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Viner C, Ishak CA, Johnson J, Walker NJ, Shi H, Sjöberg-Herrera MK, Shen SY, Lardo SM, Adams DJ, Ferguson-Smith AC, De Carvalho DD, Hainer SJ, Bailey TL, Hoffman MM. Modeling methyl-sensitive transcription factor motifs with an expanded epigenetic alphabet. Genome Biol 2024; 25:11. [PMID: 38191487 PMCID: PMC10773111 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-023-03070-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Transcription factors bind DNA in specific sequence contexts. In addition to distinguishing one nucleobase from another, some transcription factors can distinguish between unmodified and modified bases. Current models of transcription factor binding tend not to take DNA modifications into account, while the recent few that do often have limitations. This makes a comprehensive and accurate profiling of transcription factor affinities difficult. RESULTS Here, we develop methods to identify transcription factor binding sites in modified DNA. Our models expand the standard A/C/G/T DNA alphabet to include cytosine modifications. We develop Cytomod to create modified genomic sequences and we also enhance the MEME Suite, adding the capacity to handle custom alphabets. We adapt the well-established position weight matrix (PWM) model of transcription factor binding affinity to this expanded DNA alphabet. Using these methods, we identify modification-sensitive transcription factor binding motifs. We confirm established binding preferences, such as the preference of ZFP57 and C/EBPβ for methylated motifs and the preference of c-Myc for unmethylated E-box motifs. CONCLUSIONS Using known binding preferences to tune model parameters, we discover novel modified motifs for a wide array of transcription factors. Finally, we validate our binding preference predictions for OCT4 using cleavage under targets and release using nuclease (CUT&RUN) experiments across conventional, methylation-, and hydroxymethylation-enriched sequences. Our approach readily extends to other DNA modifications. As more genome-wide single-base resolution modification data becomes available, we expect that our method will yield insights into altered transcription factor binding affinities across many different modifications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Coby Viner
- Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Charles A Ishak
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - James Johnson
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Nicolas J Walker
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England
| | - Hui Shi
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England
| | - Marcela K Sjöberg-Herrera
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, England
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Shu Yi Shen
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Santana M Lardo
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | | | | | - Daniel D De Carvalho
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Sarah J Hainer
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Timothy L Bailey
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Michael M Hoffman
- Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Toronto, ON, Canada.
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2
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Dyer M, Lin Q, Shapoval S, Thieffry D, Benoukraf T. MethMotif.Org 2024: a database integrating context-specific transcription factor-binding motifs with DNA methylation patterns. Nucleic Acids Res 2024; 52:D222-D228. [PMID: 37850642 PMCID: PMC10767921 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Revised: 10/01/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
MethMotif (https://methmotif.org) is a publicly available database that provides a comprehensive repository of transcription factor (TF)-binding profiles, enriched with DNA methylation patterns. In this release, we have enhanced the platform, expanding our initial collection to over 700 position weight matrices (PWM), all of which include DNA methylation profiles. One of the key advancements in this release is the segregation of TF-binding motifs based on their cofactors and DNA methylation status. We have previously demonstrated that gene ontology (GO) enriched terms associated with TF target genes may differ based on their association with alternative cofactors and DNA methylation status. MethMotif provides precomputed GO annotations for each human TF of interest, as well as for TF-co-TF complexes, enabling a comprehensive analysis of TF functions in the context of their co-factors. Additionally, MethMotif has been updated to encompass data for two new species, Mus musculus and Arabidopsis thaliana, widening its applicability to a broader community. MethMotif stands out as the first and only TF-binding motifs database to incorporate context-specific PWM coupled with epigenetic information, thereby enlightening context-specific TF functions. This enhancement allows the community to explore and gain deeper insights into the regulatory mechanisms governing transcriptional processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Dyer
- Division of BioMedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL A1B 3V6, Canada
| | - Quy Xiao Xuan Lin
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117599, Singapore
| | - Sofiia Shapoval
- Division of BioMedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL A1B 3V6, Canada
| | - Denis Thieffry
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117599, Singapore
- Département de Biologie de l’École Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Paris 75005, France
| | - Touati Benoukraf
- Division of BioMedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL A1B 3V6, Canada
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117599, Singapore
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3
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Zhuang J, Feng K, Teng X, Jia C. GNet: An integrated context-aware neural framework for transcription factor binding signal at single nucleotide resolution prediction. MATHEMATICAL BIOSCIENCES AND ENGINEERING : MBE 2023; 20:15809-15829. [PMID: 37919990 DOI: 10.3934/mbe.2023704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
Transcription factors (TFs) are important factors that regulate gene expression. Revealing the mechanism affecting the binding specificity of TFs is the key to understanding gene regulation. Most of the previous studies focus on TF-DNA binding sites at the sequence level, and they seldom utilize the contextual features of DNA sequences. In this paper, we develop an integrated spatiotemporal context-aware neural network framework, named GNet, for predicting TF-DNA binding signal at single nucleotide resolution by achieving three tasks: single nucleotide resolution signal prediction, identification of binding regions at the sequence level, and TF-DNA binding motif prediction. GNet extracts implicit spatial contextual information with a gated highway neural mechanism, which captures large context multi-level patterns using linear shortcut connections, and the idea of it permeates the encoder and decoder parts of GNet. The improved dual external attention mechanism, which learns implicit relationships both within and among samples, and improves the performance of the model. Experimental results on 53 human TF ChIP-seq datasets and 6 chromatin accessibility ATAC-seq datasets shows that GNet outperforms the state-of-the-art methods in the three tasks, and the results of cross-species studies on 15 human and 18 mouse TF datasets of the corresponding TF families indicate that GNet also shows the best performance in cross-species prediction over the competitive methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jujuan Zhuang
