1
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Nocente MC, Mesihovic Karamitsos A, Drouineau E, Soleil M, Albawardi W, Dulary C, Ribierre F, Picaud H, Alibert O, Acker J, Kervella M, Aude JC, Gilbert N, Ochsenbein F, Chantalat S, Gérard M. cBAF generates subnucleosomes that expand OCT4 binding and function beyond DNA motifs at enhancers. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2024:10.1038/s41594-024-01344-0. [PMID: 38956169 DOI: 10.1038/s41594-024-01344-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 06/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Abstract
The canonical BRG/BRM-associated factor (cBAF) complex is essential for chromatin opening at enhancers in mammalian cells. However, the nature of the open chromatin remains unclear. Here, we show that, in addition to producing histone-free DNA, cBAF generates stable hemisome-like subnucleosomal particles containing the four core histones associated with 50-80 bp of DNA. Our genome-wide analysis indicates that cBAF makes these particles by targeting and splitting fragile nucleosomes. In mouse embryonic stem cells, these subnucleosomes become an in vivo binding substrate for the master transcription factor OCT4 independently of the presence of OCT4 DNA motifs. At enhancers, the OCT4-subnucleosome interaction increases OCT4 occupancy and amplifies the genomic interval bound by OCT4 by up to one order of magnitude compared to the region occupied on histone-free DNA. We propose that cBAF-dependent subnucleosomes orchestrate a molecular mechanism that projects OCT4 function in chromatin opening beyond its DNA motifs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina C Nocente
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Anida Mesihovic Karamitsos
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Emilie Drouineau
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Manon Soleil
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Waad Albawardi
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Cécile Dulary
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, Centre National de Recherche en Génomique Humaine (CNRGH), Evry, France
| | - Florence Ribierre
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, Centre National de Recherche en Génomique Humaine (CNRGH), Evry, France
| | - Hélène Picaud
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Olivier Alibert
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, Centre National de Recherche en Génomique Humaine (CNRGH), Evry, France
| | - Joël Acker
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Marie Kervella
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Jean-Christophe Aude
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Nick Gilbert
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Françoise Ochsenbein
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Sophie Chantalat
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, Centre National de Recherche en Génomique Humaine (CNRGH), Evry, France
| | - Matthieu Gérard
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
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2
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Niharika, Ureka L, Roy A, Patra SK. Dissecting SOX2 expression and function reveals an association with multiple signaling pathways during embryonic development and in cancer progression. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer 2024; 1879:189136. [PMID: 38880162 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2024.189136] [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: 05/09/2023] [Revised: 06/03/2024] [Accepted: 06/10/2024] [Indexed: 06/18/2024]
Abstract
SRY (Sex Determining Region) box 2 (SOX2) is an essential transcription factor that plays crucial roles in activating genes involved in pre- and post-embryonic development, adult tissue homeostasis, and lineage specifications. SOX2 maintains the self-renewal property of stem cells and is involved in the generation of induced pluripotency stem cells. SOX2 protein contains a particular high-mobility group domain that enables SOX2 to achieve the capacity to participate in a broad variety of functions. The information about the involvement of SOX2 with gene regulatory elements, signaling networks, and microRNA is gradually emerging, and the higher expression of SOX2 is functionally relevant to various cancer types. SOX2 facilitates the oncogenic phenotype via cellular proliferation and enhancement of invasive tumor properties. Evidence are accumulating in favor of three dimensional (higher order) folding of chromatin and epigenetic control of the SOX2 gene by chromatin modifications, which implies that the expression level of SOX2 can be modulated by epigenetic regulatory mechanisms, specifically, via DNA methylation and histone H3 modification. In view of this, and to focus further insights into the roles SOX2 plays in physiological functions, involvement of SOX2 during development, precisely, the advances of our knowledge in pre- and post-embryonic development, and interactions of SOX2 in this scenario with various signaling pathways in tumor development and cancer progression, its potential as a therapeutic target against many cancers are summarized and discussed in this article.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niharika
- Epigenetics and Cancer Research Laboratory, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Group, Department of Life Science, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela 769008, Odisha, India
| | - Lina Ureka
- Epigenetics and Cancer Research Laboratory, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Group, Department of Life Science, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela 769008, Odisha, India
| | - Ankan Roy
- Epigenetics and Cancer Research Laboratory, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Group, Department of Life Science, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela 769008, Odisha, India
| | - Samir Kumar Patra
- Epigenetics and Cancer Research Laboratory, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Group, Department of Life Science, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela 769008, Odisha, India.
