1
|
Ridnik M, Abberbock E, Alipov V, Lhermann SZ, Kaufman S, Lubman M, Poulat F, Gonen N. Two redundant transcription factor binding sites in a single enhancer are essential for mammalian sex determination. Nucleic Acids Res 2024; 52:5514-5528. [PMID: 38499491 PMCID: PMC11162780 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkae178] [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: 11/07/2023] [Revised: 02/25/2024] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Male development in mammals depends on the activity of the two SOX gene: Sry and Sox9, in the embryonic testis. As deletion of Enhancer 13 (Enh13) of the Sox9 gene results in XY male-to-female sex reversal, we explored the critical elements necessary for its function and hence, for testis and male development. Here, we demonstrate that while microdeletions of individual transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) in Enh13 lead to normal testicular development, combined microdeletions of just two SRY/SOX binding motifs can alone fully abolish Enh13 activity leading to XY male-to-female sex reversal. This suggests that for proper male development to occur, these few nucleotides of non-coding DNA must be intact. Interestingly, we show that depending on the nature of these TFBS mutations, dramatically different phenotypic outcomes can occur, providing a molecular explanation for the distinct clinical outcomes observed in patients harboring different variants in the same enhancer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Meshi Ridnik
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences and the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Elisheva Abberbock
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences and the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Veronica Alipov
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences and the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Shelly Ziv Lhermann
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences and the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Shoham Kaufman
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences and the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Maor Lubman
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences and the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Francis Poulat
- Group “Development and Pathology of the Gonad”. Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, Institute of Human Genetics, CNRS-University of Montpellier UMR9002, Montpellier, France
| | - Nitzan Gonen
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences and the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ordoñez R, Zhang W, Ellis G, Zhu Y, Ashe HJ, Ribeiro-Dos-Santos AM, Brosh R, Huang E, Hogan MS, Boeke JD, Maurano MT. Genomic context sensitizes regulatory elements to genetic disruption. Mol Cell 2024; 84:1842-1854.e7. [PMID: 38759624 PMCID: PMC11104518 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2024.04.013] [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: 10/10/2023] [Revised: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024]
Abstract
Genomic context critically modulates regulatory function but is difficult to manipulate systematically. The murine insulin-like growth factor 2 (Igf2)/H19 locus is a paradigmatic model of enhancer selectivity, whereby CTCF occupancy at an imprinting control region directs downstream enhancers to activate either H19 or Igf2. We used synthetic regulatory genomics to repeatedly replace the native locus with 157-kb payloads, and we systematically dissected its architecture. Enhancer deletion and ectopic delivery revealed previously uncharacterized long-range regulatory dependencies at the native locus. Exchanging the H19 enhancer cluster with the Sox2 locus control region (LCR) showed that the H19 enhancers relied on their native surroundings while the Sox2 LCR functioned autonomously. Analysis of regulatory DNA actuation across cell types revealed that these enhancer clusters typify broader classes of context sensitivity genome wide. These results show that unexpected dependencies influence even well-studied loci, and our approach permits large-scale manipulation of complete loci to investigate the relationship between regulatory architecture and function.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Raquel Ordoñez
- Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Weimin Zhang
- 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
| | - Yinan Zhu
- 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
| | | | - Ran Brosh
- 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
| | - Megan S Hogan
- 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.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Kanata E, Duffié R, Schulz EG. Establishment and maintenance of random monoallelic expression. Development 2024; 151:dev201741. [PMID: 38813842 PMCID: PMC11166465 DOI: 10.1242/dev.201741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Abstract
This Review elucidates the regulatory principles of random monoallelic expression by focusing on two well-studied examples: the X-chromosome inactivation regulator Xist and the olfactory receptor gene family. Although the choice of a single X chromosome or olfactory receptor occurs in different developmental contexts, common gene regulatory principles guide monoallelic expression in both systems. In both cases, an event breaks the symmetry between genetically and epigenetically identical copies of the gene, leading to the expression of one single random allele, stabilized through negative feedback control. Although many regulatory steps that govern the establishment and maintenance of monoallelic expression have been identified, key pieces of the puzzle are still missing. We provide an overview of the current knowledge and models for the monoallelic expression of Xist and olfactory receptors. We discuss their similarities and differences, and highlight open questions and approaches that could guide the study of other monoallelically expressed genes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Eleni Kanata
- Systems Epigenetics, Otto Warburg Laboratories, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Rachel Duffié
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind, Brain, and Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Edda G. Schulz
- Systems Epigenetics, Otto Warburg Laboratories, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Baudic M, Murata H, Bosada FM, Melo US, Aizawa T, Lindenbaum P, van der Maarel LE, Guedon A, Baron E, Fremy E, Foucal A, Ishikawa T, Ushinohama H, Jurgens SJ, Choi SH, Kyndt F, Le Scouarnec S, Wakker V, Thollet A, Rajalu A, Takaki T, Ohno S, Shimizu W, Horie M, Kimura T, Ellinor PT, Petit F, Dulac Y, Bru P, Boland A, Deleuze JF, Redon R, Le Marec H, Le Tourneau T, Gourraud JB, Yoshida Y, Makita N, Vieyres C, Makiyama T, Mundlos S, Christoffels VM, Probst V, Schott JJ, Barc J. TAD boundary deletion causes PITX2-related cardiac electrical and structural defects. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3380. [PMID: 38643172 PMCID: PMC11032321 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47739-x] [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: 02/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/22/2024] Open
Abstract
While 3D chromatin organization in topologically associating domains (TADs) and loops mediating regulatory element-promoter interactions is crucial for tissue-specific gene regulation, the extent of their involvement in human Mendelian disease is largely unknown. Here, we identify 7 families presenting a new cardiac entity associated with a heterozygous deletion of 2 CTCF binding sites on 4q25, inducing TAD fusion and chromatin conformation remodeling. The CTCF binding sites are located in a gene desert at 1 Mb from the Paired-like homeodomain transcription factor 2 gene (PITX2). By introducing the ortholog of the human deletion in the mouse genome, we recapitulate the patient phenotype and characterize an opposite dysregulation of PITX2 expression in the sinoatrial node (ectopic activation) and ventricle (reduction), respectively. Chromatin conformation assay performed in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes harboring the minimal deletion identified in family#1 reveals a conformation remodeling and fusion of TADs. We conclude that TAD remodeling mediated by deletion of CTCF binding sites causes a new autosomal dominant Mendelian cardiac disorder.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Manon Baudic
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France
| | - Hiroshige Murata
- The Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Nippon Medical School Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Fernanda M Bosada
- Department of Medical Biology, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Uirá Souto Melo
- Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, RG Development and Disease, 13353, Berlin, Germany
| | - Takanori Aizawa
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Pierre Lindenbaum
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France
| | - Lieve E van der Maarel
- Department of Medical Biology, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Amsterdam Reproduction and Development, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Amaury Guedon
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France
| | - Estelle Baron
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France
| | - Enora Fremy
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France
| | - Adrien Foucal
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France
| | - Taisuke Ishikawa
- Omics Research Center, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Suita, Japan
| | - Hiroya Ushinohama
- Department of Cardiology, Fukuoka Children's Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Sean J Jurgens
- Cardiovascular Disease Initiative, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Experimental Cardiology, Heart Center, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Seung Hoan Choi
- Cardiovascular Disease Initiative, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Florence Kyndt
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France
| | - Solena Le Scouarnec
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France
| | - Vincent Wakker
- Department of Medical Biology, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Aurélie Thollet
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France
| | - Annabelle Rajalu
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France
| | - Tadashi Takaki
- Department of Cell Growth and Differentiation, Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- Takeda-CiRA Joint Program for iPS Cell Applications, Fujisawa, Japan
- Department of Pancreatic Islet Cell Transplantation, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Seiko Ohno
- Department of Bioscience and Genetics, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, Suita, Japan
| | - Wataru Shimizu
- The Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Nippon Medical School Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Minoru Horie
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science, Ohtsu, Japan
| | - Takeshi Kimura
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Patrick T Ellinor
- Cardiovascular Disease Initiative, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Cardiovascular Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Demoulas Center for Cardiac Arrhythmias, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Florence Petit
- Service de Génétique Clinique, CHU Lille, Hôpital Jeanne de Flandre, F-59000, Lille, France
- University of Lille, EA 7364-RADEME, F-59000, Lille, France
| | - Yves Dulac
- Unité de Cardiologie Pédiatrique, Hôpital des Enfants, F-31000, Toulouse, France
| | - Paul Bru
- Service de Cardiologie, GH La Rochelle, F-17019, La Rochelle, France
| | - Anne Boland
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, Centre National de Recherche en Génomique Humaine (CNRGH), 91057, Evry, France
| | - Jean-François Deleuze
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, Centre National de Recherche en Génomique Humaine (CNRGH), 91057, Evry, France
| | - Richard Redon
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France
| | - Hervé Le Marec
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France
| | - Thierry Le Tourneau
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France
| | - Jean-Baptiste Gourraud
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France
- European Reference Network for Rare and Low Prevalence Complex Diseases of the Heart: ERN GUARD-Heart, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Yoshinori Yoshida
- Department of Cell Growth and Differentiation, Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Naomasa Makita
- Omics Research Center, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Suita, Japan
- Department of Cardiology, Sapporo Teishinkai Hospital, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Claude Vieyres
- Cabinet Cardiologique, Clinique St. Joseph, F-16000, Angoulême, France
| | - Takeru Makiyama
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
- Department of Community Medicine Supporting System, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Stephan Mundlos
- Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, RG Development and Disease, 13353, Berlin, Germany
| | - Vincent M Christoffels
- Department of Medical Biology, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Amsterdam Reproduction and Development, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Vincent Probst
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France
- European Reference Network for Rare and Low Prevalence Complex Diseases of the Heart: ERN GUARD-Heart, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jean-Jacques Schott
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France.
