bims-crepig Biomed News
on Chromatin regulation and epigenetics in cell fate and cancer
Issue of 2022–05–29
nineteen papers selected by
Connor Rogerson, University of Cambridge
  1. Oct4 differentially regulates chromatin opening and enhancer transcription in pluripotent stem cells.
  2. Profiling the quantitative occupancy of myriad transcription factors across conditions by modeling chromatin accessibility data.
  3. Polycomb-mediated genome architecture enables long-range spreading of H3K27 methylation.
  4. Single-cell chromatin profiling of the primitive gut tube reveals regulatory dynamics underlying lineage fate decisions.
  5. Chromatin remodeling is restricted by transient GATA6 binding during iPSC differentiation to definitive endoderm.
  6. Dual function NFI factors control fetal hemoglobin silencing in adult erythroid cells.
  7. Zinc finger protein 280C contributes to colorectal tumorigenesis by maintaining epigenetic repression at H3K27me3-marked loci.
  8. Chromatin profiles classify castration-resistant prostate cancers suggesting therapeutic targets.
  9. A hexasome is the preferred substrate for the INO80 chromatin remodeling complex, allowing versatility of function.
  10. XIST loss impairs mammary stem cell differentiation and increases tumorigenicity through Mediator hyperactivation.
  11. Comprehensive assessment of differential ChIP-seq tools guides optimal algorithm selection.
  12. Dnmt3a knockout in excitatory neurons impairs postnatal synapse maturation and increases the repressive histone modification H3K27me3.
  13. Evolution of transcription factor binding through sequence variations and turnover of binding sites.
  14. Large-scale chromatin reorganization reactivates placenta-specific genes that drive cellular aging.
  15. Rtt109 promotes nucleosome replacement ahead of the replicating fork.
  16. GEOexplorer: a webserver for gene expression analysis and visualisation.
  17. Activation of Nkx2.5 transcriptional program is required for adult myocardial repair.
  18. WebCSEA: web-based cell-type-specific enrichment analysis of genes.
  19. How Pioneer Transcription Factors Search for Target Sites on Nucleosomal DNA.
  1. Elife. 2022 May 27. pii: e71533. [Epub ahead of print]11
    Oct4 differentially regulates chromatin opening and enhancer transcription in pluripotent stem cells.
    Le Xiong, Erik A Tolen, Jinmi Choi, Sergiy Velychko, Livia Caizzi, Taras Velychko, Kenjiro Adachi, Caitlin M MacCarthy, Michael Lidschreiber, Patrick Cramer, Hans R Schöler.
      The transcription factor Oct4 is essential for the maintenance and induction of stem cell pluripotency, but its functional roles are not fully understood. Here, we investigate the functions of Oct4 by depleting and subsequently recovering it in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and conducting a time-resolved multiomics analysis. Oct4 depletion leads to an immediate loss of its binding to enhancers, accompanied by a decrease in mRNA synthesis from its target genes that are part of the transcriptional network that maintains pluripotency. Gradual decrease of Oct4 binding to enhancers does not immediately change the chromatin accessibility but reduces transcription of enhancers. Conversely, partial recovery of Oct4 expression results in a rapid increase in chromatin accessibility, whereas enhancer transcription does not fully recover. These results indicate different concentration-dependent activities of Oct4. Whereas normal ESC levels of Oct4 are required for transcription of pluripotency enhancers, low levels of Oct4 are sufficient to retain chromatin accessibility, likely together with other factors such as Sox2.
    Keywords:  Oct4; chromatin accessibility; chromosomes; eRNA; enhancer; gene expression; gene regulation; genetics; genomics; mouse; pluripotency
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.71533
  2. Genome Res. 2022 May 24. pii: gr.272203.120. [Epub ahead of print]
    Profiling the quantitative occupancy of myriad transcription factors across conditions by modeling chromatin accessibility data.
    Kaixuan Luo, Jianling Zhong, Alexias Safi, Linda K Hong, Alok K Tewari, Lingyun Song, Timothy E Reddy, Li Ma, Gregory E Crawford, Alexander J Hartemink.