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3
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Ben-Simon Y, Hooper M, Narayan S, Daigle T, Dwivedi D, Way SW, Oster A, Stafford DA, Mich JK, Taormina MJ, Martinez RA, Opitz-Araya X, Roth JR, Allen S, Ayala A, Bakken TE, Barcelli T, Barta S, Bendrick J, Bertagnolli D, Bowlus J, Boyer G, Brouner K, Casian B, Casper T, Chakka AB, Chakrabarty R, Chance RK, Chavan S, Departee M, Donadio N, Dotson N, Egdorf T, Gabitto M, Gary A, Gasperini M, Goldy J, Gore BB, Graybuck L, Greisman N, Haeseleer F, Halterman C, Helback O, Hockemeyer D, Huang C, Huff S, Hunker A, Johansen N, Juneau Z, Kalmbach B, Khem S, Kutsal R, Larsen R, Lee C, Lee AY, Leibly M, Lenz GH, Liang E, Lusk N, Malone J, Mollenkopf T, Morin E, Newman D, Ng L, Ngo K, Omstead V, Oyama A, Pham T, Pom CA, Potekhina L, Ransford S, Rette D, Rimorin C, Rocha D, Ruiz A, Sanchez RE, Sedeno-Cortes A, Sevigny JP, Shapovalova N, Shulga L, Sigler AR, Siverts LA, Somasundaram S, Stewart K, Tieu M, Trader C, van Velthoven CT, Walker M, Weed N, Wirthlin M, Wood T, Wynalda B, Yao Z, Zhou T, Ariza J, Dee N, Reding M, Ronellenfitch K, Mufti S, Sunkin SM, Smith KA, Esposito L, Waters J, Thyagarajan B, Yao S, Lein ES, Zeng H, Levi BP, Ngai J, Ting J, Tasic B. A suite of enhancer AAVs and transgenic mouse lines for genetic access to cortical cell types. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.10.597244. [PMID: 38915722 PMCID: PMC11195086 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.10.597244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/26/2024]
Abstract
The mammalian cortex is comprised of cells with different morphological, physiological, and molecular properties that can be classified according to shared properties into cell types. Defining the contribution of each cell type to the computational and cognitive processes that are guided by the cortex is essential for understanding its function in health and disease. We use transcriptomic and epigenomic cortical cell type taxonomies from mice and humans to define marker genes and enhancers, and to build genetic tools for cortical cell types. Here, we present a large toolkit for selective targeting of cortical populations, including mouse transgenic lines and recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors containing genomic enhancers. We report evaluation of fifteen new transgenic driver lines and over 680 different enhancer AAVs covering all major subclasses of cortical cells, with many achieving a high degree of specificity, comparable with existing transgenic lines. We find that the transgenic lines based on marker genes can provide exceptional specificity and completeness of cell type labeling, but frequently require generation of a triple-transgenic cross for best usability/specificity. On the other hand, enhancer AAVs are easy to screen and use, and can be easily modified to express diverse cargo, such as recombinases. However, their use depends on many factors, such as viral titer and route of administration. The tools reported here as well as the scaled process of tool creation provide an unprecedented resource that should enable diverse experimental strategies towards understanding mammalian cortex and brain function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoav Ben-Simon
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
- equivalent contribution
| | - Marcus Hooper
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
- equivalent contribution
| | - Sujatha Narayan
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
- equivalent contribution
| | - Tanya Daigle
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
- equivalent contribution
| | | | - Sharon W. Way
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Aaron Oster
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | - John K. Mich
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | | | | | - Jada R. Roth
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Shona Allen
- University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Angela Ayala
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | | | - Stuard Barta
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Tamara Casper
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | | | | | - Sakshi Chavan
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | | | | | - Tom Egdorf
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | - Amanda Gary
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | - Jeff Goldy
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Bryan B. Gore
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | - Noah Greisman
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | | | | | | | - Cindy Huang
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Sydney Huff
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Avery Hunker
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | - Zoe Juneau
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | - Shannon Khem
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Rana Kutsal
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | - Changkyu Lee
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Angus Y. Lee
- University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | | | | | | | - Nicholas Lusk
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | | | - Elyse Morin
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Dakota Newman
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Lydia Ng
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Kiet Ngo
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | - Alana Oyama
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | | | | | - Shea Ransford
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Dean Rette
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | - Dana Rocha
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Augustin Ruiz
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Ana R. Sigler
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | | | - Kaiya Stewart
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Michael Tieu
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | | | | | - Natalie Weed
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | - Toren Wood
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | - Zizhen Yao
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Thomas Zhou
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | - Nick Dee
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | | | - Shoaib Mufti
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | | | - Luke Esposito
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Jack Waters
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | | | - Shenqin Yao
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Ed S. Lein
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Hongkui Zeng
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - Boaz P. Levi
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
| | - John Ngai
- University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Present affiliation: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892
| | - Jonathan Ting
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109
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4
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Khader N, Shchuka VM, Dorogin A, Shynlova O, Mitchell JA. SOX4 exerts contrasting regulatory effects on labor-associated gene promoters in myometrial cells. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0297847. [PMID: 38635533 PMCID: PMC11025800 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297847] [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: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024] Open
Abstract