- European Reference Network for Rare and Low Prevalence Complex Diseases of the Heart: ERN GUARD-Heart, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Julien Barc
- Nantes Université, CHU Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, F-44000, Nantes, France.
- European Reference Network for Rare and Low Prevalence Complex Diseases of the Heart: ERN GUARD-Heart, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Abnizova I, Stapel C, Boekhorst RT, Lee JTH, Hemberg M. Integrative analysis of transcriptomic and epigenomic data reveals distinct patterns for developmental and housekeeping gene regulation. BMC Biol 2024; 22:78. [PMID: 38600550 PMCID: PMC11005181 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-024-01869-2] [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: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Regulation of transcription is central to the emergence of new cell types during development, and it often involves activation of genes via proximal and distal regulatory regions. The activity of regulatory elements is determined by transcription factors (TFs) and epigenetic marks, but despite extensive mapping of such patterns, the extraction of regulatory principles remains challenging. RESULTS Here we study differentially and similarly expressed genes along with their associated epigenomic profiles, chromatin accessibility and DNA methylation, during lineage specification at gastrulation in mice. Comparison of the three lineages allows us to identify genomic and epigenomic features that distinguish the two classes of genes. We show that differentially expressed genes are primarily regulated by distal elements, while similarly expressed genes are controlled by proximal housekeeping regulatory programs. Differentially expressed genes are relatively isolated within topologically associated domains, while similarly expressed genes tend to be located in gene clusters. Transcription of differentially expressed genes is associated with differentially open chromatin at distal elements including enhancers, while that of similarly expressed genes is associated with ubiquitously accessible chromatin at promoters. CONCLUSION Based on these associations of (linearly) distal genes' transcription start sites (TSSs) and putative enhancers for developmental genes, our findings allow us to link putative enhancers to their target promoters and to infer lineage-specific repertoires of putative driver transcription factors, within which we define subgroups of pioneers and co-operators.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Irina Abnizova
- Epigenetics Programme, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK
| | - Carine Stapel
- Epigenetics Programme, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK
| | | | | | - Martin Hemberg
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK.
- The Gene Lay Institute of Immunology and Inflammation Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Wellik DM. Hox genes and patterning the vertebrate body. Curr Top Dev Biol 2024; 159:1-27. [PMID: 38729674 DOI: 10.1016/bs.ctdb.2024.02.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2024]
Abstract
The diversity of vertebrate body plans is dizzying, yet stunning for the many things they have in common. Vertebrates have inhabited virtually every part of the earth from its coldest to warmest climates. They locomote by swimming, flying, walking, slithering, or climbing, or combinations of these behaviors. And they exist in many different sizes, from the smallest of frogs, fish and lizards to giraffes, elephants, and blue whales. Despite these differences, vertebrates follow a remarkably similar blueprint for the establishment of their body plan. Within the relatively small amount of time required to complete gastrulation, the process through which the three germ layers, ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm are created, the embryo also generates its body axis and is simultaneously patterned. For the length of this axis, the genes that distinguish the neck from the rib cage or the trunk from the sacrum are the Hox genes. In vertebrates, there was evolutionary pressure to maintain this set of genes in the organism. Over the past decades, much has been learned regarding the regulatory mechanisms that ensure the appropriate expression of these genes along the main body axes. Genetic functions continue to be explored though much has been learned. Much less has been discerned on the identity of co-factors used by Hox proteins for the specificity of transcriptional regulation or what downstream targets and pathways are critical for patterning events, though there are notable exceptions. Current work in the field is demonstrating that Hox genes continue to function in many organs long after directing early patterning events. It is hopeful continued research will shed light on remaining questions regarding mechanisms used by this important and conserved set of transcriptional regulators.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Deneen M Wellik
- Department of Cell and Regenerative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, United States.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Hintermann A, Bolt CC, Hawkins MB, Valentin G, Lopez-Delisle L, Gitto S, Gómez PB, Mascrez B, Mansour TA, Nakamura T, Harris MP, Shubin NH, Duboule D. EVOLUTIONARY CO-OPTION OF AN ANCESTRAL CLOACAL REGULATORY LANDSCAPE DURING THE EMERGENCE OF DIGITS AND GENITALS. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.24.586442. [PMID: 38585989 PMCID: PMC10996561 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.24.586442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
The transition from fins to limbs has been a rich source of discussion for more than a century. One open and important issue is understanding how the mechanisms that pattern digits arose during vertebrate evolution. In this context, the analysis of Hox gene expression and functions to infer evolutionary scenarios has been a productive approach to explain the changes in organ formation, particularly in limbs. In tetrapods, the transcription of Hoxd genes in developing digits depends on a well-characterized set of enhancers forming a large regulatory landscape1,2. This control system has a syntenic counterpart in zebrafish, even though they lack bona fide digits, suggestive of deep homology3 between distal fin and limb developmental mechanisms. We tested the global function of this landscape to assess ancestry and source of limb and fin variation. In contrast to results in mice, we show here that the deletion of the homologous control region in zebrafish has a limited effect on the transcription of hoxd genes during fin development. However, it fully abrogates hoxd expression within the developing cloaca, an ancestral structure related to the mammalian urogenital sinus. We show that similar to the limb, Hoxd gene function in the urogenital sinus of the mouse also depends on enhancers located in this same genomic domain. Thus, we conclude that the current regulation underlying Hoxd gene expression in distal limbs was co-opted in tetrapods from a preexisting cloacal program. The orthologous chromatin domain in fishes may illustrate a rudimentary or partial step in this evolutionary co-option.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aurélie Hintermann
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 30 quai Ernest Ansermet, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Christopher Chase Bolt
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - M. Brent Hawkins
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Department of Orthopedic Research, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Guillaume Valentin
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Lucille Lopez-Delisle
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Sandra Gitto
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 30 quai Ernest Ansermet, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Paula Barrera Gómez
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Bénédicte Mascrez
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 30 quai Ernest Ansermet, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | - Tetsuya Nakamura
- Department of Genetics, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
| | - Matthew P. Harris
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Department of Orthopedic Research, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Neil H. Shubin
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Denis Duboule
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 30 quai Ernest Ansermet, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology CIRB, Collège de France, CNRS, INSERM, Université PSL, Paris, France
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Ordoñez R, Zhang W, Ellis G, Zhu Y, Ashe HJ, Ribeiro-dos-Santos AM, Brosh R, Huang E, Hogan MS, Boeke JD, Maurano MT. Genomic context sensitizes regulatory elements to genetic disruption. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.07.02.547201. [PMID: 37781588 PMCID: PMC10541140 DOI: 10.1101/2023.07.02.547201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
Enhancer function is frequently investigated piecemeal using truncated reporter assays or single deletion analysis. Thus it remains unclear to what extent enhancer function at native loci relies on surrounding genomic context. Using the Big-IN technology for targeted integration of large DNAs, we analyzed the regulatory architecture of the murine Igf2/H19 locus, a paradigmatic model of enhancer selectivity. We assembled payloads containing a 157-kb functional Igf2/H19 locus and engineered mutations to genetically direct CTCF occupancy at the imprinting control region (ICR) that switches the target gene of the H19 enhancer cluster. Contrasting activity of payloads delivered at the endogenous Igf2/H19 locus or ectopically at Hprt revealed that the Igf2/H19 locus includes additional, previously unknown long-range regulatory elements. Exchanging components of the Igf2/H19 locus with the well-studied Sox2 locus showed that the H19 enhancer cluster functioned poorly out of context, and required its native surroundings to activate Sox2 expression. Conversely, the Sox2 locus control region (LCR) could activate both Igf2 and H19 outside its native context, but its activity was only partially modulated by CTCF occupancy at the ICR. Analysis of regulatory DNA actuation across different cell types revealed that, while the H19 enhancers are tightly coordinated within their native locus, the Sox2 LCR acts more independently. We show that these enhancer clusters typify broader classes of loci genome-wide. Our results show that unexpected dependencies may influence even the most studied functional elements, and our synthetic regulatory genomics approach permits large-scale manipulation of complete loci to investigate the relationship between locus architecture and function.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Raquel Ordoñez
- Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- These authors contributed equally
| | - Weimin Zhang
- Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- These authors contributed equally
| | - Gwen Ellis
- Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Present address: Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
| | - Yinan Zhu
- 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
- Present address: School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | | | - Ran Brosh
- 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
- Present address: Highmark Health, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, USA
| | - Megan S. Hogan
- Institute for Systems Genetics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Present address: Neochromosome Inc., Long Island City, NY 11101, 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
- Lead contact
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
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.
