1
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Huang N, Chan BP. A 3D micro-printed single cell micro-niche with asymmetric niche signals - An in vitro model for asymmetric cell division study. Biomaterials 2024; 311:122684. [PMID: 38971120 DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2024.122684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2024] [Revised: 05/31/2024] [Accepted: 06/23/2024] [Indexed: 07/08/2024]
Abstract
Intricate microenvironment signals orchestrate to affect cell behavior and fate during tissue morphogenesis. However, the underlying mechanisms on how specific local niche signals influence cell behavior and fate are not fully understood, owing to the lack of in vitro platform able to precisely, quantitatively, spatially, and independently manipulate individual niche signals. Here, microarrays of protein-based 3D single cell micro-niche (3D-SCμN), with precisely engineered biophysical and biochemical niche signals, are micro-printed by a multiphoton microfabrication and micropatterning technology. Mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) is used as the model cell to study how local niche signals affect stem cell behavior and fate. By precisely engineering the internal microstructures of the 3D SCμNs, we demonstrate that the cell division direction can be controlled by the biophysical niche signals, in a cell shape-independent manner. After confining the cell division direction to a dominating axis, single mESCs are exposed to asymmetric biochemical niche signals, specifically, cell-cell adhesion molecule on one side and extracellular matrix on the other side. We demonstrate that, symmetry-breaking (asymmetric) niche signals successfully trigger cell polarity formation and bias the orientation of asymmetric cell division, the mitosis process resulting in two daughter cells with differential fates, in mESCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nan Huang
- Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Biomedical Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China; Tissue Engineering Laboratory, School of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, And Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China
| | - Barbara Pui Chan
- Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Biomedical Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China; Tissue Engineering Laboratory, School of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, And Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.
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2
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Arekatla G, Skylaki S, Corredor Suarez D, Jackson H, Schapiro D, Engler S, Auler M, Camargo Ortega G, Hastreiter S, Reimann A, Loeffler D, Bodenmiller B, Schroeder T. Identification of an embryonic differentiation stage marked by Sox1 and FoxA2 co-expression using combined cell tracking and high dimensional protein imaging. Nat Commun 2024; 15:7860. [PMID: 39251590 PMCID: PMC11385471 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52069-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 08/26/2024] [Indexed: 09/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Pluripotent mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) can differentiate to all germ layers and serve as an in vitro model of embryonic development. To better understand the differentiation paths traversed by ESCs committing to different lineages, we track individual differentiating ESCs by timelapse imaging followed by multiplexed high-dimensional Imaging Mass Cytometry (IMC) protein quantification. This links continuous live single-cell molecular NANOG and cellular dynamics quantification over 5-6 generations to protein expression of 37 different molecular regulators in the same single cells at the observation endpoints. Using this unique data set including kinship history and live lineage marker detection, we show that NANOG downregulation occurs generations prior to, but is not sufficient for neuroectoderm marker Sox1 upregulation. We identify a developmental cell type co-expressing both the canonical Sox1 neuroectoderm and FoxA2 endoderm markers in vitro and confirm the presence of such a population in the post-implantation embryo. RNASeq reveals cells co-expressing SOX1 and FOXA2 to have a unique cell state characterized by expression of both endoderm as well as neuroectoderm genes suggesting lineage potential towards both germ layers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geethika Arekatla
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute (LBI), KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Laboratory of Neurobiology, VIB Center for Brain & Disease Research, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Stavroula Skylaki
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Basel, Switzerland
| | | | - Hartland Jackson
- Department of Quantitative Biomedicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute of Molecular Health Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
- Lunenfeld Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Health Systems; Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Denis Schapiro
- Department of Quantitative Biomedicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute of Molecular Health Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
- Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Heidelberg University, Faculty of Medicine, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
- Institute of Pathology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
- Translational Spatial Profiling Center (TSPC), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Stefanie Engler
- Department of Quantitative Biomedicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Markus Auler
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Basel, Switzerland
| | | | - Simon Hastreiter
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Andreas Reimann
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Dirk Loeffler
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Tennessee, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Bernd Bodenmiller
- Department of Quantitative Biomedicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute of Molecular Health Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Timm Schroeder
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Basel, Switzerland.