- School of Science, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, Liaoning 116026, China
| | - Kexin Feng
- School of Science, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, Liaoning 116026, China
| | - Xinyang Teng
- School of Science, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, Liaoning 116026, China
| | - Cangzhi Jia
- School of Science, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, Liaoning 116026, China
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4
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Bassal MA. The Interplay between Dysregulated Metabolism and Epigenetics in Cancer. Biomolecules 2023; 13:944. [PMID: 37371524 DOI: 10.3390/biom13060944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Revised: 05/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Cellular metabolism (or energetics) and epigenetics are tightly coupled cellular processes. It is arguable that of all the described cancer hallmarks, dysregulated cellular energetics and epigenetics are the most tightly coregulated. Cellular metabolic states regulate and drive epigenetic changes while also being capable of influencing, if not driving, epigenetic reprogramming. Conversely, epigenetic changes can drive altered and compensatory metabolic states. Cancer cells meticulously modify and control each of these two linked cellular processes in order to maintain their tumorigenic potential and capacity. This review aims to explore the interplay between these two processes and discuss how each affects the other, driving and enhancing tumorigenic states in certain contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahmoud Adel Bassal
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117599, Singapore
- Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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Duan Y, Tan Y, Wei X, Pei X, Li M. Versatile Strategy for the Construction of a Transcription Factor-Based Orthogonal Gene Expression Toolbox in Monascus spp. ACS Synth Biol 2023; 12:213-223. [PMID: 36625512 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.2c00500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Gene expression is needed to be conducted in an orthogonal manner and controllable independently from the host's native regulatory system. However, there is a shortage of gene expression regulatory toolboxes that function orthogonally from each other and toward the host. Herein, we developed a strategy based on the mutant library to generate orthogonal gene expression toolboxes. A transcription factor, MaR, located in the Monascus azaphilone biosynthetic gene cluster, was taken as a typical example. Nine DNA-binding residues of MaR were identified by molecular simulation and site-directed mutagenesis. We created five MaR multi-site saturation mutagenesis libraries consisting of 10743 MaR variants on the basis of five cognate promoters. A functional analysis revealed that all five tested promoters were orthogonally regulated by five different MaR variants, respectively. Furthermore, fine gene expression tunability and high signal sensitivity of this toolbox are demonstrated by introducing chemically inducible expression modules, designing synthetic promoter elements, and creating protein-protein interaction between MaRs. This study paves the way for a bottom-up approach to build orthogonal gene expression toolboxes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yali Duan
- Hubei International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Traditional Fermented Foods, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei Province430070, China.,College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei Province430070, China
| | - Yingao Tan
- Hubei International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Traditional Fermented Foods, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei Province430070, China.,College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei Province430070, China
| | - Xuetuan Wei
- College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei Province430070, China
| | - Xiaolin Pei
- College of Material, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou310012, China
| | - Mu Li
- Hubei International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Traditional Fermented Foods, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei Province430070, China.,College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei Province430070, China
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Dziadowicz SA, Wang L, Akhter H, Aesoph D, Sharma T, Adjeroh DA, Hazlehurst LA, Hu G. Bone Marrow Stroma-Induced Transcriptome and Regulome Signatures of Multiple Myeloma. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:927. [PMID: 35205675 PMCID: PMC8870223 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14040927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2022] [Revised: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 02/11/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematological cancer with inevitable drug resistance. MM cells interacting with bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) undergo substantial changes in the transcriptome and develop de novo multi-drug resistance. As a critical component in transcriptional regulation, how the chromatin landscape is transformed in MM cells exposed to BMSCs and contributes to the transcriptional response to BMSCs remains elusive. We profiled the transcriptome and regulome for MM cells using a transwell coculture system with BMSCs. The transcriptome and regulome of MM cells from the upper transwell resembled MM cells that coexisted with BMSCs from the lower chamber but were distinctive to monoculture. BMSC-induced genes were enriched in the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway, unfolded protein stress, signatures of early plasma cells, and response to proteasome inhibitors. Genes with increasing accessibility at multiple regulatory sites were preferentially induced by BMSCs; these genes were enriched in functions linked to responses to drugs and unfavorable clinic outcomes. We proposed JUNB and ATF4::CEBPβ as candidate transcription factors (TFs) that modulate the BMSC-induced transformation of the regulome linked to the transcriptional response. Together, we characterized the BMSC-induced transcriptome and regulome signatures of MM cells to facilitate research on epigenetic mechanisms of BMSC-induced multi-drug resistance in MM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian A. Dziadowicz
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Cell Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA; (S.A.D.); (L.W.); (H.A.); (D.A.); (T.S.)
