1
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Wilderman A, D'haene E, Baetens M, Yankee TN, Winchester EW, Glidden N, Roets E, Van Dorpe J, Janssens S, Miller DE, Galey M, Brown KM, Stottmann RW, Vergult S, Weaver KN, Brugmann SA, Cox TC, Cotney J. A distant global control region is essential for normal expression of anterior HOXA genes during mouse and human craniofacial development. Nat Commun 2024; 15:136. [PMID: 38167838 PMCID: PMC10762089 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44506-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Craniofacial abnormalities account for approximately one third of birth defects. The regulatory programs that build the face require precisely controlled spatiotemporal gene expression, achieved through tissue-specific enhancers. Clusters of coactivated enhancers and their target genes, known as superenhancers, are important in determining cell identity but have been largely unexplored in development. In this study we identified superenhancer regions unique to human embryonic craniofacial tissue. To demonstrate the importance of such regions in craniofacial development and disease, we focused on an ~600 kb noncoding region located between NPVF and NFE2L3. We identified long range interactions with this region in both human and mouse embryonic craniofacial tissue with the anterior portion of the HOXA gene cluster. Mice lacking this superenhancer exhibit perinatal lethality, and present with highly penetrant skull defects and orofacial clefts phenocopying Hoxa2-/- mice. Moreover, we identified two cases of de novo copy number changes of the superenhancer in humans both with severe craniofacial abnormalities. This evidence suggests we have identified a critical noncoding locus control region that specifically regulates anterior HOXA genes and copy number changes are pathogenic in human patients.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Eva D'haene
- Center for Medical Genetics, Department of Biomolecular Medicine, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Machteld Baetens
- Center for Medical Genetics, Department of Biomolecular Medicine, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | | | - Emma Wentworth Winchester
- Graduate Program UConn Health, Farmington, CT, USA
- University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA
| | - Nicole Glidden
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA
| | - Ellen Roets
- Department of Obstetrics, Women's Clinic, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Jo Van Dorpe
- Department of Pathology, Ghent University, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Sandra Janssens
- Center for Medical Genetics, Department of Biomolecular Medicine, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Danny E Miller
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Genetic Medicine, University of Washington, Washington, WA, USA
- Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
- Brotman Baty Institute of Precision Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Miranda Galey
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Genetic Medicine, University of Washington, Washington, WA, USA
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Kari M Brown
- Division of Developmental Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Rolf W Stottmann
- Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA
- The Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University School of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Sarah Vergult
- Center for Medical Genetics, Department of Biomolecular Medicine, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - K Nicole Weaver
- Division of Developmental Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Division of Human Genetics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Samantha A Brugmann
- Division of Developmental Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Timothy C Cox
- Department of Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, University of Missouri Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Missouri Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, USA
| | - Justin Cotney
- Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
- Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
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2
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Zambanini G, Nordin A, Jonasson M, Pagella P, Cantù C. A new CUT&RUN low volume-urea (LoV-U) protocol optimized for transcriptional co-factors uncovers Wnt/β-catenin tissue-specific genomic targets. Development 2022; 149:285335. [PMID: 36355069 PMCID: PMC10112916 DOI: 10.1242/dev.201124] [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] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Upon WNT/β-catenin pathway activation, stabilized β-catenin travels to the nucleus where it associates with the TCF/LEF transcription factors, constitutively bound to genomic Wnt-responsive elements (WREs), to activate target gene transcription. Discovering the binding profile of β-catenin is therefore required to unambiguously assign direct targets of WNT signaling. Cleavage under targets and release using nuclease (CUT&RUN) has emerged as prime technique for mapping the binding profile of DNA-interacting proteins. Here, we present a modified version of CUT&RUN, named LoV-U (low volume and urea), that enables the robust and reproducible generation of β-catenin binding profiles, uncovering direct WNT/β-catenin target genes in human cells, as well as in cells isolated from developing mouse tissues. CUT&RUN-LoV-U outperforms original CUT&RUN when targeting co-factors that do not bind the DNA, can profile all classes of chromatin regulators and is well suited for simultaneous processing of several samples. We believe that the application of our protocol will allow the detection of the complex system of tissue-specific WNT/β-catenin target genes, together with other non-DNA-binding transcriptional regulators that act downstream of ontogenetically fundamental signaling cascades.