Meiotic resumption in mammalian oocytes involves nuclear and organelle structural changes,notably the chromatin configuration transition from a non-surrounding nucleolus(NSN)to surrounding nucleolus(SN)in germinal ves...Meiotic resumption in mammalian oocytes involves nuclear and organelle structural changes,notably the chromatin configuration transition from a non-surrounding nucleolus(NSN)to surrounding nucleolus(SN)in germinal vesicle oocytes.In the current study,we found that nuclear speckles(NSs),a subnuclear structure mainly composed of serine-arginine(SR)proteins,changed from a diffuse spotted distribution in mouse NSN oocytes to an aggregated pattern in SN oocytes.We also found that the SR protein-specific kinase 1(SRPK1),an enzyme that phosphorylates SR proteins,co-localized with NSs at the SN stage,and that NSN oocytes failed to transition to SN oocytes after the inhibition of SRPK1 activity.Furthermore,the typical structure of the chromatin ring around the nucleolus in SN oocytes collapsed after treatment with an SRPK1 inhibitor.Mechanistically,phosphorylated SR proteins were found to be related to chromatin as shown by a salt extraction experiment,and in situ DNaseⅠassay showed that the accessibility of chromatin was enhanced in SN oocytes when SRPK1 was inhibited,accompanied by a decreased repressive modification on histone and the abnormal recurrence of a transcriptional signal.In conclusion,our results indicated that SRPK1-regulated phosphorylation of SR proteins was involved in the NSN-SN transition and played an important role in maintaining the condensed nucleus of SN oocytes via interacting with chromatin.展开更多
The insect fat body is comparable to the liver and adipose tissue in vertebrates,and plays a pivotal role in energy metabolism,nutrient storage,and reproduction.During metamorphosis,the fat body is disassembled via pr...The insect fat body is comparable to the liver and adipose tissue in vertebrates,and plays a pivotal role in energy metabolism,nutrient storage,and reproduction.During metamorphosis,the fat body is disassembled via programmed cell death and cell dissociation.After adult eclosion,the fat body is reconstructed either by repopulation from the remaining juvenile fat body cells or by differentiation from adult progenitor cells.This reconstruction is a prerequisite for initiating the extensive synthesis of vitellogenin(Vg),which is necessary for the maturation of eggs.Despite its significance,the underlying mechanisms of this reconstruction remain inadequately understood.Transcriptome analysis of the fat bodies from migratory locusts at 0-5 days post adult emergence revealed 79 genes associated with chromatin remodeling.Weighted gene co-expression network analysis indicated a positive correlation between chromatin remodeling and fat body reconstitution.Protein-protein interaction analysis revealed that brahma,which encodes the catalytic subunit of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex,is crucial for post-adult-eclosion fat body development.qRT-PCR analysis demonstrated that the levels of brahma mRNA in the fat body are progressively increased during the previtellogenic stage,then reach the peak and remain elevated in the vitellogenic phase.Furthermore,brahma is expressed in response to gonadotropic juvenile hormone(JH).Knockdown of brahma led to a marked reduction in Vg expression within the fat body,along with arrested ovarian growth.These findings shed light on the involvement of brahmamediated chromatin remodeling in JH-stimulated fat body reconstruction and reproduction of adult female locusts.展开更多
Background Protamination and condensation of sperm chromatin as well as DNA integrity play an essential role during fertilization and embryo development.In some mammals,like pigs,ejaculates are emitted in three separa...Background Protamination and condensation of sperm chromatin as well as DNA integrity play an essential role during fertilization and embryo development.In some mammals,like pigs,ejaculates are emitted in three separate fractions:pre-sperm,sperm-rich(SRF)and post sperm-rich(PSRF).These fractions are known to vary in volume,sperm concentration and quality,as well as in the origin and composition of seminal plasma(SP),with differences being also observed within the SRF one.Yet,whether disparities in the DNA integrity and chromatin condensation and pro-tamination of their sperm exist has not been interrogated.Results This study determined chromatin protamination(Chromomycin A3 test,CMA_(3)),condensation(Dibromobi-mane test,DBB),and DNA integrity(Comet assay)in the pig sperm contained in the first 10 m L of the SRF(SRF-P1),the remaining portion of the sperm-rich fraction(SRF-P2),and the post sperm-rich fraction(PSRF).While chromatin protamination was found to be similar between the different ejaculate fractions(P>0.05),chromatin condensation was seen to be greater in SRF-P1 and SRF-P2 than in the PSRF(P=0.018 and P=0.004,respectively).Regarding DNA integrity,no differences between fractions were observed(P>0.05).As the SRF-P1 has the highest sperm concentra-tion and ejaculate fractions are known to differ in antioxidant composition,the oxidative stress index(OSi)in SP,calcu-lated as total oxidant activity divided by total antioxidant capacity,was tested and confirmed to be higher in the SRF-P1 than in SRF-P2 and PSRF(0.42±0.06 vs.0.23±0.09 and 0.08±0.00,respectively;P<0.01);this index,in addition,was observed to be correlated to the sperm concentration of each fraction(Rs=0.973;P<0.001).Conclusion While sperm DNA integrity was not found to differ between ejaculate fractions,SRF-P1 and SRF-P2 were observed to exhibit greater chromatin condensation than the PSRF.This could be related to the OSi of each fraction.展开更多
Epigenomic imbalance drives abnormal transcriptional processes,promoting the onset and progression of cancer.Although defective gene regulation generally affects carcinogenesis and tumor suppression networks,tumor imm...Epigenomic imbalance drives abnormal transcriptional processes,promoting the onset and progression of cancer.Although defective gene regulation generally affects carcinogenesis and tumor suppression networks,tumor immunogenicity and immune cells involved in antitumor responses may also be affected by epigenomic changes,which may have significant implications for the development and application of epigenetic therapy,cancer immunotherapy,and their combinations.Herein,we focus on the impact of epigenetic regulation on tumor immune cell function and the role of key abnormal epigenetic processes,DNA methylation,histone post-translational modification,and chromatin structure in tumor immunogenicity,and introduce these epigenetic research methods.We emphasize the value of small-molecule inhibitors of epigenetic modulators in enhancing antitumor immune responses and discuss the challenges of developing treatment plans that combine epigenetic therapy and immuno-therapy through the complex interaction between cancer epigenetics and cancer immunology.展开更多
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(HCM)is the most common inherited heart disease and is characterized by primary left ventricular hypertrophy usually caused by mutations in sarcomere genes.The mechanism underlying cardiac r...Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(HCM)is the most common inherited heart disease and is characterized by primary left ventricular hypertrophy usually caused by mutations in sarcomere genes.The mechanism underlying cardiac remodeling in HCM remains incompletely understood.An investigation of HCM through integrative analysis at multi-omics levels will be helpful for treating HCM.DNA methylation and chromatin accessibility,as well as gene expression,were assessed by nucleosome occupancy and methylome sequencing(NOMe-seq)and RNA-seq,respectively,using the cardiac tissues of HCM patients.Compared with those of the controls,the transcriptome,DNA methylome,and chromatin accessibility of the HCM myocardium showed multifaceted differences.At the transcriptome level,HCM hearts returned to the fetal gene program through decreased sarcomeric and metabolic gene expression and increased extracellular matrix gene expression.In the DNA methylome,hypermethylated and hypomethylated differentially methylated regions were identified in HCM.At the chromatin accessibility level,HCM hearts showed changes in different genome elements.Several transcription factors,including SP1 and EGR1,exhibited a fetal-like pattern of binding motifs in nucleosome-depleted regions in HCM.In particular,the inhibition of SP1 or EGR1 in an HCM mouse model harboring sarcomere mutations markedly alleviated the HCM phenotype of the mutant mice and reversed fetal gene reprogramming.Overall,this study not only provides a high-precision multi-omics map of HCM heart tissue but also sheds light on the therapeutic strategy by intervening in the fetal gene reprogramming in HCM.展开更多
