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Kuffler L, Skelly DA, Czechanski A, Fortin HJ, Munger SC, Baker CL, Reinholdt LG, Carter GW. Imputation of 3D genome structure by genetic-epigenetic interaction modeling in mice. eLife 2024; 12:RP88222. [PMID: 38669177 PMCID: PMC11052574 DOI: 10.7554/elife.88222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Gene expression is known to be affected by interactions between local genetic variation and DNA accessibility, with the latter organized into three-dimensional chromatin structures. Analyses of these interactions have previously been limited, obscuring their regulatory context, and the extent to which they occur throughout the genome. Here, we undertake a genome-scale analysis of these interactions in a genetically diverse population to systematically identify global genetic-epigenetic interaction, and reveal constraints imposed by chromatin structure. We establish the extent and structure of genotype-by-epigenotype interaction using embryonic stem cells derived from Diversity Outbred mice. This mouse population segregates millions of variants from eight inbred founders, enabling precision genetic mapping with extensive genotypic and phenotypic diversity. With 176 samples profiled for genotype, gene expression, and open chromatin, we used regression modeling to infer genetic-epigenetic interactions on a genome-wide scale. Our results demonstrate that statistical interactions between genetic variants and chromatin accessibility are common throughout the genome. We found that these interactions occur within the local area of the affected gene, and that this locality corresponds to topologically associated domains (TADs). The likelihood of interaction was most strongly defined by the three-dimensional (3D) domain structure rather than linear DNA sequence. We show that stable 3D genome structure is an effective tool to guide searches for regulatory elements and, conversely, that regulatory elements in genetically diverse populations provide a means to infer 3D genome structure. We confirmed this finding with CTCF ChIP-seq that revealed strain-specific binding in the inbred founder mice. In stem cells, open chromatin participating in the most significant regression models demonstrated an enrichment for developmental genes and the TAD-forming CTCF-binding complex, providing an opportunity for statistical inference of shifting TAD boundaries operating during early development. These findings provide evidence that genetic and epigenetic factors operate within the context of 3D chromatin structure.
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Marola OJ, MacLean M, Cossette TL, Diemler CA, Hewes AA, Reagan AM, Skelly DA, Howell GR. Genetic context modulates aging and degeneration in the murine retina. bioRxiv 2024:2024.04.16.589625. [PMID: 38659747 PMCID: PMC11042269 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.16.589625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Background Age is the principal risk factor for neurodegeneration in both the retina and brain. The retina and brain share many biological properties; thus, insights into retinal aging and degeneration may shed light onto similar processes in the brain. Genetic makeup strongly influences susceptibility to age-related retinal disease. However, studies investigating retinal aging have not sufficiently accounted for genetic diversity. Therefore, examining molecular aging in the retina across different genetic backgrounds will enhance our understanding of human-relevant aging and degeneration in both the retina and brain-potentially improving therapeutic approaches to these debilitating conditions. Methods Transcriptomics and proteomics were employed to elucidate retinal aging signatures in nine genetically diverse mouse strains (C57BL/6J, 129S1/SvlmJ, NZO/HlLtJ, WSB/EiJ, CAST/EiJ, PWK/PhK, NOD/ShiLtJ, A/J, and BALB/cJ) across lifespan. These data predicted human disease-relevant changes in WSB and NZO strains. Accordingly, B6, WSB and NZO mice were subjected to human-relevant in vivo examinations at 4, 8, 12, and/or 18M, including: slit lamp, fundus imaging, optical coherence tomography, fluorescein angiography, and pattern/full-field electroretinography. Retinal morphology, vascular structure, and cell counts were assessed ex vivo. Results We identified common molecular aging signatures across the nine mouse strains, which included genes associated with photoreceptor function and immune activation. Genetic background strongly modulated these aging signatures. Analysis of cell type-specific marker genes predicted age-related loss of photoreceptors and retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in WSB and NZO, respectively. Fundus exams revealed retinitis pigmentosa-relevant pigmentary abnormalities in WSB retinas and diabetic retinopathy (DR)-relevant cotton wool spots and exudates in NZO retinas. Profound photoreceptor dysfunction and loss were confirmed in WSB. Molecular analyses indicated changes in photoreceptor-specific proteins prior to loss, suggesting photoreceptor-intrinsic dysfunction in WSB. In addition, age-associated RGC dysfunction, loss, and concomitant microvascular dysfunction was observed in NZO mice. Proteomic analyses revealed an early reduction in protective antioxidant processes, which may underlie increased susceptibility to DR-relevant pathology in NZO. Conclusions Genetic context is a strong determinant of retinal aging, and our multi-omics resource can aid in understanding age-related diseases of the eye and brain. Our investigations identified and validated WSB and NZO mice as improved preclinical models relevant to common retinal neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Cory A. Diemler
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
| | | | | | | | - Gareth R. Howell
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA
- Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02111, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
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Vijayraghavan S, Kozmin SG, Strope PK, Skelly DA, Magwene PM, Dietrich FS, McCusker JH. RNA viruses, M satellites, chromosomal killer genes, and killer/nonkiller phenotypes in the 100-genomes S. cerevisiae strains. G3 (Bethesda) 2023; 13:jkad167. [PMID: 37497616 PMCID: PMC10542562 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkad167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Revised: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
We characterized previously identified RNA viruses (L-A, L-BC, 20S, and 23S), L-A-dependent M satellites (M1, M2, M28, and Mlus), and M satellite-dependent killer phenotypes in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae 100-genomes genetic resource population. L-BC was present in all strains, albeit in 2 distinct levels, L-BChi and L-BClo; the L-BC level is associated with the L-BC genotype. L-BChi, L-A, 20S, 23S, M1, M2, and Mlus (M28 was absent) were in fewer strains than the similarly inherited 2µ plasmid. Novel L-A-dependent phenotypes were identified. Ten M+ strains exhibited M satellite-dependent killing (K+) of at least 1 of the naturally M0 and cured M0 derivatives of the 100-genomes strains; in these M0 strains, sensitivities to K1+, K2+, and K28+ strains varied. Finally, to complement our M satellite-encoded killer toxin analysis, we assembled the chromosomal KHS1 and KHR1 killer genes and used naturally M0 and cured M0 derivatives of the 100-genomes strains to assess and characterize the chromosomal killer phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sriram Vijayraghavan