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gianluca Zambanini
- Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping SE-58183, Sweden.,Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (BKV), Division of Molecular Medicine and Virology (MMV), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping SE-58183, Sweden
| | - Anna Nordin
- Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping SE-58183, Sweden.,Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (BKV), Division of Molecular Medicine and Virology (MMV), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping SE-58183, Sweden
| | - Mattias Jonasson
- Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping SE-58183, Sweden.,Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (BKV), Division of Molecular Medicine and Virology (MMV), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping SE-58183, Sweden
| | - Pierfrancesco Pagella
- Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping SE-58183, Sweden.,Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (BKV), Division of Molecular Medicine and Virology (MMV), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping SE-58183, Sweden
| | - Claudio Cantù
- Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping SE-58183, Sweden.,Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (BKV), Division of Molecular Medicine and Virology (MMV), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping SE-58183, Sweden
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3
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Snetkova V, Pennacchio LA, Visel A, Dickel DE. Perfect and imperfect views of ultraconserved sequences. Nat Rev Genet 2022; 23:182-194. [PMID: 34764456 PMCID: PMC8858888 DOI: 10.1038/s41576-021-00424-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Across the human genome, there are nearly 500 'ultraconserved' elements: regions of at least 200 contiguous nucleotides that are perfectly conserved in both the mouse and rat genomes. Remarkably, the majority of these sequences are non-coding, and many can function as enhancers that activate tissue-specific gene expression during embryonic development. From their first description more than 15 years ago, their extreme conservation has both fascinated and perplexed researchers in genomics and evolutionary biology. The intrigue around ultraconserved elements only grew with the observation that they are dispensable for viability. Here, we review recent progress towards understanding the general importance and the specific functions of ultraconserved sequences in mammalian development and human disease and discuss possible explanations for their extreme conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Snetkova
- Environmental Genomics & Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Len A. Pennacchio
- Environmental Genomics & Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,Comparative Biochemistry Program, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,To whom correspondence should be addressed: L.A.P., ; A.V., ; D.E.D., (lead contact)
| | - Axel Visel
- Environmental Genomics & Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA. .,US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA. .,School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, USA.
| | - Diane E. Dickel
- Environmental Genomics & Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,To whom correspondence should be addressed: L.A.P., ; A.V., ; D.E.D., (lead contact)
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4
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Abstract
Shadow enhancers are seemingly redundant transcriptional cis-regulatory elements that regulate the same gene and drive overlapping expression patterns. Recent studies have shown that shadow enhancers are remarkably abundant and control most developmental gene expression in both invertebrates and vertebrates, including mammals. Shadow enhancers might provide an important mechanism for buffering gene expression against mutations in non-coding regulatory regions of genes implicated in human disease. Technological advances in genome editing and live imaging have shed light on how shadow enhancers establish precise gene expression patterns and confer phenotypic robustness. Shadow enhancers can interact in complex ways and may also help to drive the formation of transcriptional hubs within the nucleus. Despite their apparent redundancy, the prevalence and evolutionary conservation of shadow enhancers underscore their key role in emerging metazoan gene regulatory networks.