      Over a thousand different transcription factors (TFs) bind with varying occupancy across the human genome. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) can assay occupancy genome-wide, but only one TF at a time, limiting our ability to comprehensively observe the TF occupancy landscape, let alone quantify how it changes across conditions. We developed TOP, a Bayesian hierarchical regression framework, to profile genome-wide quantitative occupancy of numerous TFs using data from a single chromatin accessibility experiment (DNase- or ATAC-seq). TOP is supervised, and its hierarchical structure allows it to predict the occupancy of any sequence-specific TF, even those never assayed with ChIP. We used TOP to profile the quantitative occupancy of hundreds of sequence-specific TFs at sites throughout the genome, and examined how their occupancies changed in multiple contexts: in ~200 human cell types, through 12 hours of exposure to different hormones, and across the genetic backgrounds of 70 individuals. TOP enables cost-effective exploration of quantitative changes in the landscape of TF binding.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.272203.120
  3. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 May 31. 119(22): e2201883119
    Polycomb-mediated genome architecture enables long-range spreading of H3K27 methylation.
    Katerina Kraft, Kathryn E Yost, Sedona E Murphy, Andreas Magg, Yicheng Long, M Ryan Corces, Jeffrey M Granja, Lars Wittler, Stefan Mundlos, Thomas R Cech, Alistair N Boettiger, Howard Y Chang.
      SignificanceThe relationship between long-range Polycomb-associated chromatin contacts and the linear propagation of histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) by Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) is not well-characterized. Here, we nominate a role for developmental loci as genomic architectural elements that enable long-range spreading of H3K27me3. Polycomb-associated loops are disrupted upon loss of PRC2 binding and deletion of loop anchors results in alterations of H3K27me3 deposition and ectopic gene expression. These results suggest that Polycomb-mediated genome architecture is important for gene repression during embryonic development.
    Keywords:  3D genome; Polycomb-group proteins; RNA-mediated Polycomb loops; epigenetic silencing; heterochromatin
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2201883119
  4. Nat Commun. 2022 May 26. 13(1): 2965
    Single-cell chromatin profiling of the primitive gut tube reveals regulatory dynamics underlying lineage fate decisions.
    Ryan J Smith, Hongpan Zhang, Shengen Shawn Hu, Theodora Yung, Roshane Francis, Lilian Lee, Mark W Onaitis, Peter B Dirks, Chongzhi Zang, Tae-Hee Kim.
      Development of the gastrointestinal system occurs after gut tube closure, guided by spatial and temporal control of gene expression. However, it remains unclear what forces regulate these spatiotemporal gene expression patterns. Here we perform single-cell chromatin profiling of the primitive gut tube to reveal organ-specific chromatin patterns that reflect the anatomical patterns of distinct organs. We generate a comprehensive map of epigenomic changes throughout gut development, demonstrating that dynamic chromatin accessibility patterns associate with lineage-specific transcription factor binding events to regulate organ-specific gene expression. Additionally, we show that loss of Sox2 and Cdx2, foregut and hindgut lineage-specific transcription factors, respectively, leads to fate shifts in epigenomic patterns, linking transcription factor binding, chromatin accessibility, and lineage fate decisions in gut development. Notably, abnormal expression of Sox2 in the pancreas and intestine impairs lineage fate decisions in both development and adult homeostasis. Together, our findings define the chromatin and transcriptional mechanisms of organ identity and lineage plasticity in development and adult homeostasis.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30624-w
  5. iScience. 2022 May 20. 25(5): 104300
    Chromatin remodeling is restricted by transient GATA6 binding during iPSC differentiation to definitive endoderm.
    James A Heslop, Behshad Pournasr, Stephen A Duncan.
      In addition to cooperatively driving transcriptional programs, emerging evidence supports transcription factors interacting with one another to modulate the outcome of binding events. As such, transcription factor interactions fine-tune the unique gene expression profiles required for developmental progression. Using human-induced pluripotent stem cells as a model of human endoderm lineage commitment, we reveal that GATA6 transiently co-localizes with EOMES at regions associated with non-endodermal lineages and is required for the repression of chromatin opening at these loci. Our results indicate that GATA6-dependent repression of chromatin remodeling, which is potentially mediated via the recruitment of NCOR1 to the EOMES interactome, contributes to definitive endoderm commitment. We anticipate that similar mechanisms are common during human development, furthering our understanding of the complex mechanisms that define cell fate decisions.