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3
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Khetan N, Zuckerman B, Calia GP, Chen X, Arceo XG, Weinberger LS. Quantitative comparison of single-cell RNA sequencing versus single-molecule RNA imaging for quantifying transcriptional noise. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.08.09.607289. [PMID: 39149226 PMCID: PMC11326230 DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.09.607289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/17/2024]
Abstract
Stochastic fluctuations (noise) in transcription generate substantial cell-to-cell variability. However, how best to quantify genome-wide noise, remains unclear. Here we utilize a small-molecule perturbation (IdU) to amplify noise and assess noise quantification from numerous scRNA-seq algorithms on human and mouse datasets, and then compare to noise quantification from single-molecule RNA FISH (smFISH) for a panel of representative genes. We find that various scRNA-seq analyses report amplified noise, without altered mean-expression levels, for ~90% of genes and that smFISH analysis verifies noise amplification for the vast majority of genes tested. Collectively, the analyses suggest that most scRNA-seq algorithms are appropriate for quantifying noise including a simple normalization approach, although all of these systematically underestimate noise compared to smFISH. From a practical standpoint, this analysis argues that IdU is a globally penetrant noise-enhancer molecule-amplifying noise without altering mean-expression levels-which could enable investigations of the physiological impacts of transcriptional noise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neha Khetan
- Gladstone|UCSF Center for Cell Circuitry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158
| | - Binyamin Zuckerman
- Gladstone|UCSF Center for Cell Circuitry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158
| | - Giuliana P. Calia
- Gladstone|UCSF Center for Cell Circuitry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158
| | - Xinyue Chen
- Gladstone|UCSF Center for Cell Circuitry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158
| | - Ximena Garcia Arceo
- Gladstone|UCSF Center for Cell Circuitry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158
| | - Leor S. Weinberger
- Gladstone|UCSF Center for Cell Circuitry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158
- Lead contact
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4
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Noller K, Cahan P. Cell cycle expression heterogeneity predicts degree of differentiation. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.19.604184. [PMID: 39091773 PMCID: PMC11291076 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.19.604184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/04/2024]
Abstract
Methods that predict fate potential or degree of differentiation from transcriptomic data have identified rare progenitor populations and uncovered developmental regulatory mechanisms. However, some state-of-the-art methods are too computationally burdensome for emerging large-scale data and all methods make inaccurate predictions in certain biological systems. We developed a method in R (stemFinder) that predicts single cell differentiation time based on heterogeneity in cell cycle gene expression. Our method is computationally tractable and is as good as or superior to competitors. As part of our benchmarking, we implemented four different performance metrics to assist potential users in selecting the tool that is most apt for their application. Finally, we explore the relationship between differentiation time and cell fate potential by analyzing a lineage tracing dataset with clonally labelled hematopoietic cells, revealing that metrics of differentiation time are correlated with the number of downstream lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen Noller
- Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD USA
| | - Patrick Cahan
- Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD USA
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD USA
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5
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Mahat DB, Tippens ND, Martin-Rufino JD, Waterton SK, Fu J, Blatt SE, Sharp PA. Single-cell nascent RNA sequencing unveils coordinated global transcription. Nature 2024; 631:216-223. [PMID: 38839954 PMCID: PMC11222150 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07517-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024]
Abstract
Transcription is the primary regulatory step in gene expression. Divergent transcription initiation from promoters and enhancers produces stable RNAs from genes and unstable RNAs from enhancers1,2. Nascent RNA capture and sequencing assays simultaneously measure gene and enhancer activity in cell populations3. However, fundamental questions about the temporal regulation of transcription and enhancer-gene coordination remain unanswered, primarily because of the absence of a single-cell perspective on active transcription. In this study, we present scGRO-seq-a new single-cell nascent RNA sequencing assay that uses click chemistry-and unveil coordinated transcription throughout the genome. We demonstrate the episodic nature of transcription and the co-transcription of functionally related genes. scGRO-seq can estimate burst size and frequency by directly quantifying transcribing RNA polymerases in individual cells and can leverage replication-dependent non-polyadenylated histone gene transcription to elucidate cell cycle dynamics. The single-nucleotide spatial and temporal resolution of scGRO-seq enables the identification of networks of enhancers and genes. Our results suggest that the bursting of transcription at super-enhancers precedes bursting from associated genes. By imparting insights into the dynamic nature of global transcription and the origin and propagation of transcription signals, we demonstrate the ability of scGRO-seq to investigate the mechanisms of transcription regulation and the role of enhancers in gene expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dig B Mahat
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Nathaniel D Tippens
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Sean K Waterton
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Jiayu Fu
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences Graduate Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Sarah E Blatt
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Exact Sciences, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Phillip A Sharp
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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6
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Transitions in development - an interview with Ariel Waisman. Development 2024; 151:dev203129. [PMID: 38885080 DOI: 10.1242/dev.203129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/20/2024]
Abstract
Ariel Waisman is a CONICET Junior Researcher in the Laboratory of Applied Research in Neurosciences at FLENI in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ariel's group studies gene regulatory networks in human pluripotent stem cells to address mechanisms of development and cardiac differentiation, among other topics. We spoke to Ariel over Teams to learn more about his career path, the research interests in his group, and the challenges faced by researchers in Argentina and the Global South.