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5
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Edogbanya J, Tejada-Martinez D, Jones NJ, Jaiswal A, Bell S, Cordeiro R, van Dam S, Rigden DJ, de Magalhães JP. Evolution, structure and emerging roles of C1ORF112 in DNA replication, DNA damage responses, and cancer. Cell Mol Life Sci 2021; 78:4365-4376. [PMID: 33625522 PMCID: PMC8164572 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-021-03789-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Revised: 01/28/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
The C1ORF112 gene initially drew attention when it was found to be strongly co-expressed with several genes previously associated with cancer and implicated in DNA repair and cell cycle regulation, such as RAD51 and the BRCA genes. The molecular functions of C1ORF112 remain poorly understood, yet several studies have uncovered clues as to its potential functions. Here, we review the current knowledge on C1ORF112 biology, its evolutionary history, possible functions, and its potential relevance to cancer. C1ORF112 is conserved throughout eukaryotes, from plants to humans, and is very highly conserved in primates. Protein models suggest that C1ORF112 is an alpha-helical protein. Interestingly, homozygous knockout mice are not viable, suggesting an essential role for C1ORF112 in mammalian development. Gene expression data show that, among human tissues, C1ORF112 is highly expressed in the testes and overexpressed in various cancers when compared to healthy tissues. C1ORF112 has also been shown to have altered levels of expression in some tumours with mutant TP53. Recent screens associate C1ORF112 with DNA replication and reveal possible links to DNA damage repair pathways, including the Fanconi anaemia pathway and homologous recombination. These insights provide important avenues for future research in our efforts to understand the functions and potential disease relevance of C1ORF112.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob Edogbanya
- Integrative Genomics of Ageing Group, Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L7 8TX, UK
| | - Daniela Tejada-Martinez
- Integrative Genomics of Ageing Group, Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L7 8TX, UK
- Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias mención Ecología Y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales Y Evolutivas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, 5090000, Chile
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - Nigel J Jones
- Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZB, UK
| | - Amit Jaiswal
- Institute of Aging Research, School of Medicine, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Sarah Bell
- Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZB, UK
| | - Rui Cordeiro
- Integrative Genomics of Ageing Group, Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L7 8TX, UK
| | - Sipko van Dam
- Department of Endocrinology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713 GZ, Groningen, The Netherlands
- Ancora Health, Herestraat 106, 9711 LM, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Daniel J Rigden
- Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZB, UK
| | - João Pedro de Magalhães
- Integrative Genomics of Ageing Group, Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L7 8TX, UK.
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6
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Snetkova V, Ypsilanti AR, Akiyama JA, Mannion BJ, Plajzer-Frick I, Novak CS, Harrington AN, Pham QT, Kato M, Zhu Y, Godoy J, Meky E, Hunter RD, Shi M, Kvon EZ, Afzal V, Tran S, Rubenstein JLR, Visel A, Pennacchio LA, Dickel DE. Ultraconserved enhancer function does not require perfect sequence conservation. Nat Genet 2021; 53:521-528. [PMID: 33782603 PMCID: PMC8038972 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-021-00812-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2020] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Ultraconserved enhancer sequences show perfect conservation between human and rodent genomes, suggesting that their functions are highly sensitive to mutation. However, current models of enhancer function do not sufficiently explain this extreme evolutionary constraint. We subjected 23 ultraconserved enhancers to different levels of mutagenesis, collectively introducing 1,547 mutations, and examined their activities in transgenic mouse reporter assays. Overall, we find that the regulatory properties of ultraconserved enhancers are robust to mutation. Upon mutagenesis, nearly all (19/23, 83%) still functioned as enhancers at one developmental stage, as did most of those tested again later in development (5/9, 56%). Replacement of endogenous enhancers with mutated alleles in mice corroborated results of transgenic assays, including the functional resilience of ultraconserved enhancers to mutation. Our findings show that the currently known activities of ultraconserved enhancers do not necessarily require the perfect conservation observed in evolution and suggest that additional regulatory or other functions contribute to their sequence constraint.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Snetkova
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Athena R Ypsilanti
- Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience Program, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, and the Nina Ireland Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Jennifer A Akiyama
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Brandon J Mannion
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Comparative Biochemistry Program, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Ingrid Plajzer-Frick
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Catherine S Novak
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Anne N Harrington
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Quan T Pham
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Momoe Kato
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Yiwen Zhu
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Janeth Godoy
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Eman Meky
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Riana D Hunter
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Marie Shi
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Evgeny Z Kvon
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Department of Developmental & Cell Biology, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Veena Afzal
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Stella Tran
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - John L R Rubenstein
- Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience Program, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, and the Nina Ireland Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Axel Visel
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA.