    Keywords:  Developmental biology; Molecular biology; Molecular mechanism of gene regulation
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.104300
  6. Nat Genet. 2022 May 26.
    Dual function NFI factors control fetal hemoglobin silencing in adult erythroid cells.
    Kunhua Qin, Peng Huang, Ruopeng Feng, Cheryl A Keller, Scott A Peslak, Eugene Khandros, Megan S Saari, Xianjiang Lan, Thiyagaraj Mayuranathan, Phillip A Doerfler, Osheiza Abdulmalik, Belinda Giardine, Stella T Chou, Junwei Shi, Ross C Hardison, Mitchell J Weiss, Gerd A Blobel.
      The mechanisms by which the fetal-type β-globin-like genes HBG1 and HBG2 are silenced in adult erythroid precursor cells remain a fundamental question in human biology and have therapeutic relevance to sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia. Here, we identify via a CRISPR-Cas9 genetic screen two members of the NFI transcription factor family-NFIA and NFIX-as HBG1/2 repressors. NFIA and NFIX are expressed at elevated levels in adult erythroid cells compared with fetal cells, and function cooperatively to repress HBG1/2 in cultured cells and in human-to-mouse xenotransplants. Genomic profiling, genome editing and DNA binding assays demonstrate that the potent concerted activity of NFIA and NFIX is explained in part by their ability to stimulate the expression of BCL11A, a known silencer of the HBG1/2 genes, and in part by directly repressing the HBG1/2 genes. Thus, NFI factors emerge as versatile regulators of the fetal-to-adult switch in β-globin production.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-022-01076-1
  7. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 May 31. 119(22): e2120633119
    Zinc finger protein 280C contributes to colorectal tumorigenesis by maintaining epigenetic repression at H3K27me3-marked loci.
    Ying Ying, Maolin Wang, Yongheng Chen, Meiqi Li, Canjie Ma, Junbao Zhang, Xiaoyan Huang, Min Jia, Junhui Zeng, Yejun Wang, Lili Li, Xiaomei Wang, Qian Tao, Xing-Sheng Shu.
      SignificanceThis study uncovered the role of ZNF280C, a known DNA damage response protein, as a tumorigenic transcription regulator that contributes to colorectal tumorigenesis and metastasis through maintaining an epigenetic repression program at key cancer gene loci. These findings identified a contributor with potential prognostic value to colorectal pathogenesis and provide mechanistic insight to the essential function of transcription factor in fine-tuning the activity of chromatin regulators for proper transcription control.
    Keywords:  CTCF; ZNF280C; colorectal cancer; epigenetic repression; transcription factor
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2120633119
  8. Science. 2022 May 27. 376(6596): eabe1505
    Chromatin profiles classify castration-resistant prostate cancers suggesting therapeutic targets.
    Fanying Tang, Duo Xu, Shangqian Wang, Chen Khuan Wong, Alexander Martinez-Fundichely, Cindy J Lee, Sandra Cohen, Jane Park, Corinne E Hill, Kenneth Eng, Rohan Bareja, Teng Han, Eric Minwei Liu, Ann Palladino, Wei Di, Dong Gao, Wassim Abida, Shaham Beg, Loredana Puca, Maximiliano Meneses, Elisa de Stanchina, Michael F Berger, Anuradha Gopalan, Lukas E Dow, Juan Miguel Mosquera, Himisha Beltran, Cora N Sternberg, Ping Chi, Howard I Scher, Andrea Sboner, Yu Chen, Ekta Khurana.
      In castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), the loss of androgen receptor (AR) dependence leads to clinically aggressive tumors with few therapeutic options. We used ATAC-seq (assay for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing), RNA-seq, and DNA sequencing to investigate 22 organoids, six patient-derived xenografts, and 12 cell lines. We identified the well-characterized AR-dependent and neuroendocrine subtypes, as well as two AR-negative/low groups: a Wnt-dependent subtype, and a stem cell-like (SCL) subtype driven by activator protein-1 (AP-1) transcription factors. We used transcriptomic signatures to classify 366 patients, which showed that SCL is the second most common subtype of CRPC after AR-dependent. Our data suggest that AP-1 interacts with the YAP/TAZ and TEAD proteins to maintain subtype-specific chromatin accessibility and transcriptomic landscapes in this group. Together, this molecular classification reveals drug targets and can potentially guide therapeutic decisions.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abe1505
  9. Mol Cell. 2022 May 11. pii: S1097-2765(22)00389-6. [Epub ahead of print]
    A hexasome is the preferred substrate for the INO80 chromatin remodeling complex, allowing versatility of function.