The uterine muscular layer, or myometrium, undergoes profound changes in global gene expression during its progression from a quiescent state during pregnancy to a contractile state at the onset of labor. In this study, we investigate the role of SOX family transcription factors in myometrial cells and provide evidence for the role of SOX4 in regulating labor-associated genes. We show that Sox4 has elevated expression in the murine myometrium during a term laboring process and in two mouse models of preterm labor. Additionally, SOX4 differentially affects labor-associated gene promoter activity in cooperation with activator protein 1 (AP-1) dimers. SOX4 exerted no effect on the Gja1 promoter; a JUND-specific activation effect at the Fos promoter; a positive activation effect on the Mmp11 promoter with the AP-1 dimers; and surprisingly, we noted that the reporter expression of the Ptgs2 promoter in the presence of JUND and FOSL2 was repressed by the addition of SOX4. Our data indicate SOX4 may play a diverse role in regulating gene expression in the laboring myometrium in cooperation with AP-1 factors. This study enhances our current understanding of the regulatory network that governs the transcriptional changes associated with the onset of labor and highlights a new molecular player that may contribute to the labor transcriptional program.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nawrah Khader
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Virlana M. Shchuka
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Anna Dorogin
- Lunenfeld Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Oksana Shynlova
- Lunenfeld Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Jennifer A. Mitchell
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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5
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Capauto D, Wang Y, Wu F, Norton S, Mariani J, Inoue F, Crawford GE, Ahituv N, Abyzov A, Vaccarino FM. Characterization of enhancer activity in early human neurodevelopment using Massively Parallel Reporter Assay (MPRA) and forebrain organoids. Sci Rep 2024; 14:3936. [PMID: 38365907 PMCID: PMC10873509 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-54302-7] [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: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 02/11/2024] [Indexed: 02/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Regulation of gene expression through enhancers is one of the major processes shaping the structure and function of the human brain during development. High-throughput assays have predicted thousands of enhancers involved in neurodevelopment, and confirming their activity through orthogonal functional assays is crucial. Here, we utilized Massively Parallel Reporter Assays (MPRAs) in stem cells and forebrain organoids to evaluate the activity of ~ 7000 gene-linked enhancers previously identified in human fetal tissues and brain organoids. We used a Gaussian mixture model to evaluate the contribution of background noise in the measured activity signal to confirm the activity of ~ 35% of the tested enhancers, with most showing temporal-specific activity, suggesting their evolving role in neurodevelopment. The temporal specificity was further supported by the correlation of activity with gene expression. Our findings provide a valuable gene regulatory resource to the scientific community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Capauto
- Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Yifan Wang
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Center for Individualized Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA
| | - Feinan Wu
- Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Scott Norton
- Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Jessica Mariani
- Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Fumitaka Inoue
- Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology (WPI-ASHBi), Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | | | - Nadav Ahituv
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Institute for Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Alexej Abyzov
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Center for Individualized Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.
| | - Flora M Vaccarino
- Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
- Yale Stem Cell Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
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6
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Loell KJ, Friedman RZ, Myers CA, Corbo JC, Cohen BA, White MA. Transcription factor interactions explain the context-dependent activity of CRX binding sites. PLoS Comput Biol 2024; 20:e1011802. [PMID: 38227575 PMCID: PMC10817189 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011802] [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: 03/06/2023] [Revised: 01/26/2024] [Accepted: 01/06/2024] [Indexed: 01/18/2024] Open
Abstract
The effects of transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) on the activity of a cis-regulatory element (CRE) depend on the local sequence context. In rod photoreceptors, binding sites for the transcription factor (TF) Cone-rod homeobox (CRX) occur in both enhancers and silencers, but the sequence context that determines whether CRX binding sites contribute to activation or repression of transcription is not understood. To investigate the context-dependent activity of CRX sites, we fit neural network-based models to the activities of synthetic CREs composed of photoreceptor TFBSs. The models revealed that CRX binding sites consistently make positive, independent contributions to CRE activity, while negative homotypic interactions between sites cause CREs composed of multiple CRX sites to function as silencers. The effects of negative homotypic interactions can be overcome by the presence of other TFBSs that either interact cooperatively with CRX sites or make independent positive contributions to activity. The context-dependent activity of CRX sites is thus determined by the balance between positive heterotypic interactions, independent contributions of TFBSs, and negative homotypic interactions. Our findings explain observed patterns of activity among genomic CRX-bound enhancers and silencers, and suggest that enhancers may require diverse TFBSs to overcome negative homotypic interactions between TFBSs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaiser J. Loell
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Ryan Z. Friedman
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Connie A. Myers
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Joseph C. Corbo
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Barak A. Cohen
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Michael A. White
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
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7
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Abatti LE, Lado-Fernández P, Huynh L, Collado M, Hoffman M, Mitchell J. Epigenetic reprogramming of a distal developmental enhancer cluster drives SOX2 overexpression in breast and lung adenocarcinoma. Nucleic Acids Res 2023; 51:10109-10131. [PMID: 37738673 PMCID: PMC10602899 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad734] [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: 05/09/2023] [Revised: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Enhancer reprogramming has been proposed as a key source of transcriptional dysregulation during tumorigenesis, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this process remain unclear. Here, we identify an enhancer cluster required for normal development that is aberrantly activated in breast and lung adenocarcinoma. Deletion of the SRR124-134 cluster disrupts expression of the SOX2 oncogene, dysregulates genome-wide transcription and chromatin accessibility and reduces the ability of cancer cells to form colonies in vitro. Analysis of primary tumors reveals a correlation between chromatin accessibility at this cluster and SOX2 overexpression in breast and lung cancer patients. We demonstrate that FOXA1 is an activator and NFIB is a repressor of SRR124-134 activity and SOX2 transcription in cancer cells, revealing a co-opting of the regulatory mechanisms involved in early development. Notably, we show that the conserved SRR124 and SRR134 regions are essential during mouse development, where homozygous deletion results in the lethal failure of esophageal-tracheal separation. These findings provide insights into how developmental enhancers can be reprogrammed during tumorigenesis and underscore the importance of understanding enhancer dynamics during development and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis E Abatti