Collapse
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.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Ramírez-Vidal L, Molina-Villa T, Mendoza V, Peralta-Álvarez CA, Poot-Hernández AC, Dotov D, López-Casillas F. Betaglycan promoter activity is differentially regulated during myogenesis in zebrafish embryo somites. Dev Dyn 2023; 252:1162-1179. [PMID: 37222488 DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Revised: 03/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/25/2023] [Indexed: 05/25/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Betaglycan, also known as the TGFβ type III receptor (Tgfbr3), is a co-receptor that modulates TGFβ family signaling. Tgfbr3 is upregulated during C2C12 myoblast differentiation and expressed in mouse embryos myocytes. RESULTS To investigate tgfbr3 transcriptional regulation during zebrafish embryonic myogenesis, we cloned a 3.2 kb promoter fragment that drives reporter transcription during C2C12 myoblasts differentiation and in the Tg(tgfbr3:mCherry) transgenic zebrafish. We detect tgfbr3 protein and mCherry expression in the adaxial cells concomitantly with the onset of their radial migration to become slow-twitch muscle fibers in the Tg(tgfbr3:mCherry). Remarkably, this expression displays a measurable antero-posterior somitic gradient expression. CONCLUSIONS tgfbr3 is transcriptionally regulated during somitic muscle development in zebrafish with an antero-posterior gradient expression that preferentially marks the adaxial cells and their descendants.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lizbeth Ramírez-Vidal
- Departmento de Biología Celular y del Desarrollo, Instituto de Fisiología Celular, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Tonatiuh Molina-Villa
- Departmento de Biología Celular y del Desarrollo, Instituto de Fisiología Celular, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Valentín Mendoza
- Departmento de Biología Celular y del Desarrollo, Instituto de Fisiología Celular, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico
| | | | | | - Dobromir Dotov
- Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
| | - Fernando López-Casillas
- Departmento de Biología Celular y del Desarrollo, Instituto de Fisiología Celular, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Losa M, Barozzi I, Osterwalder M, Hermosilla-Aguayo V, Morabito A, Chacón BH, Zarrineh P, Girdziusaite A, Benazet JD, Zhu J, Mackem S, Capellini TD, Dickel D, Bobola N, Zuniga A, Visel A, Zeller R, Selleri L. A spatio-temporally constrained gene regulatory network directed by PBX1/2 acquires limb patterning specificity via HAND2. Nat Commun 2023; 14:3993. [PMID: 37414772 PMCID: PMC10325989 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39443-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023] Open
Abstract
A lingering question in developmental biology has centered on how transcription factors with widespread distribution in vertebrate embryos can perform tissue-specific functions. Here, using the murine hindlimb as a model, we investigate the elusive mechanisms whereby PBX TALE homeoproteins, viewed primarily as HOX cofactors, attain context-specific developmental roles despite ubiquitous presence in the embryo. We first demonstrate that mesenchymal-specific loss of PBX1/2 or the transcriptional regulator HAND2 generates similar limb phenotypes. By combining tissue-specific and temporally controlled mutagenesis with multi-omics approaches, we reconstruct a gene regulatory network (GRN) at organismal-level resolution that is collaboratively directed by PBX1/2 and HAND2 interactions in subsets of posterior hindlimb mesenchymal cells. Genome-wide profiling of PBX1 binding across multiple embryonic tissues further reveals that HAND2 interacts with subsets of PBX-bound regions to regulate limb-specific GRNs. Our research elucidates fundamental principles by which promiscuous transcription factors cooperate with cofactors that display domain-restricted localization to instruct tissue-specific developmental programs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marta Losa
- Program in Craniofacial Biology, Institute for Human Genetics, Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Department of Orofacial Sciences and Department of Anatomy, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Iros Barozzi
- Center for Cancer Research, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Marco Osterwalder
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Department for Biomedical Research (DBMR), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of Cardiology, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Viviana Hermosilla-Aguayo
- Program in Craniofacial Biology, Institute for Human Genetics, Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Department of Orofacial Sciences and Department of Anatomy, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Angela Morabito
- Developmental Genetics, Department Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Brandon H Chacón
- Program in Craniofacial Biology, Institute for Human Genetics, Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Department of Orofacial Sciences and Department of Anatomy, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Peyman Zarrineh
- School of Medical Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Ausra Girdziusaite
- Developmental Genetics, Department Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Jean Denis Benazet
- Program in Craniofacial Biology, Institute for Human Genetics, Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Department of Orofacial Sciences and Department of Anatomy, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Jianjian Zhu
- Cancer and Developmental Biology Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Susan Mackem
- Cancer and Developmental Biology Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD, USA
| | - Terence D Capellini
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Diane Dickel
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Nicoletta Bobola
- School of Medical Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Aimée Zuniga
- Developmental Genetics, Department Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Axel Visel
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
- School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, 95343, USA
| | - Rolf Zeller
- Developmental Genetics, Department Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Licia Selleri
- Program in Craniofacial Biology, Institute for Human Genetics, Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Department of Orofacial Sciences and Department of Anatomy, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Amemiya C. Genome reveals how the skate got its wings. Nature 2023; 616:440-441. [PMID: 37045951 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-00192-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/14/2023]
|
13
|
Vanderhaeghen P, Polleux F. Developmental mechanisms underlying the evolution of human cortical circuits. Nat Rev Neurosci 2023; 24:213-232. [PMID: 36792753 PMCID: PMC10064077 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-023-00675-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 39.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2023]
Abstract
The brain of modern humans has evolved remarkable computational abilities that enable higher cognitive functions. These capacities are tightly linked to an increase in the size and connectivity of the cerebral cortex, which is thought to have resulted from evolutionary changes in the mechanisms of cortical development. Convergent progress in evolutionary genomics, developmental biology and neuroscience has recently enabled the identification of genomic changes that act as human-specific modifiers of cortical development. These modifiers influence most aspects of corticogenesis, from the timing and complexity of cortical neurogenesis to synaptogenesis and the assembly of cortical circuits. Mutations of human-specific genetic modifiers of corticogenesis have started to be linked to neurodevelopmental disorders, providing evidence for their physiological relevance and suggesting potential relationships between the evolution of the human brain and its sensitivity to specific diseases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Vanderhaeghen
- VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research, Leuven, Belgium.
- Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Franck Polleux
- Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
- Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Buffry AD, Kittelmann S, McGregor AP. Characterisation of the role and regulation of Ultrabithorax in sculpting fine-scale leg morphology. Front Cell Dev Biol 2023; 11:1119221. [PMID: 36861038 PMCID: PMC9968978 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1119221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Hox genes are expressed during embryogenesis and determine the regional identity of animal bodies along the antero-posterior axis. However, they also function post-embryonically to sculpt fine-scale morphology. To better understand how Hox genes are integrated into post-embryonic gene regulatory networks, we further analysed the role and regulation of Ultrabithorax (Ubx) during leg development in Drosophila melanogaster. Ubx regulates several aspects of bristle and trichome patterning on the femurs of the second (T2) and third (T3) leg pairs. We found that repression of trichomes in the proximal posterior region of the T2 femur by Ubx is likely mediated by activation of the expression of microRNA-92a and microRNA-92b by this Hox protein. Furthermore, we identified a novel enhancer of Ubx that recapitulates the temporal and regional activity of this gene in T2 and T3 legs. We then used transcription factor (TF) binding motif analysis in regions of accessible chromatin in T2 leg cells to predict and functionally test TFs that may regulate the Ubx leg enhancer. We also tested the role of the Ubx co-factors Homothorax (Hth) and Extradenticle (Exd) in T2 and T3 femurs. We found several TFs that may act upstream or in concert with Ubx to modulate trichome patterning along the proximo-distal axis of developing femurs and that the repression of trichomes also requires Hth and Exd. Taken together our results provide insights into how Ubx is integrated into a post-embryonic gene regulatory network to determine fine-scale leg morphology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra D. Buffry
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Sebastian Kittelmann
- Centre for Functional Genomics, Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Alistair P. McGregor
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom,*Correspondence: Alistair P. McGregor,
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Liu H, Lu A, Kelley KA, Forrest D. Noncoding Mutations in a Thyroid Hormone Receptor Gene That Impair Cone Photoreceptor Function. Endocrinology 2023; 164:6984996. [PMID: 36631163 PMCID: PMC10091487 DOI: 10.1210/endocr/bqad006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
The function of a hormone receptor requires mechanisms to control precisely where, when, and at what level the receptor gene is expressed. An intriguing case concerns the selective induction of thyroid hormone receptor β2 (TRβ2), encoded by Thrb, in the pituitary and also in cone photoreceptors, in which it critically regulates expression of the opsin photopigments that mediate color vision. Here, we investigate the physiological significance of a candidate enhancer for induction of TRβ2 by mutagenesis of a conserved intron region in its natural context in the endogenous Thrb gene in mice. Mutation of e-box sites for bHLH (basic-helix-loop-helix) transcription factors preferentially impairs TRβ2 expression in cones whereas mutation of nearby sequences preferentially impairs expression in pituitary. A deletion encompassing all sites impairs expression in both tissues, indicating bifunctional activity. In cones, the e-box mutations disrupt chromatin acetylation, blunt the developmental induction of TRβ2, and ultimately impair cone opsin expression and sensitivity to longer wavelengths of light. These results demonstrate the necessity of studying an enhancer in its natural chromosomal context for defining biological relevance and reveal surprisingly critical nuances of level and timing of enhancer function. Our findings illustrate the influence of noncoding sequences over thyroid hormone functions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hong Liu
- NIDDK, Laboratory of Endocrinology and Receptor Biology, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Ailing Lu
- NIDDK, Laboratory of Endocrinology and Receptor Biology, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Kevin A Kelley
- Department of Cell, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Douglas Forrest
- NIDDK, Laboratory of Endocrinology and Receptor Biology, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Context-dependent enhancer function revealed by targeted inter-TAD relocation. Nat Commun 2022; 13:3488. [PMID: 35715427 PMCID: PMC9205857 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31241-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The expression of some genes depends on large, adjacent regions of the genome that contain multiple enhancers. These regulatory landscapes frequently align with Topologically Associating Domains (TADs), where they integrate the function of multiple similar enhancers to produce a global, TAD-specific regulation. We asked if an individual enhancer could overcome the influence of one of these landscapes, to drive gene transcription. To test this, we transferred an enhancer from its native location, into a nearby TAD with a related yet different functional specificity. We used the biphasic regulation of Hoxd genes during limb development as a paradigm. These genes are first activated in proximal limb cells by enhancers located in one TAD, which is then silenced when the neighboring TAD activates its enhancers in distal limb cells. We transferred a distal limb enhancer into the proximal limb TAD and found that its new context suppresses its normal distal specificity, even though it is bound by HOX13 transcription factors, which are responsible for the distal activity. This activity can be rescued only when a large portion of the surrounding environment is removed. These results indicate that, at least in some cases, the functioning of enhancer elements is subordinated to the host chromatin context, which can exert a dominant control over its activity. Here the authors show that a strong enhancer sequence can be controlled by the chromatin environment provided by a topologically associated domain (TAD) located nearby. An enhancer relocated by homologous recombination takes all the hallmarks of its new neighboring enhancers located in the recipient TAD.
Collapse
|
17
|
Hintermann A, Guerreiro I, Lopez-Delisle L, Bolt CC, Gitto S, Duboule D, Beccari L. Developmental and evolutionary comparative analysis of a regulatory landscape in mouse and chicken. Development 2022; 149:275867. [PMID: 35770682 PMCID: PMC9307994 DOI: 10.1242/dev.200594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Modifications in gene regulation are driving forces in the evolution of organisms. Part of these changes involve cis-regulatory elements (CREs), which contact their target genes through higher-order chromatin structures. However, how such architectures and variations in CREs contribute to transcriptional evolvability remains elusive. We use Hoxd genes as a paradigm for the emergence of regulatory innovations, as many relevant enhancers are located in a regulatory landscape highly conserved in amniotes. Here, we analysed their regulation in murine vibrissae and chicken feather primordia, two skin appendages expressing different Hoxd gene subsets, and compared the regulation of these genes in these appendages with that in the elongation of the posterior trunk. In the two former structures, distinct subsets of Hoxd genes are contacted by different lineage-specific enhancers, probably as a result of using an ancestral chromatin topology as an evolutionary playground, whereas the gene regulation that occurs in the mouse and chicken embryonic trunk partially relies on conserved CREs. A high proportion of these non-coding sequences active in the trunk have functionally diverged between species, suggesting that transcriptional robustness is maintained, despite considerable divergence in enhancer sequences. Summary: Analyses of the relationships between chromatin architecture and regulatory activities at the HoxD locus show that ancestral transcription patterns can be maintained while new regulations evolve.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aurélie Hintermann
- University of Geneva 1 Department of Genetics and Evolution , , 30 quai Ernest-Ansermet, 1211 Geneva , Switzerland
| | - Isabel Guerreiro
- University of Geneva 1 Department of Genetics and Evolution , , 30 quai Ernest-Ansermet, 1211 Geneva , Switzerland
| | - Lucille Lopez-Delisle
- Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (EPFL ISREC), School of Life Sciences, Federal School of Technology (EPFL) 2 , 1015 Lausanne , Switzerland
| | - Christopher Chase Bolt
- Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (EPFL ISREC), School of Life Sciences, Federal School of Technology (EPFL) 2 , 1015 Lausanne , Switzerland
| | - Sandra Gitto
- University of Geneva 1 Department of Genetics and Evolution , , 30 quai Ernest-Ansermet, 1211 Geneva , Switzerland
| | - Denis Duboule
- University of Geneva 1 Department of Genetics and Evolution , , 30 quai Ernest-Ansermet, 1211 Geneva , Switzerland
- Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (EPFL ISREC), School of Life Sciences, Federal School of Technology (EPFL) 2 , 1015 Lausanne , Switzerland
- Collège de France 3 , 11 Place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris , France
| | - Leonardo Beccari
- University of Geneva 1 Department of Genetics and Evolution , , 30 quai Ernest-Ansermet, 1211 Geneva , Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Nollmann M, Bennabi I, Götz M, Gregor T. The Impact of Space and Time on the Functional Output of the Genome. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2022; 14:a040378. [PMID: 34230036 PMCID: PMC8733053 DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a040378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Over the past two decades, it has become clear that the multiscale spatial and temporal organization of the genome has important implications for nuclear function. This review centers on insights gained from recent advances in light microscopy on our understanding of transcription. We discuss spatial and temporal aspects that shape nuclear order and their consequences on regulatory components, focusing on genomic scales most relevant to function. The emerging picture is that spatiotemporal constraints increase the complexity in transcriptional regulation, highlighting new challenges, such as uncertainty about how information travels from molecular factors through the genome and space to generate a functional output.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marcelo Nollmann
- Centre de Biologie Structurale, CNRS UMR5048, INSERM U1054, Univ Montpellier, 34090 Montpellier, France
| | - Isma Bennabi