    Laura J Hsieh, Muryam A Gourdet, Camille M Moore, Elise N Muñoz, Nathan Gamarra, Vijay Ramani, Geeta J Narlikar.
      The critical role of the INO80 chromatin remodeling complex in transcription is commonly attributed to its nucleosome sliding activity. Here, we have found that INO80 prefers to mobilize hexasomes over nucleosomes. INO80's preference for hexasomes reaches up to ∼60 fold when flanking DNA overhangs approach ∼18-bp linkers in yeast gene bodies. Correspondingly, deletion of INO80 significantly affects the positions of hexasome-sized particles within yeast genes in vivo. Our results raise the possibility that INO80 promotes nucleosome sliding by dislodging an H2A-H2B dimer, thereby making a nucleosome transiently resemble a hexasome. We propose that this mechanism allows INO80 to rapidly mobilize nucleosomes at promoters and hexasomes within gene bodies. Rapid repositioning of hexasomes that are generated in the wake of transcription may mitigate spurious transcription. More generally, such versatility may explain how INO80 regulates chromatin architecture during the diverse processes of transcription, replication, and repair.
    Keywords:  INO80; chromatin remodeling; hexasome
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2022.04.026
  10. Cell. 2022 May 13. pii: S0092-8674(22)00532-3. [Epub ahead of print]
    XIST loss impairs mammary stem cell differentiation and increases tumorigenicity through Mediator hyperactivation.
    Laia Richart, Mary-Loup Picod-Chedotel, Michel Wassef, Manon Macario, Setareh Aflaki, Marion A Salvador, Tiphaine Héry, Aurélien Dauphin, Julien Wicinski, Véronique Chevrier, Sonia Pastor, Geoffrey Guittard, Samuel Le Cam, Hanya Kamhawi, Rémy Castellano, Géraldine Guasch, Emmanuelle Charafe-Jauffret, Edith Heard, Raphaël Margueron, Christophe Ginestier.
      X inactivation (XCI) is triggered by upregulation of XIST, which coats the chromosome in cis, promoting formation of a heterochromatic domain (Xi). XIST role beyond initiation of XCI is only beginning to be elucidated. Here, we demonstrate that XIST loss impairs differentiation of human mammary stem cells (MaSCs) and promotes emergence of highly tumorigenic and metastatic carcinomas. On the Xi, XIST deficiency triggers epigenetic changes and reactivation of genes overlapping Polycomb domains, including Mediator subunit MED14. MED14 overdosage results in increased Mediator levels and hyperactivation of the MaSC enhancer landscape and transcriptional program, making differentiation less favorable. We further demonstrate that loss of XIST and Xi transcriptional instability is common among human breast tumors of poor prognosis. We conclude that XIST is a gatekeeper of human mammary epithelium homeostasis, thus unveiling a paradigm in the control of somatic cell identity with potential consequences for our understanding of gender-specific malignancies.
    Keywords:  Mediator; X chromosome; XIST; breast tumorigenesis; differentiation; enhancers; homeostasis; human mammary stem cell; polycomb; transcriptional reactivation
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.04.034
  11. Genome Biol. 2022 May 24. 23(1): 119
    Comprehensive assessment of differential ChIP-seq tools guides optimal algorithm selection.
    Thomas Eder, Florian Grebien.
       BACKGROUND: The analysis of chromatin binding patterns of proteins in different biological states is a main application of chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq). A large number of algorithms and computational tools for quantitative comparison of ChIP-seq datasets exist, but their performance is strongly dependent on the parameters of the biological system under investigation. Thus, a systematic assessment of available computational tools for differential ChIP-seq analysis is required to guide the optimal selection of analysis tools based on the present biological scenario.