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Waisman A, Sevlever F, Saulnier D, Francia M, Blanco R, Amín G, Lombardi A, Biani C, Palma MB, Scarafía A, Smucler J, La Greca A, Moro L, Sevlever G, Guberman A, Miriuka S. The transcription factor OCT6 promotes the dissolution of the naïve pluripotent state by repressing Nanog and activating a formative state gene regulatory network. Sci Rep 2024; 14:10420. [PMID: 38710730 PMCID: PMC11074312 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-59247-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/08/2024] Open
Abstract
In the mouse embryo, the transition from the preimplantation to the postimplantation epiblast is governed by changes in the gene regulatory network (GRN) that lead to transcriptional, epigenetic, and functional changes. This transition can be faithfully recapitulated in vitro by the differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) to epiblast-like cells (EpiLCs), that reside in naïve and formative states of pluripotency, respectively. However, the GRN that drives this conversion is not fully elucidated. Here we demonstrate that the transcription factor OCT6 is a key driver of this process. Firstly, we show that Oct6 is not expressed in mESCs but is rapidly induced as cells exit the naïve pluripotent state. By deleting Oct6 in mESCs, we find that knockout cells fail to acquire the typical morphological changes associated with the formative state when induced to differentiate. Additionally, the key naïve pluripotency TFs Nanog, Klf2, Nr5a2, Prdm14, and Esrrb were expressed at higher levels than in wild-type cells, indicating an incomplete dismantling of the naïve pluripotency GRN. Conversely, premature expression of Oct6 in naïve cells triggered a rapid morphological transformation mirroring differentiation, that was accompanied by the upregulation of the endogenous Oct6 as well as the formative genes Sox3, Zic2/3, Foxp1, Dnmt3A and FGF5. Strikingly, we found that OCT6 represses Nanog in a bistable manner and that this regulation is at the transcriptional level. Moreover, our findings also reveal that Oct6 is repressed by NANOG. Collectively, our results establish OCT6 as a key TF in the dissolution of the naïve pluripotent state and support a model where Oct6 and Nanog form a double negative feedback loop which could act as an important toggle mediating the transition to the formative state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariel Waisman
- Laboratorio de Investigación Aplicada a Neurociencias (LIAN), Fundación Para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia (FLENI), Instituto de Neurociencias (INEU), CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Federico Sevlever
- Laboratorio de Investigación Aplicada a Neurociencias (LIAN), Fundación Para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia (FLENI), Instituto de Neurociencias (INEU), CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Denisse Saulnier
- Laboratorio de Investigación Aplicada a Neurociencias (LIAN), Fundación Para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia (FLENI), Instituto de Neurociencias (INEU), CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Marcos Francia
- Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (IQUIBICEN), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Renata Blanco
- Laboratorio de Investigación Aplicada a Neurociencias (LIAN), Fundación Para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia (FLENI), Instituto de Neurociencias (INEU), CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Guadalupe Amín
- Laboratorio de Investigación Aplicada a Neurociencias (LIAN), Fundación Para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia (FLENI), Instituto de Neurociencias (INEU), CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Antonella Lombardi
- Laboratorio de Investigación Aplicada a Neurociencias (LIAN), Fundación Para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia (FLENI), Instituto de Neurociencias (INEU), CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Celeste Biani
- Laboratorio de Investigación Aplicada a Neurociencias (LIAN), Fundación Para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia (FLENI), Instituto de Neurociencias (INEU), CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - María Belén Palma
- Laboratorio de Investigación Aplicada a Neurociencias (LIAN), Fundación Para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia (FLENI), Instituto de Neurociencias (INEU), CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Agustina Scarafía
- Laboratorio de Investigación Aplicada a Neurociencias (LIAN), Fundación Para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia (FLENI), Instituto de Neurociencias (INEU), CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Joaquín Smucler
- Laboratorio de Investigación Aplicada a Neurociencias (LIAN), Fundación Para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia (FLENI), Instituto de Neurociencias (INEU), CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Alejandro La Greca
- Laboratorio de Investigación Aplicada a Neurociencias (LIAN), Fundación Para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia (FLENI), Instituto de Neurociencias (INEU), CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Lucía Moro
- Laboratorio de Investigación Aplicada a Neurociencias (LIAN), Fundación Para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia (FLENI), Instituto de Neurociencias (INEU), CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Gustavo Sevlever
- Laboratorio de Investigación Aplicada a Neurociencias (LIAN), Fundación Para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia (FLENI), Instituto de Neurociencias (INEU), CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Alejandra Guberman
- Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (IQUIBICEN), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Santiago Miriuka
- Laboratorio de Investigación Aplicada a Neurociencias (LIAN), Fundación Para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia (FLENI), Instituto de Neurociencias (INEU), CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Lando D, Ma X, Cao Y, Jartseva A, Stevens TJ, Boucher W, Reynolds N, Montibus B, Hall D, Lackner A, Ragheb R, Leeb M, Hendrich BD, Laue ED. Enhancer-promoter interactions are reconfigured through the formation of long-range multiway hubs as mouse ES cells exit pluripotency. Mol Cell 2024; 84:1406-1421.e8. [PMID: 38490199 PMCID: PMC7616059 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2024.02.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Revised: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
Enhancers bind transcription factors, chromatin regulators, and non-coding transcripts to modulate the expression of target genes. Here, we report 3D genome structures of single mouse ES cells as they are induced to exit pluripotency and transition through a formative stage prior to undergoing neuroectodermal differentiation. We find that there is a remarkable reorganization of 3D genome structure where inter-chromosomal intermingling increases dramatically in the formative state. This intermingling is associated with the formation of a large number of multiway hubs that bring together enhancers and promoters with similar chromatin states from typically 5-8 distant chromosomal sites that are often separated by many Mb from each other. In the formative state, genes important for pluripotency exit establish contacts with emerging enhancers within these multiway hubs, suggesting that the structural changes we have observed may play an important role in modulating transcription and establishing new cell identities.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Lando
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK
| | - Xiaoyan Ma
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK
| | - Yang Cao
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK
| | | | - Tim J Stevens
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK
| | - Wayne Boucher
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK
| | - Nicola Reynolds
- Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre, Cambridge CB2 0AW, UK
| | - Bertille Montibus
- Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre, Cambridge CB2 0AW, UK
| | - Dominic Hall
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK; Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre, Cambridge CB2 0AW, UK
| | - Andreas Lackner
- Max Perutz Laboratories Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna Biocenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ramy Ragheb
- Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre, Cambridge CB2 0AW, UK
| | - Martin Leeb
- Max Perutz Laboratories Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna Biocenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - Brian D Hendrich
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK; Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre, Cambridge CB2 0AW, UK.