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Stanislav G Kozmin
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Pooja K Strope
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Daniel A Skelly
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Paul M Magwene
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Fred S Dietrich
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - John H McCusker
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
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Poirion OB, Zuo W, Spruce C, Daigle SL, Olson A, Skelly DA, Chesler EJ, Baker CL, White BS. Enhlink infers distal and context-specific enhancer-promoter linkages. bioRxiv 2023:2023.05.11.540453. [PMID: 37214950 PMCID: PMC10197707 DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.11.540453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Enhancers play a crucial role in regulating gene expression and their functional status can be queried with cell type precision using using single-cell (sc)ATAC-seq. To facilitate analysis of such data, we developed Enhlink, a novel computational approach that leverages single-cell signals to infer linkages between regulatory DNA sequences, such as enhancers and promoters. Enhlink uses an ensemble strategy that integrates cell-level technical covariates to control for batch effects and biological covariates to infer robust condition-specific links and their associated p-values. It can integrate simultaneous gene expression and chromatin accessibility measurements of individual cells profiled by multi-omic experiments for increased specificity. We evaluated Enhlink using simulated and real scATAC-seq data, including those paired with physical enhancer-promoter links enumerated by promoter capture Hi-C and with multi-omic scATAC-/RNA-seq data we generated from the mouse striatum. These examples demonstrated that our method outperforms popular alternative strategies. In conjunction with eQTL analysis, Enhlink revealed a putative super-enhancer regulating key cell type-specific markers of striatal neurons. Taken together, our analyses demonstrate that Enhlink is accurate, powerful, and provides features that can lead to novel biological insights.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Wulin Zuo
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, USA
| | | | | | - Ashley Olson
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, USA
- Center for Systems Neurogenetics of Addiction at The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, USA
| | | | - Elissa J Chesler
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, USA
- Center for Systems Neurogenetics of Addiction at The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, USA
| | - Christopher L Baker
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, USA
- Center for Systems Neurogenetics of Addiction at The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, USA
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Aydin S, Pham DT, Zhang T, Keele GR, Skelly DA, Paulo JA, Pankratz M, Choi T, Gygi SP, Reinholdt LG, Baker CL, Churchill GA, Munger SC. Genetic dissection of the pluripotent proteome through multi-omics data integration. Cell Genom 2023; 3:100283. [PMID: 37082146 PMCID: PMC10112288 DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2023.100283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Revised: 09/12/2022] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2023]
Abstract
Genetic background drives phenotypic variability in pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). Most studies to date have used transcript abundance as the primary molecular readout of cell state in PSCs. We performed a comprehensive proteogenomics analysis of 190 genetically diverse mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) lines. The quantitative proteome is highly variable across lines, and we identified pluripotency-associated pathways that were differentially activated in the proteomics data that were not evident in transcriptome data from the same lines. Integration of protein abundance to transcript levels and chromatin accessibility revealed broad co-variation across molecular layers as well as shared and unique drivers of quantitative variation in pluripotency-associated pathways. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping localized the drivers of these multi-omic signatures to genomic hotspots. This study reveals post-transcriptional mechanisms and genetic interactions that underlie quantitative variability in the pluripotent proteome and provides a regulatory map for mESCs that can provide a basis for future mechanistic studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Selcan Aydin
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA
| | - Duy T. Pham
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA
| | - Tian Zhang
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Ted Choi
- Predictive Biology, Inc., Carlsbad, CA 92010, USA
| | | | - Laura G. Reinholdt
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA
| | - Christopher L. Baker
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA
| | - Gary A. Churchill
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA
| | - Steven C. Munger
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA
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Byers C, Spruce C, Fortin HJ, Hartig EI, Czechanski A, Munger SC, Reinholdt LG, Skelly DA, Baker CL. Genetic control of the pluripotency epigenome determines differentiation bias in mouse embryonic stem cells. EMBO J 2022; 41:e109445. [PMID: 34931323 PMCID: PMC8762565 DOI: 10.15252/embj.2021109445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Revised: 11/01/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Genetically diverse pluripotent stem cells display varied, heritable responses to differentiation cues. Here, we harnessed these disparities through derivation of mouse embryonic stem cells from the BXD genetic reference panel, along with C57BL/6J (B6) and DBA/2J (D2) parental strains, to identify loci regulating cell state transitions. Upon transition to formative pluripotency, B6 stem cells quickly dissolved naïve networks adopting gene expression modules indicative of neuroectoderm lineages, whereas D2 retained aspects of naïve pluripotency. Spontaneous formation of embryoid bodies identified divergent differentiation where B6 showed a propensity toward neuroectoderm and D2 toward definitive endoderm. Genetic mapping identified major trans-acting loci co-regulating chromatin accessibility and gene expression in both naïve and formative pluripotency. These loci distally modulated occupancy of pluripotency factors at hundreds of regulatory elements. One trans-acting locus on Chr 12 primarily impacted chromatin accessibility in embryonic stem cells, while in epiblast-like cells, the same locus subsequently influenced expression of genes enriched for neurogenesis, suggesting early chromatin priming. These results demonstrate genetically determined biases in lineage commitment and identify major regulators of the pluripotency epigenome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Candice Byers
- The Jackson LaboratoryBar HarborMEUSA,Graduate School of Biomedical SciencesTufts UniversityBostonMAUSA
| | | | - Haley J Fortin
- The Jackson LaboratoryBar HarborMEUSA,Graduate School of Biomedical SciencesTufts UniversityBostonMAUSA
| | - Ellen I Hartig
