bims-ginsta Biomed News
on Genome instability
Issue of 2023–11–05
seventeen papers selected by
Jinrong Hu, National University of Singapore
  1. The ubiquitin conjugase Rad6 mediates ribosome pausing during oxidative stress.
  2. Reorganization of lamina-associated domains in early mouse embryos is regulated by RNA polymerase II activity.
  3. Replisome loading reduces chromatin motion independent of DNA synthesis.
  4. Optogenetic control of YAP reveals a dynamic communication code for stem cell fate and proliferation.
  5. Regenerating human skeletal muscle forms an emerging niche in vivo to support PAX7 cells.
  6. Chromosome size-dependent polar ejection force impairs mammalian mitotic error correction.
  7. The chromatin network helps prevent cancer-associated mutagenesis at transcription-replication conflicts.
  8. Genome dilution by cell growth drives starvation-like proteome remodeling in mammalian and yeast cells.
  9. Mitochondrial regulation in stem cells.
  10. Condensin dysfunction is a reproductive isolating barrier in mice.
  11. FGF2 antiproliferative effect in K-ras-driven tumor cells involves modulation of rRNA and nucleolus.
  12. A pan-tissue survey of mosaic chromosomal alterations in 948 individuals.
  13. Latent Epigenetic Programs in Müller Glia Contribute to Stress, Injury, and Disease Response in the Retina.
  14. A mechanosensitive caveolae-invadosome interplay drives matrix remodelling for cancer cell invasion.
  15. Collective signalling drives rapid jumping between cell states.
  16. Mosaic chromosomal alterations in blood across ancestries using whole-genome sequencing.
  17. Functional analyses of the polycomb-group genes in sea lamprey embryos undergoing programmed DNA loss.
  1. Cell Rep. 2023 Nov 01. pii: S2211-1247(23)01371-2. [Epub ahead of print]42(11): 113359
    The ubiquitin conjugase Rad6 mediates ribosome pausing during oxidative stress.
    Sezen Meydan, Géssica C Barros, Vanessa Simões, Lana Harley, Blanche K Cizubu, Nicholas R Guydosh, Gustavo M Silva.
      Oxidative stress causes K63-linked ubiquitination of ribosomes by the E2 ubiquitin conjugase Rad6. How Rad6-mediated ubiquitination of ribosomes affects translation, however, is unclear. We therefore perform Ribo-seq and Disome-seq in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and show that oxidative stress causes ribosome pausing at specific amino acid motifs, which also leads to ribosome collisions. However, these redox-pausing signatures are lost in the absence of Rad6 and do not depend on the ribosome-associated quality control (RQC) pathway. We also show that Rad6 is needed to inhibit overall translation in response to oxidative stress and that its deletion leads to increased expression of antioxidant genes. Finally, we observe that the lack of Rad6 leads to changes during translation that affect activation of the integrated stress response (ISR) pathway. Our results provide a high-resolution picture of the gene expression changes during oxidative stress and unravel an additional stress response pathway affecting translation elongation.
    Keywords:  CP: Molecular biology; Rad6; oxidative stress; ribosome pause; ribosome ubiquitination; stress response; translation control
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113359
  2. Genes Dev. 2023 Nov 01.
    Reorganization of lamina-associated domains in early mouse embryos is regulated by RNA polymerase II activity.
    Mrinmoy Pal, Luis Altamirano-Pacheco, Tamas Schauer, Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla.
      Fertilization in mammals is accompanied by an intense period of chromatin remodeling and major changes in nuclear organization. How the earliest events in embryogenesis, including zygotic genome activation (ZGA) during maternal-to-zygotic transition, influence such remodeling remains unknown. Here, we have investigated the establishment of nuclear architecture, focusing on the remodeling of lamina-associated domains (LADs) during this transition. We report that LADs reorganize gradually in two-cell embryos and that blocking ZGA leads to major changes in nuclear organization, including altered chromatin and genomic features of LADs and redistribution of H3K4me3 toward the nuclear lamina. Our data indicate that the rearrangement of LADs is an integral component of the maternal-to-zygotic transition and that transcription contributes to shaping nuclear organization at the beginning of mammalian development.
