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Trigos AS, Bongiovanni F, Zhang Y, Zethoven M, Tothill R, Pearson R, Papenfuss AT, Goode DL. Disruption of metazoan gene regulatory networks in cancer alters the balance of co-expression between genes of unicellular and multicellular origins. Genome Biol 2024; 25:110. [PMID: 38685127 PMCID: PMC11057133 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-024-03247-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Metazoans inherited genes from unicellular ancestors that perform essential biological processes such as cell division, metabolism, and protein translation. Multicellularity requires careful control and coordination of these unicellular genes to maintain tissue integrity and homeostasis. Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) that arose during metazoan evolution are frequently altered in cancer, resulting in over-expression of unicellular genes. We propose that an imbalance in co-expression of unicellular (UC) and multicellular (MC) genes is a driving force in cancer. RESULTS We combine gene co-expression analysis to infer changes to GRNs in cancer with protein sequence conservation data to distinguish genes with UC and MC origins. Co-expression networks created using RNA sequencing data from 31 tumor types and normal tissue samples are divided into modules enriched for UC genes, MC genes, or mixed UC-MC modules. The greatest differences between tumor and normal tissue co-expression networks occur within mixed UC-MC modules. MC and UC genes not commonly co-expressed in normal tissues form distinct co-expression modules seen only in tumors. The degree of rewiring of genes within mixed UC-MC modules increases with tumor grade and stage. Mixed UC-MC modules are enriched for somatic mutations in cancer genes, particularly amplifications, suggesting an important driver of the rewiring observed in tumors is copy number changes. CONCLUSIONS Our study shows the greatest changes to gene co-expression patterns during tumor progression occur between genes of MC and UC origins, implicating the breakdown and rewiring of metazoan gene regulatory networks in cancer development and progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna S Trigos
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, 305 Grattan St., Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia.
- Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia.
| | - Felicia Bongiovanni
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, 305 Grattan St., Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia
- Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Yangyi Zhang
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, 305 Grattan St., Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia
- Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Maia Zethoven
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, 305 Grattan St., Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia
- Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Richard Tothill
- Centre for Cancer Research, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Richard Pearson
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, 305 Grattan St., Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia
- Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Anthony T Papenfuss
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, 305 Grattan St., Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia
- Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
- Bioinformatics Division, The Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia
| | - David L Goode
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, 305 Grattan St., Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia.
- Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.
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Chen J, Landback P, Arsala D, Guzzetta A, Xia S, Atlas J, Sosa D, Zhang YE, Cheng J, Shen B, Long M. Evolutionarily new genes in humans with disease phenotypes reveal functional enrichment patterns shaped by adaptive innovation and sexual selection. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.11.14.567139. [PMID: 38045239 PMCID: PMC10690195 DOI: 10.1101/2023.11.14.567139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
New genes (or young genes) are genetic novelties pivotal in mammalian evolution. Their phenotypic impacts and evolutionary pattern over time, however, remain elusive in humans due to the technical and ethical complexities in functional studies. By combining human gene age dating and Mendelian disease phenotyping, our research reveals a gradual increase in disease gene proportions with gene age. Logistic regression modeling indicates that this increase could be related to longer protein lengths and higher burdens of deleterious de novo germline variants (DNVs) for older genes. We also find a steady integration of new genes with biomedical phenotypes into the human genome over macroevolutionary timescales (~0.07% per million years). Despite this stable pace, we observe distinct patterns in phenotypic enrichment, pleiotropy, and selective pressures across gene ages. Notably, young genes show significant enrichment in diseases related to the male reproductive system, indicating strong sexual selection. Young genes also exhibit disease-related functions in tissues and systems potentially linked to human phenotypic innovations, such as increased brain size, musculoskeletal phenotypes, and color vision. We further reveal a logistic growth pattern of pleiotropy over evolutionary time, indicating a diminishing marginal growth of new functions for older genes due to intensifying selective constraints over time. We propose a "pleiotropy-barrier" model that delineates higher potentials of phenotypic innovation for young genes than for older genes, a process subject to natural selection. Our study demonstrates that evolutionary new genes are critical in influencing human reproductive evolution and adaptive phenotypic innovations driven by sexual and natural selection, with low pleiotropy as a selective advantage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianhai Chen
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, 1101 E 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
- Institutes for Systems Genetics, West China University Hospital, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Patrick Landback
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, 1101 E 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
| | - Deanna Arsala
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, 1101 E 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
| | - Alexander Guzzetta
- Department of Pathology, The University of Chicago, 1101 E 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
| | - Shengqian Xia
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, 1101 E 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
| | - Jared Atlas
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, 1101 E 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
