scholarly journals Resolving systematic errors in widely-used enhancer activity assays in human cells enables genome-wide functional enhancer characterization

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Muerdter ◽  
Łukasz M. Boryń ◽  
Ashley R. Woodfin ◽  
Christoph Neumayr ◽  
Martina Rath ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Core Promoter ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
Type I ◽  
Enhancer Activity ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Bacterial Plasmid ◽  
Reporter Assays ◽  
Hela S3 ◽  
Plasmid Transfection

AbstractThe identification of transcriptional enhancers in the human genome is a prime goal in biology. Enhancers are typically predicted via chromatin marks, yet their function is primarily assessed with plasmid-based reporter assays. Here, we show that two previous observations relating to plasmid-transfection into human cells render such assays unreliable: (1) the function of the bacterial plasmid origin-of-replication (ORI) as a conflicting core-promoter and (2) the activation of a type I interferon (IFN-I) response. These problems cause strongly confounding false-positives and -negatives in luciferase assays and genome-wide STARR-seq screens. We overcome both problems by directly employing the ORI as a core-promoter and by inhibiting two kinases central to IFN-I induction. This corrects luciferase assays and enables genome-wide STARR-seq screens in human cells. Comprehensive enhancer activity profiles in HeLa-S3 cells uncover strong enhancers, IFN-I-induced enhancers, and enhancers endogenously silenced at the chromatin level. Our findings apply to all episomal enhancer activity assays in mammalian cells, and are key to the characterization of human enhancers.

scholarly journals The Antisense Transcriptomes of Human Cells

Science ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 322 (5909) ◽  
pp. 1855-1857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiping He ◽  
Bert Vogelstein ◽  
Victor E. Velculescu ◽  
Nickolas Papadopoulos ◽  
Kenneth W. Kinzler
Keyword(s):  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
Antisense Transcripts ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Human Genes ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Dna Strand ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Rna Transcript

Transcription in mammalian cells can be assessed at a genome-wide level, but it has been difficult to reliably determine whether individual transcripts are derived from the plus or minus strands of chromosomes. This distinction can be critical for understanding the relationship between known transcripts (sense) and the complementary antisense transcripts that may regulate them. Here, we describe a technique that can be used to (i) identify the DNA strand of origin for any particular RNA transcript, and (ii) quantify the number of sense and antisense transcripts from expressed genes at a global level. We examined five different human cell types and in each case found evidence for antisense transcripts in 2900 to 6400 human genes. The distribution of antisense transcripts was distinct from that of sense transcripts, was nonrandom across the genome, and differed among cell types. Antisense transcripts thus appear to be a pervasive feature of human cells, which suggests that they are a fundamental component of gene regulation.

Strain-specific disruption of interferon-stimulated N-myc and STAT interactor (NMI) function by Toxoplasma gondii type I ROP18 in human cells

Parasitology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 147 (13) ◽  
pp. 1433-1442
Author(s):  
Jing Xia ◽  
Matthew L. Blank ◽  
Li-Juan Zhou ◽  
Shui-Zhen Wu ◽  
Hong-Juan Peng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Toxoplasma Gondii ◽  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Gene Promoter ◽  
Kinase Domain ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
Type I ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
New Host ◽  
Allele Specific ◽  
Ifn Γ

AbstractToxoplasma gondii rhoptry protein TgROP18 is a polymorphic virulence effector that targets immunity-related GTPases (IRGs) in rodents. Given that IRGs are uniquely diversified in rodents and not in other T. gondii intermediate hosts, the role of TgROP18 in manipulating non-rodent cells is unclear. Here we show that in human cells TgROP18I interacts with the interferon-gamma-inducible protein N-myc and STAT interactor (NMI) and that this is a property that is unique to the type I TgROP18 allele. Specifically, when expressed ectopically in mammalian cells only TgROP18I co-immunoprecipitates with NMI in IFN-γ-treated cells, while TgROP18II does not. In parasites expressing TgROP18I or TgROP18II, NMI only co-immunoprecipitates with TgROP18I and this is associated with allele-specific immunolocalization of NMI on the parasitophorous vacuolar membrane (PVM). We also found that TgROP18I reduces NMI association with IFN-γ-activated sequences (GAS) in the IRF1 gene promoter. Finally, we determined that polymorphisms in the C-terminal kinase domain of TgROP18I are required for allele-specific effects on NMI. Together, these data further define new host pathway targeted by TgROP18I and provide the first function driven by allelic differences in the highly polymorphic ROP18 locus.