- The Jackson LaboratoryBar HarborMEUSA,Graduate School of Biomedical SciencesTufts UniversityBostonMAUSA
| | | | - Steven C Munger
- The Jackson LaboratoryBar HarborMEUSA,Graduate School of Biomedical SciencesTufts UniversityBostonMAUSA
| | | | | | - Christopher L Baker
- The Jackson LaboratoryBar HarborMEUSA,Graduate School of Biomedical SciencesTufts UniversityBostonMAUSA
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Takemon Y, Chick JM, Gerdes Gyuricza I, Skelly DA, Devuyst O, Gygi SP, Churchill GA, Korstanje R. Proteomic and transcriptomic profiling reveal different aspects of aging in the kidney. eLife 2021; 10:e62585. [PMID: 33687326 PMCID: PMC8096428 DOI: 10.7554/elife.62585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2020] [Accepted: 03/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Little is known about the molecular changes that take place in the kidney during the aging process. In order to better understand these changes, we measured mRNA and protein levels in genetically diverse mice at different ages. We observed distinctive change in mRNA and protein levels as a function of age. Changes in both mRNA and protein are associated with increased immune infiltration and decreases in mitochondrial function. Proteins show a greater extent of change and reveal changes in a wide array of biological processes including unique, organ-specific features of aging in kidney. Most importantly, we observed functionally important age-related changes in protein that occur in the absence of corresponding changes in mRNA. Our findings suggest that mRNA profiling alone provides an incomplete picture of molecular aging in the kidney and that examination of changes in proteins is essential to understand aging processes that are not transcriptionally regulated.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Joel M Chick
- Harvard Medical SchoolBostonUnited States
- VividionTherapeuticsSan DiegoUnited States
| | | | | | - Olivier Devuyst
- Institute of Physiology, University of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
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Forte E, Perkins B, Sintou A, Kalkat HS, Papanikolaou A, Jenkins C, Alsubaie M, Chowdhury RA, Duffy TM, Skelly DA, Branca J, Bellahcene M, Schneider MD, Harding SE, Furtado MB, Ng FS, Hasham MG, Rosenthal N, Sattler S. Cross-Priming Dendritic Cells Exacerbate Immunopathology After Ischemic Tissue Damage in the Heart. Circulation 2021; 143:821-836. [PMID: 33297741 PMCID: PMC7899721 DOI: 10.1161/circulationaha.120.044581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2020] [Accepted: 11/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Ischemic heart disease is a leading cause of heart failure and despite advanced therapeutic options, morbidity and mortality rates remain high. Although acute inflammation in response to myocardial cell death has been extensively studied, subsequent adaptive immune activity and anti-heart autoimmunity may also contribute to the development of heart failure. After ischemic injury to the myocardium, dendritic cells (DC) respond to cardiomyocyte necrosis, present cardiac antigen to T cells, and potentially initiate a persistent autoimmune response against the heart. Cross-priming DC have the ability to activate both CD4+ helper and CD8+ cytotoxic T cells in response to necrotic cells and may thus be crucial players in exacerbating autoimmunity targeting the heart. This study investigates a role for cross-priming DC in post-myocardial infarction immunopathology through presentation of self-antigen from necrotic cardiac cells to cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. METHODS We induced type 2 myocardial infarction-like ischemic injury in the heart by treatment with a single high dose of the β-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol. We characterized the DC population in the heart and mediastinal lymph nodes and analyzed long-term cardiac immunopathology and functional decline in wild type and Clec9a-depleted mice lacking DC cross-priming function. RESULTS A diverse DC population, including cross-priming DC, is present in the heart and activated after ischemic injury. Clec9a-/- mice deficient in DC cross-priming are protected from persistent immune-mediated myocardial damage and decline of cardiac function, likely because of dampened activation of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. CONCLUSION Activation of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells by cross-priming DC contributes to exacerbation of postischemic inflammatory damage of the myocardium and corresponding decline in cardiac function. Importantly, this provides novel therapeutic targets to prevent postischemic immunopathology and heart failure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elvira Forte
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME (E.F., B.P., T.M.D., D.A.S., J.B., M.B.F., M.G.H., N.R.)
| | - Bryant Perkins
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME (E.F., B.P., T.M.D., D.A.S., J.B., M.B.F., M.G.H., N.R.)
| | - Amalia Sintou
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, UK (A.S., H.S.K., A.P., C.J., M.A., R.A.C., M.B., M.D.S., S.E.H., F.S.N., N.R., S.S.)
| | - Harkaran S. Kalkat
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, UK (A.S., H.S.K., A.P., C.J., M.A., R.A.C., M.B., M.D.S., S.E.H., F.S.N., N.R., S.S.)
| | - Angelos Papanikolaou
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, UK (A.S., H.S.K., A.P., C.J., M.A., R.A.C., M.B., M.D.S., S.E.H., F.S.N., N.R., S.S.)
| | - Catherine Jenkins
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, UK (A.S., H.S.K., A.P., C.J., M.A., R.A.C., M.B., M.D.S., S.E.H., F.S.N., N.R., S.S.)
| | - Mashael Alsubaie
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, UK (A.S., H.S.K., A.P., C.J., M.A., R.A.C., M.B., M.D.S., S.E.H., F.S.N., N.R., S.S.)
| | - Rasheda A. Chowdhury
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, UK (A.S., H.S.K., A.P., C.J., M.A., R.A.C., M.B., M.D.S., S.E.H., F.S.N., N.R., S.S.)
| | - Theodore M. Duffy
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME (E.F., B.P., T.M.D., D.A.S., J.B., M.B.F., M.G.H., N.R.)
| | - Daniel A. Skelly
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME (E.F., B.P., T.M.D., D.A.S., J.B., M.B.F., M.G.H., N.R.)
| | - Jane Branca
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME (E.F., B.P., T.M.D., D.A.S., J.B., M.B.F., M.G.H., N.R.)
| | - Mohamed Bellahcene
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, UK (A.S., H.S.K., A.P., C.J., M.A., R.A.C., M.B., M.D.S., S.E.H., F.S.N., N.R., S.S.)
| | - Michael D. Schneider
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, UK (A.S., H.S.K., A.P., C.J., M.A., R.A.C., M.B., M.D.S., S.E.H., F.S.N., N.R., S.S.)
| | - Sian E. Harding
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, UK (A.S., H.S.K., A.P., C.J., M.A., R.A.C., M.B., M.D.S., S.E.H., F.S.N., N.R., S.S.)
| | - Milena B. Furtado
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME (E.F., B.P., T.M.D., D.A.S., J.B., M.B.F., M.G.H., N.R.)
- Amgen Biotechnology, Thousand Oaks, CA (M.B.F.)
| | - Fu Siong Ng
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, UK (A.S., H.S.K., A.P., C.J., M.A., R.A.C., M.B., M.D.S., S.E.H., F.S.N., N.R., S.S.)
| | - Muneer G. Hasham
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME (E.F., B.P., T.M.D., D.A.S., J.B., M.B.F., M.G.H., N.R.)
| | - Nadia Rosenthal
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME (E.F., B.P., T.M.D., D.A.S., J.B., M.B.F., M.G.H., N.R.)