- School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, USA.
| | - Len A Pennacchio
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.
- Comparative Biochemistry Program, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA.
| | - Diane E Dickel
- Environmental Genomics & System Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.
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7
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Cajigas I, Chakraborty A, Lynam M, Swyter KR, Bastidas M, Collens L, Luo H, Ay F, Kohtz JD. Sox2- Evf2 lncRNA-mediated mechanisms of chromosome topological control in developing forebrain. Development 2021; 148:dev197202. [PMID: 33593819 PMCID: PMC7990859 DOI: 10.1242/dev.197202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Accepted: 02/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The Evf2 long non-coding RNA directs Dlx5/6 ultraconserved enhancer(UCE)-intrachromosomal interactions, regulating genes across a 27 Mb region on chromosome 6 in mouse developing forebrain. Here, we show that Evf2 long-range gene repression occurs through multi-step mechanisms involving the transcription factor Sox2. Evf2 directly interacts with Sox2, antagonizing Sox2 activation of Dlx5/6UCE, and recruits Sox2 to the Dlx5/6eii shadow enhancer and key Dlx5/6UCE interaction sites. Sox2 directly interacts with Dlx1 and Smarca4, as part of the Evf2 ribonucleoprotein complex, forming spherical subnuclear domains (protein pools, PPs). Evf2 targets Sox2 PPs to one long-range repressed target gene (Rbm28), at the expense of another (Akr1b8). Evf2 and Sox2 shift Dlx5/6UCE interactions towards Rbm28, linking Evf2/Sox2 co-regulated topological control and gene repression. We propose a model that distinguishes Evf2 gene repression mechanisms at Rbm28 (Dlx5/6UCE position) and Akr1b8 (limited Sox2 availability). Genome-wide control of RNPs (Sox2, Dlx and Smarca4) shows that co-recruitment influences Sox2 DNA binding. Together, these data suggest that Evf2 organizes a Sox2 PP subnuclear domain and, through Sox2-RNP sequestration and recruitment, regulates chromosome 6 long-range UCE targeting and activity with genome-wide consequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivelisse Cajigas
- Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Human Molecular Genetics, Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute 2430 N Halsted, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
| | - Abhijit Chakraborty
- Centers for Autoimmunity and Cancer Immunotherapy, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, 9420 Athena Circle, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Madison Lynam
- Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Human Molecular Genetics, Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute 2430 N Halsted, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
| | - Kelsey R Swyter
- Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Human Molecular Genetics, Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute 2430 N Halsted, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
| | - Monique Bastidas
- Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Human Molecular Genetics, Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute 2430 N Halsted, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
| | - Linden Collens
- Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Human Molecular Genetics, Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute 2430 N Halsted, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
| | - Hao Luo
- Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Human Molecular Genetics, Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute 2430 N Halsted, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
| | - Ferhat Ay
- Centers for Autoimmunity and Cancer Immunotherapy, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, 9420 Athena Circle, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
- School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Jhumku D Kohtz
- Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Human Molecular Genetics, Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute 2430 N Halsted, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
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8
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Gamu D, Gibson WT. Reciprocal skeletal phenotypes of PRC2-related overgrowth and Rubinstein-Taybi syndromes: potential role of H3K27 modifications. Cold Spring Harb Mol Case Stud 2020; 6:mcs.a005058. [PMID: 32843427 PMCID: PMC7476411 DOI: 10.1101/mcs.a005058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Within histone H3, lysine 27 (H3K27) is one of the residues that functions as a molecular switch, by virtue of being subject to mutually exclusive post-translational modifications that have reciprocal effects on gene expression. Whereas acetylation of H3K27 is associated with transcriptional activation, methylation at this residue causes transcriptional silencing; these two modifications are mutually exclusive. Establishment of these epigenetic marks is important in defining cellular identity and for maintaining normal cell function, as evidenced by rare genetic disorders of epigenetic writers involved in H3K27 post-translational modification. Polycomb repressive complex (PRC2)-related overgrowth and Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RSTS) are respectively associated with impaired H3K27 methylation and acetylation. Whereas these syndromes share commonalities like intellectual disability and susceptibility to cancers, they are generally divergent in their skeletal growth phenotypes, potentially through dysregulation of their opposing H3K27 writer functions. In this review, we discuss the requirement of H3K27 modifications for successful embryogenesis, highlighting data from relevant mouse knockout studies. Although such gene ablation studies are integral for defining fundamental biological roles of methyl- and acetyltransferase function in vivo, studies of partial loss-of-function models are likely to yield more meaningful translational insight into progression of PRC2-related overgrowth or RSTS. Thus, modeling of rare human PRC2-related overgrowth and RSTS variants in mice is needed to fully understand the causative role of aberrant H3K27 modification in the pathophysiology of these syndromes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Gamu
- BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 4H4, Canada.,Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6H 3N1, Canada
| | - William T Gibson
- BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 4H4, Canada.,Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6H 3N1, Canada
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9
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Habic A, Mattick JS, Calin GA, Krese R, Konc J, Kunej T. Genetic Variations of Ultraconserved Elements in the Human Genome. OMICS-A JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY 2020; 23:549-559. [PMID: 31689173 DOI: 10.1089/omi.2019.0156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Ultraconserved elements (UCEs) are among the most popular DNA markers for phylogenomic analysis. In at least three of five placental mammalian genomes (human, dog, cow, mouse, and rat), 2189 UCEs of at least 200 bp in length that are identical have been identified. Most of these regions have not yet been functionally annotated, and their associations with diseases remain largely unknown. This is an important knowledge gap in human genomics with regard to UCE roles in physiologically critical functions, and by extension, their relevance for shared susceptibilities to common complex diseases across several mammalian organisms in the event of their polymorphic variations. In the present study, we remapped the genomic locations of these UCEs to the latest human genome assembly, and examined them for documented polymorphisms in sequenced human genomes. We identified 29,983 polymorphisms within analyzed UCEs, but revealed that a vast majority exhibits very low minor allele frequencies. Notably, only 112 of the identified polymorphisms are associated with a phenotype in the Ensembl genome browser. Through literature analyses, we confirmed associations of 37 (i.e., out of the 112) polymorphisms within 23 UCEs with 25 diseases and phenotypic traits, including, muscular dystrophies, eye diseases, and cancers (e.g., familial adenomatous polyposis). Most reports of UCE polymorphism-disease associations appeared to be not cognizant that their candidate polymorphisms were actually within UCEs. The present study offers strategic directions and knowledge gaps for future computational and experimental work so as to better understand the thus far intriguing and puzzling role(s) of UCEs in mammalian genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anamarija Habic
- Department of Animal Science, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Domzale, Slovenia
| | - John S Mattick
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.,Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - George Adrian Calin
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.,The Center for RNA Interference and Noncoding RNAs, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - Rok Krese
- Department of Animal Science, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Domzale, Slovenia
| | - Janez Konc
- National Institute of Chemistry, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Tanja Kunej
- Department of Animal Science, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Domzale, Slovenia
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10
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Xu D, Gokcumen O, Khurana E. Loss-of-function tolerance of enhancers in the human genome. PLoS Genet 2020; 16:e1008663. [PMID: 32243438 PMCID: PMC7159235 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2019] [Revised: 04/15/2020] [Accepted: 02/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have surveyed the potential impact of loss-of-function (LoF) variants and identified LoF-tolerant protein-coding genes. However, the tolerance of human genomes to losing enhancers has not yet been evaluated. Here we present the catalog of LoF-tolerant enhancers using structural variants from whole-genome sequences. Using a conservative approach, we estimate that individual human genomes possess at least 28 LoF-tolerant enhancers on average. We assessed the properties of LoF-tolerant enhancers in a unified regulatory network constructed by integrating tissue-specific enhancers and gene-gene interactions. We find that LoF-tolerant enhancers tend to