Eukaryotic deoxyribonucleic acid(DNA)is wrapped around histone octamers(HOs)to form nucleosome core particles(NCPs),which in turn interact with linker DNA and linker histones to assemble chromatin fibers with more com...Eukaryotic deoxyribonucleic acid(DNA)is wrapped around histone octamers(HOs)to form nucleosome core particles(NCPs),which in turn interact with linker DNA and linker histones to assemble chromatin fibers with more complex,high-order structures.The molecular properties of chromatin are dynamically regulated by several factors,such as post-translational modifications and effector proteins,to maintain genome stability.In the past two decades,high-resolution techniques have led to many breakthroughs in understanding the molecular mechanisms that govern chromatin regulation.Nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)has emerged as one of the major techniques in this field,providing new insights into the nucleosomes and nucleosome-protein complexes in different states ranging from soluble form to condensed states.Solution-state NMR has proven valuable in elucidating the conformational dynamics and molecular interactions for histone N-terminal tails,histone core regions and DNA with the combination of specific isotopic labeling.Solid-state NMR,which is not constrained by the high molecular weights of complexes like nucleosomes,has been applied to capture the structural and dynamical characteristics of both flexible tails and rigid histone core regions in nucleosomes and their complexes with effector proteins.Furthermore,the combination of the two techniques allows tracking molecular properties of nucleosomes during phase separation processes,which potentially play essential roles in chromatin regulation.This review summarizes recent advances in NMR studies of chromatin structure and dynamics.It highlighted that NMR revealed unique molecular characteristics for nucleosomes that are often invisible experimentally by other techniques like cryogenic electron microscopy(cryo-EM)and X-ray diffraction(XRD).I envision that,with future ef-forts such as the development of NMR methods and optimization of sample production protocols,solution-state NMR and solid-state NMR will provide invaluable information to expand our understanding of chromatin activity and its regulatory processes.展开更多
Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome(OMIM#605130)is a rare congenital malformation syndrome characterized by hypertrichosis cubiti associated with short stature;consistent facial features,including long eyelashes,thick or arche...Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome(OMIM#605130)is a rare congenital malformation syndrome characterized by hypertrichosis cubiti associated with short stature;consistent facial features,including long eyelashes,thick or arched eyebrows with a lateral flare,wide nasal bridge,and downslanting and vertically narrow palpebral fissures;mild to moderate intellectual disability;behavioral difficulties;and hypertrichosis on the back.It is caused by heterozygous pathogenic variants in KMT2A.This gene has an established role in histone methylation,which explains the overlap of Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome with other chromatinopathies,a heterogeneous group of syndromic conditions that share a common trigger:The disruption of one of the genes involved in chromatin modification,leading to dysfunction of the epigenetic machinery.展开更多
The eukaryotic genome is organized into functionally and structurally distinct domains, representing regulatory unitsfor gene expression and chromosome behavior. DNA sequences that mark the border between adjacent dom...The eukaryotic genome is organized into functionally and structurally distinct domains, representing regulatory unitsfor gene expression and chromosome behavior. DNA sequences that mark the border between adjacent domains are theinsulators or boundary elements, which are required in maintenance of the function of different domains. Some insula-tors need others enable to play insulation activity. Chromatin domains are defined by distinct sets of post-translationallymodified histones. Recent studies show that these histone modifications are also involved in establishment of sharpchromatin boundaries in order to prevent the spreading of distinct domains. Additionally, in some loci, the high-orderchromatin structures for long-range looping interactions also have boundary activities, suggesting a correlation betweeninsulators and chromatin loop domains. In this review, we will discuss recent progress in the field of chromatin domainboundaries.展开更多
Diagnosis of male infertility has mainly been based on the World Health Organization （WHO） manual-based semen parameter＇s concentration, motility and morphology. It has, however, become apparent that none of these ...Diagnosis of male infertility has mainly been based on the World Health Organization （WHO） manual-based semen parameter＇s concentration, motility and morphology. It has, however, become apparent that none of these parameters are reliable markers for evaluation of the fertility potential of a couple. A search for better markers has led to an increased focus on sperm chromatin integrity testing in fertility work-up and assisted reproductive techniques. During the last couple of decades, numerous sperm DNA integrity tests have been developed. These are claimed to be characterized by a lower intraindividual variation, less intralaboratory and interlaboratory variation and thus less subjective than the conventional sperm analysis. However, not all the sperm chromatin integrity tests have yet been shown to be of clinical value. So far, the test that has been found to have the most stable clinical threshold values in relation to fertility is the sperm chromatin structure assay （SCSA）, a flow cytometric test that measures the susceptibility of sperm DNA to acid-induced DNA denaturation in situ. Sperm DNA fragmentation as measured by SCSA has shown to be an independent predictor of successful pregnancy in first pregnancy planners as well as in couples undergoing intrauterine insemination, and can be used as a tool in investigation, counseling and treatment of involuntary childlessness. More conflicting data exist regarding the role of sperm DNA fragmentation in relation to fertilization, pre-embryo development and pregnancy outcome in in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection （ICSI）.展开更多
Spermiogenesis is a complex process leading to the formation of motile spermatozoa characterized by a highly stable chromatin compaction that transfers the paternal genome into the oocyte. It is commonly held that the...Spermiogenesis is a complex process leading to the formation of motile spermatozoa characterized by a highly stable chromatin compaction that transfers the paternal genome into the oocyte. It is commonly held that these haploid cells are devoid of transcriptional and translational activities and that the transcripts represent remnants of stored mRNAs. Recently, the chromatin organization of mature spermatozoa has been revisited as a double nucleoprotamine-nucleohistone structure possessing less-condensed regions sensitive to nuclease activity, which could be implicated in the expression of genes involved in the early embryo development. The existence of a complex population of mRNAs in human sperm is well-documented, but their role is not yet elucidated. Evidence for a latent transcriptional capacity and/or a potential de novo translation in mature spermatozoa from fertile men are essential for understanding the last steps of sperm maturation, such as capacitation and acrosome reaction. As such, we have documented the relationship between sperm quality and the distribution of sperm RNAs by showing divergent levels of transcripts encoding for proteins involved in either nuclear condensation （protamines 1 and 2） or in capacitation （eNOS and nNOS, c-myc） or in motility and sperm survival （aromatase） between low and high motile sperm issued from the same sample. Therefore, analyzing the profile of mRNAs could be helpful either as a diagnostic tool for evaluating male fertility after spermatogenesis or for prognosis use for fertilization.展开更多