scholarly journals Multiplex base editing to convert TAG into TAA codons in the human genome

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuting Chen ◽  
Eriona Hysolli ◽  
Anlu Chen ◽  
Stephen Casper ◽  
Songlei Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Human Genome ◽  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Essential Gene ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
Viral Resistance ◽  
Computational Tool ◽  
Base Editing ◽  
Genome Wide

Large-scale recoding has been shown to enable novel amino acids, biocontainment and viral resistance in bacteria only so far. Here we extend this to human cells demonstrating exceptional base editing to convert TAG to TAA for 33 essential genes via a single transfection, and examine base-editing genome-wide (observing ~ 40 C-to-T off-target events in essential gene exons). We also introduce GRIT, a computational tool for recoding. This demonstrates the feasibility of recoding, and multiplex editing in mammalian cells.

scholarly journals Transcription imparts architecture, function, and logic to enhancer units

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathaniel D Tippens ◽  
Jin Liang ◽  
King Y Leung ◽  
Abdullah Ozer ◽  
James G Booth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Core Promoter ◽  
Regulatory Elements ◽  
Maximum Activity ◽  
Enhancer Activity ◽  
Transcription Start Sites ◽  
Promoter Sequences ◽  
Cumulative Activity ◽  
Active Enhancer ◽  
Reporter Assays ◽  
Winner Takes All

AbstractDistal enhancers remain one of the least understood regulatory elements with pivotal roles in development and disease. We used massively parallel reporter assays to perform functional comparisons of two leading enhancer models and find that gene-distal transcription start sites (TSSs) are robust predictors of enhancer activity with higher resolution and specificity than histone modifications. We show that active enhancer units are precisely delineated by active TSSs, validate that these boundaries are sufficient to capture enhancer function, and confirm that core promoter sequences are required for this activity. Finally, we assay pairs of adjacent units and find that their cumulative activity is best predicted by the strongest unit within the pair. Synthetic fusions of enhancer units demonstrate that adjacency imposes winner-takes-all logic, revealing a simple design for a maximum-activity filter of enhancer unit outputs. Together, our results define fundamental enhancer units and a principle of non-cooperativity between adjacent units.

scholarly journals Triad of human cellular proteins, IRF2, FAM111A, and RFC3, restrict replication of orthopoxvirus SPI-1 host-range mutants

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (14) ◽  
pp. 3720-3725 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debasis Panda ◽  
Daniel J. Fernandez ◽  
Madhu Lal ◽  
Eugen Buehler ◽  
Bernard Moss
Keyword(s):  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Biological Significance ◽  
Interaction Network ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
Nuclear Antigen ◽  
Genome Replication ◽  
Host Restriction ◽  
Host Restriction Factor ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Efficient Replication

Viruses and their hosts can reach balanced states of evolution ensuring mutual survival, which makes it difficult to appreciate the underlying dynamics. To uncover hidden interactions, virus mutants that have lost defense genes may be used. Deletion of the gene that encodes serine protease inhibitor 1 (SPI-1) of rabbitpox virus and vaccinia virus, two closely related orthopoxviruses, prevents their efficient replication in human cells, whereas certain other mammalian cells remain fully permissive. Our high-throughput genome-wide siRNA screen identified host factors that prevent reproduction and spread of the mutant viruses in human cells. More than 20,000 genes were interrogated with individual siRNAs and those that prominently increased replication of the SPI-1 deletion mutant were subjected to a secondary screen. The top hits based on the combined data—replication factor C3 (RFC3), FAM111A, and interferon regulatory factor 2 (IRF2)—were confirmed by custom assays. The siRNAs to RFC1, RFC2, RFC4, and RFC5 mRNAs also enhanced spread of the mutant virus, strengthening the biological significance of the RFC complex as a host restriction factor for poxviruses. Whereas association with proliferating cell nuclear antigen and participation in processive genome replication are common features of FAM111A and RFC, IRF2 is a transcriptional regulator. Microarray analysis, quantitative RT-PCR, and immunoblotting revealed that IRF2 regulated the basal level expression of FAM111A, suggesting that the enhancing effect of depleting IRF2 on replication of the SPI-1 mutant was indirect. Thus, the viral SPI-1 protein and the host IRF2, FAM111A, and RFC complex likely form an interaction network that influences the ability of poxviruses to replicate in human cells.

