the pattern of the ChIP-seq coverage profiles efficiently. Results In this work, we propose a PRobabilistic Enhancer PRedictIoN Tool (PREPRINT) that assumes characteristic coverage patterns of chromatin features at enhancers and employs a statistical model to account for their variability. PREPRINT defines probabilistic distance measures to quantify the similarity of the genomic query regions and the characteristic coverage patterns. The probabilistic scores of the enhancer and non-enhancer samples are utilised to train a kernel-based classifier. The performance of the method is demonstrated on ENCODE data for two cell lines. The predicted enhancers are computationally validated based on the transcriptional regulatory protein binding sites and compared to the predictions obtained by state-of-the-art methods. Conclusion PREPRINT performs favorably to the state-of-the-art methods, especially when requiring the methods to predict a larger set of enhancers. PREPRINT generalises successfully to data from cell type not utilised for training, and often the PREPRINT performs better than the previous methods. The PREPRINT enhancers are less sensitive to the choice of prediction threshold. PREPRINT identifies biologically validated enhancers not predicted by the competing methods. The enhancers predicted by PREPRINT can aid the genome interpretation in functional genomics and clinical studies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Osmala
- Department of Computer Science, Aalto University, Konemiehentie 2, Espoo, 02150, Finland.
| | - Harri Lähdesmäki
- Department of Computer Science, Aalto University, Konemiehentie 2, Espoo, 02150, Finland
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Abstract
Split inteins are privileged molecular scaffolds for the chemical modification of proteins. Though efficient for in vitro applications, these polypeptide ligases have not been utilized for the semisynthesis of proteins in live cells. Here, we biochemically and structurally characterize the naturally split intein VidaL. We show that this split intein, which features the shortest known N-terminal fragment, supports rapid and efficient protein trans-splicing under a range of conditions, enabling semisynthesis of modified proteins both in vitro and in mammalian cells. The utility of this protein engineering system is illustrated through the traceless assembly of multidomain proteins whose biophysical properties render them incompatible with a single expression system, as well as by the semisynthesis of dual posttranslationally modified histone proteins in live cells. We also exploit the domain swapping function of VidaL to effect simultaneous modification and translocation of the nuclear protein HP1α in live cells. Collectively, our studies highlight the VidaL system as a tool for the precise chemical modification of cellular proteins with spatial and temporal control.
Collapse
|
31
|
Abstract
Growth hormone (GH) plays a pivotal role in many physiological processes in humans, and in other mammalian and non-mammalian vertebrate species, through actions on somatic growth, tissue development and repair, and intermediary metabolism. This review will focus on mechanisms of GH actions on gene expression, primarily from the perspective of the genes that encode proteins stimulated by GH to regulate somatic growth, especially insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I), but also others that are induced or repressed by GH. Topics to be discussed will include a brief overview of GH-mediated signal transduction pathways and how these cascades alter the functions of responsive transcription factors, with a specific focus on STAT5B, a key member of the signal transducers and activators of transcription family, characterization of essential GH-regulated genes, and elucidation of mechanisms of their regulation from biochemical, genetic, and genomic perspectives.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Peter Rotwein
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech Health University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX, 79905, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Ohnmacht J, May P, Sinkkonen L, Krüger R. Missing heritability in Parkinson's disease: the emerging role of non-coding genetic variation. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2020; 127:729-748. [PMID: 32248367 PMCID: PMC7242266 DOI: 10.1007/s00702-020-02184-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2020] [Accepted: 03/24/2020] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors. For the stratification of PD patients and the development of advanced clinical trials, including causative treatments, a better understanding of the underlying genetic architecture of PD is required. Despite substantial efforts, genome-wide association studies have not been able to explain most of the observed heritability. The majority of PD-associated genetic variants are located in non-coding regions of the genome. A systematic assessment of their functional role is hampered by our incomplete understanding of genotype–phenotype correlations, for example through differential regulation of gene expression. Here, the recent progress and remaining challenges for the elucidation of the role of non-coding genetic variants is reviewed with a focus on PD as a complex disease with multifactorial origins. The function of gene regulatory elements and the impact of non-coding variants on them, and the means to map these elements on a genome-wide level, will be delineated. Moreover, examples of how the integration of functional genomic annotations can serve to identify disease-associated pathways and to prioritize disease- and cell type-specific regulatory variants will be given. Finally, strategies for functional validation and considerations for suitable model systems are outlined. Together this emphasizes the contribution of rare and common genetic variants to the complex pathogenesis of PD and points to remaining challenges for the dissection of genetic complexity that may allow for better stratification, improved diagnostics and more targeted treatments for PD in the future.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jochen Ohnmacht