| | - Lei Wang
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Cell Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA; (S.A.D.); (L.W.); (H.A.); (D.A.); (T.S.)
| | - Halima Akhter
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Cell Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA; (S.A.D.); (L.W.); (H.A.); (D.A.); (T.S.)
- Lane Department of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA;
| | - Drake Aesoph
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Cell Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA; (S.A.D.); (L.W.); (H.A.); (D.A.); (T.S.)
- Lane Department of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA;
| | - Tulika Sharma
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Cell Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA; (S.A.D.); (L.W.); (H.A.); (D.A.); (T.S.)
| | - Donald A. Adjeroh
- Lane Department of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA;
| | - Lori A. Hazlehurst
- WVU Cancer Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA;
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, West Virginia University, Morganton, WV 26506, USA
| | - Gangqing Hu
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Cell Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA; (S.A.D.); (L.W.); (H.A.); (D.A.); (T.S.)
- WVU Cancer Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA;
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7
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Homologous basic helix–loop–helix transcription factors induce distinct deformations of torsionally-stressed DNA: a potential transcription regulation mechanism. QRB DISCOVERY 2022. [PMID: 37529292 PMCID: PMC10392670 DOI: 10.1017/qrd.2022.5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Changing torsional restraints on DNA is essential for the regulation of transcription. Torsional stress, introduced by RNA polymerase, can propagate along chromatin facilitating topological transitions and modulating the specific binding of transcription factors (TFs) to DNA. Despite the importance, the mechanistic details on how torsional stress impacts the TFs-DNA complexation remain scarce. Herein, we address the impact of torsional stress on DNA complexation with homologous human basic helix–loop–helix (BHLH) hetero- and homodimers: MycMax, MadMax and MaxMax. The three TF dimers exhibit specificity towards the same DNA consensus sequence, the E-box response element, while regulating different transcriptional pathways. Using microseconds-long atomistic molecular dynamics simulations together with the torsional restraint that controls DNA total helical twist, we gradually over- and underwind naked and complexed DNA to a maximum of ± 5°/bp step. We observe that the binding of the BHLH dimers results in a similar increase in DNA torsional rigidity. However, under torsional stress the BHLH dimers induce distinct DNA deformations, characterised by changes in DNA grooves geometry and a significant asymmetric DNA bending. Supported by bioinformatics analyses, our data suggest that torsional stress may contribute to the execution of differential transcriptional programs of the homologous TFs by modulating their collaborative interactions.
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8
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Suryatenggara J, Yong KJ, Tenen DE, Tenen DG, Bassal MA. ChIP-AP: an integrated analysis pipeline for unbiased ChIP-seq analysis. Brief Bioinform 2021; 23:6489109. [PMID: 34965583 PMCID: PMC8769893 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbab537] [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] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Revised: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with sequencing (ChIP-seq) is a technique used to identify protein–DNA interaction sites through antibody pull-down, sequencing and analysis; with enrichment ‘peak’ calling being the most critical analytical step. Benchmarking studies have consistently shown that peak callers have distinct selectivity and specificity characteristics that are not additive and seldom completely overlap in many scenarios, even after parameter optimization. We therefore developed ChIP-AP, an integrated ChIP-seq analysis pipeline utilizing four independent peak callers, which seamlessly processes raw sequencing files to final result. This approach enables (1) better gauging of peak confidence through detection by multiple algorithms, and (2) more thoroughly surveys the binding landscape by capturing peaks not detected by individual callers. Final analysis results are then integrated into a single output table, enabling users to explore their data by applying selectivity and sensitivity thresholds that best address their biological questions, without needing any additional reprocessing. ChIP-AP therefore presents investigators with a more comprehensive coverage of the binding landscape without requiring additional wet-lab observations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremiah Suryatenggara
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117599, Singapore
| | - Kol Jia Yong
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117599, Singapore.,Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117597, Singapore
| | | | - Daniel G Tenen
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117599, Singapore.,Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Boston, 02138, USA
| | - Mahmoud A Bassal
- Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117599, Singapore.,Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Boston, 02138, USA
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