be more tissue-specific and regulate fewer and more dispensable genes relative to other enhancers. They are enriched in immune-related cells while enhancers with low LoF-tolerance are enriched in kidney and brain/neuronal stem cells. We developed a supervised learning approach to predict the LoF-tolerance of all enhancers, which achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC) of 98%. We predict 3,519 more enhancers would be likely tolerant to LoF and 129 enhancers that would have low LoF-tolerance. Our predictions are supported by a known set of disease enhancers and novel deletions from PacBio sequencing. The LoF-tolerance scores provided here will serve as an important reference for disease studies. Enhancers are elements where transcription factors bind and regulate the expression of protein-coding genes. Although multiple previous studies have focused on which genes can tolerate loss-of-function (LoF), none has systematically evaluated the tolerance of all enhancers in the human genome to LoF. Individual studies have shown a broad range of phenotypic effects of enhancer LoF. The phenotypic effects of enhancer LoF likely fall into a spectrum where deletion of LoF-tolerant enhancers would not elicit substantial phenotypic impact, while some enhancers are likely to cause fitness defects when deleted. Here we report a systematic computational approach that uses machine learning and properties of enhancers in a unified human regulatory network with tissue-specific annotations to predict the LoF-tolerance of all enhancers identified in the human genome. The LoF-tolerance scores of enhancers provided in this study can significantly facilitate the interpretation and prioritization of non-coding sequence variants for disease and functional studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duo Xu
- Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America
- Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Omer Gokcumen
- Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of America
| | - Ekta Khurana
- Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America
- Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America
- Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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11
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Wang X, Goldstein DB. Enhancer Domains Predict Gene Pathogenicity and Inform Gene Discovery in Complex Disease. Am J Hum Genet 2020; 106:215-233. [PMID: 32032514 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2020.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2019] [Accepted: 01/13/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Non-coding transcriptional regulatory elements are critical for controlling the spatiotemporal expression of genes. Here, we demonstrate that the sizes and number of enhancers linked to a gene reflect its disease pathogenicity. Moreover, genes with redundant enhancer domains are depleted of cis-acting genetic variants that disrupt gene expression, and they are buffered against the effects of disruptive non-coding mutations. Our results demonstrate that dosage-sensitive genes have evolved a robustness to the disruptive effects of genetic variation by expanding their regulatory domains. This solves a puzzle about why genes associated with human disease are depleted of cis-eQTLs (cis-expression quantitative trait loci), suggesting that this relationship might complicate gene identification in causal genome-wide association studies (GWASs) using eQTL information, and establishes a framework for identifying non-coding regulatory variation with phenotypic consequences.
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12
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Thomas JD, Polaski JT, Feng Q, De Neef EJ, Hoppe ER, McSharry MV, Pangallo J, Gabel AM, Belleville AE, Watson J, Nkinsi NT, Berger AH, Bradley RK. RNA isoform screens uncover the essentiality and tumor-suppressor activity of ultraconserved poison exons. Nat Genet 2020; 52:84-94. [PMID: 31911676 PMCID: PMC6962552 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-019-0555-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2018] [Accepted: 11/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
While RNA-seq has enabled comprehensive quantification of alternative splicing, no correspondingly high-throughput assay exists for functionally interrogating individual isoforms. We describe pgFARM (paired guide RNAs for alternative exon removal), a CRISPR-Cas9-based method to manipulate isoforms independent of gene inactivation. This approach enabled rapid suppression of exon recognition in polyclonal settings to identify functional roles for individual exons, such as an SMNDC1 cassette exon that regulates pan-cancer intron retention. We generalized this method to a pooled screen to measure the functional relevance of 'poison' cassette exons, which disrupt their host genes' reading frames yet are frequently ultraconserved. Many poison exons were essential for the growth of both cultured cells and lung adenocarcinoma xenografts, while a subset had clinically relevant tumor-suppressor activity. The essentiality and cancer relevance of poison exons are likely to contribute to their unusually high conservation and contrast with the dispensability of other ultraconserved elements for viability.