The aim of this study was to investigate whether the sperm chromatin structure assay （SCSA） results after swim-up are related to fertilization rates, embryo quality and pregnancy rates following in vitrofertilizati...The aim of this study was to investigate whether the sperm chromatin structure assay （SCSA） results after swim-up are related to fertilization rates, embryo quality and pregnancy rates following in vitrofertilization （IVF）. A total of 223 couples undergoing IVF in our hospital from October 2008 to September 2009 were included in this study. Data on the IVF process and sperm chromatin structure assay results were collected. Fertilization rate, embryo quality and IVF success rates of different DNA fragmentation index （DFI） subgroups and high DNA stainability （HDS） subgroups were compared. There were no significant differences in fertilization rate, clinical pregnancy or delivery rates between the DFI and HDS subgroups. However, the group with abnormal DFI had a lower good embryo rate. So, we concluded that the SCSA variables, either DFI or HDS after swim-up preparation, were not valuable in predicting fertilization failure or pregnancy rate, but an abnormal DFI meant a lower good embryo rate following IVF.展开更多
The study of embryonic stem cells is in the spotlight in many laboratories that study the structure and function of chromatin and epigenetic processes. The key properties of embryonic stem cells are their capacity for...The study of embryonic stem cells is in the spotlight in many laboratories that study the structure and function of chromatin and epigenetic processes. The key properties of embryonic stem cells are their capacity for selfrenewal and their pluripotency. Pluripotent stem cells are able to differentiate into the cells of all three germ layers, and because of this property they represent a promising therapeutic tool in the treatment of diseases such as Parkinson's disease and diabetes, or in the healing of lesions after heart attack. As the basic nuclear unit, chromatin is responsible for the regulation of the functional status of cells, including pluripotency and differentiation. Therefore, in this review we discuss the functional changes in chromatin during differentiation and the correlation between epigenetics events and the differentiation potential of embryonic stem cells. In particular we focus on post-translational histone modification, DNA methylation and the heterochromatin protein HP1 and its unique function in mouse and human embryonic stem cells.展开更多
Background:The development of skeletal muscle in pigs during the embryonic stage is precisely regulated by transcriptional mechanisms,which depend on chromatin accessibility.However,how chromatin accessibility plays a...Background:The development of skeletal muscle in pigs during the embryonic stage is precisely regulated by transcriptional mechanisms,which depend on chromatin accessibility.However,how chromatin accessibility plays a regulatory role during embryonic skeletal muscle development in pigs has not been reported.To gain insight into the landscape of chromatin accessibility and the associated genome-wide transcriptome during embryonic muscle development,we performed ATAC-seq and RNA-seq analyses of skeletal muscle from pig embryos at 45,70 and 100 days post coitus(dpc).Results:In total,21,638,35,447 and 60,181 unique regions(or peaks)were found across the embryos at 45 dpc(LW45),70 dpc(LW70)and 100 dpc(LW100),respectively.More than 91%of the peaks were annotated within−1 kb to 100 bp of transcription start sites(TSSs).First,widespread increases in specific accessible chromatin regions(ACRs)from embryos at 45 to 100 dpc suggested that the regulatory mechanisms became increasingly complicated during embryonic development.Second,the findings from integrated ATAC-seq and RNA-seq analyses showed that not only the numbers but also the intensities of ACRs could control the expression of associated genes.Moreover,the motif screening of stage-specific ACRs revealed some transcription factors that regulate muscle developmentrelated genes,such as MyoG,Mef2c,and Mef2d.Several potential transcriptional repressors,including E2F6,OTX2 and CTCF,were identified among the genes that exhibited different regulation trends between the ATAC-seq and RNA-seq data.Conclusions:This work indicates that chromatin accessibility plays an important regulatory role in the embryonic muscle development of pigs and regulates the temporal and spatial expression patterns of key genes in muscle development by influencing the binding of transcription factors.Our results contribute to a better understanding of the regulatory dynamics of genes involved in pig embryonic skeletal muscle development.展开更多
The nonrandom three-dimensional organization of chromatin plays an important role in the regulation of gene expression.However,it remains unclear whether this organization is conserved and whether it is involved in re...The nonrandom three-dimensional organization of chromatin plays an important role in the regulation of gene expression.However,it remains unclear whether this organization is conserved and whether it is involved in regulating gene expression during speciation after whole-genome duplication(WGD)in plants.In this study,high-resolution interaction maps were generated using high-throughput chromatin conformation capture(Hi-C)techniques for two poplar species,Populus euphratica and Populus alba var.pyramidalis,which diverged~14 Mya after a common WGD.We examined the similarities and differences in the hierarchical chromatin organization between the two species,including A/B compartment regions and topologically associating domains(TADs),as well as in their DNA methylation and gene expression patterns.We found that chromatin status was strongly associated with epigenetic modifications and gene transcriptional activity,yet the conservation of hierarchical chromatin organization across the two species was low.The divergence of gene expression between WGD-derived paralogs was associated with the strength of chromatin interactions,and colocalized paralogs exhibited strong similarities in epigenetic modifications and expression levels.Thus,the spatial localization of duplicated genes is highly correlated with biased expression during the diploidization process.This study provides new insights into the evolution of chromatin organization and transcriptional regulation during the speciation process of poplars after WGD.展开更多
Plant reproduction requires the coordinated development of both male and female reproductive organs.Jasmonic acid(JA)plays an essential role in stamen filament elongation.However,the mechanism by which the JA biosynth...Plant reproduction requires the coordinated development of both male and female reproductive organs.Jasmonic acid(JA)plays an essential role in stamen filament elongation.However,the mechanism by which the JA biosynthesis genes are regulated to promote stamen elongation remains unclear.Here,we show that the chromatin remodeling complex Imitation of Switch(ISWI)promotes stamen filament elongation by regulating JA biosynthesis.We show that AT-Rich Interacting Domain 5(ARID5)interacts with CHR11,CHR17,and RLT1,several known subunits of ISWI.Mutations in ARID5 and RLTs caused a reduced seed set due to greatly shortened stamen filaments.RNA-seq analyses reveal that the expression of key genes responsible for JA biosynthesis is significantly down-regulated in the arid5 and rlt mutants.Consistently,the JA levels are drastically decreased in both arid5 and rlt mutants.Chromatin immunoprecipitationquantitative PCR analyses further show that ARID5 is recruited to the chromatin of JA biosynthesis genes.Importantly,exogenous JA treatments can fully rescue the defects of stamen filament elongation in both arid5 and rlt mutants,leading to the partial recovery of fertility.Our results provide a clue how JA biosynthesisis positively regulated by the chromatin remodeling complex ISWI,thereby promoting stamen filament elongation in Arabidopsis.展开更多