| | - Ernest D Laue
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK; Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre, Cambridge CB2 0AW, UK.
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Oke A, Manohar SM. Dynamic Roles of Signaling Pathways in Maintaining Pluripotency of Mouse and Human Embryonic Stem Cells. Cell Reprogram 2024; 26:46-56. [PMID: 38635924 DOI: 10.1089/cell.2024.0002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Culturing of mouse and human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in vitro was a major breakthrough in the field of stem cell biology. These models gained popularity very soon mainly due to their pluripotency. Evidently, the ESCs of mouse and human origin share typical phenotypic responses due to their pluripotent nature, such as self-renewal capacity and potency. The conserved network of core transcription factors regulates these responses. However, significantly different signaling pathways and upstream transcriptional networks regulate expression and activity of these core pluripotency factors in ESCs of both the species. In fact, ample evidence shows that a pathway, which maintains pluripotency in mouse ESCs, promotes differentiation in human ESCs. In this review, we discuss the role of canonical signaling pathways implicated in regulation of pluripotency and differentiation particularly in mouse and human ESCs. We believe that understanding these distinct and at times-opposite mechanisms-is critical for the progress in the field of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anagha Oke
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sunandan Divatia School of Science, NMIMS (Deemed-to-Be) University, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
| | - Sonal M Manohar
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sunandan Divatia School of Science, NMIMS (Deemed-to-Be) University, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
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10
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Mahat DB, Tippens ND, Martin-Rufino JD, Waterton SK, Fu J, Blatt SE, Sharp PA. Single-cell nascent RNA sequencing using click-chemistry unveils coordinated transcription. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.09.15.558015. [PMID: 37745427 PMCID: PMC10516050 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.15.558015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
Transcription is the primary regulatory step in gene expression. Divergent transcription initiation from promoters and enhancers produces stable RNAs from genes and unstable RNAs from enhancers1-5. Nascent RNA capture and sequencing assays simultaneously measure gene and enhancer activity in cell populations6-9. However, fundamental questions in the temporal regulation of transcription and enhancer-gene synchrony remain unanswered primarily due to the absence of a single-cell perspective on active transcription. In this study, we present scGRO-seq - a novel single-cell nascent RNA sequencing assay using click-chemistry - and unveil the coordinated transcription throughout the genome. scGRO-seq demonstrates the episodic nature of transcription, and estimates burst size and frequency by directly quantifying transcribing RNA polymerases in individual cells. It reveals the co-transcription of functionally related genes and leverages the replication-dependent non-polyadenylated histone genes transcription to elucidate cell-cycle dynamics. The single-nucleotide spatial and temporal resolution of scGRO-seq identifies networks of enhancers and genes and indicates that the bursting of transcription at super-enhancers precedes the burst from associated genes. By imparting insights into the dynamic nature of transcription and the origin and propagation of transcription signals, scGRO-seq demonstrates its unique ability to investigate the mechanisms of transcription regulation and the role of enhancers in gene expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dig B. Mahat
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
| | - Nathaniel D. Tippens
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
| | | | - Sean K. Waterton
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
- Current address: Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
| | - Jiayu Fu
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
- Current address: Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences Graduate Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
| | - Sarah E. Blatt
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
- Current address: Exact Sciences Corporation, Madison, WI 53719
| | - Phillip A. Sharp
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
- Lead Contact
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11
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Oses C, Francia MG, Verneri P, Vazquez Echegaray C, Guberman AS, Levi V. The dynamical organization of the core pluripotency transcription factors responds to differentiation cues in early S-phase. Front Cell Dev Biol 2023; 11:1125015. [PMID: 37215075 PMCID: PMC10192714 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1125015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
DNA replication in stem cells is a major challenge for pluripotency preservation and cell fate decisions. This process involves massive changes in the chromatin architecture and the reorganization of many transcription-related molecules in different spatial and temporal scales. Pluripotency is controlled by the master transcription factors (TFs) OCT4, SOX2 and NANOG that partition into condensates in the nucleus of embryonic stem cells. These condensates are proposed to play relevant roles in the regulation of gene expression and the maintenance of pluripotency. Here, we asked whether the dynamical distribution of the pluripotency TFs changes during the cell cycle, particularly during DNA replication. Since the S phase is considered to be a window of opportunity for cell fate decisions, we explored if differentiation cues in G1 phase trigger changes in the distribution of these TFs during the subsequent S phase. Our results show a spatial redistribution of TFs condensates during DNA replication which was not directly related to chromatin compaction. Additionally, fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy revealed TF-specific, subtle changes in the landscape of TF-chromatin interactions, consistent with their particularities as key players of the pluripotency network. Moreover, we found that differentiation stimuli in the preceding G1 phase triggered a relatively fast and massive reorganization of pluripotency TFs in early-S phase. Particularly, OCT4 and SOX2 condensates dissolved whereas the lifetimes of TF-chromatin interactions increased suggesting that the reorganization of condensates is accompanied with a change in the landscape of TF-chromatin interactions. Notably, NANOG showed impaired interactions with chromatin in stimulated early-S cells in line with its role as naïve pluripotency TF. Together, these findings provide new insights into the regulation of the core pluripotency TFs during DNA replication of embryonic stem cells and highlight their different roles at early differentiation stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camila Oses
- Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (IQUIBICEN), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Marcos Gabriel Francia
- Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (IQUIBICEN), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Paula Verneri
- Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (IQUIBICEN), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Camila Vazquez Echegaray
- Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (IQUIBICEN), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Alejandra Sonia Guberman
- Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (IQUIBICEN), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Valeria Levi
- Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (IQUIBICEN), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Departamento de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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12
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Govindaraj V, Sarma S, Karulkar A, Purwar R, Kar S. Transcriptional Fluctuations Govern the Serum-Dependent Cell Cycle Duration Heterogeneities in Mammalian Cells. ACS Synth Biol 2022; 11:3743-3758. [PMID: 36325971 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.2c00347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Mammalian cells exhibit a high degree of intercellular variability in cell cycle period and phase durations. However, the factors orchestrating the cell cycle duration heterogeneities remain unclear. Herein, by combining cell cycle network-based mathematical models with live single-cell imaging studies under varied serum conditions, we demonstrate that fluctuating transcription rates of cell cycle regulatory genes across cell lineages and during cell cycle progression in mammalian cells majorly govern the robust correlation patterns of cell cycle period and phase durations among sister, cousin, and mother-daughter lineage pairs. However, for the overall cellular population, alteration in the serum level modulates the fluctuation and correlation patterns of cell cycle period and phase durations in a correlated manner. These heterogeneities at the population level can be fine-tuned under limited serum conditions by perturbing the cell cycle network using a p38-signaling inhibitor without affecting the robust lineage-level correlations. Overall, our approach identifies transcriptional fluctuations as the key controlling factor for the cell cycle duration heterogeneities and predicts ways to reduce cell-to-cell variabilities by perturbing the cell cycle network regulations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Subrot Sarma
- Department of Chemistry, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076, India
| | - Atharva Karulkar
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076, India
| | - Rahul Purwar
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076, India
| | - Sandip Kar
- Department of Chemistry, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076, India
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13
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Newar K, Abdulla AZ, Salari H, Fanchon E, Jost D. Dynamical modeling of the H3K27 epigenetic landscape in mouse embryonic stem cells. PLoS Comput Biol 2022; 18:e1010450. [PMID: 36054209 PMCID: PMC9477427 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2022] [Revised: 09/15/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The Polycomb system via the methylation of the lysine 27 of histone H3 (H3K27) plays central roles in the silencing of many lineage-specific genes during development. Recent experimental evidence suggested that the recruitment of histone modifying enzymes like the Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) at specific sites and their spreading capacities from these sites are key to the establishment and maintenance of a proper epigenomic landscape around Polycomb-target genes. Here, to test whether such mechanisms, as a minimal set of qualitative rules, are quantitatively compatible with data, we developed a mathematical model that can predict the locus-specific distributions of H3K27 modifications based on previous biochemical knowledge. Within the biological context of mouse embryonic stem cells, our model showed quantitative agreement with experimental profiles of H3K27 acetylation and methylation around Polycomb-target genes in wild-type and mutants. In particular, we demonstrated the key role of the reader-writer module of PRC2 and of the competition between the binding of activating and repressing enzymes in shaping the H3K27 landscape around transcriptional start sites. The predicted dynamics of establishment and maintenance of the repressive trimethylated H3K27 state suggest a slow accumulation, in perfect agreement with experiments. Our approach represents a first step towards a quantitative description of PcG regulation in various cellular contexts and provides a generic framework to better characterize epigenetic regulation in normal or disease situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kapil Newar
- Univ Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, TIMC laboratory, UMR 5525, Grenoble, France
| | - Amith Zafal Abdulla
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Modélisation de la Cellule, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS, UMR 5239, Inserm, U1293, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Hossein Salari
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Modélisation de la Cellule, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS, UMR 5239, Inserm, U1293, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Eric Fanchon
- Univ Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, TIMC laboratory, UMR 5525, Grenoble, France
| | - Daniel Jost
- Univ Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, TIMC laboratory, UMR 5525, Grenoble, France
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Modélisation de la Cellule, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS, UMR 5239, Inserm, U1293, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- * E-mail:
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14
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Perera M, Nissen SB, Proks M, Pozzi S, Monteiro RS, Trusina A, Brickman JM. Transcriptional heterogeneity and cell cycle regulation as central determinants of primitive endoderm priming. eLife 2022; 11:78967. [PMID: 35969041 PMCID: PMC9417417 DOI: 10.7554/elife.78967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
During embryonic development cells acquire identity as they proliferate, implying that an intrinsic facet of cell fate choice requires coupling lineage decisions to cell division. How is the cell cycle regulated to promote or suppress heterogeneity and differentiation? We explore this question combining time lapse imaging with single-cell RNA-seq in the contexts of self-renewal, priming, and differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) towards the Primitive Endoderm (PrE) lineage. Since ESCs are derived from the inner cell mass (ICM) of the mammalian blastocyst, ESCs in standard culture conditions are transcriptionally heterogeneous containing dynamically interconverting subfractions primed for either of the two ICM lineages, Epiblast and PrE. Here, we find that differential regulation of cell cycle can tip the balance between these primed populations, such that naïve ESC culture promotes Epiblast-like expansion and PrE differentiation stimulates the selective survival and proliferation of PrE-primed cells. In endoderm differentiation, this change is accompanied by a counter-intuitive increase in G1 length, also observed in vivo. While fibroblast growth factor/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (FGF/ERK) signalling is a key regulator of ESC differentiation and PrE specification, we find it is not just responsible for ESCs heterogeneity, but also the inheritance of similar cell cycles between sisters and cousins. Taken together, our results indicate a tight relationship between transcriptional heterogeneity and cell cycle regulation in lineage specification, with primed cell populations providing a pool of flexible cell types that can be expanded in a lineage-specific fashion while allowing plasticity during early determination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Perera