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Affiliation(s)
- James D Thomas
- Computational Biology Program, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Jacob T Polaski
- Computational Biology Program, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Qing Feng
- Computational Biology Program, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Emma J De Neef
- Computational Biology Program, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Emma R Hoppe
- Computational Biology Program, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Maria V McSharry
- Computational Biology Program, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Joseph Pangallo
- Computational Biology Program, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Austin M Gabel
- Computational Biology Program, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Andrea E Belleville
- Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Jacqueline Watson
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Naomi T Nkinsi
- Computational Biology Program, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Alice H Berger
- Computational Biology Program, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Robert K Bradley
- Computational Biology Program, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
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13
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Yuan X, Song M, Devine P, Bruneau BG, Scott IC, Wilson MD. Heart enhancers with deeply conserved regulatory activity are established early in zebrafish development. Nat Commun 2018; 9:4977. [PMID: 30478328 PMCID: PMC6255839 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07451-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
During the phylotypic period, embryos from different genera show similar gene expression patterns, implying common regulatory mechanisms. Here we set out to identify enhancers involved in the initial events of cardiogenesis, which occurs during the phylotypic period. We isolate early cardiac progenitor cells from zebrafish embryos and characterize 3838 open chromatin regions specific to this cell population. Of these regions, 162 overlap with conserved non-coding elements (CNEs) that also map to open chromatin regions in human. Most of the zebrafish conserved open chromatin elements tested drive gene expression in the developing heart. Despite modest sequence identity, human orthologous open chromatin regions recapitulate the spatial temporal expression patterns of the zebrafish sequence, potentially providing a basis for phylotypic gene expression patterns. Genome-wide, we discover 5598 zebrafish-human conserved open chromatin regions, suggesting that a diverse repertoire of ancient enhancers is established prior to organogenesis and the phylotypic period. During early embryogenesis, critical cardiac specification events occur. Here the authors isolate cardiac progenitor cells from early zebrafish embryos and characterize accessible chromatin regions specific to this cell population, finding that many of these regions overlap with conserved non-coding elements that are ortholgous to accessible chromatin regions in human.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuefei Yuan
- Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada.,Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada.,Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A8, Canada
| | - Mengyi Song
- Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada.,Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada.,Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A8, Canada
| | - Patrick Devine
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.,Department of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94143-0511, USA
| | - Benoit G Bruneau
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.,Department of Pediatrics and Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
| | - Ian C Scott
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada. .,Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A8, Canada.
| | - Michael D Wilson
- Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada. .,Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A8, Canada.