- LCSB, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg.,Department of Life Sciences and Medicine (DLSM), University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Patrick May
- LCSB, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Lasse Sinkkonen
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine (DLSM), University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Rejko Krüger
- LCSB, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg. .,Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), Transversal Translational Medicine, Strassen, Luxembourg. .,Parkinson Research Clinic, Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL), Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Altered chromatin landscape and enhancer engagement underlie transcriptional dysregulation in MED12 mutant uterine leiomyomas. Nat Commun 2020; 11:1019. [PMID: 32094355 PMCID: PMC7040020 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14701-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2019] [Accepted: 01/23/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Uterine leiomyomas (fibroids) are a major source of gynecologic morbidity in reproductive age women and are characterized by the excessive deposition of a disorganized extracellular matrix, resulting in rigid benign tumors. Although down regulation of the transcription factor AP-1 is highly prevalent in leiomyomas, the functional consequence of AP-1 loss on gene transcription in uterine fibroids remains poorly understood. Using high-resolution ChIP-sequencing, promoter capture Hi-C, and RNA-sequencing of matched normal and leiomyoma tissues, here we show that modified enhancer architecture is a major driver of transcriptional dysregulation in MED12 mutant uterine leiomyomas. Furthermore, modifications in enhancer architecture are driven by the depletion of AP-1 occupancy on chromatin. Silencing of AP-1 subunits in primary myometrium cells leads to transcriptional dysregulation of extracellular matrix associated genes and partly recapitulates transcriptional and epigenetic changes observed in leiomyomas. These findings establish AP-1 driven aberrant enhancer regulation as an important mechanism of leiomyoma disease pathogenesis.
Collapse
|
34
|
Liu H, Jiang T, Wang S, Chen X, Jin X, Wang Q, Li X, Yin J, Shao T, Li Y, Xu J, Wu Q. A Novel Approach to Identify Enhancer lincRNAs by Integrating Genome, Epigenome, and Regulatome. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2020; 7:427. [PMID: 31956652 PMCID: PMC6951418 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2019.00427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2019] [Accepted: 12/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
LincRNAs enriched with high H3K4me1 and low H3K4me3 signals often have the enhancer-like features which are named as enhancer-associated lincRNAs (elincRNAs). ElincRNAs are considered to be indispensable for target gene transcription, which play important roles in development, signaling events, and even diseases. In this study, we developed a regularized regression model to identify elincRNAs by integrating the genomic, epigenomic, and regulatory data. Application of the proposed method to mouse ESCs reveals that besides the basic well-known epigenetic features H3K4me1 and H3K4me3, more specific epigenetic features, such as high DNA methylation, high H3K122ac, and H3K36me3 were contributed to mark elincRNAs with the best accuracy and precision. Finally, 3729 elincRNAs were identified in mouse ESCs. Furthermore, the elincRNAs and canonical lincRNAs exhibit distinct genomic features, and elincRNAs have the higher CGI enrichment and lower sequence conservation. Through the analysis of transcription regulation, we found that elincRNAs were significantly regulated by NANOG, POU5F1, SOX2 and ESRRB, and were involved in the core transcriptional regulatory circuitry controlling ES cell state Function enrichment analysis further discovered that elincRNAs tended to regulate specific embryonic development biological processes. These results indicated that these two types of lincRNAs had both specific epigenetic and transcriptional regulation mechanism and display distinct functional characters. In conclusion, we presented a credible computational model to prioritize novel elincRNAs, and depicted the atlas of elincRNAs in mouse ESCs, which would help dissect the function roles of lncRNAs during the mammalian development and diseases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hui Liu
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Tiantongfei Jiang
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Shuyuan Wang
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Xiang Chen
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Xiaoyan Jin
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Qi Wang
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Xinhui Li
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Jiaqi Yin
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Tingting Shao
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Yongsheng Li
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.,Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Informatics and Engineering, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China
| | - Juan Xu
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.,Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Informatics and Engineering, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China
| | - Qiong Wu