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Patricia Lado-Fernández
- Laboratory of Cell Senescence, Cancer and Aging, Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Xerencia de Xestión Integrada de Santiago (XXIS/SERGAS), Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Department of Physiology and Center for Research in Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases (CiMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Linh Huynh
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Manuel Collado
- Laboratory of Cell Senescence, Cancer and Aging, Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Xerencia de Xestión Integrada de Santiago (XXIS/SERGAS), Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Michael M Hoffman
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jennifer A Mitchell
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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8
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Zhu I, Landsman D. Clustered and diverse transcription factor binding underlies cell type specificity of enhancers for housekeeping genes. Genome Res 2023; 33:1662-1672. [PMID: 37884340 PMCID: PMC10691539 DOI: 10.1101/gr.278130.123] [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: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
Housekeeping genes are considered to be regulated by common enhancers across different tissues. Here we report that most of the commonly expressed mouse or human genes across different cell types, including more than half of the previously identified housekeeping genes, are associated with cell type-specific enhancers. Furthermore, the binding of most transcription factors (TFs) is cell type-specific. We reason that these cell type specificities are causally related to the collective TF recruitment at regulatory sites, as TFs tend to bind to regions associated with many other TFs and each cell type has a unique repertoire of expressed TFs. Based on binding profiles of hundreds of TFs from HepG2, K562, and GM12878 cells, we show that 80% of all TF peaks overlapping H3K27ac signals are in the top 20,000-23,000 most TF-enriched H3K27ac peak regions, and approximately 12,000-15,000 of these peaks are enhancers (nonpromoters). Those enhancers are mainly cell type-specific and include those linked to the majority of commonly expressed genes. Moreover, we show that the top 15,000 most TF-enriched regulatory sites in HepG2 cells, associated with about 200 TFs, can be predicted largely from the binding profile of as few as 30 TFs. Through motif analysis, we show that major enhancers harbor diverse and clustered motifs from a combination of available TFs uniquely present in each cell type. We propose a mechanism that explains how the highly focused TF binding at regulatory sites results in cell type specificity of enhancers for housekeeping and commonly expressed genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iris Zhu
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20894, USA
| | - David Landsman
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20894, USA
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9
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Capauto D, Wang Y, Wu F, Norton S, Mariani J, Inoue F, Crawford GE, Ahituv N, Abyzov A, Vaccarino FM. Characterization of enhancer activity in early human neurodevelopment using Massively parallel reporter assay (MPRA) and forebrain organoids. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.08.14.553170. [PMID: 37645832 PMCID: PMC10461976 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.14.553170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
Regulation of gene expression through enhancers is one of the major processes shaping the structure and function of the human brain during development. High-throughput assays have predicted thousands of enhancers involved in neurodevelopment, and confirming their activity through orthogonal functional assays is crucial. Here, we utilized Massively Parallel Reporter Assays (MPRAs) in stem cells and forebrain organoids to evaluate the activity of ~7,000 gene-linked enhancers previously identified in human fetal tissues and brain organoids. We used a Gaussian mixture model to evaluate the contribution of background noise in the measured activity signal to confirm the activity of ~35% of the tested enhancers, with most showing temporal-specific activity, suggesting their evolving role in neurodevelopment. The temporal specificity was further supported by the correlation of activity with gene expression. Our findings provide a valuable gene regulatory resource to the scientific community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Capauto
- Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520
| | - Yifan Wang
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Center for Individualized Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
| | - Feinan Wu
- Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520
| | - Scott Norton
- Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520
| | | | - Fumitaka Inoue
- Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology (WPI-ASHBi), Kyoto University; Kyoto, Japan
| | | | | | - Nadav Ahituv
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco; San Francisco, CA, USA
- Institute for Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco; San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Alexej Abyzov
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Center for Individualized Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
| | - Flora M. Vaccarino
- Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
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10
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Smith GD, Ching WH, Cornejo-Páramo P, Wong ES. Decoding enhancer complexity with machine learning and high-throughput discovery. Genome Biol 2023; 24:116. [PMID: 37173718 PMCID: PMC10176946 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-023-02955-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Enhancers are genomic DNA elements controlling spatiotemporal gene expression. Their flexible organization and functional redundancies make deciphering their sequence-function relationships challenging. This article provides an overview of the current understanding of enhancer organization and evolution, with an emphasis on factors that influence these relationships. Technological advancements, particularly in machine learning and synthetic biology, are discussed in light of how they provide new ways to understand this complexity. Exciting opportunities lie ahead as we continue to unravel the intricacies of enhancer function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabrielle D Smith
- Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, 405 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Kensington, NSW, Australia
| | - Wan Hern Ching
- Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, 405 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia
| | - Paola Cornejo-Páramo
- Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, 405 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Kensington, NSW, Australia
| | - Emily S Wong
- Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, 405 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia.
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Kensington, NSW, Australia.