In this editorial preface, I briefly r eview cancer bioinformatics and introduce the four articles in this special issue highlighting important applications of the field: detection of chromatin states; detection of SN...In this editorial preface, I briefly r eview cancer bioinformatics and introduce the four articles in this special issue highlighting important applications of the field: detection of chromatin states; detection of SNP- containing motifs and association with transcription factor-binding sites; improvements in functional enrichment modules; and gene association studies on aging and cancer. We expect this issue to provide bioinformatics scientists, cancer biologists, and clinical doctors with a better understanding of how cancer bioinformatics can be used to identify candidate biomarkers and targets and to conduct functional analysis.展开更多
The development of epigenetic maps, such as the ENCODE project in humans, provides resources for gene regulation studies and a reference for research of disease-related regulatory elements. However,epigenetic informat...The development of epigenetic maps, such as the ENCODE project in humans, provides resources for gene regulation studies and a reference for research of disease-related regulatory elements. However,epigenetic information, such as a bird-specific chromatin accessibility atlas, is currently lacking for the thousands of bird species currently described.The major genomic difference between birds and mammals is their shorter introns and intergenic distances, which seriously hinders the use of humans and mice as a reference for studying the function of important regulatory regions in birds. In this study, using chicken as a model bird species, we systematically compiled a chicken chromatin accessibility atlas using 53 Assay of Transposase Accessible Chromatin sequencing(ATAC-seq)samples across 11 tissues. An average of 50 ?796open chromatin regions were identified per sample,cumulatively accounting for 20.36% of the chicken genome. Tissue specificity was largely reflected by differences in intergenic and intronic peaks, with specific functional regulation achieved by two mechanisms: recruitment of several sequence-specific transcription factors and direct regulation of adjacent functional genes. By integrating data from genome-wide association studies, our results suggest that chicken body weight is driven by different regulatory variants active in growth-relevant tissues. We propose CAB39L(active in the duodenum), RCBTB1(muscle and liver), and novel long non-coding RNA ENSGALG00000053256(bone) as candidate genes regulating chicken body weight. Overall, this study demonstrates the value of epigenetic data in fine-mapping functional variants and provides a compendium of resources for further research on the epigenetics and evolution of birds and mammals.展开更多
The three-dimensional(3D) organization of the eukaryotic genome is critical for its proper function. Evidence suggests that extensive chromatin loops form the building blocks of the genomic architecture, separating ge...The three-dimensional(3D) organization of the eukaryotic genome is critical for its proper function. Evidence suggests that extensive chromatin loops form the building blocks of the genomic architecture, separating genes and gene clusters into distinct functional domains. These loops are anchored in part by a special type of DNA elements called chromatin boundary elements(CBEs). CBEs were originally found to insulate neighboring genes by blocking influences of transcriptional enhancers or the spread of silent chromatin. However, recent results show that chromatin loops can also play a positive role in gene regulation by looping out intervening DNA and "delivering" remote enhancers to gene promoters. In addition, studies from human and model organisms indicate that the configuration of chromatin loops, many of which are tethered by CBEs, is dynamically regulated during cell differentiation. In particular, a recent work by Li et al has shown that the SF1 boundary, located in the Drosophila Hox cluster, regulates local genes by tethering different subsets of chromatin loops: One subset enclose a neighboring gene ftz, limiting its access by the surrounding Scr enhancers and restrict the spread of repressive histones during early embryogenesis; and the other loops subdivide the Scr regulatory region into independent domains of enhancer accessibility. The enhancer-blocking activity of these CBE elements varies greatly in strength and tissue distribution. Further, tandem pairing of SF1 and SF2 facilitate the bypass of distal enhancers in transgenic flies, providing a mechanism for endogenous enhancers to circumvent genomic interruptions resulting from chromosomal rearrangement. This study demonstrates how a network of chromatin boundaries, centrally organized by SF1, can remodel the 3D genome to facilitate gene regulation during development.展开更多
The HIV-1 LTR controls the expression of HIV-1 viral genes and thus is critical for viral propagation and pathology. Numerous host factors have been shown to participate in the regulation of the LTR promoter. Among th...The HIV-1 LTR controls the expression of HIV-1 viral genes and thus is critical for viral propagation and pathology. Numerous host factors have been shown to participate in the regulation of the LTR promoter. Among them is the thyroid hormone (T3) receptor (TR). TR has been shown to bind to the critical region of the promoter that contain the NFbB and Sp1 binding sites. Interestingly, earlier transient transfection studies in tissue culture cells have yielded contradicting conclusions on the role of TR in LTR regulation, likely due to the use of different cell types and/or lack of proper chromatin organization. Here, using the frog oocyte as a model system that allows replication-coupled chromatin assembly, mimicking that in somatic cells, we demonstrate that unliganded heterodimers of TR and RXR (9-cis retinoic acid receptor) repress LTR while the addition of T3 relieves the repression and further activates the promoter. More importantly, we show that chromatin and unliganded TR/RXR synergize to repress the promoter in a histone deacetylase-dependent manner.展开更多
Accessible chromatin regions(ACRs)provide physical scaffolds to recruit transcriptional co-regulators and displace their nearby nucleosomes in multiple plant species.Characterization of ACRs and investigation of their...Accessible chromatin regions(ACRs)provide physical scaffolds to recruit transcriptional co-regulators and displace their nearby nucleosomes in multiple plant species.Characterization of ACRs and investigation of their biological effects in Sorghum bicolor has lagged behind.Regulation of gene expression relies on the transcriptional co-regulators that are recruited to ACRs to affect epigenomic modifications of surrounding nucleosomes.In this study,we employed transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing to identify ACRs and decipher how the presence of ACRs affects gene expression and epigenetic signatures in the Sorghum genome.As a result,21077 ACRs,which are mapped to 22.9%of genes and 2.7%of repeats,were identified.The profiling of ACRs on gene structures reveals a narrow and sharp peak around the transcription start site,with relatively weak and broad signals covering the entire gene body and an explicit but wide peak from the transcription termination site to its downstream regions.We discovered that the correlations between gene expression levels and profiled ACR densities are dependent on the positions of ACRs.The occurrence of genic ACRs cumulatively enhances the transcriptional activity of intergenic ACR-associated genes.In addition,an intricate crosstalk among ACRs,gene expression,and epigenetic marks has been unveiled by integrating multiple-omics analyses of whole-genome bisulfite sequencing,6mA immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing,RNA sequencing,chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing,and DNase I hypersensitive sites sequencing datasets.Our study provides a genome-wide landscape of ACRs in sorghum,decrypts their interrelations with various epigenetic marks,and sheds new light on their roles in transcriptional regulation.展开更多