- Department of Stem Cell and Developmental Biology, CNRS UMR3738, Institut Pasteur, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Markus Götz
- Centre de Biologie Structurale, CNRS UMR5048, INSERM U1054, Univ Montpellier, 34090 Montpellier, France
| | - Thomas Gregor
- Department of Stem Cell and Developmental Biology, CNRS UMR3738, Institut Pasteur, 75015 Paris, France
- Joseph Henry Laboratory of Physics & Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Chua EHZ, Yasar S, Harmston N. The importance of considering regulatory domains in genome-wide analyses - the nearest gene is often wrong! Biol Open 2022; 11:274931. [PMID: 35377406 PMCID: PMC9002814 DOI: 10.1242/bio.059091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The expression of a large number of genes is regulated by regulatory elements that are located far away from their promoters. Identifying which gene is the target of a specific regulatory element or is affected by a non-coding mutation is often accomplished by assigning these regions to the nearest gene in the genome. However, this heuristic ignores key features of genome organisation and gene regulation; in that the genome is partitioned into regulatory domains, which at some loci directly coincide with the span of topologically associated domains (TADs), and that genes are regulated by enhancers located throughout these regions, even across intervening genes. In this review, we examine the results from genome-wide studies using chromosome conformation capture technologies and from those dissecting individual gene regulatory domains, to highlight that the phenomenon of enhancer skipping is pervasive and affects multiple types of genes. We discuss how simply assigning a genomic region of interest to its nearest gene is problematic and often leads to incorrect predictions and highlight that where possible information on both the conservation and topological organisation of the genome should be used to generate better hypotheses. The article has an associated Future Leader to Watch interview. Summary: Identifying which gene is the target of an enhancer is often accomplished by assigning it to the nearest gene, here we discuss how this heuristic can lead to incorrect predictions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Samen Yasar
- Science Division, Yale-NUS College, Singapore 138527, Singapore
| | - Nathan Harmston
- Science Division, Yale-NUS College, Singapore 138527, Singapore.,Program in Cancer and Stem Cell Biology, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore 169857, Singapore
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
A fast Myosin super enhancer dictates muscle fiber phenotype through competitive interactions with Myosin genes. Nat Commun 2022; 13:1039. [PMID: 35210422 PMCID: PMC8873246 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28666-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Accepted: 02/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The contractile properties of adult myofibers are shaped by their Myosin heavy chain isoform content. Here, we identify by snATAC-seq a 42 kb super-enhancer at the locus regrouping the fast Myosin genes. By 4C-seq we show that active fast Myosin promoters interact with this super-enhancer by DNA looping, leading to the activation of a single promoter per nucleus. A rainbow mouse transgenic model of the locus including the super-enhancer recapitulates the endogenous spatio-temporal expression of adult fast Myosin genes. In situ deletion of the super-enhancer by CRISPR/Cas9 editing demonstrates its major role in the control of associated fast Myosin genes, and deletion of two fast Myosin genes at the locus reveals an active competition of the promoters for the shared super-enhancer. Last, by disrupting the organization of fast Myosin, we uncover positional heterogeneity within limb skeletal muscles that may underlie selective muscle susceptibility to damage in certain myopathies. The contractile properties of adult myofibers are shaped by their Myosin heavy chain isoform content. Here the authors show that a super enhancer controls the spatiotemporal expression of the genes at the fast myosin heavy chain locus by DNA looping and that this expression profile is recapitulated in a rainbow transgenic mouse model of the locus.
Collapse
|
21
|
Transcriptional Regulation and Implications for Controlling Hox Gene Expression. J Dev Biol 2022; 10:jdb10010004. [PMID: 35076545 PMCID: PMC8788451 DOI: 10.3390/jdb10010004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Revised: 01/04/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Hox genes play key roles in axial patterning and regulating the regional identity of cells and tissues in a wide variety of animals from invertebrates to vertebrates. Nested domains of Hox expression generate a combinatorial code that provides a molecular framework for specifying the properties of tissues along the A–P axis. Hence, it is important to understand the regulatory mechanisms that coordinately control the precise patterns of the transcription of clustered Hox genes required for their roles in development. New insights are emerging about the dynamics and molecular mechanisms governing transcriptional regulation, and there is interest in understanding how these may play a role in contributing to the regulation of the expression of the clustered Hox genes. In this review, we summarize some of the recent findings, ideas and emerging mechanisms underlying the regulation of transcription in general and consider how they may be relevant to understanding the transcriptional regulation of Hox genes.
Collapse
|
22
|
Gjaltema RAF, Schwämmle T, Kautz P, Robson M, Schöpflin R, Ravid Lustig L, Brandenburg L, Dunkel I, Vechiatto C, Ntini E, Mutzel V, Schmiedel V, Marsico A, Mundlos S, Schulz EG. Distal and proximal cis-regulatory elements sense X chromosome dosage and developmental state at the Xist locus. Mol Cell 2022; 82:190-208.e17. [PMID: 34932975 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2021.11.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2021] [Revised: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Developmental genes such as Xist, which initiates X chromosome inactivation, are controlled by complex cis-regulatory landscapes, which decode multiple signals to establish specific spatiotemporal expression patterns. Xist integrates information on X chromosome dosage and developmental stage to trigger X inactivation in the epiblast specifically in female embryos. Through a pooled CRISPR screen in differentiating mouse embryonic stem cells, we identify functional enhancer elements of Xist at the onset of random X inactivation. Chromatin profiling reveals that X-dosage controls the promoter-proximal region, while differentiation cues activate several distal enhancers. The strongest distal element lies in an enhancer cluster associated with a previously unannotated Xist-enhancing regulatory transcript, which we named Xert. Developmental cues and X-dosage are thus decoded by distinct regulatory regions, which cooperate to ensure female-specific Xist upregulation at the correct developmental time. With this study, we start to disentangle how multiple, functionally distinct regulatory elements interact to generate complex expression patterns in mammals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rutger A F Gjaltema
- Otto Warburg Laboratories, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Till Schwämmle
- Otto Warburg Laboratories, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Pauline Kautz
- Otto Warburg Laboratories, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Michael Robson
- Development and Disease Group, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Medical Research Council Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh EH4 2XU, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Robert Schöpflin
- Development and Disease Group, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Institute for Medical and Human Genetics, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 13353 Berlin, Germany; Department of Computational Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Liat Ravid Lustig
- Otto Warburg Laboratories, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Lennart Brandenburg
- Otto Warburg Laboratories, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Ilona Dunkel
- Otto Warburg Laboratories, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Carolina Vechiatto
- Otto Warburg Laboratories, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Evgenia Ntini
- Otto Warburg Laboratories, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Verena Mutzel
- Otto Warburg Laboratories, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Vera Schmiedel
- Otto Warburg Laboratories, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Annalisa Marsico
- Computational Health Center, Helmholtz Center München, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Stefan Mundlos
- Development and Disease Group, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Institute for Medical and Human Genetics, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 13353 Berlin, Germany
| | - Edda G Schulz
- Otto Warburg Laboratories, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Wurmser A, Basu S. Enhancer-Promoter Communication: It's Not Just About Contact. Front Mol Biosci 2022; 9:867303. [PMID: 35517868 PMCID: PMC9061983 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.867303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Cis-regulatory elements such as enhancers can be located even a million base pairs away from their cognate promoter and yet modulate gene transcription. Indeed, the 3D organisation of chromatin enables the establishment of long-range enhancer-promoter communication. The observation of long-range enhancer-promoter chromatin loops at active genes originally led to a model in which enhancers and promoters form physical contacts between each other to control transcription. Yet, recent microscopy data has challenged this prevailing activity-by-contact model of enhancer-promoter communication in transcriptional activation. Live single-cell imaging approaches do not systematically reveal a correlation between enhancer-proximity and transcriptional activation. We therefore discuss the need to move from a static to a dynamic view of enhancer-promoter relationships. We highlight recent studies that not only reveal considerable chromatin movement in specific cell types, but suggest links between chromatin compaction, chromatin movement and transcription. We describe the interplay between enhancer-promoter proximity within the context of biomolecular condensates and the need to understand how condensate microenvironments influence the chromatin binding kinetics of proteins that bind at cis-regulatory elements to activate transcription. Finally, given the complex multi-scale interplay between regulatory proteins, enhancer-promoter proximity and movement, we propose the need to integrate information from complementary single-cell next-generation sequencing and live-cell imaging approaches to derive unified 3D theoretical models of enhancer-promoter communication that are ultimately predictive of transcriptional output and cell fate. In time, improved models will shed light on how tissues grow and diseases emerge.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Annabelle Wurmser
- Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Srinjan Basu
- Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.,Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Chatterjee S, Karasaki KM, Fries LE, Kapoor A, Chakravarti A. A multi-enhancer RET regulatory code is disrupted in Hirschsprung disease. Genome Res 2021; 31:2199-2208. [PMID: 34782358 PMCID: PMC8647834 DOI: 10.1101/gr.275667.121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
The major genetic risk factors for Hirschsprung disease (HSCR) are three common polymorphisms within cis-regulatory elements (CREs) of the receptor tyrosine kinase gene RET, which reduce its expression during enteric nervous system (ENS) development. These risk variants attenuate binding of the transcription factors RARB, GATA2, and SOX10 to their cognate CREs, reduce RET gene expression, and dysregulate other ENS and HSCR genes in the RET-EDNRB gene regulatory network (GRN). Here, we use siRNA, ChIP, and CRISPR-Cas9 deletion analyses in the SK-N-SH cell line to ask how many additional HSCR-associated risk variants reside in RET CREs that affect its gene expression. We identify 22 HSCR-associated variants in candidate RET CREs, of which seven have differential allele-specific in vitro enhancer activity, and four of these seven affect RET gene expression; of these, two enhancers are bound by the transcription factor PAX3. We also show that deleting multiple variant-containing enhancers leads to synergistic effects on RET gene expression. These, coupled with our prior results, show that common sequence variants in at least 10 RET enhancers affect HSCR risk, seven with experimental evidence of affecting RET gene expression, extending the known RET-EDNRB GRN to reveal an extensive regulatory code modulating disease risk at a single gene.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sumantra Chatterjee
- Center for Human Genetics and Genomics, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA
| | - Kameko M Karasaki
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA
| | - Lauren E Fries
- Center for Human Genetics and Genomics, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA
| | - Ashish Kapoor
- Institute of Molecular Medicine, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030, USA
| | - Aravinda Chakravarti
- Center for Human Genetics and Genomics, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Spatial regulation by multiple Gremlin1 enhancers provides digit development with cis-regulatory robustness and evolutionary plasticity. Nat Commun 2021; 12:5557. [PMID: 34548488 PMCID: PMC8455560 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25810-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2020] [Accepted: 09/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Precise cis-regulatory control of gene expression is essential for normal embryogenesis and tissue development. The BMP antagonist Gremlin1 (Grem1) is a key node in the signalling system that coordinately controls limb bud development. Here, we use mouse reverse genetics to identify the enhancers in the Grem1 genomic landscape and the underlying cis-regulatory logics that orchestrate the spatio-temporal Grem1 expression dynamics during limb bud development. We establish that transcript levels are controlled in an additive manner while spatial regulation requires synergistic interactions among multiple enhancers. Disrupting these interactions shows that altered spatial regulation rather than reduced Grem1 transcript levels prefigures digit fusions and loss. Two of the enhancers are evolutionary ancient and highly conserved from basal fishes to mammals. Analysing these enhancers from different species reveal the substantial spatial plasticity in Grem1 regulation in tetrapods and basal fishes, which provides insights into the fin-to-limb transition and evolutionary diversification of pentadactyl limbs. The BMP antagonist Gremlin1 balances BMP and SHH signalling, endowing limb bud development with robustness. Here, the authors identify enhancers controlling Grem1 levels in an additive, and spatial regulation in a synergistic manner, providing digit patterning with cis-regulatory robustness and evolutionary plasticity.
Collapse
|
26
|
Rud D, Marjoram P, Siegmund K, Shibata D. Functional human genes typically exhibit epigenetic conservation. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0253250. [PMID: 34520456 PMCID: PMC8439480 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Accepted: 08/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent DepMap CRISPR-Cas9 single gene disruptions have identified genes more essential to proliferation in tissue culture. It would be valuable to translate these finding with measurements more practical for human tissues. Here we show that DepMap essential genes and other literature curated functional genes exhibit cell-specific preferential epigenetic conservation when DNA methylation measurements are compared between replicate cell lines and between intestinal crypts from the same individual. Culture experiments indicate that epigenetic drift accumulates through time with smaller differences in more functional genes. In NCI-60 cell lines, greater targeted gene conservation correlated with greater drug sensitivity. These studies indicate that two measurements separated in time allow normal or neoplastic cells to signal through conservation which human genes are more essential to their survival in vitro or in vivo.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Rud
- Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
| | - Paul Marjoram
- Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
| | - Kimberly Siegmund
- Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
| | - Darryl Shibata
- Department of Pathology, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Sloutskin A, Shir-Shapira H, Freiman RN, Juven-Gershon T. The Core Promoter Is a Regulatory Hub for Developmental Gene Expression. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9:666508. [PMID: 34568311 PMCID: PMC8461331 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.666508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2021] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of multicellular organisms and the uniqueness of each cell are achieved by distinct transcriptional programs. Multiple processes that regulate gene expression converge at the core promoter region, an 80 bp region that directs accurate transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II (Pol II). In recent years, it has become apparent that the core promoter region is not a passive DNA component, but rather an active regulatory module of transcriptional programs. Distinct core promoter compositions were demonstrated to result in different transcriptional outputs. In this mini-review, we focus on the role of the core promoter, particularly its downstream region, as the regulatory hub for developmental genes. The downstream core promoter element (DPE) was implicated in the control of evolutionarily conserved developmental gene regulatory networks (GRNs) governing body plan in both the anterior-posterior and dorsal-ventral axes. Notably, the composition of the basal transcription machinery is not universal, but rather promoter-dependent, highlighting the importance of specialized transcription complexes and their core promoter target sequences as key hubs that drive embryonic development, differentiation and morphogenesis across metazoan species. The extent of transcriptional activation by a specific enhancer is dependent on its compatibility with the relevant core promoter. The core promoter content also regulates transcription burst size. Overall, while for many years it was thought that the specificity of gene expression is primarily determined by enhancers, it is now clear that the core promoter region comprises an important regulatory module in the intricate networks of developmental gene expression.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Sloutskin
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Hila Shir-Shapira
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Richard N. Freiman
- Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
| | - Tamar Juven-Gershon
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Bolt CC, Lopez-Delisle L, Mascrez B, Duboule D. Mesomelic dysplasias associated with the HOXD locus are caused by regulatory reallocations. Nat Commun 2021; 12:5013. [PMID: 34408147 PMCID: PMC8373931 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25330-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/05/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Human families with chromosomal rearrangements at 2q31, where the human HOXD locus maps, display mesomelic dysplasia, a severe shortening and bending of the limb. In mice, the dominant Ulnaless inversion of the HoxD cluster produces a similar phenotype suggesting the same origin for these malformations in humans and mice. Here we engineer 1 Mb inversion including the HoxD gene cluster, which positioned Hoxd13 close to proximal limb enhancers. Using this model, we show that these enhancers contact and activate Hoxd13 in proximal cells, inducing the formation of mesomelic dysplasia. We show that a secondary Hoxd13 null mutation in-cis with the inversion completely rescues the alterations, demonstrating that ectopic HOXD13 is directly responsible for this bone anomaly. Single-cell expression analysis and evaluation of HOXD13 binding sites suggests that the phenotype arises primarily by acting through genes normally controlled by HOXD13 in distal limb cells. Altogether, these results provide a conceptual and mechanistic framework to understand and unify the molecular origins of human mesomelic dysplasia associated with 2q31.
Collapse
MESH Headings
- Abnormalities, Multiple/embryology
- Abnormalities, Multiple/genetics
- Abnormalities, Multiple/metabolism
- Animals
- Bone Diseases, Developmental/embryology
- Bone Diseases, Developmental/genetics
- Bone Diseases, Developmental/metabolism
- Disease Models, Animal
- Female
- Gene Deletion
- Homeodomain Proteins/genetics
- Homeodomain Proteins/metabolism
- Humans
- Limb Deformities, Congenital/embryology
- Limb Deformities, Congenital/genetics
- Limb Deformities, Congenital/metabolism
- Loss of Function Mutation
- Male
- Mice, Inbred C57BL
- Multigene Family
- Transcription Factors/genetics
- Transcription Factors/metabolism
- Mice
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Chase Bolt
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | - Lucille Lopez-Delisle
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Bénédicte Mascrez
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Denis Duboule
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
- Collège de France, Paris, France.