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Martin Proks
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Sara Pozzi
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Rita Soares Monteiro
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Ala Trusina
- Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Joshua M Brickman
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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15
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Herchcovici Levy S, Feldman Cohen S, Arnon L, Lahav S, Awawdy M, Alajem A, Bavli D, Sun X, Buganim Y, Ram O. Esrrb is a cell-cycle-dependent associated factor balancing pluripotency and XEN differentiation. Stem Cell Reports 2022; 17:1334-1350. [PMID: 35594859 PMCID: PMC9214067 DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.04.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2022] [Revised: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Cell cycle and differentiation decisions are linked; however, the underlying principles that drive these decisions are unclear. Here, we combined cell-cycle reporter system and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) profiling to study the transcriptomes of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in the context of cell-cycle states and differentiation. By applying retinoic acid, to G1 and G2/M ESCs, we show that, while both populations can differentiate toward epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs), only G2/M ESCs could differentiate into extraembryonic endoderm cells. We identified Esrrb, a pluripotency factor that is upregulated during G2/M, as a driver of extraembryonic endoderm stem cell (XEN) differentiation. Furthermore, enhancer chromatin states based on wild-type (WT) and ESRRB knockout (KO) ESCs show association of ESRRB with XEN poised enhancers. G1 cells overexpressing Esrrb allow ESCs to produce XENs, while ESRRB-KO ESCs lost their potential to differentiate into XEN. Overall, this study reveals a vital link between Esrrb and cell-cycle states during the exit from pluripotency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sapir Herchcovici Levy
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Sharon Feldman Cohen
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Lee Arnon
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Shlomtzion Lahav
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Muhammad Awawdy
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Adi Alajem
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Danny Bavli
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Xue Sun
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Yosef Buganim
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, The Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
| | - Oren Ram
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
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16
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Gao JX, Wang ZY, Zhang MQ, Qian MP, Jiang DQ. A data-driven method to learn a jump diffusion process from aggregate biological gene expression data. J Theor Biol 2022; 532:110923. [PMID: 34606876 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Revised: 08/15/2021] [Accepted: 08/29/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Dynamic models of gene expression are urgently required. In this paper, we describe the time evolution of gene expression by learning a jump diffusion process to model the biological process directly. Our algorithm needs aggregate gene expression data as input and outputs the parameters of the jump diffusion process. The learned jump diffusion process can predict population distributions of gene expression at any developmental stage, obtain long-time trajectories for individual cells, and offer a novel approach to computing RNA velocity. Moreover, it studies biological systems from a stochastic dynamic perspective. Gene expression data at a time point, which is a snapshot of a cellular process, is treated as an empirical marginal distribution of a stochastic process. The Wasserstein distance between the empirical distribution and predicted distribution by the jump diffusion process is minimized to learn the dynamics. For the learned jump diffusion process, its trajectories correspond to the development process of cells, the stochasticity determines the heterogeneity of cells, its instantaneous rate of state change can be taken as "RNA velocity", and the changes in scales and orientations of clusters can be noticed too. We demonstrate that our method can recover the underlying nonlinear dynamics better compared to previous parametric models and the diffusion processes driven by Brownian motion for both synthetic and real world datasets. Our method is also robust to perturbations of data because the computation involves only population expectations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia-Xing Gao
- LMAM, School of Mathematical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Zhen-Yi Wang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics; Bioinformatics Division and Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology, BNRist; Department of Automation, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Michael Q Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics; Bioinformatics Division and Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology, BNRist; School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; Department of Biological Sciences, Center for Systems Biology, The University of Texas, Richardson, TX 75080-3021, USA
| | - Min-Ping Qian
- LMAM, School of Mathematical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Da-Quan Jiang
- LMAM, School of Mathematical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Center for Statistical Science, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
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17
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Kohrman AQ, Kim-Yip RP, Posfai E. Imaging developmental cell cycles. Biophys J 2021; 120:4149-4161. [PMID: 33964274 PMCID: PMC8516676 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2021.04.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2021] [Revised: 04/14/2021] [Accepted: 04/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The last decade has seen a major expansion in development of live biosensors, the tools needed to genetically encode them into model organisms, and the microscopic techniques used to visualize them. When combined, these offer us powerful tools with which to make fundamental discoveries about complex biological processes. In this review, we summarize the availability of biosensors to visualize an essential cellular process, the cell cycle, and the techniques for single-cell tracking and quantification of these reporters. We also highlight studies investigating the connection of cellular behavior to the cell cycle, particularly through live imaging, and anticipate exciting discoveries with the combination of these technologies in developmental contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abraham Q Kohrman
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
| | - Rebecca P Kim-Yip
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
| | - Eszter Posfai
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey.