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.32070838 and 82301874)Open Fund of State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine,Nanjing Medical University(Grant No.SKLRM K202102)。
文摘Meiotic resumption in mammalian oocytes involves nuclear and organelle structural changes,notably the chromatin configuration transition from a non-surrounding nucleolus(NSN)to surrounding nucleolus(SN)in germinal vesicle oocytes.In the current study,we found that nuclear speckles(NSs),a subnuclear structure mainly composed of serine-arginine(SR)proteins,changed from a diffuse spotted distribution in mouse NSN oocytes to an aggregated pattern in SN oocytes.We also found that the SR protein-specific kinase 1(SRPK1),an enzyme that phosphorylates SR proteins,co-localized with NSs at the SN stage,and that NSN oocytes failed to transition to SN oocytes after the inhibition of SRPK1 activity.Furthermore,the typical structure of the chromatin ring around the nucleolus in SN oocytes collapsed after treatment with an SRPK1 inhibitor.Mechanistically,phosphorylated SR proteins were found to be related to chromatin as shown by a salt extraction experiment,and in situ DNaseⅠassay showed that the accessibility of chromatin was enhanced in SN oocytes when SRPK1 was inhibited,accompanied by a decreased repressive modification on histone and the abnormal recurrence of a transcriptional signal.In conclusion,our results indicated that SRPK1-regulated phosphorylation of SR proteins was involved in the NSN-SN transition and played an important role in maintaining the condensed nucleus of SN oocytes via interacting with chromatin.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32172389)the Excellent Youth Foundation of Henan Province,China(232300421029)the Key Research and Development Project of Henan Province,China(221111112200)。
文摘The insect fat body is comparable to the liver and adipose tissue in vertebrates,and plays a pivotal role in energy metabolism,nutrient storage,and reproduction.During metamorphosis,the fat body is disassembled via programmed cell death and cell dissociation.After adult eclosion,the fat body is reconstructed either by repopulation from the remaining juvenile fat body cells or by differentiation from adult progenitor cells.This reconstruction is a prerequisite for initiating the extensive synthesis of vitellogenin(Vg),which is necessary for the maturation of eggs.Despite its significance,the underlying mechanisms of this reconstruction remain inadequately understood.Transcriptome analysis of the fat bodies from migratory locusts at 0-5 days post adult emergence revealed 79 genes associated with chromatin remodeling.Weighted gene co-expression network analysis indicated a positive correlation between chromatin remodeling and fat body reconstitution.Protein-protein interaction analysis revealed that brahma,which encodes the catalytic subunit of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex,is crucial for post-adult-eclosion fat body development.qRT-PCR analysis demonstrated that the levels of brahma mRNA in the fat body are progressively increased during the previtellogenic stage,then reach the peak and remain elevated in the vitellogenic phase.Furthermore,brahma is expressed in response to gonadotropic juvenile hormone(JH).Knockdown of brahma led to a marked reduction in Vg expression within the fat body,along with arrested ovarian growth.These findings shed light on the involvement of brahmamediated chromatin remodeling in JH-stimulated fat body reconstruction and reproduction of adult female locusts.
基金This research was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation scheme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No.801342(Tecniospring INDUSTRYGrant:TECSPR-19-1-0003)+4 种基金the Ministry of Science and Innovation,Spain(Grants:PID2020-113320RB-I00,PID2020-113493RB-I00,RYC2021-034546-I and RYC2021-034764-I)the Catalan Agency for Management of University and Research Grants,Regional Government of Catalonia,Spain(Grants:2017-SGR-1229 and 2021-SGR-00900)the Seneca Foundation,Regional Government of Murcia,Spain(Grant:21935/PI/22)La Marato de TV3 Foundation(Grant:214/857-202039)and the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies(ICREA).
文摘Background Protamination and condensation of sperm chromatin as well as DNA integrity play an essential role during fertilization and embryo development.In some mammals,like pigs,ejaculates are emitted in three separate fractions:pre-sperm,sperm-rich(SRF)and post sperm-rich(PSRF).These fractions are known to vary in volume,sperm concentration and quality,as well as in the origin and composition of seminal plasma(SP),with differences being also observed within the SRF one.Yet,whether disparities in the DNA integrity and chromatin condensation and pro-tamination of their sperm exist has not been interrogated.Results This study determined chromatin protamination(Chromomycin A3 test,CMA_(3)),condensation(Dibromobi-mane test,DBB),and DNA integrity(Comet assay)in the pig sperm contained in the first 10 m L of the SRF(SRF-P1),the remaining portion of the sperm-rich fraction(SRF-P2),and the post sperm-rich fraction(PSRF).While chromatin protamination was found to be similar between the different ejaculate fractions(P>0.05),chromatin condensation was seen to be greater in SRF-P1 and SRF-P2 than in the PSRF(P=0.018 and P=0.004,respectively).Regarding DNA integrity,no differences between fractions were observed(P>0.05).As the SRF-P1 has the highest sperm concentra-tion and ejaculate fractions are known to differ in antioxidant composition,the oxidative stress index(OSi)in SP,calcu-lated as total oxidant activity divided by total antioxidant capacity,was tested and confirmed to be higher in the SRF-P1 than in SRF-P2 and PSRF(0.42±0.06 vs.0.23±0.09 and 0.08±0.00,respectively;P<0.01);this index,in addition,was observed to be correlated to the sperm concentration of each fraction(Rs=0.973;P<0.001).Conclusion While sperm DNA integrity was not found to differ between ejaculate fractions,SRF-P1 and SRF-P2 were observed to exhibit greater chromatin condensation than the PSRF.This could be related to the OSi of each fraction.
基金supported by the Startup Foundation for Junior Faculty,Nankai University(Grant No.:63191439)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.:32100418,3210040345)+1 种基金The Health Commission Foundation of China(Grant No.:2018ZX10712001-017)the Chongqing Medical College Natural Fund(Grant Nos.:ygz2019302 and ygz2019305).
文摘Epigenomic imbalance drives abnormal transcriptional processes,promoting the onset and progression of cancer.Although defective gene regulation generally affects carcinogenesis and tumor suppression networks,tumor immunogenicity and immune cells involved in antitumor responses may also be affected by epigenomic changes,which may have significant implications for the development and application of epigenetic therapy,cancer immunotherapy,and their combinations.Herein,we focus on the impact of epigenetic regulation on tumor immune cell function and the role of key abnormal epigenetic processes,DNA methylation,histone post-translational modification,and chromatin structure in tumor immunogenicity,and introduce these epigenetic research methods.We emphasize the value of small-molecule inhibitors of epigenetic modulators in enhancing antitumor immune responses and discuss the challenges of developing treatment plans that combine epigenetic therapy and immuno-therapy through the complex interaction between cancer epigenetics and cancer immunology.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.82170290)the CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences(Grant No.2023-I2M-1-001)+1 种基金Project funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(Grant No.2023M732704)the Open Research Fund of the National Center for Protein Sciences at Peking University in Beijing.