- School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Signatures of Recent Positive Selection in Enhancers Across 41 Human Tissues. G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS 2019; 9:2761-2774. [PMID: 31213516 PMCID: PMC6686946 DOI: 10.1534/g3.119.400186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Evolutionary changes in enhancers are widely associated with variation in human traits and diseases. However, studies comprehensively quantifying levels of selection on enhancers at multiple evolutionary periods during recent human evolution and how enhancer evolution varies across human tissues are lacking. To address these questions, we integrated a dataset of 41,561 transcribed enhancers active in 41 different human tissues (FANTOM Consortium) with whole genome sequences of 1,668 individuals from the African, Asian, and European populations (1000 Genomes Project). Our analyses based on four different metrics (Tajima’s D, FST, H12, nSL) showed that ∼5.90% of enhancers showed evidence of recent positive selection and that genes associated with enhancers under very recent positive selection are enriched for diverse immune-related functions. The distributions of these metrics for brain and testis enhancers were often statistically significantly different and in the direction suggestive of less positive selection compared to those of other tissues; the same was true for brain and testis enhancers that are tissue-specific compared to those that are tissue-broad and for testis enhancers associated with tissue-enriched and non-tissue-enriched genes. These differences varied considerably across metrics and tissues and were generally in the form of changes in distributions’ shapes rather than shifts in their values. Collectively, these results suggest that many human enhancers experienced recent positive selection throughout multiple time periods in human evolutionary history, that this selection occurred in a tissue-dependent and immune-related functional context, and that much like the evolution of their protein-coding gene counterparts, the evolution of brain and testis enhancers has been markedly different from that of enhancers in other tissues.
Collapse
|
36
|
Soldner F, Jaenisch R. Stem Cells, Genome Editing, and the Path to Translational Medicine. Cell 2019; 175:615-632. [PMID: 30340033 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2018] [Revised: 07/31/2018] [Accepted: 09/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The derivation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and the stunning discovery that somatic cells can be reprogrammed into human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) holds the promise to revolutionize biomedical research and regenerative medicine. In this Review, we focus on disorders of the central nervous system and explore how advances in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) coincide with evolutions in genome engineering and genomic technologies to provide realistic opportunities to tackle some of the most devastating complex disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Frank Soldner
- The Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 455 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Rudolf Jaenisch
- The Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 455 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 31 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Perna S, Pinoli P, Ceri S, Wong L. TICA: Transcriptional Interaction and Coregulation Analyzer. GENOMICS PROTEOMICS & BIOINFORMATICS 2018; 16:342-353. [PMID: 30578913 PMCID: PMC6364043 DOI: 10.1016/j.gpb.2018.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2017] [Revised: 05/11/2018] [Accepted: 05/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Transcriptional regulation is critical to cellular processes of all organisms. Regulatory mechanisms often involve more than one transcription factor (TF) from different families, binding together and attaching to the DNA as a single complex. However, only a fraction of the regulatory partners of each TF is currently known. In this paper, we present the Transcriptional Interaction and Coregulation Analyzer (TICA), a novel methodology for predicting heterotypic physical interaction of TFs. TICA employs a data-driven approach to infer interaction phenomena from chromatin immunoprecipitation and sequencing (ChIP-seq) data. Its prediction rules are based on the distribution of minimal distance couples of paired binding sites belonging to different TFs which are located closest to each other in promoter regions. Notably, TICA uses only binding site information from input ChIP-seq experiments, bypassing the need to do motif calling on sequencing data. We present our method and test it on ENCODE ChIP-seq datasets, using three cell lines as reference including HepG2, GM12878, and K562. TICA positive predictions on ENCODE ChIP-seq data are strongly enriched when compared to protein complex (CORUM) and functional interaction (BioGRID) databases. We also compare TICA against both motif/ChIP-seq based methods for physical TF–TF interaction prediction and published literature. Based on our results, TICA offers significant specificity (average 0.902) while maintaining a good recall (average 0.284) with respect to CORUM, providing a novel technique for fast analysis of regulatory effect in cell lines. Furthermore, predictions by TICA are complementary to other methods for TF–TF interaction prediction (in particular, TACO and CENTDIST). Thus, combined application of these prediction tools results in much improved sensitivity in detecting TF–TF interactions compared to TICA alone (sensitivity of 0.526 when combining TICA with TACO and 0.585 when combining with CENTDIST) with little compromise in specificity (specificity 0.760 when combining with TACO and 0.643 with CENTDIST). TICA is publicly available at http://geco.deib.polimi.it/tica/.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Perna
- Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy.
| | - Pietro Pinoli
- Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Stefano Ceri
- Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Limsoon Wong
- School of Computing, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117417, Singapore
| |
Collapse
|