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18
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van der Weijden VA, Rüegg AB, Bernal-Ulloa SM, Ulbrich SE. Embryonic diapause in mammals and dormancy in embryonic stem cells with the European roe deer as experimental model. Reprod Fertil Dev 2021; 33:76-81. [PMID: 38769673 DOI: 10.1071/rd20256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
In species displaying embryonic diapause, the developmental pace of the embryo is either temporarily and reversibly halted or largely reduced. Only limited knowledge on its regulation and the inhibition of cell proliferation extending pluripotency is available. In contrast with embryos from other diapausing species that reversibly halt during diapause, embryos of the roe deer Capreolus capreolus slowly proliferate over a period of 4-5 months to reach a diameter of approximately 4mm before elongation. The diapausing roe deer embryos present an interesting model species for research on preimplantation developmental progression. Based on our and other research, we summarise the available knowledge and indicate that the use of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) would help to increase our understanding of embryonic diapause. We report on known molecular mechanisms regulating embryonic diapause, as well as cellular dormancy of pluripotent cells. Further, we address the promising application of ESCs to study embryonic diapause, and highlight the current knowledge on the cellular microenvironment regulating embryonic diapause and cellular dormancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vera A van der Weijden
- ETH Zurich, Animal Physiology, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Universitaetstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Anna B Rüegg
- ETH Zurich, Animal Physiology, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Universitaetstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sandra M Bernal-Ulloa
- ETH Zurich, Animal Physiology, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Universitaetstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Susanne E Ulbrich
- ETH Zurich, Animal Physiology, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Universitaetstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland; and Corresponding author
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19
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Gu B, Comerci CJ, McCarthy DG, Saurabh S, Moerner WE, Wysocka J. Opposing Effects of Cohesin and Transcription on CTCF Organization Revealed by Super-resolution Imaging. Mol Cell 2020; 80:699-711.e7. [PMID: 33091336 PMCID: PMC7725164 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2020.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2020] [Revised: 07/30/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) and cohesin play critical roles in organizing mammalian genomes into topologically associating domains (TADs). Here, by combining genetic engineering with quantitative super-resolution stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy, we demonstrate that in living cells, CTCF forms clusters typically containing 2-8 molecules. A fraction of CTCF clusters, enriched for those with ≥3 molecules, are coupled with cohesin complexes with a characteristic physical distance suggestive of a defined molecular interaction. Acute degradation of the cohesin unloader WAPL or transcriptional inhibition (TI) result in increased CTCF clustering. Furthermore, the effect of TI on CTCF clusters is alleviated by the acute loss of the cohesin subunit SMC3. Our study provides quantitative characterization of CTCF clusters in living cells, uncovers the opposing effects of cohesin and transcription on CTCF clustering, and highlights the power of quantitative super-resolution microscopy as a tool to bridge the gap between biochemical and genomic methodologies in chromatin research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Gu
- Department of Chemical and Systems Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Colin J Comerci
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Biophysics Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | - Saumya Saurabh
- Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - W E Moerner
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Biophysics Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
| | - Joanna Wysocka
- Department of Chemical and Systems Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA; Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA; Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
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20
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Atkins A, Xu MJ, Li M, Rogers NP, Pryzhkova MV, Jordan PW. SMC5/6 is required for replication fork stability and faithful chromosome segregation during neurogenesis. eLife 2020; 9:e61171. [PMID: 33200984 PMCID: PMC7723410 DOI: 10.7554/elife.61171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2020] [Accepted: 11/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutations of SMC5/6 components cause developmental defects, including primary microcephaly. To model neurodevelopmental defects, we engineered a mouse wherein Smc5 is conditionally knocked out (cKO) in the developing neocortex. Smc5 cKO mice exhibited neurodevelopmental defects due to neural progenitor cell (NPC) apoptosis, which led to reduction in cortical layer neurons. Smc5 cKO NPCs formed DNA bridges during mitosis and underwent chromosome missegregation. SMC5/6 depletion triggers a CHEK2-p53 DNA damage response, as concomitant deletion of the Trp53 tumor suppressor or Chek2 DNA damage checkpoint kinase rescued Smc5 cKO neurodevelopmental defects. Further assessment using Smc5 cKO and auxin-inducible degron systems demonstrated that absence of SMC5/6 leads to DNA replication stress at late-replicating regions such as pericentromeric heterochromatin. In summary, SMC5/6 is important for completion of DNA replication prior to entering mitosis, which ensures accurate chromosome segregation. Thus, SMC5/6 functions are critical in highly proliferative stem cells during organism development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alisa Atkins