scholarly journals EXO1 Plays a Role in Generating Type I and Type II Survivors in Budding Yeast

Genetics ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 166 (4) ◽  
pp. 1641-1649
Author(s):  
Laura Maringele ◽  
David Lydall
Keyword(s):  
Homologous Recombination ◽  
Budding Yeast ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
Telomere Maintenance ◽  
Recombination Process ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Type I ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Recombination Proteins

Abstract Telomerase-defective budding yeast cells escape senescence by using homologous recombination to amplify telomeric or subtelomeric structures. Similarly, human cells that enter senescence can use homologous recombination for telomere maintenance, when telomerase cannot be activated. Although recombination proteins required to generate telomerase-independent survivors have been intensively studied, little is known about the nucleases that generate the substrates for recombination. Here we demonstrate that the Exo1 exonuclease is an initiator of the recombination process that allows cells to escape senescence and become immortal in the absence of telomerase. We show that EXO1 is important for generating type I survivors in yku70Δ mre11Δ cells and type II survivors in tlc1Δ cells. Moreover, in tlc1Δ cells, EXO1 seems to contribute to the senescence process itself.

scholarly journals Genome-wide identification and expression pattern analysis of lipoxygenase gene family in banana

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Liu ◽  
Hua Li ◽  
Junwei Wu ◽  
Bin Wang ◽  
Na Tian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Low Temperature ◽  
Pcr Analysis ◽  
Type I ◽  
Segmental Duplications ◽  
Expression Levels ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Encoded Proteins ◽  
Gene Structures ◽  
Lipoxygenase Gene Family

AbstractThe LOX genes have been identified and characterized in many plant species, but studies on the banana LOX genes are very limited. In this study, we respectively identified 18 MaLOX, 11 MbLOX, and 12 MiLOX genes from the Musa acuminata, M. balbisiana and M. itinerans genome data, investigated their gene structures and characterized the physicochemical properties of their encoded proteins. Banana LOXs showed a preference for using and ending with G/C and their encoded proteins can be classified into 9-LOX, Type I 13-LOX and Type II 13-LOX subfamilies. The expansion of the MaLOXs might result from the combined actions of genome-wide, tandem, and segmental duplications. However, tandem and segmental duplications contribute to the expansion of MbLOXs. Transcriptome data based gene expression analysis showed that MaLOX1, 4, and 7 were highly expressed in fruit and their expression levels were significantly regulated by ethylene. And 11, 12 and 7 MaLOXs were found to be low temperature-, high temperature-, and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Cubense tropical race 4 (FocTR4)-responsive, respectively. MaLOX8, 9 and 13 are responsive to all the three stresses, MaLOX4 and MaLOX12 are high temperature- and FocTR4-responsive; MaLOX6 and MaLOX17 are significantly induced by low temperature and FocTR4; and the expression of MaLOX7 and MaLOX16 are only affected by high temperature. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed that the expression levels of several MaLOXs are regulated by MeJA and FocTR4, indicating that they can increase the resistance of banana by regulating the JA pathway. Additionally, the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) of MaLOXs revealed 3 models respectively for 5 (MaLOX7-11), 3 (MaLOX6, 13, and 17), and 1 (MaLOX12) MaLOX genes. Our findings can provide valuable information for the characterization, evolution, diversity and functionality of MaLOX, MbLOX and MiLOX genes and are helpful for understanding the roles of LOXs in banana growth and development and adaptations to different stresses.

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