| | - Dylan Sosa
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, 1101 E 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
| | - Yong E. Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Jingqiu Cheng
- Institutes for Systems Genetics, West China University Hospital, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Bairong Shen
- Institutes for Systems Genetics, West China University Hospital, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Manyuan Long
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, 1101 E 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
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Chen J. Evolutionarily new genes in humans with disease phenotypes reveal functional enrichment patterns shaped by adaptive innovation and sexual selection. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-3632644. [PMID: 38045389 PMCID: PMC10690325 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3632644/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
New genes (or young genes) are structural novelties pivotal in mammalian evolution. Their phenotypic impact on humans, however, remains elusive due to the technical and ethical complexities in functional studies. Through combining gene age dating with Mendelian disease phenotyping, our research reveals that new genes associated with disease phenotypes steadily integrate into the human genome at a rate of ~ 0.07% every million years over macroevolutionary timescales. Despite this stable pace, we observe distinct patterns in phenotypic enrichment, pleiotropy, and selective pressures between young and old genes. Notably, young genes show significant enrichment in the male reproductive system, indicating strong sexual selection. Young genes also exhibit functions in tissues and systems potentially linked to human phenotypic innovations, such as increased brain size, bipedal locomotion, and color vision. Our findings further reveal increasing levels of pleiotropy over evolutionary time, which accompanies stronger selective constraints. We propose a "pleiotropy-barrier" model that delineates different potentials for phenotypic innovation between young and older genes subject to natural selection. Our study demonstrates that evolutionary new genes are critical in influencing human reproductive evolution and adaptive phenotypic innovations driven by sexual and natural selection, with low pleiotropy as a selective advantage.
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Liang X, Heath LS. Towards understanding paleoclimate impacts on primate de novo genes. G3 (BETHESDA, MD.) 2023; 13:jkad135. [PMID: 37313728 PMCID: PMC10468307 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkad135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2023] [Revised: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
De novo genes are genes that emerge as new genes in some species, such as primate de novo genes that emerge in certain primate species. Over the past decade, a great deal of research has been conducted regarding their emergence, origins, functions, and various attributes in different species, some of which have involved estimating the ages of de novo genes. However, limited by the number of species available for whole-genome sequencing, relatively few studies have focused specifically on the emergence time of primate de novo genes. Among those, even fewer investigate the association between primate gene emergence with environmental factors, such as paleoclimate (ancient climate) conditions. This study investigates the relationship between paleoclimate and human gene emergence at primate species divergence. Based on 32 available primate genome sequences, this study has revealed possible associations between temperature changes and the emergence of de novo primate genes. Overall, findings in this study are that de novo genes tended to emerge in the recent 13 MY when the temperature continues cooling, which is consistent with past findings. Furthermore, in the context of an overall trend of cooling temperature, new primate genes were more likely to emerge during local warming periods, where the warm temperature more closely resembled the environmental condition that preceded the cooling trend. Results also indicate that both primate de novo genes and human cancer-associated genes have later origins in comparison to random human genes. Future studies can be in-depth on understanding human de novo gene emergence from an environmental perspective as well as understanding species divergence from a gene emergence perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Liang
- Department of Computer Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Lenwood S Heath
- Department of Computer Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
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Ma H, Wang M, Zhang YE, Tan S. The power of "controllers": Transposon-mediated duplicated genes evolve towards neofunctionalization. J Genet Genomics 2023; 50:462-472. [PMID: 37068629 DOI: 10.1016/j.jgg.2023.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Revised: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 04/19/2023]
Abstract
Since the discovery of the first transposon by Dr. Barbara McClintock, the prevalence and diversity of transposable elements (TEs) have been gradually recognized. As fundamental genetic components, TEs drive organismal evolution not only by contributing functional sequences (e.g., regulatory elements or "controllers" as phrased by Dr. McClintock) but also by shuffling genomic sequences. In the latter respect, TE-mediated gene duplications have contributed to the origination of new genes and attracted extensive interest. In response to the development of this field, we herein attempt to provide an overview of TE-mediated duplication by focusing on common rules emerging across duplications generated by different TE types. Specifically, despite the huge divergence of transposition machinery across TEs, we identify three common features of various TE-mediated duplication mechanisms, including end bypass, template switching, and recurrent transposition. These three features lead to one common functional outcome, namely, TE-mediated duplicates tend to be subjected to exon shuffling and neofunctionalization. Therefore, the intrinsic properties of the mutational mechanism constrain the evolutionary trajectories of these duplicates. We finally discuss the future of this field including an in-depth characterization of both the duplication mechanisms and functions of TE-mediated duplicates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huijing Ma
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution & State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Mengxia Wang
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution & State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yong E Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution & State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China; Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing 102206, China.