文摘Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(HCM)is the most common inherited heart disease and is characterized by primary left ventricular hypertrophy usually caused by mutations in sarcomere genes.The mechanism underlying cardiac remodeling in HCM remains incompletely understood.An investigation of HCM through integrative analysis at multi-omics levels will be helpful for treating HCM.DNA methylation and chromatin accessibility,as well as gene expression,were assessed by nucleosome occupancy and methylome sequencing(NOMe-seq)and RNA-seq,respectively,using the cardiac tissues of HCM patients.Compared with those of the controls,the transcriptome,DNA methylome,and chromatin accessibility of the HCM myocardium showed multifaceted differences.At the transcriptome level,HCM hearts returned to the fetal gene program through decreased sarcomeric and metabolic gene expression and increased extracellular matrix gene expression.In the DNA methylome,hypermethylated and hypomethylated differentially methylated regions were identified in HCM.At the chromatin accessibility level,HCM hearts showed changes in different genome elements.Several transcription factors,including SP1 and EGR1,exhibited a fetal-like pattern of binding motifs in nucleosome-depleted regions in HCM.In particular,the inhibition of SP1 or EGR1 in an HCM mouse model harboring sarcomere mutations markedly alleviated the HCM phenotype of the mutant mice and reversed fetal gene reprogramming.Overall,this study not only provides a high-precision multi-omics map of HCM heart tissue but also sheds light on the therapeutic strategy by intervening in the fetal gene reprogramming in HCM.
基金supported by funds from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(grant number:32201006)Guangdong Province(grant number:2021QN02Y103,2022ZDZX2061,2022KCXTD034)2023 Stable Support Plan Program of Shenzhen Colleges and Universities Fund.
文摘Eukaryotic deoxyribonucleic acid(DNA)is wrapped around histone octamers(HOs)to form nucleosome core particles(NCPs),which in turn interact with linker DNA and linker histones to assemble chromatin fibers with more complex,high-order structures.The molecular properties of chromatin are dynamically regulated by several factors,such as post-translational modifications and effector proteins,to maintain genome stability.In the past two decades,high-resolution techniques have led to many breakthroughs in understanding the molecular mechanisms that govern chromatin regulation.Nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)has emerged as one of the major techniques in this field,providing new insights into the nucleosomes and nucleosome-protein complexes in different states ranging from soluble form to condensed states.Solution-state NMR has proven valuable in elucidating the conformational dynamics and molecular interactions for histone N-terminal tails,histone core regions and DNA with the combination of specific isotopic labeling.Solid-state NMR,which is not constrained by the high molecular weights of complexes like nucleosomes,has been applied to capture the structural and dynamical characteristics of both flexible tails and rigid histone core regions in nucleosomes and their complexes with effector proteins.Furthermore,the combination of the two techniques allows tracking molecular properties of nucleosomes during phase separation processes,which potentially play essential roles in chromatin regulation.This review summarizes recent advances in NMR studies of chromatin structure and dynamics.It highlighted that NMR revealed unique molecular characteristics for nucleosomes that are often invisible experimentally by other techniques like cryogenic electron microscopy(cryo-EM)and X-ray diffraction(XRD).I envision that,with future ef-forts such as the development of NMR methods and optimization of sample production protocols,solution-state NMR and solid-state NMR will provide invaluable information to expand our understanding of chromatin activity and its regulatory processes.
文摘Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome(OMIM#605130)is a rare congenital malformation syndrome characterized by hypertrichosis cubiti associated with short stature;consistent facial features,including long eyelashes,thick or arched eyebrows with a lateral flare,wide nasal bridge,and downslanting and vertically narrow palpebral fissures;mild to moderate intellectual disability;behavioral difficulties;and hypertrichosis on the back.It is caused by heterozygous pathogenic variants in KMT2A.This gene has an established role in histone methylation,which explains the overlap of Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome with other chromatinopathies,a heterogeneous group of syndromic conditions that share a common trigger:The disruption of one of the genes involved in chromatin modification,leading to dysfunction of the epigenetic machinery.
基金This work was supported by the grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.30393110).
文摘The eukaryotic genome is organized into functionally and structurally distinct domains, representing regulatory unitsfor gene expression and chromosome behavior. DNA sequences that mark the border between adjacent domains are theinsulators or boundary elements, which are required in maintenance of the function of different domains. Some insula-tors need others enable to play insulation activity. Chromatin domains are defined by distinct sets of post-translationallymodified histones. Recent studies show that these histone modifications are also involved in establishment of sharpchromatin boundaries in order to prevent the spreading of distinct domains. Additionally, in some loci, the high-orderchromatin structures for long-range looping interactions also have boundary activities, suggesting a correlation betweeninsulators and chromatin loop domains. In this review, we will discuss recent progress in the field of chromatin domainboundaries.
文摘Diagnosis of male infertility has mainly been based on the World Health Organization （WHO） manual-based semen parameter＇s concentration, motility and morphology. It has, however, become apparent that none of these parameters are reliable markers for evaluation of the fertility potential of a couple. A search for better markers has led to an increased focus on sperm chromatin integrity testing in fertility work-up and assisted reproductive techniques. During the last couple of decades, numerous sperm DNA integrity tests have been developed. These are claimed to be characterized by a lower intraindividual variation, less intralaboratory and interlaboratory variation and thus less subjective than the conventional sperm analysis. However, not all the sperm chromatin integrity tests have yet been shown to be of clinical value. So far, the test that has been found to have the most stable clinical threshold values in relation to fertility is the sperm chromatin structure assay （SCSA）, a flow cytometric test that measures the susceptibility of sperm DNA to acid-induced DNA denaturation in situ. Sperm DNA fragmentation as measured by SCSA has shown to be an independent predictor of successful pregnancy in first pregnancy planners as well as in couples undergoing intrauterine insemination, and can be used as a tool in investigation, counseling and treatment of involuntary childlessness. More conflicting data exist regarding the role of sperm DNA fragmentation in relation to fertilization, pre-embryo development and pregnancy outcome in in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection （ICSI）.