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, UK (A.S., H.S.K., A.P., C.J., M.A., R.A.C., M.B., M.D.S., S.E.H., F.S.N., N.R., S.S.)
| | - Susanne Sattler
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, UK (A.S., H.S.K., A.P., C.J., M.A., R.A.C., M.B., M.D.S., S.E.H., F.S.N., N.R., S.S.)
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Yang HS, Onos KD, Choi K, Keezer KJ, Skelly DA, Carter GW, Howell GR. Natural genetic variation determines microglia heterogeneity in wild-derived mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. Cell Rep 2021; 34:108739. [PMID: 33567283 PMCID: PMC7937391 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.108739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2020] [Revised: 11/09/2020] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Genetic and genome-wide association studies suggest a central role for microglia in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of microglia in mice, a key preclinical model, has shown mixed results regarding translatability to human studies. To address this, scRNA-seq of microglia from C57BL/6J (B6) and wild-derived strains (WSB/EiJ, CAST/EiJ, and PWK/PhJ) with and without APP/PS1 demonstrates that genetic diversity significantly alters features and dynamics of microglia in baseline neuroimmune functions and in response to amyloidosis. Results show significant variation in the abundance of microglial subtypes or states, including numbers of previously identified disease-associated and interferon-responding microglia, across the strains. For each subtype, significant differences in the expression of many genes are observed in wild-derived strains relative to B6, including 19 genes previously associated with human AD including Apoe, Trem2, and Sorl1. This resource is critical in the development of appropriately targeted therapeutics for AD and other neurological diseases. Neuroinflammation is a key component of Alzheimer’s disease. Yang et al. perform single-cell sequencing of microglia in wild-derived mouse strains that carry amyloid and show that these strains differ from the commonly used strains, exhibiting significant variation in abundance of microglial subtypes, including numbers of disease-associated and interferon-responding microglia.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Gregory W Carter
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA; Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02111, USA; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
| | - Gareth R Howell
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA; Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02111, USA; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA.
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Choi K, Chen Y, Skelly DA, Churchill GA. Publisher Correction: Bayesian model selection reveals biological origins of zero inflation in single-cell transcriptomics. Genome Biol 2020; 21:270. [PMID: 33143736 PMCID: PMC7607620 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-020-02182-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Kwangbom Choi
- The Jackson Laboratory, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, ME, 04609, USA
| | - Yang Chen
- University of Michigan, 500 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Daniel A Skelly
- The Jackson Laboratory, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, ME, 04609, USA
| | - Gary A Churchill
- The Jackson Laboratory, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, ME, 04609, USA.
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11
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Ortmann D, Brown S, Czechanski A, Aydin S, Muraro D, Huang Y, Tomaz RA, Osnato A, Canu G, Wesley BT, Skelly DA, Stegle O, Choi T, Churchill GA, Baker CL, Rugg-Gunn PJ, Munger SC, Reinholdt LG, Vallier L. Naive Pluripotent Stem Cells Exhibit Phenotypic Variability that Is Driven by Genetic Variation. Cell Stem Cell 2020; 27:470-481.e6. [PMID: 32795399 PMCID: PMC7487768 DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2020.07.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2019] [Revised: 04/10/2020] [Accepted: 07/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Variability among pluripotent stem cell (PSC) lines is a prevailing issue that hampers not only experimental reproducibility but also large-scale applications and personalized cell-based therapy. This variability could result from epigenetic and genetic factors that influence stem cell behavior. Naive culture conditions minimize epigenetic fluctuation, potentially overcoming differences in PSC line differentiation potential. Here we derived PSCs from distinct mouse strains under naive conditions and show that lines from distinct genetic backgrounds have divergent differentiation capacity, confirming a major role for genetics in PSC phenotypic variability. This is explained in part through inconsistent activity of extra-cellular signaling, including the Wnt pathway, which is modulated by specific genetic variants. Overall, this study shows that genetic background plays a dominant role in driving phenotypic variability of PSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Ortmann
- Wellcome Trust and MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Surgery, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Stephanie Brown
- Wellcome Trust and MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Surgery, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | | | | | - Daniele Muraro
- Wellcome Trust and MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Surgery, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK
| | - Yuanhua Huang
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK
| | - Rute A Tomaz
- Wellcome Trust and MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Surgery, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Anna Osnato
- Wellcome Trust and MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Surgery, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Giovanni Canu
- Wellcome Trust and MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Surgery, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Brandon T Wesley
- Wellcome Trust and MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Surgery, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Oliver Stegle
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK; European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Genome Biology Unit, Heidelberg, Germany; Division of Computational Genomics and Systems Genetics, German Cancer Research, Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ted Choi
- Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, USA
| | | | | | - Peter J Rugg-Gunn
- Wellcome Trust and MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Epigenetics Programme, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK
| | | | | | - Ludovic Vallier
- Wellcome Trust and MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Surgery, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
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12
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McLellan MA, Skelly DA, Dona MSI, Squiers GT, Farrugia GE, Gaynor TL, Cohen CD, Pandey R, Diep H, Vinh A, Rosenthal NA, Pinto AR. High-Resolution Transcriptomic Profiling of the Heart During Chronic Stress Reveals Cellular Drivers of Cardiac Fibrosis and Hypertrophy. Circulation 2020; 142:1448-1463. [PMID: 32795101 PMCID: PMC7547893 DOI: 10.1161/circulationaha.119.045115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: Cardiac fibrosis is a key antecedent to many types of cardiac dysfunction including heart failure. Physiological factors leading to cardiac fibrosis have been recognized for decades. However, the specific cellular and molecular mediators that drive cardiac fibrosis, and the relative effect of disparate cell populations on cardiac fibrosis, remain unclear. Methods: We developed a novel cardiac single-cell transcriptomic strategy to characterize the cardiac cellulome, the network of cells that forms the heart. This method was used to profile the cardiac cellular ecosystem in response to 2 weeks of continuous administration of angiotensin II, a profibrotic stimulus that drives pathological cardiac remodeling. Results: Our analysis provides a comprehensive map of the cardiac cellular landscape uncovering multiple cell populations that contribute to pathological remodeling of the extracellular matrix of the heart. Two phenotypically distinct fibroblast populations, Fibroblast-Cilp and Fibroblast-Thbs4, emerged after induction of tissue stress to promote fibrosis in the absence of smooth muscle actin–expressing myofibroblasts, a key profibrotic cell population. After angiotensin II treatment, Fibroblast-Cilp develops as the most abundant fibroblast subpopulation and the predominant fibrogenic cell type. Mapping intercellular communication networks within the heart, we identified key intercellular trophic relationships and shifts in cellular communication after angiotensin II treatment that promote the development of a profibrotic cellular microenvironment. Furthermore, the cellular responses to angiotensin II and the relative abundance of fibrogenic cells were sexually dimorphic. Conclusions: These results offer a valuable resource for exploring the cardiac cellular landscape in health and after chronic cardiovascular stress. These data provide insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms that promote pathological remodeling of the mammalian heart, highlighting early transcriptional changes that precede chronic cardiac fibrosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Micheal A McLellan
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME (M.A.M., D.A.S., G.T.S., R.P., N.A.R.).,Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, MA (M.A.M.)