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11
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Martinez-Corral R, Park M, Biette KM, Friedrich D, Scholes C, Khalil AS, Gunawardena J, DePace AH. Transcriptional kinetic synergy: A complex landscape revealed by integrating modeling and synthetic biology. Cell Syst 2023; 14:324-339.e7. [PMID: 37080164 PMCID: PMC10472254 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2023.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Revised: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2023]
Abstract
Transcription factors (TFs) control gene expression, often acting synergistically. Classical thermodynamic models offer a biophysical explanation for synergy based on binding cooperativity and regulated recruitment of RNA polymerase. Because transcription requires polymerase to transition through multiple states, recent work suggests that "kinetic synergy" can arise through TFs acting on distinct steps of the transcription cycle. These types of synergy are not mutually exclusive and are difficult to disentangle conceptually and experimentally. Here, we model and build a synthetic circuit in which TFs bind to a single shared site on DNA, such that TFs cannot synergize by simultaneous binding. We model mRNA production as a function of both TF binding and regulation of the transcription cycle, revealing a complex landscape dependent on TF concentration, DNA binding affinity, and regulatory activity. We use synthetic TFs to confirm that the transcription cycle must be integrated with recruitment for a quantitative understanding of gene regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Minhee Park
- Biological Design Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Kelly M Biette
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Dhana Friedrich
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Clarissa Scholes
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Ahmad S Khalil
- Biological Design Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Jeremy Gunawardena
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Angela H DePace
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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12
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Brosh R, Coelho C, Ribeiro-Dos-Santos AM, Ellis G, Hogan MS, Ashe HJ, Somogyi N, Ordoñez R, Luther RD, Huang E, Boeke JD, Maurano MT. Synthetic regulatory genomics uncovers enhancer context dependence at the Sox2 locus. Mol Cell 2023; 83:1140-1152.e7. [PMID: 36931273 PMCID: PMC10081970 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.02.027] [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: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 01/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023]
Abstract
Sox2 expression in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) depends on a distal cluster of DNase I hypersensitive sites (DHSs), but their individual contributions and degree of interdependence remain a mystery. We analyzed the endogenous Sox2 locus using Big-IN to scarlessly integrate large DNA payloads incorporating deletions, rearrangements, and inversions affecting single or multiple DHSs, as well as surgical alterations to transcription factor (TF) recognition sequences. Multiple mESC clones were derived for each payload, sequence-verified, and analyzed for Sox2 expression. We found that two DHSs comprising a handful of key TF recognition sequences were each sufficient for long-range activation of Sox2 expression. By contrast, three nearby DHSs were entirely context dependent, showing no activity alone but dramatically augmenting the activity of the autonomous DHSs. Our results highlight the role of context in modulating genomic regulatory element function, and our synthetic regulatory genomics approach provides a roadmap for the dissection of other genomic loci.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ran Brosh
- Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Camila Coelho
- Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | | | - Gwen Ellis
- Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Megan S Hogan
- Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Hannah J Ashe
- Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Nicolette Somogyi
- Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Raquel Ordoñez
- Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Raven D Luther
- Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Emily Huang
- Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Jef D Boeke
- Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Biochemistry Molecular Pharmacology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA
| | - Matthew T Maurano
- Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Pathology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
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13
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Kim S, Wysocka J. Deciphering the multi-scale, quantitative cis-regulatory code. Mol Cell 2023; 83:373-392. [PMID: 36693380 PMCID: PMC9898153 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2022.12.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 57.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2022] [Revised: 12/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Uncovering the cis-regulatory code that governs when and how much each gene is transcribed in a given genome and cellular state remains a central goal of biology. Here, we discuss major layers of regulation that influence how transcriptional outputs are encoded by DNA sequence and cellular context. We first discuss how transcription factors bind specific DNA sequences in a dosage-dependent and cooperative manner and then proceed to the cofactors that facilitate transcription factor function and mediate the activity of modular cis-regulatory elements such as enhancers, silencers, and promoters. We then consider the complex and poorly understood interplay of these diverse elements within regulatory landscapes and its relationships with chromatin states and nuclear organization. We propose that a mechanistically informed, quantitative model of transcriptional regulation that integrates these multiple regulatory layers will be the key to ultimately cracking the cis-regulatory code.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seungsoo Kim
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Department of Chemical and Systems Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Joanna Wysocka
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Department of Chemical and Systems Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
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14
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Super-enhancers conserved within placental mammals maintain stem cell pluripotency. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2204716119. [PMID: 36161929 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2204716119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite pluripotent stem cells sharing key transcription factors, their maintenance involves distinct genetic inputs. Emerging evidence suggests that super-enhancers (SEs) can function as master regulatory hubs to control cell identity and pluripotency in humans and mice. However, whether pluripotency-associated SEs share an evolutionary origin in mammals remains elusive. Here, we performed comprehensive comparative epigenomic and transcription factor binding analyses among pigs, humans, and mice to identify pluripotency-associated SEs. Like typical enhancers, SEs displayed rapid evolution in mammals. We showed that BRD4 is an essential and conserved activator for mammalian pluripotency-associated SEs. Comparative motif enrichment analysis revealed 30 shared transcription factor binding motifs among the three species. The majority of transcriptional factors that bind to identified motifs are known regulators associated with pluripotency. Further, we discovered three pluripotency-associated SEs (SE-SOX2, SE-PIM1, and SE-FGFR1) that displayed remarkable conservation in placental mammals and were sufficient to drive reporter gene expression in a pluripotency-dependent manner. Disruption of these conserved SEs through the CRISPR-Cas9 approach severely impaired stem cell pluripotency. Our study provides insights into the understanding of conserved regulatory mechanisms underlying the maintenance of pluripotency as well as species-specific modulation of the pluripotency-associated regulatory networks in mammals.