文摘Spermiogenesis is a complex process leading to the formation of motile spermatozoa characterized by a highly stable chromatin compaction that transfers the paternal genome into the oocyte. It is commonly held that these haploid cells are devoid of transcriptional and translational activities and that the transcripts represent remnants of stored mRNAs. Recently, the chromatin organization of mature spermatozoa has been revisited as a double nucleoprotamine-nucleohistone structure possessing less-condensed regions sensitive to nuclease activity, which could be implicated in the expression of genes involved in the early embryo development. The existence of a complex population of mRNAs in human sperm is well-documented, but their role is not yet elucidated. Evidence for a latent transcriptional capacity and/or a potential de novo translation in mature spermatozoa from fertile men are essential for understanding the last steps of sperm maturation, such as capacitation and acrosome reaction. As such, we have documented the relationship between sperm quality and the distribution of sperm RNAs by showing divergent levels of transcripts encoding for proteins involved in either nuclear condensation （protamines 1 and 2） or in capacitation （eNOS and nNOS, c-myc） or in motility and sperm survival （aromatase） between low and high motile sperm issued from the same sample. Therefore, analyzing the profile of mRNAs could be helpful either as a diagnostic tool for evaluating male fertility after spermatogenesis or for prognosis use for fertilization.
基金ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study was supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai （No. 10JC1410800）. The support of Jian-Bin Liu in collecting the patient data is gratefully acknowledged.
文摘The aim of this study was to investigate whether the sperm chromatin structure assay （SCSA） results after swim-up are related to fertilization rates, embryo quality and pregnancy rates following in vitrofertilization （IVF）. A total of 223 couples undergoing IVF in our hospital from October 2008 to September 2009 were included in this study. Data on the IVF process and sperm chromatin structure assay results were collected. Fertilization rate, embryo quality and IVF success rates of different DNA fragmentation index （DFI） subgroups and high DNA stainability （HDS） subgroups were compared. There were no significant differences in fertilization rate, clinical pregnancy or delivery rates between the DFI and HDS subgroups. However, the group with abnormal DFI had a lower good embryo rate. So, we concluded that the SCSA variables, either DFI or HDS after swim-up preparation, were not valuable in predicting fertilization failure or pregnancy rate, but an abnormal DFI meant a lower good embryo rate following IVF.
基金Supported by Grants P302/12/G157 and 13-07822S from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republicby COST-CZ project LD11020 of the Ministry of Education Youth and Sport of the Czech RepublicBártová E is a coordinator of the EU Marie Curie Project PIRSES-GA-2010-269156-LCS
文摘The study of embryonic stem cells is in the spotlight in many laboratories that study the structure and function of chromatin and epigenetic processes. The key properties of embryonic stem cells are their capacity for selfrenewal and their pluripotency. Pluripotent stem cells are able to differentiate into the cells of all three germ layers, and because of this property they represent a promising therapeutic tool in the treatment of diseases such as Parkinson's disease and diabetes, or in the healing of lesions after heart attack. As the basic nuclear unit, chromatin is responsible for the regulation of the functional status of cells, including pluripotency and differentiation. Therefore, in this review we discuss the functional changes in chromatin during differentiation and the correlation between epigenetics events and the differentiation potential of embryonic stem cells. In particular we focus on post-translational histone modification, DNA methylation and the heterochromatin protein HP1 and its unique function in mouse and human embryonic stem cells.
基金supported by the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program(ASTIP-IAS02).
文摘Background:The development of skeletal muscle in pigs during the embryonic stage is precisely regulated by transcriptional mechanisms,which depend on chromatin accessibility.However,how chromatin accessibility plays a regulatory role during embryonic skeletal muscle development in pigs has not been reported.To gain insight into the landscape of chromatin accessibility and the associated genome-wide transcriptome during embryonic muscle development,we performed ATAC-seq and RNA-seq analyses of skeletal muscle from pig embryos at 45,70 and 100 days post coitus(dpc).Results:In total,21,638,35,447 and 60,181 unique regions(or peaks)were found across the embryos at 45 dpc(LW45),70 dpc(LW70)and 100 dpc(LW100),respectively.More than 91%of the peaks were annotated within−1 kb to 100 bp of transcription start sites(TSSs).First,widespread increases in specific accessible chromatin regions(ACRs)from embryos at 45 to 100 dpc suggested that the regulatory mechanisms became increasingly complicated during embryonic development.Second,the findings from integrated ATAC-seq and RNA-seq analyses showed that not only the numbers but also the intensities of ACRs could control the expression of associated genes.Moreover,the motif screening of stage-specific ACRs revealed some transcription factors that regulate muscle developmentrelated genes,such as MyoG,Mef2c,and Mef2d.Several potential transcriptional repressors,including E2F6,OTX2 and CTCF,were identified among the genes that exhibited different regulation trends between the ATAC-seq and RNA-seq data.Conclusions:This work indicates that chromatin accessibility plays an important regulatory role in the embryonic muscle development of pigs and regulates the temporal and spatial expression patterns of key genes in muscle development by influencing the binding of transcription factors.Our results contribute to a better understanding of the regulatory dynamics of genes involved in pig embryonic skeletal muscle development.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31922061,41871044,31500502,31561123001,and 31590821)US National Science Foundation grants(DEB-1542599)+3 种基金the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2016YFD0600101 and 2017YFC0505203)the National Science and Technology Major Project(2018ZX10201002)the National Key Project for Basic Research(2012CB114504)Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(2020SCUNL103,2018CDDY-S02-SCU,and SCU2019D013).
文摘The nonrandom three-dimensional organization of chromatin plays an important role in the regulation of gene expression.However,it remains unclear whether this organization is conserved and whether it is involved in regulating gene expression during speciation after whole-genome duplication(WGD)in plants.In this study,high-resolution interaction maps were generated using high-throughput chromatin conformation capture(Hi-C)techniques for two poplar species,Populus euphratica and Populus alba var.pyramidalis,which diverged~14 Mya after a common WGD.We examined the similarities and differences in the hierarchical chromatin organization between the two species,including A/B compartment regions and topologically associating domains(TADs),as well as in their DNA methylation and gene expression patterns.We found that chromatin status was strongly associated with epigenetic modifications and gene transcriptional activity,yet the conservation of hierarchical chromatin organization across the two species was low.The divergence of gene expression between WGD-derived paralogs was associated with the strength of chromatin interactions,and colocalized paralogs exhibited strong similarities in epigenetic modifications and expression levels.Thus,the spatial localization of duplicated genes is highly correlated with biased expression during the diploidization process.This study provides new insights into the evolution of chromatin organization and transcriptional regulation during the speciation process of poplars after WGD.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31830045,32025005)。
文摘Plant reproduction requires the coordinated development of both male and female reproductive organs.Jasmonic acid(JA)plays an essential role in stamen filament elongation.However,the mechanism by which the JA biosynthesis genes are regulated to promote stamen elongation remains unclear.Here,we show that the chromatin remodeling complex Imitation of Switch(ISWI)promotes stamen filament elongation by regulating JA biosynthesis.We show that AT-Rich Interacting Domain 5(ARID5)interacts with CHR11,CHR17,and RLT1,several known subunits of ISWI.Mutations in ARID5 and RLTs caused a reduced seed set due to greatly shortened stamen filaments.RNA-seq analyses reveal that the expression of key genes responsible for JA biosynthesis is significantly down-regulated in the arid5 and rlt mutants.Consistently,the JA levels are drastically decreased in both arid5 and rlt mutants.Chromatin immunoprecipitationquantitative PCR analyses further show that ARID5 is recruited to the chromatin of JA biosynthesis genes.Importantly,exogenous JA treatments can fully rescue the defects of stamen filament elongation in both arid5 and rlt mutants,leading to the partial recovery of fertility.Our results provide a clue how JA biosynthesisis positively regulated by the chromatin remodeling complex ISWI,thereby promoting stamen filament elongation in Arabidopsis.