| | - Daniel A Skelly
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME (M.A.M., D.A.S., G.T.S., R.P., N.A.R.)
| | - Malathi S I Dona
- Baker Heart and Diabetes Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (M.S.I.D., G.E.F., T.L.G., C.D.C., A.R.P.)
| | - Galen T Squiers
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME (M.A.M., D.A.S., G.T.S., R.P., N.A.R.)
| | - Gabriella E Farrugia
- Baker Heart and Diabetes Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (M.S.I.D., G.E.F., T.L.G., C.D.C., A.R.P.)
| | - Taylah L Gaynor
- Baker Heart and Diabetes Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (M.S.I.D., G.E.F., T.L.G., C.D.C., A.R.P.)
| | - Charles D Cohen
- Baker Heart and Diabetes Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (M.S.I.D., G.E.F., T.L.G., C.D.C., A.R.P.)
| | - Raghav Pandey
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME (M.A.M., D.A.S., G.T.S., R.P., N.A.R.)
| | - Henry Diep
- Centre for Cardiovascular Biology and Disease Research, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (T.L.G, C.D.C., H.D., A.V., A.R.P.)
| | - Antony Vinh
- Centre for Cardiovascular Biology and Disease Research, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (T.L.G, C.D.C., H.D., A.V., A.R.P.)
| | - Nadia A Rosenthal
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME (M.A.M., D.A.S., G.T.S., R.P., N.A.R.)
| | - Alexander R Pinto
- Baker Heart and Diabetes Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (M.S.I.D., G.E.F., T.L.G., C.D.C., A.R.P.).,Centre for Cardiovascular Biology and Disease Research, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (T.L.G, C.D.C., H.D., A.V., A.R.P.)
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13
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Choi K, Chen Y, Skelly DA, Churchill GA. Bayesian model selection reveals biological origins of zero inflation in single-cell transcriptomics. Genome Biol 2020; 21:183. [PMID: 32718323 PMCID: PMC7384222 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-020-02103-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2020] [Accepted: 07/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Single-cell RNA sequencing is a powerful tool for characterizing cellular heterogeneity in gene expression. However, high variability and a large number of zero counts present challenges for analysis and interpretation. There is substantial controversy over the origins and proper treatment of zeros and no consensus on whether zero-inflated count distributions are necessary or even useful. While some studies assume the existence of zero inflation due to technical artifacts and attempt to impute the missing information, other recent studies argue that there is no zero inflation in scRNA-seq data. RESULTS We apply a Bayesian model selection approach to unambiguously demonstrate zero inflation in multiple biologically realistic scRNA-seq datasets. We show that the primary causes of zero inflation are not technical but rather biological in nature. We also demonstrate that parameter estimates from the zero-inflated negative binomial distribution are an unreliable indicator of zero inflation. CONCLUSIONS Despite the existence of zero inflation in scRNA-seq counts, we recommend the generalized linear model with negative binomial count distribution, not zero-inflated, as a suitable reference model for scRNA-seq analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kwangbom Choi
- The Jackson Laboratory, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, 04609, ME, USA
| | - Yang Chen
- University of Michigan, 500 South State Street, Ann Arbor, 48109, MI, USA
| | - Daniel A Skelly
- The Jackson Laboratory, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, 04609, ME, USA
| | - Gary A Churchill
- The Jackson Laboratory, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, 04609, ME, USA.
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14
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Hosur V, Skelly DA, Francis C, Low BE, Kohar V, Burzenski LM, Amiji MM, Shultz LD, Wiles MV. Improved mouse models and advanced genetic and genomic technologies for the study of neutrophils. Drug Discov Today 2020; 25:1013-1025. [PMID: 32387410 DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2020.03.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2020] [Revised: 03/16/2020] [Accepted: 03/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Mice have been excellent surrogates for studying neutrophil biology and, furthermore, murine models of human disease have provided fundamental insights into the roles of human neutrophils in innate immunity. The emergence of novel humanized mice and high-diversity mouse populations offers the research community innovative and powerful platforms for better understanding, respectively, the mechanisms by which human neutrophils drive pathogenicity, and how genetic differences underpin the variation in neutrophil biology observed among humans. Here, we review key examples of these new resources. Additionally, we provide an overview of advanced genetic engineering tools available to further improve such murine model systems, of sophisticated neutrophil-profiling technologies, and of multifunctional nanoparticle (NP)-based neutrophil-targeting strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vishnu Hosur
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, ME 04609 USA.
| | - Daniel A Skelly
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, ME 04609 USA
| | - Christopher Francis
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 USA
| | - Benjamin E Low
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, ME 04609 USA
| | - Vivek Kohar
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, ME 04609 USA
| | - Lisa M Burzenski
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, ME 04609 USA
| | - Mansoor M Amiji
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 USA
| | - Leonard D Shultz
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, ME 04609 USA
| | - Michael V Wiles
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, ME 04609 USA
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15
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Forte E, Skelly DA, Chen M, Daigle S, Morelli KA, Hon O, Philip VM, Costa MW, Rosenthal NA, Furtado MB. Dynamic Interstitial Cell Response during Myocardial Infarction Predicts Resilience to Rupture in Genetically Diverse Mice. Cell Rep 2020; 30:3149-3163.e6. [PMID: 32130914 PMCID: PMC7059115 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2019] [Revised: 12/08/2019] [Accepted: 02/03/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Cardiac ischemia leads to the loss of myocardial tissue and the activation of a repair process that culminates in the formation of a scar whose structural characteristics dictate propensity to favorable healing or detrimental cardiac wall rupture. To elucidate the cellular processes underlying scar formation, here we perform unbiased single-cell mRNA sequencing of interstitial cells isolated from infarcted mouse hearts carrying a genetic tracer that labels epicardial-derived cells. Sixteen interstitial cell clusters are revealed, five of which were of epicardial origin. Focusing on stromal cells, we define 11 sub-clusters, including diverse cell states of epicardial- and endocardial-derived fibroblasts. Comparing transcript profiles from post-infarction hearts in C57BL/6J and 129S1/SvImJ inbred mice, which displays a marked divergence in the frequency of cardiac rupture, uncovers an early increase in activated myofibroblasts, enhanced collagen deposition, and persistent acute phase response in 129S1/SvImJ mouse hearts, defining a crucial time window of pathological remodeling that predicts disease outcome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elvira Forte
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA.
