scholarly journals Cohesin disrupts polycomb-dependent chromosome interactions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
JDP Rhodes ◽  
A Feldmann ◽  
B Hernández-Rodríguez ◽  
N Díaz ◽  
JM Brown ◽  
...  

AbstractHow chromosome organisation is related to genome function remains poorly understood. Cohesin, loop-extrusion, and CTCF have been proposed to create structures called topologically associating domains (TADs) to regulate gene expression. Here, we examine chromosome conformation in embryonic stem cells lacking cohesin and find as in other cell types that cohesin is required to create TADs and regulate A/B compartmentalisation. However, in the absence of cohesin we identify a series of long-range chromosomal interactions that persist. These correspond to regions of the genome occupied by the polycomb repressive system, depend on PRC1, and we discover that cohesin counteracts these interactions. This disruptive activity is independent of CTCF and TADs, and regulates gene repression by the polycomb system. Therefore, in contrast to the proposal that cohesin creates structure in chromosomes, we discover a new role for cohesin in disrupting polycomb-dependent chromosome interactions to regulate gene expression.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (23) ◽  
pp. 9052
Author(s):  
Indrek Teino ◽  
Antti Matvere ◽  
Martin Pook ◽  
Inge Varik ◽  
Laura Pajusaar ◽  
...  

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor, which mediates the effects of a variety of environmental stimuli in multiple tissues. Recent advances in AHR biology have underlined its importance in cells with high developmental potency, including pluripotent stem cells. Nonetheless, there is little data on AHR expression and its role during the initial stages of stem cell differentiation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the temporal pattern of AHR expression during directed differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) into neural progenitor, early mesoderm and definitive endoderm cells. Additionally, we investigated the effect of the AHR agonist 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) on the gene expression profile in hESCs and differentiated cells by RNA-seq, accompanied by identification of AHR binding sites by ChIP-seq and epigenetic landscape analysis by ATAC-seq. We showed that AHR is differentially regulated in distinct lineages. We provided evidence that TCDD alters gene expression patterns in hESCs and during early differentiation. Additionally, we identified novel potential AHR target genes, which expand our understanding on the role of this protein in different cell types.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yichao Cai ◽  
Ying Zhang ◽  
Yan Ping Loh ◽  
Jia Qi Tng ◽  
Mei Chee Lim ◽  
...  

AbstractGene repression and silencers are poorly understood. We reasoned that H3K27me3-rich regions (MRRs) of the genome defined from clusters of H3K27me3 peaks may be used to identify silencers that can regulate gene expression via proximity or looping. MRRs were associated with chromatin interactions and interact preferentially with each other. MRR component removal at interaction anchors by CRISPR led to upregulation of interacting target genes, altered H3K27me3 and H3K27ac levels at interacting regions, and altered chromatin interactions. Chromatin interactions did not change at regions with high H3K27me3, but regions with low H3K27me3 and high H3K27ac levels showed changes in chromatin interactions. The MRR knockout cells also showed changes in phenotype associated with cell identity, and altered xenograft tumor growth. MRR-associated genes and long-range chromatin interactions were susceptible to H3K27me3 depletion. Our results characterized H3K27me3-rich regions and their mechanisms of functioning via looping.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeong Eon Lee ◽  
Bong Jong Seo ◽  
Min Ji Han ◽  
Yean Ju Hong ◽  
Kwonho Hong ◽  
...  

During embryonic development, cells undergo changes in gene expression, signaling pathway activation/inactivation, metabolism, and intracellular organelle structures, which are mediated by mitochondria. Mitochondria continuously switch their morphology between elongated tubular and fragmented globular via mitochondrial fusion and fission. Mitochondrial fusion is mediated by proteins encoded by Mfn1, Mfn2, and Opa1, whereas mitochondrial fission is mediated by proteins encoded by Fis1 and Dnm1L. Here, we investigated the expression patterns of mitochondria-related genes during the differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Pluripotent ESCs maintain stemness in the presence of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) via the JAK-STAT3 pathway but lose pluripotency and differentiate in response to the withdrawal of LIF. We analyzed the expression levels of mitochondrial fusion- and fission-related genes during the differentiation of ESCs. We hypothesized that mitochondrial fusion genes would be overexpressed while the fission genes would be downregulated during the differentiation of ESCs. Though the mitochondria exhibited an elongated morphology in ESCs differentiating in response to LIF withdrawal, only the expression of Mfn2 was increased and that of Dnm1L was decreased as expected, the other exceptions being Mfn1, Opa1, and Fis1. Next, by comparing gene expression and mitochondrial morphology, we proposed an index that could precisely represent mitochondrial changes during the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells by analyzing the expression ratios of three fusion- and two fission-related genes. Surprisingly, increased Mfn2/Dnm1L ratio was correlated with elongation of mitochondria during the differentiation of ESCs. Moreover, application of this index to other specialized cell types revealed that neural stems cells (NSCs) and mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) showed increased Mfn2/Dnm1L ratio compared to ESCs. Thus, we suggest that the Mfn2/Dnm1L ratio could reflect changes in mitochondrial morphology according to the extent of differentiation.