文摘In this editorial preface, I briefly r eview cancer bioinformatics and introduce the four articles in this special issue highlighting important applications of the field: detection of chromatin states; detection of SNP- containing motifs and association with transcription factor-binding sites; improvements in functional enrichment modules; and gene association studies on aging and cancer. We expect this issue to provide bioinformatics scientists, cancer biologists, and clinical doctors with a better understanding of how cancer bioinformatics can be used to identify candidate biomarkers and targets and to conduct functional analysis.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(U2002205,32272862)。
文摘The development of epigenetic maps, such as the ENCODE project in humans, provides resources for gene regulation studies and a reference for research of disease-related regulatory elements. However,epigenetic information, such as a bird-specific chromatin accessibility atlas, is currently lacking for the thousands of bird species currently described.The major genomic difference between birds and mammals is their shorter introns and intergenic distances, which seriously hinders the use of humans and mice as a reference for studying the function of important regulatory regions in birds. In this study, using chicken as a model bird species, we systematically compiled a chicken chromatin accessibility atlas using 53 Assay of Transposase Accessible Chromatin sequencing(ATAC-seq)samples across 11 tissues. An average of 50 ?796open chromatin regions were identified per sample,cumulatively accounting for 20.36% of the chicken genome. Tissue specificity was largely reflected by differences in intergenic and intronic peaks, with specific functional regulation achieved by two mechanisms: recruitment of several sequence-specific transcription factors and direct regulation of adjacent functional genes. By integrating data from genome-wide association studies, our results suggest that chicken body weight is driven by different regulatory variants active in growth-relevant tissues. We propose CAB39L(active in the duodenum), RCBTB1(muscle and liver), and novel long non-coding RNA ENSGALG00000053256(bone) as candidate genes regulating chicken body weight. Overall, this study demonstrates the value of epigenetic data in fine-mapping functional variants and provides a compendium of resources for further research on the epigenetics and evolution of birds and mammals.
文摘The three-dimensional(3D) organization of the eukaryotic genome is critical for its proper function. Evidence suggests that extensive chromatin loops form the building blocks of the genomic architecture, separating genes and gene clusters into distinct functional domains. These loops are anchored in part by a special type of DNA elements called chromatin boundary elements(CBEs). CBEs were originally found to insulate neighboring genes by blocking influences of transcriptional enhancers or the spread of silent chromatin. However, recent results show that chromatin loops can also play a positive role in gene regulation by looping out intervening DNA and "delivering" remote enhancers to gene promoters. In addition, studies from human and model organisms indicate that the configuration of chromatin loops, many of which are tethered by CBEs, is dynamically regulated during cell differentiation. In particular, a recent work by Li et al has shown that the SF1 boundary, located in the Drosophila Hox cluster, regulates local genes by tethering different subsets of chromatin loops: One subset enclose a neighboring gene ftz, limiting its access by the surrounding Scr enhancers and restrict the spread of repressive histones during early embryogenesis; and the other loops subdivide the Scr regulatory region into independent domains of enhancer accessibility. The enhancer-blocking activity of these CBE elements varies greatly in strength and tissue distribution. Further, tandem pairing of SF1 and SF2 facilitate the bypass of distal enhancers in transgenic flies, providing a mechanism for endogenous enhancers to circumvent genomic interruptions resulting from chromosomal rearrangement. This study demonstrates how a network of chromatin boundaries, centrally organized by SF1, can remodel the 3D genome to facilitate gene regulation during development.
文摘The HIV-1 LTR controls the expression of HIV-1 viral genes and thus is critical for viral propagation and pathology. Numerous host factors have been shown to participate in the regulation of the LTR promoter. Among them is the thyroid hormone (T3) receptor (TR). TR has been shown to bind to the critical region of the promoter that contain the NFbB and Sp1 binding sites. Interestingly, earlier transient transfection studies in tissue culture cells have yielded contradicting conclusions on the role of TR in LTR regulation, likely due to the use of different cell types and/or lack of proper chromatin organization. Here, using the frog oocyte as a model system that allows replication-coupled chromatin assembly, mimicking that in somatic cells, we demonstrate that unliganded heterodimers of TR and RXR (9-cis retinoic acid receptor) repress LTR while the addition of T3 relieves the repression and further activates the promoter. More importantly, we show that chromatin and unliganded TR/RXR synergize to repress the promoter in a histone deacetylase-dependent manner.
基金supported by funds from the National Natural Science Foundation of China,grants 31900427(to C.Z.),31600981(to X.L.),and 32000609(to Y.Z.)the Project of Youth Talent in the Hubei Provincial Department of Education(Q20191207)to C.Z.+1 种基金the Open Project of Hubei Key Laboratory of Wudang Local Chinese Medicine Research(Hubei University of Medicine)(grant WDCM2019009)to C.Z.the Initial Project for High-Level Personnel of China Three Gorges University to C.Z.
文摘Accessible chromatin regions(ACRs)provide physical scaffolds to recruit transcriptional co-regulators and displace their nearby nucleosomes in multiple plant species.Characterization of ACRs and investigation of their biological effects in Sorghum bicolor has lagged behind.Regulation of gene expression relies on the transcriptional co-regulators that are recruited to ACRs to affect epigenomic modifications of surrounding nucleosomes.In this study,we employed transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing to identify ACRs and decipher how the presence of ACRs affects gene expression and epigenetic signatures in the Sorghum genome.As a result,21077 ACRs,which are mapped to 22.9%of genes and 2.7%of repeats,were identified.The profiling of ACRs on gene structures reveals a narrow and sharp peak around the transcription start site,with relatively weak and broad signals covering the entire gene body and an explicit but wide peak from the transcription termination site to its downstream regions.We discovered that the correlations between gene expression levels and profiled ACR densities are dependent on the positions of ACRs.The occurrence of genic ACRs cumulatively enhances the transcriptional activity of intergenic ACR-associated genes.In addition,an intricate crosstalk among ACRs,gene expression,and epigenetic marks has been unveiled by integrating multiple-omics analyses of whole-genome bisulfite sequencing,6mA immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing,RNA sequencing,chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing,and DNase I hypersensitive sites sequencing datasets.Our study provides a genome-wide landscape of ACRs in sorghum,decrypts their interrelations with various epigenetic marks,and sheds new light on their roles in transcriptional regulation.