| | | | - Mandy Chen
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA
| | | | | | - Olivia Hon
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA
| | | | | | - Nadia A Rosenthal
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA; National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London SW72BX, UK
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16
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Bogue MA, Grubb SC, Walton DO, Philip VM, Kolishovski G, Stearns T, Dunn MH, Skelly DA, Kadakkuzha B, TeHennepe G, Kunde-Ramamoorthy G, Chesler EJ. Mouse Phenome Database: an integrative database and analysis suite for curated empirical phenotype data from laboratory mice. Nucleic Acids Res 2019; 46:D843-D850. [PMID: 29136208 PMCID: PMC5753241 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkx1082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2017] [Accepted: 10/19/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The Mouse Phenome Database (MPD; https://phenome.jax.org) is a widely used resource that provides access to primary experimental trait data, genotypic variation, protocols and analysis tools for mouse genetic studies. Data are contributed by investigators worldwide and represent a broad scope of phenotyping endpoints and disease-related traits in naïve mice and those exposed to drugs, environmental agents or other treatments. MPD houses individual animal data with detailed, searchable protocols, and makes these data available to other resources via API. MPD provides rigorous curation of experimental data and supporting documentation using relevant ontologies and controlled vocabularies. Most data in MPD are from inbreds and other reproducible strains such that the data are cumulative over time and across laboratories. The resource has been expanded to include the QTL Archive and other primary phenotype data from mapping crosses as well as advanced high-diversity mouse populations including the Collaborative Cross and Diversity Outbred mice. Furthermore, MPD provides a means of assessing replicability and reproducibility across experimental conditions and protocols, benchmarking assays in users’ own laboratories, identifying sensitized backgrounds for making new mouse models with genome editing technologies, analyzing trait co-inheritance, finding the common genetic basis for multiple traits and assessing sex differences and sex-by-genotype interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Molly A Bogue
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Tim Stearns
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, USA
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17
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Skelly DA, Squiers GT, McLellan MA, Bolisetty MT, Robson P, Rosenthal NA, Pinto AR. Single-Cell Transcriptional Profiling Reveals Cellular Diversity and Intercommunication in the Mouse Heart. Cell Rep 2019; 22:600-610. [PMID: 29346760 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.12.072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 329] [Impact Index Per Article: 65.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2017] [Revised: 11/22/2017] [Accepted: 12/20/2017] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Characterization of the cardiac cellulome, the network of cells that form the heart, is essential for understanding cardiac development and normal organ function and for formulating precise therapeutic strategies to combat heart disease. Recent studies have reshaped our understanding of cardiac cellular composition and highlighted important functional roles for non-myocyte cell types. In this study, we characterized single-cell transcriptional profiles of the murine non-myocyte cardiac cellular landscape using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). Detailed molecular analyses revealed the diversity of the cardiac cellulome and facilitated the development of techniques to isolate understudied cardiac cell populations, such as mural cells and glia. Our analyses also revealed extensive networks of intercellular communication and suggested prevalent sexual dimorphism in gene expression in the heart. This study offers insights into the structure and function of the mammalian cardiac cellulome and provides an important resource that will stimulate studies in cardiac cell biology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Micheal A McLellan
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, USA; Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Paul Robson
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, USA; The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA; Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, University of Connecticut, Farmington, CT, USA
| | - Nadia A Rosenthal
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, USA; Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA; The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA; Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
| | - Alexander R Pinto
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, USA; Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
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18
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Skelly DA, Raghupathy N, Robledo RF, Graber JH, Chesler EJ. Reference Trait Analysis Reveals Correlations Between Gene Expression and Quantitative Traits in Disjoint Samples. Genetics 2019; 212:919-929. [PMID: 31113812 PMCID: PMC6614885 DOI: 10.1534/genetics.118.301865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2018] [Accepted: 05/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Systems genetic analysis of complex traits involves the integrated analysis of genetic, genomic, and disease-related measures. However, these data are often collected separately across multiple study populations, rendering direct correlation of molecular features to complex traits impossible. Recent transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) have harnessed gene expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) to associate unmeasured gene expression with a complex trait in genotyped individuals, but this approach relies primarily on strong eQTL. We propose a simple and powerful alternative strategy for correlating independently obtained sets of complex traits and molecular features. In contrast to TWAS, our approach gains precision by correlating complex traits through a common set of continuous phenotypes instead of genetic predictors, and can identify transcript-trait correlations for which the regulation is not genetic. In our approach, a set of multiple quantitative "reference" traits is measured across all individuals, while measures of the complex trait of interest and transcriptional profiles are obtained in disjoint subsamples. A conventional multivariate statistical method, canonical correlation analysis, is used to relate the reference traits and traits of interest to identify gene expression correlates. We evaluate power and sample size requirements of this methodology, as well as performance relative to other methods, via extensive simulation and analysis of a behavioral genetics experiment in 258 Diversity Outbred mice involving two independent sets of anxiety-related behaviors and hippocampal gene expression. After splitting the data set and hiding one set of anxiety-related traits in half the samples, we identified transcripts correlated with the hidden traits using the other set of anxiety-related traits and exploiting the highest canonical correlation (R = 0.69) between the trait data sets. We demonstrate that this approach outperforms TWAS in identifying associated transcripts. Together, these results demonstrate the validity, reliability, and power of reference trait analysis for identifying relations between complex traits and their molecular substrates.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Joel H Graber
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609
- MDI Biological Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609
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19