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15
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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.
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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.
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16
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Bauer M, Payer B, Filion GJ. Causality in transcription and genome folding: Insights from X inactivation. Bioessays 2022; 44:e2200105. [PMID: 36028473 DOI: 10.1002/bies.202200105] [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: 06/01/2022] [Revised: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
The spatial organization of genomes is becoming increasingly understood. In mammals, where it is most investigated, this organization ties in with transcription, so an important research objective is to understand whether gene activity is a cause or a consequence of genome folding in space. In this regard, the phenomena of X-chromosome inactivation and reactivation open a unique window of investigation because of the singularities of the inactive X chromosome. Here we focus on the cause-consequence nexus between genome conformation and transcription and explain how recent results about the structural changes associated with inactivation and reactivation of the X chromosome shed light on this problem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moritz Bauer
- Oncode Institute, Hubrecht Institute-KNAW and University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Bernhard Payer
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain.,Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Guillaume J Filion
- Dept. Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada
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17
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Song W, Ovcharenko I. Heterogeneity of enhancers embodies shared and representative functional groups underlying developmental and cell type-specific gene regulation. Gene 2022; 834:146640. [PMID: 35680026 PMCID: PMC9235925 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2022.146640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2022] [Revised: 04/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
While enhancers in a particular tissue coordinately fulfill regulatory functions, these functions are heterogeneous in nature and comprise of multiple enhancer subclasses and the associated regulatory mechanisms. In this work, we used multiple cell lines to identify enhancer subclasses linked to development, differentiation, and cellular identity. We found that enhancer functional heterogeneity during development encompasses subclasses of ubiquitous functions (11%), development specific regulatory activity (62%), and chromatin interactions (12%). In differentiated cell lines, ubiquitous enhancers (10%) stay active across multiple cell lines.They are accompanied by a large enhancer subclass (ranging from 33% to 63%) with functions specific to the corresponding lineage. The remaining enhancers (27-40%) establish regulatory chromatin structure and facilitate interactions of cell type-specific enhancers with their target promoters. In addition to specialized functions of cell type-specific enhancers, we show that proper accounting of enhancer heterogeneity leads to a 10% increase in accuracy of enhancer classification, which significantly improves the modeling of enhancers and identification of underlying regulatory mechanisms. In summary, our observations suggest that although cell type-specific enhancers are heterogeneous and coordinate different regulatory programs, enhancers from different cell lines maintain common categories of functional groups across developmental and differentiation stages, indicating a higher order rule followed by enhancer-gene regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Song
- Computational Biology Branch, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Ivan Ovcharenko
- Computational Biology Branch, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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18
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Taylor T, Sikorska N, Shchuka VM, Chahar S, Ji C, Macpherson NN, Moorthy SD, de Kort MAC, Mullany S, Khader N, Gillespie ZE, Langroudi L, Tobias IC, Lenstra TL, Mitchell JA, Sexton T. Transcriptional regulation and chromatin architecture maintenance are decoupled functions at the Sox2 locus. Genes Dev 2022; 36:699-717. [PMID: 35710138 PMCID: PMC9296009 DOI: 10.1101/gad.349489.122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2022] [Accepted: 06/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
How distal regulatory elements control gene transcription and chromatin topology is not clearly defined, yet these processes are closely linked in lineage specification during development. Through allele-specific genome editing and chromatin interaction analyses of the Sox2 locus in mouse embryonic stem cells, we found a striking disconnection between transcriptional control and chromatin architecture. We traced nearly all Sox2 transcriptional activation to a small number of key transcription factor binding sites, whose deletions have no effect on promoter-enhancer interaction frequencies or topological domain organization. Local chromatin architecture maintenance, including at the topologically associating domain (TAD) boundary downstream from the Sox2 enhancer, is widely distributed over multiple transcription factor-bound regions and maintained in a CTCF-independent manner. Furthermore, partial disruption of promoter-enhancer interactions by ectopic chromatin loop formation has no effect on Sox2 transcription. These findings indicate that many transcription factors are involved in modulating chromatin architecture independently of CTCF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiegh Taylor
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M55 3G5, Canada
| | - Natalia Sikorska
- Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), UMR7104, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, U1258, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, University of Strasbourg, 6704 Illkirch, France
| | - Virlana M Shchuka
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M55 3G5, Canada
| | - Sanjay Chahar
- Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), UMR7104, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, U1258, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, University of Strasbourg, 6704 Illkirch, France
| | - Chenfan Ji
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M55 3G5, Canada
| | - Neil N Macpherson
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M55 3G5, Canada