    RESULTS: We created standardized reference datasets by in silico simulation and sub-sampling of genuine ChIP-seq data to represent different biological scenarios and binding profiles. Using these data, we evaluated the performance of 33 computational tools and approaches for differential ChIP-seq analysis. Tool performance was strongly dependent on peak size and shape as well as on the scenario of biological regulation.
    CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis provides unbiased guidelines for the optimized choice of software tools in differential ChIP-seq analysis.
    Keywords:  Benchmarking differential ChIP-seq tools; Bioinformatic analysis; Differential ChIP-seq; Guidelines for differential ChIP-seq
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-022-02686-y
  12. Elife. 2022 May 23. pii: e66909. [Epub ahead of print]11
    Dnmt3a knockout in excitatory neurons impairs postnatal synapse maturation and increases the repressive histone modification H3K27me3.
    Junhao Li, Antonio Pinto-Duarte, Mark Zander, Michael S Cuoco, Chi-Yu Lai, Julia Osteen, Linjing Fang, Chongyuan Luo, Jacinta D Lucero, Rosa Gomez-Castanon, Joseph R Nery, Isai Silva-Garcia, Yan Pang, Terrence J Sejnowski, Susan B Powell, Joseph R Ecker, Eran A Mukamel, M Margarita Behrens.
      Two epigenetic pathways of transcriptional repression, DNA methylation and Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) are known to regulate neuronal development and function. However, their respective contributions to brain maturation are unknown. We found that conditional loss of the de novo DNA methyltransferase Dnmt3a in mouse excitatory neurons altered expression of synapse-related genes, stunted synapse maturation, and impaired working memory and social interest. At the genomic level, loss of Dnmt3a abolished postnatal accumulation of CG and non-CG DNA methylation, leaving adult neurons with an unmethylated, fetal-like epigenomic pattern at ~222,000 genomic regions. The PRC2-associated histone modification, H3K27me3, increased at many of these sites. Our data support a dynamic interaction between two fundamental modes of epigenetic repression during postnatal maturation of excitatory neurons, which together confer robustness on neuronal regulation.
    Keywords:  genetics; genomics; mouse; neuroscience
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.66909
  13. Genome Res. 2022 May 26. pii: gr.276715.122. [Epub ahead of print]
    Evolution of transcription factor binding through sequence variations and turnover of binding sites.
    Gat Krieger, Offir Lupo, Patricia Wittkopp, Naama Barkai.
      Variations in noncoding regulatory sequences play a central role in evolution. Interpreting such variations, however, remains difficult even in the context of defined attributes such as transcription factor (TF) binding sites. Here, we systematically link variations in cis-regulatory sequences to TF binding by profiling the allele-specific binding of 27 TFs expressed in a yeast hybrid, in which two related genomes are present within the same nucleus. TFs localize preferentially to sites containing their known consensus motifs but occupy only a small fraction of the motif-coding sites available within the genomes. Differential binding of TFs to the orthologous alleles was well explained by variations that alter motif sequence, while differences in chromatin accessibility between alleles were of little apparent effect. Motif variations that abolished binding when present in one allele only, were still bound when present in both alleles, suggesting evolutionary compensation, with a potential role for sequence conservation at the motif's vicinity. At the level of the full promoter, we identify cases of binding site turnover, where binding sites are reciprocally gained and lost, yet most interspecific differences remained uncompensated. Our results demonstrate the flexibility of TFs to bind imprecise motifs and the fast evolution of TF binding sites between related species.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.276715.122
  14. Dev Cell. 2022 May 19. pii: S1534-5807(22)00332-X. [Epub ahead of print]
    Large-scale chromatin reorganization reactivates placenta-specific genes that drive cellular aging.
    Zunpeng Liu, Qianzhao Ji, Jie Ren, Pengze Yan, Zeming Wu, Si Wang, Liang Sun, Zehua Wang, Jiaming Li, Guoqiang Sun, Chuqian Liang, Run Sun, Xiaoyu Jiang, Jianli Hu, Yingjie Ding, Qiaoran Wang, Shijia Bi, Gang Wei, Gang Cao, Guoguang Zhao, Hongmei Wang, Qi Zhou, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, Jing Qu, Weiqi Zhang, Guang-Hui Liu.