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Skelly DA, Magwene PM, Meeks B, Murphy HA. Known mutator alleles do not markedly increase mutation rate in clinical Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. Proc Biol Sci 2017; 284:rspb.2016.2672. [PMID: 28404772 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2016] [Accepted: 03/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Natural selection has the potential to act on all phenotypes, including genomic mutation rate. Classic evolutionary theory predicts that in asexual populations, mutator alleles, which cause high mutation rates, can fix due to linkage with beneficial mutations. This phenomenon has been demonstrated experimentally and may explain the frequency of mutators found in bacterial pathogens. By contrast, in sexual populations, recombination decouples mutator alleles from beneficial mutations, preventing mutator fixation. In the facultatively sexual yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, segregating alleles of MLH1 and PMS1 have been shown to be incompatible, causing a high mutation rate when combined. These alleles had never been found together naturally, but were recently discovered in a cluster of clinical isolates. Here we report that the incompatible mutator allele combination only marginally elevates mutation rate in these clinical strains. Genomic and phylogenetic analyses provide no evidence of a historically elevated mutation rate. We conclude that the effect of the mutator alleles is dampened by background genetic modifiers. Thus, the relationship between mutation rate and microbial pathogenicity may be more complex than once thought. Our findings provide rare observational evidence that supports evolutionary theory suggesting that sexual organisms are unlikely to harbour alleles that increase their genomic mutation rate.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Brianna Meeks
- Department of Biology, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, USA
| | - Helen A Murphy
- Department of Biology, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, USA
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20
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Abstract
Advances in high-throughput sequencing have facilitated large-scale surveys of genomic variation in the budding yeast,Saccharomyces cerevisiae These surveys have revealed extensive sequence variation between yeast strains. However, much less is known about how such variation influences the amount and nature of variation for functional genomic traits within and between yeast lineages. We review population-level studies of functional genomic variation, with a particular focus on how population functional genomic approaches can provide insights into both genome function and the evolutionary process. Although variation in functional genomics phenotypes is pervasive, our understanding of the consequences of this variation, either in physiological or evolutionary terms, is still rudimentary and thus motivates increased attention to appropriate null models. To date, much of the focus of population functional genomic studies has been on gene expression variation, but other functional genomic data types are just as likely to reveal important insights at the population level, suggesting a pressing need for more studies that go beyond transcription. Finally, we discuss how a population functional genomic perspective can be a powerful approach for developing a mechanistic understanding of the processes that link genomic variation to organismal phenotypes through gene networks.
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21
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Strope PK, Kozmin SG, Skelly DA, Magwene PM, Dietrich FS, McCusker JH. 2μ plasmid in Saccharomyces species and in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. FEMS Yeast Res 2015; 15:fov090. [PMID: 26463005 DOI: 10.1093/femsyr/fov090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/01/2015] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
We determined that extrachromosomal 2μ plasmid was present in 67 of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae 100-genome strains; in addition to variation in the size and copy number of 2μ, we identified three distinct classes of 2μ. We identified 2μ presence/absence and class associations with populations, clinical origin and nuclear genotypes. We also screened genome sequences of S. paradoxus, S. kudriavzevii, S. uvarum, S. eubayanus, S. mikatae, S. arboricolus and S. bayanus strains for both integrated and extrachromosomal 2μ. Similar to S. cerevisiae, we found no integrated 2μ sequences in any S. paradoxus strains. However, we identified part of 2μ integrated into the genomes of some S. uvarum, S. kudriavzevii, S. mikatae and S. bayanus strains, which were distinct from each other and from all extrachromosomal 2μ. We identified extrachromosomal 2μ in one S. paradoxus, one S. eubayanus, two S. bayanus and 13 S. uvarum strains. The extrachromosomal 2μ in S. paradoxus, S. eubayanus and S. cerevisiae were distinct from each other. In contrast, the extrachromosomal 2μ in S. bayanus and S. uvarum strains were identical with each other and with one of the three classes of S. cerevisiae 2μ, consistent with interspecific transfer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pooja K Strope
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Stanislav G Kozmin
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Daniel A Skelly
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Paul M Magwene
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Fred S Dietrich
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - John H McCusker
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
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22
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Strope PK, Skelly DA, Kozmin SG, Mahadevan G, Stone EA, Magwene PM, Dietrich FS, McCusker JH. The 100-genomes strains, an S. cerevisiae resource that illuminates its natural phenotypic and genotypic variation and emergence as an opportunistic pathogen. Genome Res 2015; 25:762-74. [PMID: 25840857 PMCID: PMC4417123 DOI: 10.1101/gr.185538.114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 245] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2014] [Accepted: 02/18/2015] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a well-established model for species as diverse as humans and pathogenic fungi, is more recently a model for population and quantitative genetics. S. cerevisiae is found in multiple environments—one of which is the human body—as an opportunistic pathogen. To aid in the understanding of the S. cerevisiae population and quantitative genetics, as well as its emergence as an opportunistic pathogen, we sequenced, de novo assembled, and extensively manually edited and annotated the genomes of 93 S. cerevisiae strains from multiple geographic and environmental origins, including many clinical origin strains. These 93 S. cerevisiae strains, the genomes of which are near-reference quality, together with seven previously sequenced strains, constitute a novel genetic resource, the “100-genomes” strains. Our sequencing coverage, high-quality assemblies, and annotation provide unprecedented opportunities for detailed interrogation of complex genomic loci, examples of which we demonstrate. We found most phenotypic variation to be quantitative and identified population, genotype, and phenotype associations. Importantly, we identified clinical origin associations. For example, we found that an introgressed PDR5 was present exclusively in clinical origin mosaic group strains; that the mosaic group was significantly enriched for clinical origin strains; and that clinical origin strains were much more copper resistant, suggesting that copper resistance contributes to fitness in the human host. The 100-genomes strains are a novel, multipurpose resource to advance the study of S. cerevisiae population genetics, quantitative genetics, and the emergence of an opportunistic pathogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pooja K Strope
- Duke University Medical Center, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA
| | - Daniel A Skelly
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA
| | - Stanislav G Kozmin
- Duke University Medical Center, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA
| | - Gayathri Mahadevan
- Duke University Medical Center, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA
| | - Eric A Stone
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA
| | - Paul M Magwene
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA
| | - Fred S Dietrich
- Duke University Medical Center, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA
| | - John H McCusker
- Duke University Medical Center, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA
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Skelly DA, Merrihew GE, Riffle M, Connelly CF, Kerr EO, Johansson M, Jaschob D, Graczyk B, Shulman NJ, Wakefield J, Cooper SJ, Fields S, Noble WS, Muller EGD, Davis TN, Dunham MJ, Maccoss MJ, Akey JM. Integrative phenomics reveals insight into the structure of phenotypic diversity in budding yeast. Genome Res 2013; 23:1496-504. [PMID: 23720455 PMCID: PMC3759725 DOI: 10.1101/gr.155762.113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 109] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