| | - Shengjun Tan
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution & State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
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Kozlov AP. Carcino-Evo-Devo, A Theory of the Evolutionary Role of Hereditary Tumors. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24108611. [PMID: 37239953 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24108611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
A theory of the evolutionary role of hereditary tumors, or the carcino-evo-devo theory, is being developed. The main hypothesis of the theory, the hypothesis of evolution by tumor neofunctionalization, posits that hereditary tumors provided additional cell masses during the evolution of multicellular organisms for the expression of evolutionarily novel genes. The carcino-evo-devo theory has formulated several nontrivial predictions that have been confirmed in the laboratory of the author. It also suggests several nontrivial explanations of biological phenomena previously unexplained by the existing theories or incompletely understood. By considering three major types of biological development-individual, evolutionary, and neoplastic development-within one theoretical framework, the carcino-evo-devo theory has the potential to become a unifying biological theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrei P Kozlov
- Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 3 Gubkina Street, 117971 Moscow, Russia
- Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, 29 Polytekhnicheskaya Street, 195251 St. Petersburg, Russia
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7
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Ma C, Li C, Ma H, Yu D, Zhang Y, Zhang D, Su T, Wu J, Wang X, Zhang L, Chen CL, Zhang YE. Pan-cancer surveys indicate cell cycle-related roles of primate-specific genes in tumors and embryonic cerebrum. Genome Biol 2022; 23:251. [PMID: 36474250 PMCID: PMC9724437 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-022-02821-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite having been extensively studied, it remains largely unclear why humans bear a particularly high risk of cancer. The antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis predicts that primate-specific genes (PSGs) tend to promote tumorigenesis, while the molecular atavism hypothesis predicts that PSGs involved in tumors may represent recently derived duplicates of unicellular genes. However, these predictions have not been tested. RESULTS By taking advantage of pan-cancer genomic data, we find the upregulation of PSGs across 13 cancer types, which is facilitated by copy-number gain and promoter hypomethylation. Meta-analyses indicate that upregulated PSGs (uPSGs) tend to promote tumorigenesis and to play cell cycle-related roles. The cell cycle-related uPSGs predominantly represent derived duplicates of unicellular genes. We prioritize 15 uPSGs and perform an in-depth analysis of one unicellular gene-derived duplicate involved in the cell cycle, DDX11. Genome-wide screening data and knockdown experiments demonstrate that DDX11 is broadly essential across cancer cell lines. Importantly, non-neutral amino acid substitution patterns and increased expression indicate that DDX11 has been under positive selection. Finally, we find that cell cycle-related uPSGs are also preferentially upregulated in the highly proliferative embryonic cerebrum. CONCLUSIONS Consistent with the predictions of the atavism and antagonistic pleiotropy hypotheses, primate-specific genes, especially those PSGs derived from cell cycle-related genes that emerged in unicellular ancestors, contribute to the early proliferation of the human cerebrum at the cost of hitchhiking by similarly highly proliferative cancer cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenyu Ma
- grid.458458.00000 0004 1792 6416Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution & State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China ,grid.410726.60000 0004 1797 8419University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China
| | - Chunyan Li
- grid.64939.310000 0000 9999 1211School of Engineering Medicine, Key Laboratory of Big Data-Based Precision Medicine (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology), and Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Big Data-Based Precision Medicine, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191 China
| | - Huijing Ma
- grid.458458.00000 0004 1792 6416Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution & State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China
| | - Daqi Yu
- grid.458458.00000 0004 1792 6416Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution & State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China ,grid.410726.60000 0004 1797 8419University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China
| | - Yufei Zhang
- grid.458458.00000 0004 1792 6416Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution & State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China ,grid.410726.60000 0004 1797 8419University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China ,grid.41156.370000 0001 2314 964XSchool of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093 China
| | - Dan Zhang
- grid.458458.00000 0004 1792 6416Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution & State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China
| | - Tianhan Su
- grid.458458.00000 0004 1792 6416Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution & State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China ,grid.410726.60000 0004 1797 8419University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China
| | - Jianmin Wu
- grid.412474.00000 0001 0027 0586Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Center for Cancer Bioinformatics, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing, 100142 China
| | - Xiaoyue Wang
- grid.506261.60000 0001 0706 7839State Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Basic Medicine Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Li Zhang
- grid.510934.a0000 0005 0398 4153Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, 102206 China
| | - Chun-Long Chen
- grid.462584.90000 0004 0367 1475Institut Curie, Université PSL, Sorbonne Université, CNRS UMR3244, Dynamics of Genetic Information, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Yong E. Zhang
- grid.458458.00000 0004 1792 6416Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution & State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China ,grid.410726.60000 0004 1797 8419University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China ,grid.510934.a0000 0005 0398 4153Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, 102206 China ,grid.9227.e0000000119573309CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650223 China
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