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Willemin A, Lopez-Delisle L, Bolt CC, Gadolini ML, Duboule D, Rodriguez-Carballo E. Induction of a chromatin boundary in vivo upon insertion of a TAD border. PLoS Genet 2021; 17:e1009691. [PMID: 34292939 PMCID: PMC8330945 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Revised: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 06/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Mammalian genomes are partitioned into sub-megabase to megabase-sized units of preferential interactions called topologically associating domains or TADs, which are likely important for the proper implementation of gene regulatory processes. These domains provide structural scaffolds for distant cis regulatory elements to interact with their target genes within the three-dimensional nuclear space and architectural proteins such as CTCF as well as the cohesin complex participate in the formation of the boundaries between them. However, the importance of the genomic context in providing a given DNA sequence the capacity to act as a boundary element remains to be fully investigated. To address this question, we randomly relocated a topological boundary functionally associated with the mouse HoxD gene cluster and show that it can indeed act similarly outside its initial genomic context. In particular, the relocated DNA segment recruited the required architectural proteins and induced a significant depletion of contacts between genomic regions located across the integration site. The host chromatin landscape was re-organized, with the splitting of the TAD wherein the boundary had integrated. These results provide evidence that topological boundaries can function independently of their site of origin, under physiological conditions during mouse development. During development, enhancer sequences tightly regulate the spatio-temporal expression of target genes often located hundreds of kilobases away. This complex process is made possible by the folding of chromatin into domains, which are separated from one another by specific genomic regions referred to as boundaries. In order to understand whether such boundary sequences require their particular genomic contexts to achieve their isolating effect, we analyzed the impact of introducing one such boundary, taken from the HoxD locus, into a distinct topological domain. We show that this ectopic boundary splits the host domain into two sub-domains and affects the expression levels of a neighboring gene. We conclude that this sequence can work independently from its genomic context and thus carries all the information necessary to act as a boundary element.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andréa Willemin
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, Faculty of Science, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Lucille Lopez-Delisle
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Christopher Chase Bolt
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marie-Laure Gadolini
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, Faculty of Science, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Denis Duboule
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, Faculty of Science, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Collège de France, Paris, France
- * E-mail: (DD); (ER-C)
| | - Eddie Rodriguez-Carballo
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, Faculty of Science, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- * E-mail: (DD); (ER-C)
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Tena JJ, Santos-Pereira JM. Topologically Associating Domains and Regulatory Landscapes in Development, Evolution and Disease. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9:702787. [PMID: 34295901 PMCID: PMC8290416 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.702787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Animal genomes are folded in topologically associating domains (TADs) that have been linked to the regulation of the genes they contain by constraining regulatory interactions between cis-regulatory elements and promoters. Therefore, TADs are proposed as structural scaffolds for the establishment of regulatory landscapes (RLs). In this review, we discuss recent advances in the connection between TADs and gene regulation, their relationship with gene RLs and their dynamics during development and differentiation. Moreover, we describe how restructuring TADs may lead to pathological conditions, which explains their high evolutionary conservation, but at the same time it provides a substrate for the emergence of evolutionary innovations that lay at the origin of vertebrates and other phylogenetic clades.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Juan J. Tena
- Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas/Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain
| | - José M. Santos-Pereira
- Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas/Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Pachano T, Sánchez-Gaya V, Ealo T, Mariner-Faulí M, Bleckwehl T, Asenjo HG, Respuela P, Cruz-Molina S, Muñoz-San Martín M, Haro E, van IJcken WFJ, Landeira D, Rada-Iglesias A. Orphan CpG islands amplify poised enhancer regulatory activity and determine target gene responsiveness. Nat Genet 2021; 53:1036-1049. [PMID: 34183853 PMCID: PMC7611182 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-021-00888-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2020] [Accepted: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
CpG islands (CGIs) represent a widespread feature of vertebrate genomes, being associated with ~70% of all gene promoters. CGIs control transcription initiation by conferring nearby promoters with unique chromatin properties. In addition, there are thousands of distal or orphan CGIs (oCGIs) whose functional relevance is barely known. Here we show that oCGIs are an essential component of poised enhancers that augment their long-range regulatory activity and control the responsiveness of their target genes. Using a knock-in strategy in mouse embryonic stem cells, we introduced poised enhancers with or without oCGIs within topologically associating domains harboring genes with different types of promoters. Analysis of the resulting cell lines revealed that oCGIs act as tethering elements that promote the physical and functional communication between poised enhancers and distally located genes, particularly those with large CGI clusters in their promoters. Therefore, by acting as genetic determinants of gene-enhancer compatibility, CGIs can contribute to gene expression control under both physiological and potentially pathological conditions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tomas Pachano
- Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria (IBBTEC), CSIC/Universidad de Cantabria/SODERCAN, Santander, Spain
| | - Víctor Sánchez-Gaya
- Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria (IBBTEC), CSIC/Universidad de Cantabria/SODERCAN, Santander, Spain
| | - Thais Ealo
- Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria (IBBTEC), CSIC/Universidad de Cantabria/SODERCAN, Santander, Spain
| | - Maria Mariner-Faulí
- Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria (IBBTEC), CSIC/Universidad de Cantabria/SODERCAN, Santander, Spain
| | - Tore Bleckwehl
- Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Helena G Asenjo
- Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (GENYO), Granada, Spain
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA, Hospital Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain
| | - Patricia Respuela
- Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria (IBBTEC), CSIC/Universidad de Cantabria/SODERCAN, Santander, Spain
| | - Sara Cruz-Molina
- Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Muenster, Germany
| | - María Muñoz-San Martín
- Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria (IBBTEC), CSIC/Universidad de Cantabria/SODERCAN, Santander, Spain
| | - Endika Haro
- Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria (IBBTEC), CSIC/Universidad de Cantabria/SODERCAN, Santander, Spain
| | | | - David Landeira
- Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (GENYO), Granada, Spain
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA, Hospital Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain
| | - Alvaro Rada-Iglesias
- Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
- Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria (IBBTEC), CSIC/Universidad de Cantabria/SODERCAN, Santander, Spain.
- Cologne Excellence Cluster for Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Biddle JW, Martinez-Corral R, Wong F, Gunawardena J. Allosteric conformational ensembles have unlimited capacity for integrating information. eLife 2021; 10:e65498. [PMID: 34106049 PMCID: PMC8189718 DOI: 10.7554/elife.65498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2020] [Accepted: 04/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Integration of binding information by macromolecular entities is fundamental to cellular functionality. Recent work has shown that such integration cannot be explained by pairwise cooperativities, in which binding is modulated by binding at another site. Higher-order cooperativities (HOCs), in which binding is collectively modulated by multiple other binding events, appear to be necessary but an appropriate mechanism has been lacking. We show here that HOCs arise through allostery, in which effective cooperativity emerges indirectly from an ensemble of dynamically interchanging conformations. Conformational ensembles play important roles in many cellular processes but their integrative capabilities remain poorly understood. We show that sufficiently complex ensembles can implement any form of information integration achievable without energy expenditure, including all patterns of HOCs. Our results provide a rigorous biophysical foundation for analysing the integration of binding information through allostery. We discuss the implications for eukaryotic gene regulation, where complex conformational dynamics accompanies widespread information integration.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John W Biddle
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonUnited States
| | | | - Felix Wong
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeUnited States
- Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program, Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardCambridgeUnited States
| | - Jeremy Gunawardena
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonUnited States
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Cheng L, Li Y, Qi Q, Xu P, Feng R, Palmer L, Chen J, Wu R, Yee T, Zhang J, Yao Y, Sharma A, Hardison RC, Weiss MJ, Cheng Y. Single-nucleotide-level mapping of DNA regulatory elements that control fetal hemoglobin expression. Nat Genet 2021; 53:869-880. [PMID: 33958780 PMCID: PMC8628368 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-021-00861-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Accepted: 03/30/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Pinpointing functional noncoding DNA sequences and defining their contributions to health-related traits is a major challenge for modern genetics. We developed a high-throughput framework to map noncoding DNA functions with single-nucleotide resolution in four loci that control erythroid fetal hemoglobin (HbF) expression, a genetically determined trait that modifies sickle cell disease (SCD) phenotypes. Specifically, we used the adenine base editor ABEmax to introduce 10,156 separate A•T to G•C conversions in 307 predicted regulatory elements and quantified the effects on erythroid HbF expression. We identified numerous regulatory elements, defined their epigenomic structures and linked them to low-frequency variants associated with HbF expression in an SCD cohort. Targeting a newly discovered γ-globin gene repressor element in SCD donor CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors raised HbF levels in the erythroid progeny, inhibiting hypoxia-induced sickling. Our findings reveal previously unappreciated genetic complexities of HbF regulation and provide potentially therapeutic insights into SCD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Li Cheng