| | - Sakthi D Moorthy
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M55 3G5, Canada
| | - Marit A C de Kort
- Division of Gene Regulation, the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Oncode Institute, 1066CX Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Shanelle Mullany
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M55 3G5, Canada
| | - Nawrah Khader
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M55 3G5, Canada
| | - Zoe E Gillespie
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M55 3G5, Canada
| | - Lida Langroudi
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M55 3G5, Canada
| | - Ian C Tobias
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M55 3G5, Canada
| | - Tineke L Lenstra
- Division of Gene Regulation, the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Oncode Institute, 1066CX Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jennifer A Mitchell
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M55 3G5, Canada
| | - Tom Sexton
- Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), UMR7104, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, U1258, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, University of Strasbourg, 6704 Illkirch, France
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19
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Warren TL, Lambert JT, Nord AS. AAV Deployment of Enhancer-Based Expression Constructs In Vivo in Mouse Brain. J Vis Exp 2022:10.3791/62650. [PMID: 35435902 PMCID: PMC10010840 DOI: 10.3791/62650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Enhancers are binding platforms for a diverse array of transcription factors that drive specific expression patterns of tissue- and cell-type-specific genes. Multiple means of assessing non-coding DNA and various chromatin states have proven useful in predicting the presence of enhancer sequences in the genome, but validating the activity of these sequences and finding the organs and developmental stages they are active in is a labor-intensive process. Recent advances in adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors have enabled the widespread delivery of transgenes to mouse tissues, enabling in vivo enhancer testing without necessitating a transgenic animal. This protocol shows how a reporter construct that expresses EGFP under the control of a minimal promoter, which does not drive significant expression on its own, can be used to study the activity patterns of candidate enhancer sequences in the mouse brain. An AAV-packaged reporter construct is delivered to the mouse brain and incubated for 1-4 weeks, after which the animal is sacrificed, and brain sections are observed under a microscope. EGFP appears in cells in which the tested enhancer is sufficient to initiate gene expression, pinpointing the location and developmental stage in which the enhancer is active in the brain. Standard cloning methods, low-cost AAV packaging, and expanding AAV serotypes and methods for in vivo delivery and standard imaging readout make this an accessible approach for the study of how gene expression is regulated in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tracy L Warren
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis; Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California, Davis
| | - Jason T Lambert
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis; Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California, Davis;
| | - Alex S Nord
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis; Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California, Davis;
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20
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Bakoulis S, Krautz R, Alcaraz N, Salvatore M, Andersson R. OUP accepted manuscript. Nucleic Acids Res 2022; 50:2111-2127. [PMID: 35166831 PMCID: PMC8887488 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2021] [Revised: 01/22/2022] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Nicolas Alcaraz
- The Bioinformatics Centre, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research (CPR), University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Marco Salvatore
- The Bioinformatics Centre, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Robin Andersson
- To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +45 35330245;
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21
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Changes in chromatin accessibility landscape and histone H3 core acetylation during valproic acid-induced differentiation of embryonic stem cells. Epigenetics Chromatin 2021; 14:58. [PMID: 34955095 PMCID: PMC8711205 DOI: 10.1186/s13072-021-00432-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2021] [Accepted: 12/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Directed differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) or induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) provides powerful models to dissect the molecular mechanisms leading to the formation of specific cell lineages. Treatment with histone deacetylase inhibitors can significantly enhance the efficiency of directed differentiation. However, the mechanisms are not well understood. Here, we use CUT&RUN in combination with ATAC-seq to determine changes in both histone modifications and genome-wide chromatin accessibility following valproic acid (VPA) exposure. VPA induced a significant increase in global histone H3 acetylation (H3K56ac), a core histone modification affecting nucleosome stability, as well as enrichment at loci associated with cytoskeletal organization and cellular morphogenesis. In addition, VPA altered the levels of linker histone H1 subtypes and the total histone H1/nucleosome ratio indicative of initial differentiation events. Notably, ATAC-seq analysis revealed changes in chromatin accessibility of genes involved in regulation of CDK serine/threonine kinase activity and DNA duplex unwinding. Importantly, changes in chromatin accessibility were evident at several key genomic loci, such as the pluripotency factor Lefty, cardiac muscle troponin Tnnt2, and the homeodomain factor Hopx, which play critical roles in cardiomyocyte differentiation. Massive parallel transcription factor (TF) footprinting also indicates an increased occupancy of TFs involved in differentiation toward mesoderm and endoderm lineages and a loss of footprints of POU5F1/SOX2 pluripotency factors following VPA treatment. Our results provide the first genome-wide analysis of the chromatin landscape following VPA-induced differentiation in mESCs and provide new mechanistic insight into the intricate molecular processes that govern departure from pluripotency and early lineage commitment.