    Keywords:  ZGA; embryonic development; lamina-associated domain; nuclear organization
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1101/gad.350799.123
  3. Elife. 2023 Oct 31. pii: RP87572. [Epub ahead of print]12
    Replisome loading reduces chromatin motion independent of DNA synthesis.
    Maruthi Kumar Pabba, Christian Ritter, Vadim O Chagin, Janis Meyer, Kerem Celikay, Jeffrey H Stear, Dinah Loerke, Ksenia Kolobynina, Paulina Prorok, Alice Kristin Schmid, Heinrich Leonhardt, Karl Rohr, M Cristina Cardoso.
      Chromatin has been shown to undergo diffusional motion, which is affected during gene transcription by RNA polymerase activity. However, the relationship between chromatin mobility and other genomic processes remains unclear. Hence, we set out to label the DNA directly in a sequence unbiased manner and followed labeled chromatin dynamics in interphase human cells expressing GFP-tagged proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), a cell cycle marker and core component of the DNA replication machinery. We detected decreased chromatin mobility during the S-phase compared to G1 and G2 phases in tumor as well as normal diploid cells using automated particle tracking. To gain insight into the dynamical organization of the genome during DNA replication, we determined labeled chromatin domain sizes and analyzed their motion in replicating cells. By correlating chromatin mobility proximal to the active sites of DNA synthesis, we showed that chromatin motion was locally constrained at the sites of DNA replication. Furthermore, inhibiting DNA synthesis led to increased loading of DNA polymerases. This was accompanied by accumulation of the single-stranded DNA binding protein on the chromatin and activation of DNA helicases further restricting local chromatin motion. We, therefore, propose that it is the loading of replisomes but not their catalytic activity that reduces the dynamics of replicating chromatin segments in the S-phase as well as their accessibility and probability of interactions with other genomic regions.
    Keywords:  DNA labeling; DNA replication; aphidicolin; cell biology; cell cycle; chromatin tracking; diffusion; human
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.87572
  4. Nat Commun. 2023 Oct 30. 14(1): 6929
    Optogenetic control of YAP reveals a dynamic communication code for stem cell fate and proliferation.
    Kirstin Meyer, Nicholas C Lammers, Lukasz J Bugaj, Hernan G Garcia, Orion D Weiner.
      YAP is a transcriptional regulator that controls pluripotency, cell fate, and proliferation. How cells ensure the selective activation of YAP effector genes is unknown. This knowledge is essential to rationally control cellular decision-making. Here we leverage optogenetics, live-imaging of transcription, and cell fate analysis to understand and control gene activation and cell behavior. We reveal that cells decode the steady-state concentrations and timing of YAP activation to control proliferation, cell fate, and expression of the pluripotency regulators Oct4 and Nanog. While oscillatory YAP inputs induce Oct4 expression and proliferation optimally at frequencies that mimic native dynamics, cellular differentiation requires persistently low YAP levels. We identify the molecular logic of the Oct4 dynamic decoder, which acts through an adaptive change sensor. Our work reveals how YAP levels and dynamics enable multiplexing of information transmission for the regulation of developmental decision-making and establishes a platform for the rational control of these behaviors.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42643-2
  5. Nat Cell Biol. 2023 Nov 02.
    Regenerating human skeletal muscle forms an emerging niche in vivo to support PAX7 cells.
    Michael R Hicks, Kholoud K Saleh, Ben Clock, Devin E Gibbs, Mandee Yang, Shahab Younesi, Lily Gane, Victor Gutierrez-Garcia, Haibin Xi, April D Pyle.