- Department of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Yichao Li
- Department of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Qian Qi
- Department of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Peng Xu
- Department of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Ruopeng Feng
- Department of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Lance Palmer
- Department of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Jingjing Chen
- Department of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Ruiqiong Wu
- Department of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Tiffany Yee
- Department of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Jingjing Zhang
- Department of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Yu Yao
- Department of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Akshay Sharma
- Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Ross C Hardison
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Mitchell J Weiss
- Department of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
| | - Yong Cheng
- Department of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
- Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Casas-Tintó S, Ferrús A. The haplolethality paradox of the wupA gene in Drosophila. PLoS Genet 2021; 17:e1009108. [PMID: 33739971 PMCID: PMC8011728 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2020] [Revised: 03/31/2021] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Haplolethals (HL) are regions of diploid genomes that in one dose are fatal for the organism. Their biological meaning is obscure because heterozygous loss-of-function mutations result in dominant lethality (DL) and, consequently, should be under strong negative selection. We report an in depth study of the HL associated to the gene wings up A (wupA). It encodes 13 transcripts (A-M) that yield 11 protein isoforms (A-K) of Troponin I (TnI). They are functionally diverse in their control of muscle contraction, cell polarity and cell proliferation. Isoform K transfers to the nucleus where it increases transcription of the cell proliferation related genes CDK2, CDK4, Rap and Rab5. The nuclear translocation of isoform K is prevented by the co-expression of A or B isoforms, which illustrates isoform interactions. The corresponding DL mutations are, either DNA rearrangements clustered towards the gene 3’ end, thus affecting the genomic organization of all transcripts, or CRISPR-induced mutations in one of the two ATG sites which eliminate a subset of wupA products. The joint elimination of isoforms C, F, G and H, however, do not cause DL phenotypes. Genetically driven expression of single isoforms rescue neither DL nor any of the mutants known in the gene, suggesting that normal function requires properly regulated expression of specific combinations, rather than single, TnI isoforms. We conclude that the wupA associated HL results from the combined haploinsufficiency of a large set of TnI isoforms. The qualitative and quantitative normal expression of which, requires the chromosomal integrity of the wupA genomic region. Since all fly TnI isoforms are encoded in the same gene, its HL condition becomes unavoidable. These wupA features are comparable to those of dpp, the only other HL studied to some extent, and reveal a scenario of strict dosage dependence with implications for gene expression regulation and splitting. Most species contain two copies of their genetic endowment, each received from each progenitor. If one of the duplicated genes is non-functional, the remaining copy may supply enough product as to cover the requirements for normal function or, alternatively, may reflect the insufficiency through a visible phenotype. In rare occasions, however, having one copy is so deleterious that causes lethality. These so called “haplolethal regions”, exist across species and represent an evolutionary paradox since they should have been subject to intense negative selection. The inherent difficulties to study haplolethals have precluded their study so far. Here, we analyzed the case of one of the five haplolethal regions of Drosophila, the one associated to the Troponin I encoding gene wupA, by measuring the transcriptional effects of mutations and chromosomal rearrangements affecting this gene. The data show that this haplolethality results from the combined insufficiency of a large number of Troponin I isoforms, which are functionally specialized, show interference and require the integrity of the native chromatin structure for their quantitatively regulated expression. These features unveil novel aspects of gene expression and, possibly, on evolutionary gene splitting. Also, haplolethals underscore the biological significance of protein dosage, in particular for functionally related products.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sergio Casas-Tintó
- Instituto Cajal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain
| | - Alberto Ferrús
- Instituto Cajal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Rodríguez-Carballo E, Lopez-Delisle L, Willemin A, Beccari L, Gitto S, Mascrez B, Duboule D. Chromatin topology and the timing of enhancer function at the HoxD locus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:31231-31241. [PMID: 33229569 PMCID: PMC7733857 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2015083117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The HoxD gene cluster is critical for proper limb formation in tetrapods. In the emerging limb buds, different subgroups of Hoxd genes respond first to a proximal regulatory signal, then to a distal signal that organizes digits. These two regulations are exclusive from one another and emanate from two distinct topologically associating domains (TADs) flanking HoxD, both containing a range of appropriate enhancer sequences. The telomeric TAD (T-DOM) contains several enhancers active in presumptive forearm cells and is divided into two sub-TADs separated by a CTCF-rich boundary, which defines two regulatory submodules. To understand the importance of this particular regulatory topology to control Hoxd gene transcription in time and space, we either deleted or inverted this sub-TAD boundary, eliminated the CTCF binding sites, or inverted the entire T-DOM to exchange the respective positions of the two sub-TADs. The effects of such perturbations on the transcriptional regulation of Hoxd genes illustrate the requirement of this regulatory topology for the precise timing of gene activation. However, the spatial distribution of transcripts was eventually resumed, showing that the presence of enhancer sequences, rather than either their exact topology or a particular chromatin architecture, is the key factor. We also show that the affinity of enhancers to find their natural target genes can overcome the presence of both a strong TAD border and an unfavorable orientation of CTCF sites.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Lucille Lopez-Delisle
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Andréa Willemin
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Leonardo Beccari
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Sandra Gitto
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Bénédicte Mascrez
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Denis Duboule
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland;
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Collège de France, 75005 Paris, France
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Maqbool MA, Pioger L, El Aabidine AZ, Karasu N, Molitor AM, Dao LTM, Charbonnier G, van Laethem F, Fenouil R, Koch F, Lacaud G, Gut I, Gut M, Amigorena S, Joffre O, Sexton T, Spicuglia S, Andrau JC. Alternative Enhancer Usage and Targeted Polycomb Marking Hallmark Promoter Choice during T Cell Differentiation. Cell Rep 2020; 32:108048. [PMID: 32814051 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2020] [Revised: 04/13/2020] [Accepted: 07/28/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
During thymic development and upon peripheral activation, T cells undergo extensive phenotypic and functional changes coordinated by lineage-specific developmental programs. To characterize the regulatory landscape controlling T cell identity, we perform a wide epigenomic and transcriptional analysis of mouse thymocytes and naive CD4 differentiated T helper cells. Our investigations reveal a dynamic putative enhancer landscape, and we could validate many of the enhancers using the high-throughput CapStarr sequencing (CapStarr-seq) approach. We find that genes using multiple promoters display increased enhancer usage, suggesting that apparent "enhancer redundancy" might relate to isoform selection. Furthermore, we can show that two Runx3 promoters display long-range interactions with specific enhancers. Finally, our analyses suggest a novel function for the PRC2 complex in the control of alternative promoter usage. Altogether, our study has allowed for the mapping of an exhaustive set of active enhancers and provides new insights into their function and that of PRC2 in controlling promoter choice during T cell differentiation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Ahmad Maqbool
- Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, 1919 Route de Mende, Montpellier 34293, France.
| | - Léo Pioger
- Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, 1919 Route de Mende, Montpellier 34293, France
| | - Amal Zine El Aabidine
- Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, 1919 Route de Mende, Montpellier 34293, France
| | - Nezih Karasu
- Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France; CNRS UMR7104, 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France; INSERM U1258, 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France; University of Strasbourg, 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France
| | - Anne Marie Molitor
- Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France; CNRS UMR7104, 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France; INSERM U1258, 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France; University of Strasbourg, 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France
| | - Lan T M Dao
- Aix-Marseille University, UMR-S 1090, TAGC, Marseille 13009, France
| | | | - Francois van Laethem
- Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, 1919 Route de Mende, Montpellier 34293, France
| | - Romain Fenouil
- Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, 1919 Route de Mende, Montpellier 34293, France
| | - Frederic Koch
- Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, 1919 Route de Mende, Montpellier 34293, France
| | - Georges Lacaud
- CRUK Stem Cell Biology Group, Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, The University of Manchester, Aderley Park, Macclesfield SK104TG, UK
| | - Ivo Gut
- CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Baldiri i Reixac 4, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marta Gut
- CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Baldiri i Reixac 4, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sebastian Amigorena
- Institut Curie, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, INSERM U932, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Olivier Joffre
- Centre de Physiopathologie de Toulouse Purpan, INSERM UMR1043 CHU Purpan - BP 3028, 31024 Toulouse Cedex 3, France
| | - Thomas Sexton
- Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France; CNRS UMR7104, 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France; INSERM U1258, 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France; University of Strasbourg, 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France
| | | | - Jean-Christophe Andrau
- Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, 1919 Route de Mende, Montpellier 34293, France.
| |
Collapse
|