To better understand the quantitative characteristics and structure of phenotypic diversity, we measured over 14,000 transcript, protein, metabolite, and morphological traits in 22 genetically diverse strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. More than 50% of all measured traits varied significantly across strains [false discovery rate (FDR) = 5%]. The structure of phenotypic correlations is complex, with 85% of all traits significantly correlated with at least one other phenotype (median = 6, maximum = 328). We show how high-dimensional molecular phenomics data sets can be leveraged to accurately predict phenotypic variation between strains, often with greater precision than afforded by DNA sequence information alone. These results provide new insights into the spectrum and structure of phenotypic diversity and the characteristics influencing the ability to accurately predict phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel A Skelly
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
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Connelly CF, Skelly DA, Dunham MJ, Akey JM. Population genomics and transcriptional consequences of regulatory motif variation in globally diverse Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. Mol Biol Evol 2013; 30:1605-13. [PMID: 23619145 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/mst073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Noncoding genetic variation is known to significantly influence gene expression levels in a growing number of specific cases; however, the patterns of genome-wide noncoding variation present within populations, the evolutionary forces acting on noncoding variants, and the relative effects of regulatory polymorphisms on transcript abundance are not well characterized. Here, we address these questions by analyzing patterns of regulatory variation in motifs for 177 DNA binding proteins in 37 strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Between S. cerevisiae strains, we found considerable polymorphism in regulatory motifs across strains (mean π = 0.005) as well as diversity in regulatory motifs (mean 0.91 motifs differences per regulatory region). Population genetics analyses reveal that motifs are under purifying selection, and there is considerable heterogeneity in the magnitude of selection across different motifs. Finally, we obtained RNA-Seq data in 22 strains and identified 49 polymorphic DNA sequence motifs in 30 distinct genes that are significantly associated with transcriptional differences between strains. In 22 of these genes, there was a single polymorphic motif associated with expression in the upstream region. Our results provide comprehensive insights into the evolutionary trajectory of regulatory variation in yeast and the characteristics of a compendium of regulatory alleles.
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25
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Skelly DA, Johansson M, Madeoy J, Wakefield J, Akey JM. A powerful and flexible statistical framework for testing hypotheses of allele-specific gene expression from RNA-seq data. Genome Res 2011; 21:1728-37. [PMID: 21873452 PMCID: PMC3202289 DOI: 10.1101/gr.119784.110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 155] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2010] [Accepted: 07/12/2011] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Variation in gene expression is thought to make a significant contribution to phenotypic diversity among individuals within populations. Although high-throughput cDNA sequencing offers a unique opportunity to delineate the genome-wide architecture of regulatory variation, new statistical methods need to be developed to capitalize on the wealth of information contained in RNA-seq data sets. To this end, we developed a powerful and flexible hierarchical Bayesian model that combines information across loci to allow both global and locus-specific inferences about allele-specific expression (ASE). We applied our methodology to a large RNA-seq data set obtained in a diploid hybrid of two diverse Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains, as well as to RNA-seq data from an individual human genome. Our statistical framework accurately quantifies levels of ASE with specified false-discovery rates, achieving high reproducibility between independent sequencing platforms. We pinpoint loci that show unusual and biologically interesting patterns of ASE, including allele-specific alternative splicing and transcription termination sites. Our methodology provides a rigorous, quantitative, and high-resolution tool for profiling ASE across whole genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel A. Skelly
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
| | - Marnie Johansson
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
| | - Jennifer Madeoy
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
| | - Jon Wakefield
- Department of Biostatistics and Department of Statistics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
| | - Joshua M. Akey
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
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Skelly DA, Ronald J, Connelly CF, Akey JM. Population genomics of intron splicing in 38 Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome sequences. Genome Biol Evol 2009; 1:466-78. [PMID: 20333215 PMCID: PMC2839277 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evp046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/06/2009] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Introns are a ubiquitous feature of eukaryotic genomes, and the dynamics of intron evolution between species has been extensively studied. However, comparatively few analyses have focused on the evolutionary forces shaping patterns of intron variation within species. To better understand the population genetic characteristics of introns, we performed an extensive population genetics analysis on key intron splice sequences obtained from 38 strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. As expected, we found that purifying selection is the dominant force governing intron splice sequence evolution in yeast, formally confirming that intron-containing alleles are a mutational liability. In addition, through extensive coalescent simulations, we obtain quantitative estimates of the strength of purifying selection (2Nes ≈ 19) and use diffusion approximations to provide insights into the evolutionary dynamics and sojourn times of newly arising splice sequence mutations in natural yeast populations. In contrast to previous functional studies, evolutionary analyses comparing the prevalence of introns in essential and nonessential genes suggest that introns in nonribosomal protein genes are functionally important and tend to be actively maintained in natural populations of S. cerevisiae. Finally, we demonstrate that heritable variation in splicing efficiency is common in intron-containing genes with splice sequence polymorphisms. More generally, our study highlights the advantages of population genomics analyses for exploring the forces that have generated extant patterns of genome variation and for illuminating basic biological processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel A Skelly
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, USA
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Abstract
Variation in gene expression constitutes an important source of biological variability within and between populations that is likely to contribute significantly to phenotypic diversity. Recent conceptual, technical, and methodological advances have enabled the genome-scale dissection of transcriptional variation. Here, we outline common approaches for detecting gene expression quantitative trait loci, and summarize the insights gleaned from these studies regarding the genetic architecture of transcriptional variation and the nature of regulatory alleles. Particular emphasis is placed on human studies, and we discuss experimental designs that ensure that increasingly large and complex studies continue to advance our understanding of gene expression variation. We conclude by discussing the evolution of gene expression levels, and we explore prospects for leveraging new technological developments to investigate inherited variation in gene expression in even greater depth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel A Skelly
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195, USA.
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