      Skeletal muscle stem and progenitor cells including those derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) offer an avenue towards personalized therapies and readily fuse to form human-mouse myofibres in vivo. However, skeletal muscle progenitor cells (SMPCs) inefficiently colonize chimeric stem cell niches and instead associate with human myofibres resembling foetal niches. We hypothesized competition with mouse satellite cells (SCs) prevented SMPC engraftment into the SC niche and thus generated an SC ablation mouse compatible with human engraftment. Single-nucleus RNA sequencing of SC-ablated mice identified the absence of a transient myofibre subtype during regeneration expressing Actc1. Similarly, ACTC1+ human myofibres supporting PAX7+ SMPCs increased in SC-ablated mice, and after re-injury we found SMPCs could now repopulate into chimeric niches. To demonstrate ACTC1+ myofibres are essential to supporting PAX7 SMPCs, we generated caspase-inducible ACTC1 depletion human pluripotent stem cells, and upon SMPC engraftment we found a 90% reduction in ACTC1+ myofibres and a 100-fold decrease in PAX7 cell numbers compared with non-induced controls. We used spatial RNA sequencing to identify key factors driving emerging human niche formation between ACTC1+ myofibres and PAX7+ SMPCs in vivo. This revealed that transient regenerating human myofibres are essential for emerging niche formation in vivo to support PAX7 SMPCs.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-023-01271-0
  6. bioRxiv. 2023 Oct 18. pii: 2023.10.16.562637. [Epub ahead of print]
    Chromosome size-dependent polar ejection force impairs mammalian mitotic error correction.
    Megan K Chong, Miquel Rosas-Salvans, Vanna Tran, Sophie Dumont.
      Accurate chromosome segregation requires sister kinetochores to biorient, attaching to opposite spindle poles. To this end, the mammalian kinetochore destabilizes incorrect attachments and stabilizes correct ones, but how it discriminates between these is not yet clear. Here, we test the model that kinetochore tension is the stabilizing cue and ask how chromosome size impacts that model. We live image PtK2 cells, with just 14 chromosomes, widely ranging in size, and find that long chromosomes align at the metaphase plate later than short chromosomes. Enriching for errors and imaging error correction live, we show that long chromosomes exhibit a specific delay in correcting attachments. Using chromokinesin overexpression and laser ablation to perturb polar ejection forces, we find that chromosome size and force on arms determine alignment order. Thus, we propose a model where increased force on long chromosomes can falsely stabilize incorrect attachments, delaying their biorientation. As such, long chromosomes may require compensatory mechanisms for correcting errors to avoid chromosomal instability.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.16.562637
  7. Nat Commun. 2023 10 28. 14(1): 6890
    The chromatin network helps prevent cancer-associated mutagenesis at transcription-replication conflicts.
    Aleix Bayona-Feliu, Emilia Herrera-Moyano, Nibal Badra-Fajardo, Iván Galván-Femenía, María Eugenia Soler-Oliva, Andrés Aguilera.
      Genome instability is a feature of cancer cells, transcription being an important source of DNA damage. This is in large part associated with R-loops, which hamper replication, especially at head-on transcription-replication conflicts (TRCs). Here we show that TRCs trigger a DNA Damage Response (DDR) involving the chromatin network to prevent genome instability. Depletion of the key chromatin factors INO80, SMARCA5 and MTA2 results in TRCs, fork stalling and R-loop-mediated DNA damage which mostly accumulates at S/G2, while histone H3 Ser10 phosphorylation, a mark of chromatin compaction, is enriched at TRCs. Strikingly, TRC regions show increased mutagenesis in cancer cells with signatures of homologous recombination deficiency, transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER) and of the AID/APOBEC cytidine deaminases, being predominant at head-on collisions. Thus, our results support that the chromatin network prevents R-loops and TRCs from genomic instability and mutagenic signatures frequently associated with cancer.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42653-0
  8. bioRxiv. 2023 Oct 26. pii: 2023.10.16.562558. [Epub ahead of print]
    Genome dilution by cell growth drives starvation-like proteome remodeling in mammalian and yeast cells.