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14
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Abstract
Two recent studies explore how redundant enhancers in mice really are.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Elnitski
- Translational and Functional Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
| | - Ivan Ovcharenko
- Computational Biology Branch, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
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15
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Dickel DE, Ypsilanti AR, Pla R, Zhu Y, Barozzi I, Mannion BJ, Khin YS, Fukuda-Yuzawa Y, Plajzer-Frick I, Pickle CS, Lee EA, Harrington AN, Pham QT, Garvin TH, Kato M, Osterwalder M, Akiyama JA, Afzal V, Rubenstein JLR, Pennacchio LA, Visel A. Ultraconserved Enhancers Are Required for Normal Development. Cell 2018; 172:491-499.e15. [PMID: 29358049 PMCID: PMC5786478 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2017] [Revised: 10/27/2017] [Accepted: 12/11/2017] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Non-coding "ultraconserved" regions containing hundreds of consecutive bases of perfect sequence conservation across mammalian genomes can function as distant-acting enhancers. However, initial deletion studies in mice revealed that loss of such extraordinarily constrained sequences had no immediate impact on viability. Here, we show that ultraconserved enhancers are required for normal development. Focusing on some of the longest ultraconserved sites genome wide, located near the essential neuronal transcription factor Arx, we used genome editing to create an expanded series of knockout mice lacking individual or combinations of ultraconserved enhancers. Mice with single or pairwise deletions of ultraconserved enhancers were viable and fertile but in nearly all cases showed neurological or growth abnormalities, including substantial alterations of neuron populations and structural brain defects. Our results demonstrate the functional importance of ultraconserved enhancers and indicate that remarkably strong sequence conservation likely results from fitness deficits that appear subtle in a laboratory setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diane E Dickel
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
| | - Athena R Ypsilanti
- Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience Program, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences and the Nina Ireland Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Ramón Pla
- Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience Program, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences and the Nina Ireland Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Yiwen Zhu
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Iros Barozzi
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Brandon J Mannion
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Yupar S Khin
- Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience Program, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences and the Nina Ireland Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Yoko Fukuda-Yuzawa
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Ingrid Plajzer-Frick
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Catherine S Pickle
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Elizabeth A Lee
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Anne N Harrington
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Quan T Pham
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Tyler H Garvin
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Momoe Kato
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Marco Osterwalder
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Jennifer A Akiyama
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Veena Afzal
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - John L R Rubenstein
- Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience Program, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences and the Nina Ireland Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Len A Pennacchio
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA 94598, USA; Comparative Biochemistry Program, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
| | - Axel Visel
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA 94598, USA; School of Natural Sciences, University of California Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA.
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16
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Polychronopoulos D, King JWD, Nash AJ, Tan G, Lenhard B. Conserved non-coding elements: developmental gene regulation meets genome organization. Nucleic Acids Res 2018; 45:12611-12624. [PMID: 29121339 PMCID: PMC5728398 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkx1074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2017] [Accepted: 10/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Comparative genomics has revealed a class of non-protein-coding genomic sequences that display an extraordinary degree of conservation between two or more organisms, regularly exceeding that found within protein-coding exons. These elements, collectively referred to as conserved non-coding elements (CNEs), are non-randomly distributed across chromosomes and tend to cluster in the vicinity of genes with regulatory roles in multicellular development and differentiation. CNEs are organized into functional ensembles called genomic regulatory blocks–dense clusters of elements that collectively coordinate the expression of shared target genes, and whose span in many cases coincides with topologically associated domains. CNEs display sequence properties that set them apart from other sequences under constraint, and have recently been proposed as useful markers for the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of organisms. Disruption of several of these elements is known to contribute to diseases linked with development, and cancer. The emergence, evolutionary dynamics and functions of CNEs still remain poorly understood, and new approaches are required to enable comprehensive CNE identification and characterization. Here, we review current knowledge and identify challenges that need to be tackled to resolve the impasse in understanding extreme non-coding conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimitris Polychronopoulos
- Computational Regulatory Genomics Group, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, UK.,Institute of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Campus, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, UK
| | - James W D King
- Computational Regulatory Genomics Group, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, UK.,Institute of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Campus, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, UK
| | - Alexander J Nash
- Computational Regulatory Genomics Group, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, UK.,Institute of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Campus, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, UK
| | - Ge Tan
- Computational Regulatory Genomics Group, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, UK.,Institute of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Campus, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, UK
| | - Boris Lenhard
- Computational Regulatory Genomics Group, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, UK.,Institute of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Campus, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, UK.,Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Thormøhlensgate 55, N-5008 Bergen, Norway
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17
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Corrigendum. Evol Dev 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/ede.12101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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