2012 ◽  
Vol 113 (8) ◽  
pp. 2687-2695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salla K. Laine ◽  
Jessica J. Alm ◽  
Sanna P. Virtanen ◽  
Hannu T. Aro ◽  
Tiina K. Laitala-Leinonen

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ildar Gainetdinov ◽  
Cansu Colpan ◽  
Amena Arif ◽  
Katharine Cecchini ◽  
Phillip D. Zamore

SummaryIn animals, piRNAs guide PIWI-proteins to silence transposons and regulate gene expression. The mechanisms for making piRNAs have been proposed to differ among cell types, tissues, and animals. Our data instead suggest a single model that explains piRNA production in most animals. piRNAs initiate piRNA production by guiding PIWI proteins to slice precursor transcripts. Next, PIWI proteins direct the stepwise fragmentation of the sliced precursor transcripts, yielding tail-to-head strings of phased pre-piRNAs. Our analyses detect evidence for this piRNA biogenesis strategy across an evolutionarily broad range of animals including humans. Thus, PIWI proteins initiate and sustain piRNA biogenesis by the same mechanism in species whose last common ancestor predates the branching of most animal lineages. The unified model places PIWI-clade Argonautes at the center of piRNA biology and suggests that the ancestral animal—the Urmetazoan—used PIWI proteins both to generate piRNA guides and to execute piRNA function.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Kenny ◽  
Ramile Dilshat ◽  
Hannah Seberg ◽  
Eric Van Otterloo ◽  
Gregory Bonde ◽  
...  

Transcription factors in the Activating-enhancer-binding Protein 2 (TFAP2) family redundantly regulate gene expression in melanocytes and melanoma. Previous ChIP-seq experiments indicate that TFAP2A and Microphthalmia-associated Transcription Factor (MITF), a master regulator in these cell types, co-activate enhancers of genes promoting pigmentation. Evidence that TFAP2 paralogs can serve as pioneer factors supports the possibility that TFAP2 facilitates MITF binding at co-bound enhancers, although this model has not been tested. In addition, while MITF and TFAP2 paralogs both appear to repress genes that promote invasion, whether they do so by co-repressing enhancers is unknown. To address these questions we evaluated gene expression, chromatin accessibility, TFAP2A and MITF binding, and chromatin marks characteristic of active enhancers in SK-MEL-28 melanoma cells that were wild-type or deleted of the two TFAP2 paralogs with highest expression, TFAP2A and TFAP2C (i.e., TFAP2-KO cells). Integrated analyses revealed distinct subsets of enhancers bound by TFAP2A in WT cells that are inactivated and activated, respectively, in TFAP2-KO cells. At enhancers bound by both MITF and TFAP2A, MITF is generally lost in TFAP2A/TFAP2C double mutants, but not vice versa, implying TFAP2 pioneers chromatin access for MITF. There is a strong correlation between the sets of genes inhibited by MITF and TFAP2, although we did not find evidence that TFAP2 and MITF inhibit enhancers cooperatively. The findings imply that MITF and TFAP2 paralogs cooperatively affect the melanoma phenotype.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy M. Johanson ◽  
Hannah D. Coughlan ◽  
Aaron T.L. Lun ◽  
Naiara G. Bediaga ◽  
Gaetano Naselli ◽  
...  

SummaryIt has been proposed that interactions between mammalian chromosomes, or transchromosomal interactions (also known as kissing chromosomes), regulate gene expression and cell fate determination. Here we aimed to identify novel transchromosomal interactions in immune cells by high-resolution genome-wide chromosome conformation capture. Although we readily identified stable interactions in cis, and also between centromeres and telomeres on different chromosomes, surprisingly we identified no gene regulatory transchromosomal interactions in either mouse or human cells, including previously described interactions. We suggest that advances in the chromosome conformation capture technique and the unbiased nature of this approach allow more reliable capture of interactions between chromosomes than previous methods. Overall our findings suggest that stable transchromosomal interactions that regulate gene expression are not present in mammalian immune cells and that lineage identity is governed by cis, not trans chromosomal interactions.


2004 ◽  
Vol 279 (40) ◽  
pp. 41846-41857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffaella Catena ◽  
Cecilia Tiveron ◽  
Antonella Ronchi ◽  
Silvia Porta ◽  
Anna Ferri ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeong Eon Lee ◽  
Bong Jong Seo ◽  
Min Ji Han ◽  
Yean Ju Hong ◽  
Kwonho Hong ◽  
...  

AbstractDuring embryonic development, cells undergo changes in gene expression, signaling pathway activation/inactivation, metabolism, and intracellular organelle structures, which are mediated by mitochondria. Mitochondria continuously switch their morphology between elongated tubular and fragmented globular via mitochondrial fusion and fission. Mitochondrial fusion is mediated by proteins encoded by Mfn1, Mfn2, and Opa1, whereas mitochondrial fission is mediated by proteins encoded by Fis1 and Dmn1L. Here, we investigated the expression patterns of mitochondria-related genes during the differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in response to leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) withdrawal. The expression of Mfn2 and Dnm1L was, as expected, increased and decreased, respectively. By comparing gene expression and mitochondrial morphology, we proposed an index that could precisely represent mitochondrial changes during the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells by analyzing the expression ratios of three fusion- and two fission-related genes. Surprisingly, increased Mfn2/Dnm1L ratio was correlated with elongation of mitochondria during the differentiation of ESCs. Moreover, application of this index to other specialized cell types revealed that neural stems cells (NSCs) and mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) showed increased Mfn2/Dnm1L ratio compared to ESCs. Thus, we suggest that the Mfn2/Dnm1L ratio could reflect changes in mitochondrial morphology according to the extent of differentiation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 299-303
Author(s):  
Zahra Sadeghi ◽  
Fateme Dodange ◽  
Parichehr Maleki ◽  
Mohadeseh Zarei ◽  
Mohammad Taheri ◽  
...  

Non-coding RNA elongated (lncRNAs) have recently attracted as molecules that regulate gene expression of the pluripotent properties (pluripotency) of stem cells. Recently our colleagues examined the role of one of these RNAs called SOX2OT in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and found a concomitant increase in its expression with some regulatory genes of cell proliferation. In the present study, using the design of suitable primers from SOX2OT gene, we investigated the effect of siRNA on expression of SOX2OT.


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