    Michael C Lanz, Shuyuan Zhang, Matthew P Swaffer, Luisa Hernández Götz, Frank McCarty, Inbal Ziv, Daniel F Jarosz, Joshua E Elias, Jan M Skotheim.
      Cell size is tightly controlled in healthy tissues and single-celled organisms, but it remains unclear how size influences cell physiology. Increasing cell size was recently shown to remodel the proteomes of cultured human cells, demonstrating that large and small cells of the same type can be biochemically different. Here, we corroborate these results in mouse hepatocytes and extend our analysis using yeast. We find that size-dependent proteome changes are highly conserved and mostly independent of metabolic state. As eukaryotic cells grow larger, the dilution of the genome elicits a starvation-like proteome phenotype, suggesting that growth in large cells is limited by the genome in a manner analogous to a limiting nutrient. We also demonstrate that the proteomes of replicatively-aged yeast are primarily determined by their large size. Overall, our data suggest that genome concentration is a universal determinant of proteome content in growing cells.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.16.562558
  9. Trends Cell Biol. 2023 Oct 31. pii: S0962-8924(23)00207-6. [Epub ahead of print]
    Mitochondrial regulation in stem cells.
    Yifei Wang, Marine Barthez, Danica Chen.
      Stem cells persist throughout the lifespan to repair and regenerate tissues due to their unique ability to self-renew and differentiate. Here we reflect on the recent discoveries in stem cells that highlight a mitochondrial metabolic checkpoint at the restriction point of the stem cell cycle. Mitochondrial activation supports stem cell proliferation and differentiation by providing energy supply and metabolites as signaling molecules. Concomitant mitochondrial stress can lead to loss of stem cell self-renewal and requires the surveillance of various mitochondrial quality control mechanisms. During aging, a mitochondrial protective program mediated by several sirtuins becomes dysregulated and can be targeted to reverse stem cell aging and tissue degeneration, giving hope for targeting the mitochondrial metabolic checkpoint for treating tissue degenerative diseases.
    Keywords:  NAD; NLRP3; SIRT2; SIRT3; SIRT7; aging
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tcb.2023.10.003
  10. Nature. 2023 Nov 01.
    Condensin dysfunction is a reproductive isolating barrier in mice.
    Warif El Yakoubi, Takashi Akera.
      Reproductive isolation occurs when the genomes of two populations accumulate genetic incompatibilities that prevent interbreeding1,2. Understanding of hybrid incompatibility at the cell biology level is limited, particularly in the case of hybrid female sterility3. Here we find that species divergence in condensin regulation and centromere organization between two mouse species, Mus musculus domesticus and Mus spretus, drives chromosome decondensation and mis-segregation in their F1 hybrid oocytes, reducing female fertility. The decondensation in hybrid oocytes was especially prominent at pericentromeric major satellites, which are highly abundant at M. m. domesticus centromeres4-6, leading to species-specific chromosome mis-segregation and egg aneuploidy. Consistent with the condensation defects, a chromosome structure protein complex, condensin II7,8, was reduced on hybrid oocyte chromosomes. We find that the condensin II subunit NCAPG2 was specifically reduced in the nucleus in prophase and that overexpressing NCAPG2 rescued both the decondensation and egg aneuploidy phenotypes. In addition to the overall reduction in condensin II on chromosomes, major satellites further reduced condensin II levels locally, explaining why this region is particularly prone to decondensation. Together, this study provides cell biological insights into hybrid incompatibility in female meiosis and demonstrates that condensin misregulation and pericentromeric satellite expansion can establish a reproductive isolating barrier in mammals.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06700-6
  11. J Cell Sci. 2023 Nov 03. pii: jcs.260989. [Epub ahead of print]
    FGF2 antiproliferative effect in K-ras-driven tumor cells involves modulation of rRNA and nucleolus.