      Nuclear deformation, a hallmark frequently observed in senescent cells, is presumed to be associated with the erosion of chromatin organization at the nuclear periphery. However, how such gradual changes in higher-order genome organization impinge on local epigenetic modifications to drive cellular mechanisms of aging has remained enigmatic. Here, through large-scale epigenomic analyses of isogenic young, senescent, and progeroid human mesenchymal progenitor cells (hMPCs), we delineate a hierarchy of integrated structural state changes that manifest as heterochromatin loss in repressive compartments, euchromatin weakening in active compartments, switching in interfacing topological compartments, and increasing epigenetic entropy. We found that the epigenetic de-repression unlocks the expression of pregnancy-specific beta-1 glycoprotein (PSG) genes that exacerbate hMPC aging and serve as potential aging biomarkers. Our analyses provide a rich resource for uncovering the principles of epigenomic landscape organization and its changes in cellular aging and for identifying aging drivers and intervention targets with a genome-topology-based mechanism.
    Keywords:  3D genome; aging biomarker; chromomatin entropy; epigenome; placenta-specific genes; pregnancy-specific beta-1 glycoprotein (PSG); progeria; senesence; stem cell aging
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2022.05.004
  15. Genome Res. 2022 May 24. pii: gr.276674.122. [Epub ahead of print]
    Rtt109 promotes nucleosome replacement ahead of the replicating fork.
    Felix Jonas, Gilad Yaakov, Naama Barkai.
      DNA replication perturbs chromatin by triggering the eviction, replacement and incorporation of nucleosomes. How this dynamic is orchestrated in time and space is poorly understood. Here, we apply a genomically encoded sensor for histone exchange to follow the time-resolved histone H3 exchange profile in budding yeast cells undergoing slow synchronous replication in nucleotide limiting conditions. We find that new histones are incorporated not only behind, but also ahead of the replication fork. We provide evidence that Rtt109, the S phase-induced acetyltransferase, stabilizes nucleosomes behind the fork, but promotes H3 replacement ahead of the fork. Increased replacement ahead of the fork is independent of the primary Rtt109 acetylation target H3K56, but rather results from Vps75-dependent Rtt109 activity towards the H3 N-terminus. Our results suggest that, at least under nucleotide limiting conditions, selective incorporation of differentially modified H3s behind and ahead of the replication fork results in opposing effects on histone exchange, likely reflecting the distinct challenges for genome stability at these different regions.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.276674.122
  16. Nucleic Acids Res. 2022 May 24. pii: gkac364. [Epub ahead of print]
    GEOexplorer: a webserver for gene expression analysis and visualisation.
    Guy P Hunt, Luigi Grassi, Rafael Henkin, Fabrizio Smeraldi, Thomas P Spargo, Renata Kabiljo, Sulev Koks, Zina Ibrahim, Richard J B Dobson, Ammar Al-Chalabi, Michael R Barnes, Alfredo Iacoangeli.
      Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) is a database repository hosting a substantial proportion of publicly available high throughput gene expression data. Gene expression analysis is a powerful tool to gain insight into the mechanisms and processes underlying the biological and phenotypic differences between sample groups. Despite the wide availability of gene expression datasets, their access, analysis, and integration are not trivial and require specific expertise and programming proficiency. We developed the GEOexplorer webserver to allow scientists to access, integrate and analyse gene expression datasets without requiring programming proficiency. Via its user-friendly graphic interface, users can easily apply GEOexplorer to perform interactive and reproducible gene expression analysis of microarray and RNA-seq datasets, while producing a wealth of interactive visualisations to facilitate data exploration and interpretation, and generating a range of publication ready figures. The webserver allows users to search and retrieve datasets from GEO as well as to upload user-generated data and combine and harmonise two datasets to perform joint analyses. GEOexplorer, available at https://geoexplorer.rosalind.kcl.ac.uk, provides a solution for performing interactive and reproducible analyses of microarray and RNA-seq gene expression data, empowering life scientists to perform exploratory data analysis and differential gene expression analysis on-the-fly without informatics proficiency.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkac364
  17. Nat Commun. 2022 May 27. 13(1): 2970
    Activation of Nkx2.5 transcriptional program is required for adult myocardial repair.
