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Aurigemma I, Lanzetta O, Cirino A, Allegretti S, Lania G, Ferrentino R, Poondi Krishnan V, Angelini C, Illingworth E, Baldini A. Endothelial gene regulatory elements associated with cardiopharyngeal lineage differentiation. Commun Biol 2024; 7:351. [PMID: 38514806 PMCID: PMC10957928 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06017-8] [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] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Endothelial cells (EC) differentiate from multiple sources, including the cardiopharyngeal mesoderm, which gives rise also to cardiac and branchiomeric muscles. The enhancers activated during endothelial differentiation within the cardiopharyngeal mesoderm are not completely known. Here, we use a cardiogenic mesoderm differentiation model that activates an endothelial transcription program to identify endothelial regulatory elements activated in early cardiogenic mesoderm. Integrating chromatin remodeling and gene expression data with available single-cell RNA-seq data from mouse embryos, we identify 101 putative regulatory elements of EC genes. We then apply a machine-learning strategy, trained on validated enhancers, to predict enhancers. Using this computational assay, we determine that 50% of these sequences are likely enhancers, some of which are already reported. We also identify a smaller set of regulatory elements of well-known EC genes and validate them using genetic and epigenetic perturbation. Finally, we integrate multiple data sources and computational tools to search for transcriptional factor binding motifs. In conclusion, we show EC regulatory sequences with a high likelihood to be enhancers, and we validate a subset of them using computational and cell culture models. Motif analyses show that the core EC transcription factors GATA/ETS/FOS is a likely driver of EC regulation in cardiopharyngeal mesoderm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilaria Aurigemma
- PhD program in Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, University Federico II, Via Sergio Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy
- Department of Chemistry and Biology, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Italy
| | - Olga Lanzetta
- Institute of Genetics and Biophysics, National Research Council, Via Pietro Castellino 111, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Andrea Cirino
- Institute of Genetics and Biophysics, National Research Council, Via Pietro Castellino 111, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Sara Allegretti
- PhD program in Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, University Federico II, Via Sergio Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Gabriella Lania
- Institute of Genetics and Biophysics, National Research Council, Via Pietro Castellino 111, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Rosa Ferrentino
- Institute of Genetics and Biophysics, National Research Council, Via Pietro Castellino 111, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Varsha Poondi Krishnan
- Institute of Genetics and Biophysics, National Research Council, Via Pietro Castellino 111, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Claudia Angelini
- Istituto Applicazioni del Calcolo, National Research Council, Via Pietro Castellino 111, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Elizabeth Illingworth
- Department of Chemistry and Biology, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Italy
| | - Antonio Baldini
- PhD program in Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, University Federico II, Via Sergio Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy.
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, University Federico II, Via Sergio Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy.
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