    Francisca N de Luna Vitorino, Michaella J Levy, Rosangela A Mansano Wailemann, Mariana Lopes, Mariana Loterio Silva, Mihaela E Sardiu, Benjamin A Garcia, Maria C Machado Motta, Carla Columbano Oliveira, Hugo Aguirre Armelin, Laurence A Florens, Michael P Washburn, Julia Pinheiro Chagas da Cunha.
      The nucleolus is sensitive to stress and can orchestrate a chain of cellular events in response to stress signals. Despite being a growth factor, FGF2 has antiproliferative and tumor-suppressive functions in some cellular contexts. In this work, we investigated how the antiproliferative effect of FGF2 modulates chromatin-, nucleolus-, and rDNA-associated proteins. The chromatin and nucleolar proteome indicated that FGF2 stimulation modulates proteins related to transcription, rRNA expression, and chromatin remodeling proteins. The global transcriptional rate and nucleolus area increased along with nucleolar disorganization upon 24 h of FGF2 stimulation. FGF2 stimulation induced immature rRNA accumulation by increasing rRNA transcription. The rDNA-associated protein analysis reinforced that FGF2 stimulus interferes with transcription and rRNA processing. RNA Pol I inhibition partially reversed the growth arrest induced by FGF2, indicating that changes in rRNA expression may be crucial for triggering the antiproliferative effect. Taken together, we demonstrate that the antiproliferative FGF2 stimulus triggers significant transcriptional changes and modulates the main cell transcription site, the nucleolus.
    Keywords:  Chromatin; FGF2; Nucleolus; Proteomics; Transcription
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.260989
  12. Nat Genet. 2023 Oct 30.
    A pan-tissue survey of mosaic chromosomal alterations in 948 individuals.
    Teng Gao, Maria Eleni Kastriti, Viktor Ljungström, Andreas Heinzel, Arthur S Tischler, Rainer Oberbauer, Po-Ru Loh, Igor Adameyko, Peter J Park, Peter V Kharchenko.
      Genetic mutations accumulate in an organism's body throughout its lifetime. While somatic single-nucleotide variants have been well characterized in the human body, the patterns and consequences of large chromosomal alterations in normal tissues remain largely unknown. Here, we present a pan-tissue survey of mosaic chromosomal alterations (mCAs) in 948 healthy individuals from the Genotype-Tissue Expression project, augmenting RNA-based allelic imbalance estimation with haplotype phasing. We found that approximately a quarter of the individuals carry a clonally-expanded mCA in at least one tissue, with incidence strongly correlated with age. The prevalence and genome-wide patterns of mCAs vary considerably across tissue types, suggesting tissue-specific mutagenic exposure and selection pressures. The mCA landscapes in normal adrenal and pituitary glands resemble those in tumors arising from these tissues, whereas the same is not true for the esophagus and skin. Together, our findings show a widespread age-dependent emergence of mCAs across normal human tissues with intricate connections to tumorigenesis.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-023-01537-1
  13. bioRxiv. 2023 Oct 17. pii: 2023.10.15.562396. [Epub ahead of print]
    Latent Epigenetic Programs in Müller Glia Contribute to Stress, Injury, and Disease Response in the Retina.
    Jackie L Norrie, Marybeth Lupo, Abbas Shirinifard, Nadhir Djekidel, Cody Ramirez, Beisi Xu, Jacob M Dundee, Michael A Dyer.