    Carmen de Sena-Tomás, Angelika G Aleman, Caitlin Ford, Akriti Varshney, Di Yao, Jamie K Harrington, Leonor Saúde, Mirana Ramialison, Kimara L Targoff.
      The cardiac developmental network has been associated with myocardial regenerative potential. However, the embryonic signals triggered following injury have yet to be fully elucidated. Nkx2.5 is a key causative transcription factor associated with human congenital heart disease and one of the earliest markers of cardiac progenitors, thus it serves as a promising candidate. Here, we show that cardiac-specific RNA-sequencing studies reveal a disrupted embryonic transcriptional profile in the adult Nkx2.5 loss-of-function myocardium. nkx2.5-/- fish exhibit an impaired ability to recover following ventricular apex amputation with diminished dedifferentiation and proliferation. Complex network analyses illuminate that Nkx2.5 is required to provoke proteolytic pathways necessary for sarcomere disassembly and to mount a proliferative response for cardiomyocyte renewal. Moreover, Nkx2.5 targets embedded in these distinct gene regulatory modules coordinate appropriate, multi-faceted injury responses. Altogether, our findings support a previously unrecognized, Nkx2.5-dependent regenerative circuit that invokes myocardial cell cycle re-entry, proteolysis, and mitochondrial metabolism to ensure effective regeneration in the teleost heart.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30468-4
  18. Nucleic Acids Res. 2022 May 24. pii: gkac392. [Epub ahead of print]
    WebCSEA: web-based cell-type-specific enrichment analysis of genes.
    Yulin Dai, Ruifeng Hu, Andi Liu, Kyung Serk Cho, Astrid Marilyn Manuel, Xiaoyang Li, Xianjun Dong, Peilin Jia, Zhongming Zhao.
      Human complex traits and common diseases show tissue- and cell-type- specificity. Recently, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology has successfully depicted cellular heterogeneity in human tissue, providing an unprecedented opportunity to understand the context-specific expression of complex trait-associated genes in human tissue-cell types (TCs). Here, we present the first web-based application to quickly assess the cell-type-specificity of genes, named Web-based Cell-type Specific Enrichment Analysis of Genes (WebCSEA, available at https://bioinfo.uth.edu/webcsea/). Specifically, we curated a total of 111 scRNA-seq panels of human tissues and 1,355 TCs from 61 different general tissues across 11 human organ systems. We adapted our previous decoding tissue-specificity (deTS) algorithm to measure the enrichment for each tissue-cell type (TC). To overcome the potential bias from the number of signature genes between different TCs, we further developed a permutation-based method that accurately estimates the TC-specificity of a given inquiry gene list. WebCSEA also provides an interactive heatmap that displays the cell-type specificity across 1355 human TCs, and other interactive and static visualizations of cell-type specificity by human organ system, developmental stage, and top-ranked tissues and cell types. In short, WebCSEA is a one-click application that provides a comprehensive exploration of the TC-specificity of genes among human major TC map.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkac392
  19. J Phys Chem B. 2022 May 27.
    How Pioneer Transcription Factors Search for Target Sites on Nucleosomal DNA.
    Cayke Felipe, Jaeoh Shin, Anatoly B Kolomeisky.
      All major biological processes start after protein molecules known as transcription factors detect specific regulatory sequences on DNA and initiate genetic expression by associating to them. But in eukaryotic cells, much of the DNA is covered by nucleosomes and other chromatin structures, preventing transcription factors from binding to their targets. At the same time, experimental studies show that there are several classes of proteins, called "pioneer transcription factors", that are able to reach the targets on nucleosomal DNA; however, the underlying microscopic mechanisms remain not well understood. We propose a new theoretical approach that might explain how pioneer transcription factors can find their targets. It is argued that pioneer transcription factors might weaken the interactions between the DNA and nucleosome by substituting them with similar interactions between transcription factors and DNA. Using this idea, we develop a discrete-state stochastic model that allows for exact calculations of target search dynamics on nucleosomal DNA using first-passage probabilities approach. It is found that the target search on nuclesomal DNA for pioneer transcription factors might be significantly accelerated while the search is slower on naked DNA in comparison with normal transcription factors. Our theoretical predictions are supported by Monte Carlo computer simulations, and they also agree with available experimental observations.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c01931
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