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22
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Glaser LV, Steiger M, Fuchs A, van Bömmel A, Einfeldt E, Chung HR, Vingron M, Meijsing SH. Assessing genome-wide dynamic changes in enhancer activity during early mESC differentiation by FAIRE-STARR-seq. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:12178-12195. [PMID: 34850108 PMCID: PMC8643627 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab1100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Revised: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) can differentiate into any given cell type and therefore represent a versatile model to study the link between gene regulation and differentiation. To quantitatively assess the dynamics of enhancer activity during the early stages of murine ESC differentiation, we analyzed accessible genomic regions using STARR-seq, a massively parallel reporter assay. This resulted in a genome-wide quantitative map of active mESC enhancers, in pluripotency and during the early stages of differentiation. We find that only a minority of accessible regions is active and that such regions are enriched near promoters, characterized by specific chromatin marks, enriched for distinct sequence motifs, and modeling shows that active regions can be predicted from sequence alone. Regions that change their activity upon retinoic acid-induced differentiation are more prevalent at distal intergenic regions when compared to constitutively active enhancers. Further, analysis of differentially active enhancers verified the contribution of individual TF motifs toward activity and inducibility as well as their role in regulating endogenous genes. Notably, the activity of retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARα) occupied regions can either increase or decrease upon the addition of its ligand, retinoic acid, with the direction of the change correlating with spacing and orientation of the RARα consensus motif and the co-occurrence of additional sequence motifs. Together, our genome-wide enhancer activity map elucidates features associated with enhancer activity levels, identifies regulatory regions disregarded by computational prediction tools, and provides a resource for future studies into regulatory elements in mESCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura V Glaser
- Department of Computational Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Mara Steiger
- Department of Computational Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Alisa Fuchs
- Department of Computational Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
- The Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Alena van Bömmel
- Department of Computational Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Edda Einfeldt
- Department of Computational Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Ho-Ryun Chung
- Department of Computational Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
- Institute for Medical Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, Philipps University of Marburg, 35037 Marburg, Germany
| | - Martin Vingron
- Department of Computational Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Sebastiaan H Meijsing
- Department of Computational Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
- Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens, 10117 Berlin, Germany
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23
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Degtyareva AO, Antontseva EV, Merkulova TI. Regulatory SNPs: Altered Transcription Factor Binding Sites Implicated in Complex Traits and Diseases. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:6454. [PMID: 34208629 PMCID: PMC8235176 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22126454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Revised: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The vast majority of the genetic variants (mainly SNPs) associated with various human traits and diseases map to a noncoding part of the genome and are enriched in its regulatory compartment, suggesting that many causal variants may affect gene expression. The leading mechanism of action of these SNPs consists in the alterations in the transcription factor binding via creation or disruption of transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) or some change in the affinity of these regulatory proteins to their cognate sites. In this review, we first focus on the history of the discovery of regulatory SNPs (rSNPs) and systematized description of the existing methodical approaches to their study. Then, we brief the recent comprehensive examples of rSNPs studied from the discovery of the changes in the TFBS sequence as a result of a nucleotide substitution to identification of its effect on the target gene expression and, eventually, to phenotype. We also describe state-of-the-art genome-wide approaches to identification of regulatory variants, including both making molecular sense of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and the alternative approaches the primary goal of which is to determine the functionality of genetic variants. Among these approaches, special attention is paid to expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) analysis and the search for allele-specific events in RNA-seq (ASE events) as well as in ChIP-seq, DNase-seq, and ATAC-seq (ASB events) data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arina O. Degtyareva
- Department of Molecular Genetic, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia; (A.O.D.); (E.V.A.)
| | - Elena V. Antontseva
- Department of Molecular Genetic, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia; (A.O.D.); (E.V.A.)
| | - Tatiana I. Merkulova
- Department of Molecular Genetic, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia; (A.O.D.); (E.V.A.)
- Department of Natural Sciences, Novosibirsk State University, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
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24
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Kaufman ML, Goodson NB, Park KU, Schwanke M, Office E, Schneider SR, Abraham J, Hensley A, Jones KL, Brzezinski JA. Initiation of Otx2 expression in the developing mouse retina requires a unique enhancer and either Ascl1 or Neurog2 activity. Development 2021; 148:dev199399. [PMID: 34143204 PMCID: PMC8254865 DOI: 10.1242/dev.199399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
During retinal development, a large subset of progenitors upregulates the transcription factor Otx2, which is required for photoreceptor and bipolar cell formation. How these retinal progenitor cells initially activate Otx2 expression is unclear. To address this, we investigated the cis-regulatory network that controls Otx2 expression in mice. We identified a minimal enhancer element, DHS-4D, that drove expression in newly formed OTX2+ cells. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletion of DHS-4D reduced OTX2 expression, but this effect was diminished in postnatal development. Systematic mutagenesis of the enhancer revealed that three basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor-binding sites were required for its activity. Single cell RNA-sequencing of nascent Otx2+ cells identified the bHLH factors Ascl1 and Neurog2 as candidate regulators. CRISPR/Cas9 targeting of these factors showed that only the simultaneous loss of Ascl1 and Neurog2 prevented OTX2 expression. Our findings suggest that Ascl1 and Neurog2 act either redundantly or in a compensatory fashion to activate the DHS-4D enhancer and Otx2 expression. We observed redundancy or compensation at both the transcriptional and enhancer utilization levels, suggesting that the mechanisms governing Otx2 regulation in the retina are flexible and robust.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael L. Kaufman
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Noah B. Goodson
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Ko Uoon Park
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Michael Schwanke
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Emma Office
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Sophia R. Schneider
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Joy Abraham
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Austin Hensley
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Kenneth L. Jones
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
| | - Joseph A. Brzezinski
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
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