      Previous studies have demonstrated the dynamic changes in chromatin structure during retinal development that correlate with changes in gene expression. However, a major limitation of those prior studies was the lack of cellular resolution. Here, we integrate single-cell (sc) RNA-seq and scATAC-seq with bulk retinal data sets to identify cell type-specific changes in the chromatin structure during development. Although most genes' promoter activity is strongly correlated with chromatin accessibility, we discovered several hundred genes that were transcriptionally silent but had accessible chromatin at their promoters. Most of those silent/accessible gene promoters were in the Müller glial cells. The Müller cells are radial glia of the retina and perform a variety of essential functions to maintain retinal homeostasis and respond to stress, injury, or disease. The silent/accessible genes in Müller glia are enriched in pathways related to inflammation, angiogenesis, and other types of cell-cell signaling and were rapidly activated when we tested 15 different physiologically relevant conditions to mimic retinal stress, injury, or disease in human and murine retinae. We refer to these as "pliancy genes" because they allow the Müller glia to rapidly change their gene expression and cellular state in response to different types of retinal insults. The Müller glial cell pliancy program is established during development, and we demonstrate that pliancy genes are necessary and sufficient for regulating inflammation in the murine retina in vivo. In zebrafish, Müller glia can de-differentiate and form retinal progenitor cells that replace lost neurons. The pro-inflammatory pliancy gene cascade is not activated in zebrafish Müller glia following injury, and we propose a model in which species-specific pliancy programs underly the differential response to retinal damage in species that can regenerate retinal neurons (zebrafish) versus those that cannot (humans and mice).
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.15.562396
  14. Nat Cell Biol. 2023 Oct 30.
    A mechanosensitive caveolae-invadosome interplay drives matrix remodelling for cancer cell invasion.
    Pedro Monteiro, David Remy, Eline Lemerle, Fiona Routet, Anne-Sophie Macé, Chloé Guedj, Benoit Ladoux, Stéphane Vassilopoulos, Christophe Lamaze, Philippe Chavrier.
      Invadosomes and caveolae are mechanosensitive structures that are implicated in metastasis. Here, we describe a unique juxtaposition of caveola clusters and matrix degradative invadosomes at contact sites between the plasma membrane of cancer cells and constricting fibrils both in 2D and 3D type I collagen matrix environments. Preferential association between caveolae and straight segments of the fibrils, and between invadosomes and bent segments of the fibrils, was observed along with matrix remodelling. Caveola recruitment precedes and is required for invadosome formation and activity. Reciprocally, invadosome disruption results in the accumulation of fibril-associated caveolae. Moreover, caveolae and the collagen receptor β1 integrin co-localize at contact sites with the fibrils, and integrins control caveola recruitment to fibrils. In turn, caveolae mediate the clearance of β1 integrin and collagen uptake in an invadosome-dependent and collagen-cleavage-dependent mechanism. Our data reveal a reciprocal interplay between caveolae and invadosomes that coordinates adhesion to and proteolytic remodelling of confining fibrils to support tumour cell dissemination.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-023-01272-z
  15. Development. 2023 Nov 03. pii: dev.201946. [Epub ahead of print]
    Collective signalling drives rapid jumping between cell states.
    Elizabeth R Westbrook, Tchern Lenn, Jonathan R Chubb, Vlatka Antolović.
      Development can proceed in "fits and starts", with rapid transitions between cell states involving concerted transcriptome-wide changes in gene expression. However, it is not clear how these transitions are regulated in complex cell populations, in which cells receive multiple inputs. We address this issue using Dictyostelium cells undergoing development in their physiological niche. A continuous single cell transcriptomics time series identifies a sharp "jump" in global gene expression marking functionally different cell states. By simultaneously imaging the physiological dynamics of transcription and signalling, we show the jump coincides with the onset of collective oscillations of cAMP. Optogenetic control of cAMP pulses shows that different jump genes respond to distinct dynamic features of signalling. Late jump gene expression changes are almost completely dependent on cAMP, while transcript changes at the onset of the jump require additional input. The coupling of collective signalling with gene expression is a potentially powerful strategy to drive robust cell state transitions in heterogeneous signalling environments. Based on the context of the jump, we also conclude that sharp gene expression transitions may not be sufficient for commitment.
    Keywords:   in vivo imaging; Cell state transition; Collective behaviour; Excitable signalling; MS2 imaging; Optogenetics; Oscillation; Positive feedback; Stem cell niche; Transcriptional noise
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.201946
  16. Nat Genet. 2023 Oct 30.
    Mosaic chromosomal alterations in blood across ancestries using whole-genome sequencing.
    Yasminka A Jakubek, Ying Zhou, Adrienne Stilp, Jason Bacon, Justin W Wong, Zuhal Ozcan, Donna Arnett, Kathleen Barnes, Joshua C Bis, Eric Boerwinkle, Jennifer A Brody, April P Carson, Daniel I Chasman, Jiawen Chen, Michael Cho, Matthew P Conomos, Nancy Cox, Margaret F Doyle, Myriam Fornage, Xiuqing Guo, Sharon L R Kardia, Joshua P Lewis, Ruth J F Loos, Xiaolong Ma, Mitchell J Machiela, Taralynn M Mack, Rasika A Mathias, Braxton D Mitchell, Josyf C Mychaleckyj, Kari North, Nathan Pankratz, Patricia A Peyser, Michael H Preuss, Bruce Psaty, Laura M Raffield, Ramachandran S Vasan, Susan Redline, Stephen S Rich, Jerome I Rotter, Edwin K Silverman, Jennifer A Smith, Aaron P Smith, Margaret Taub, Kent D Taylor, Jeong Yun, Yun Li, Pinkal Desai, Alexander G Bick, Alexander P Reiner, Paul Scheet, Paul L Auer.
      Megabase-scale mosaic chromosomal alterations (mCAs) in blood are prognostic markers for a host of human diseases. Here, to gain a better understanding of mCA rates in genetically diverse populations, we analyzed whole-genome sequencing data from 67,390 individuals from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine program. We observed higher sensitivity with whole-genome sequencing data, compared with array-based data, in uncovering mCAs at low mutant cell fractions and found that individuals of European ancestry have the highest rates of autosomal mCAs and the lowest rates of chromosome X mCAs, compared with individuals of African or Hispanic ancestry. Although further studies in diverse populations will be needed to replicate our findings, we report three loci associated with loss of chromosome X, associations between autosomal mCAs and rare variants in DCPS, ADM17, PPP1R16B and TET2 and ancestry-specific variants in ATM and MPL with mCAs in cis.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-023-01553-1
  17. J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol. 2023 Oct 30.
    Functional analyses of the polycomb-group genes in sea lamprey embryos undergoing programmed DNA loss.
    Cody Saraceno, Vladimir A Timoshevskiy, Jeramiah J Smith.
      During early development, sea lamprey embryos undergo programmatic elimination of DNA from somatic progenitor cells in a process termed programmed genome rearrangement (PGR). Eliminated DNA eventually becomes condensed into micronuclei, which are then physically degraded and permanently lost from the cell. Previous studies indicated that many of the genes eliminated during PGR have mammalian homologs that are bound by polycomb repressive complex (PRC) in embryonic stem cells. To test whether PRC components play a role in the faithful elimination of germline-specific sequences, we used a combination of CRISPR/Cas9 and lightsheet microscopy to investigate the impact of gene knockouts on early development and the progression through stages of DNA elimination. Analysis of knockout embryos for the core PRC2 subunits EZH, SUZ12, and EED show that disruption of all three genes results in an increase in micronucleus number, altered distribution of micronuclei within embryos, and an increase in micronucleus volume in mutant embryos. While the upstream events of DNA elimination are not strongly impacted by loss of PRC2 components, this study suggests that PRC2 plays a role in the later stages of elimination related to micronucleus condensation and degradation. These findings also suggest that other genes/epigenetic pathways may work in parallel during DNA elimination to mediate chromatin structure, accessibility, and the ultimate loss of germline-specific DNA.
    Keywords:  cas9; embryo; genome; lamprey; polycomb; programmed DNA loss
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.b.23225
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