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public HealthBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Michelle J Xu
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public HealthBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Maggie Li
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public HealthBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Nathaniel P Rogers
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public HealthBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Marina V Pryzhkova
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public HealthBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Philip W Jordan
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public HealthBaltimoreUnited States
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21
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Muñoa-Hoyos I, Halsall JA, Araolaza M, Ward C, Garcia I, Urizar-Arenaza I, Gianzo M, Garcia P, Turner B, Subirán N. Morphine leads to global genome changes in H3K27me3 levels via a Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) self-regulatory mechanism in mESCs. Clin Epigenetics 2020; 12:170. [PMID: 33168052 PMCID: PMC7654014 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-020-00955-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2020] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Environmentally induced epigenetic changes can lead to health problems or disease, but the mechanisms involved remain unclear. Morphine can pass through the placental barrier leading to abnormal embryo development. However, the mechanism by which morphine causes these effects and how they sometimes persist into adulthood is not well known. To unravel the morphine-induced chromatin alterations involved in aberrant embryo development, we explored the role of the H3K27me3/PRC2 repressive complex in gene expression and its transmission across cellular generations in response to morphine. Results Using mouse embryonic stem cells as a model system, we found that chronic morphine treatment induces a global downregulation of the histone modification H3K27me3. Conversely, ChIP-Seq showed a remarkable increase in H3K27me3 levels at specific genomic sites, particularly promoters, disrupting selective target genes related to embryo development, cell cycle and metabolism. Through a self-regulatory mechanism, morphine downregulated the transcription of PRC2 components responsible for H3K27me3 by enriching high H3K27me3 levels at the promoter region. Downregulation of PRC2 components persisted for at least 48 h (4 cell cycles) following morphine removal, though promoter H3K27me3 levels returned to control levels.
Conclusions Morphine induces targeting of the PRC2 complex to selected promoters, including those of PRC2 components, leading to characteristic changes in gene expression and a global reduction in H3K27me3. Following morphine removal, enhanced promoter H3K27me3 levels revert to normal sooner than global H3K27me3 or PRC2 component transcript levels. We suggest that H3K27me3 is involved in initiating morphine-induced changes in gene expression, but not in their maintenance. Graphic abstract Model of Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) and H3K27me3 alterations induced by chronic morphine exposure. Morphine induces H3K27me3 enrichment at promoters of genes encoding core members of the PRC2 complex and is associated with their transcriptional downregulation.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Iraia Muñoa-Hoyos
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 48940, Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain.,Innovation in Assisted Reproduction Group, Bizkaia Health Research Institute, 48903 Barakaldo, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - John A Halsall
- Chromatin and Gene Expression Group, Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Manu Araolaza
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 48940, Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Carl Ward
- Stem Cell Laboratory, Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Idoia Garcia
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 48940, Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain.,Biodonostia Health Research Institute, 2009 San Sebastian, Gipuzkoa, Spain
| | - Itziar Urizar-Arenaza
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 48940, Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain.,Innovation in Assisted Reproduction Group, Bizkaia Health Research Institute, 48903 Barakaldo, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Marta Gianzo
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 48940, Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Paloma Garcia
- Stem Cell Laboratory, Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Bryan Turner
- Chromatin and Gene Expression Group, Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
| | - Nerea Subirán
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 48940, Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain. .,Innovation in Assisted Reproduction Group, Bizkaia Health Research Institute, 48903 Barakaldo, Bizkaia, Spain.
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Alba G, Martínez R, Postigo-Corrales F, López S, Santa-María C, Jiménez J, Cahuana GM, Soria B, Bedoya FJ, Tejedo JR. AICAR Stimulates the Pluripotency Transcriptional Complex in Embryonic Stem Cells Mediated by PI3K, GSK3β, and β-Catenin. ACS OMEGA 2020; 5:20270-20282. [PMID: 32832780 PMCID: PMC7439381 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c02137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2020] [Accepted: 07/23/2020] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Pluripotent stem cells maintain the property of self-renewal and differentiate into all cell types under clear environments. Though the gene regulatory mechanism for pluripotency has been investigated in recent years, it is still not completely understood. Here, we show several signaling pathways involved in the maintenance of pluripotency. To investigate whether AMPK is involved in maintaining the pluripotency in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) and elucidating the possible molecular mechanisms, implicated D3 and R1/E mESC lines were used in this study. Cells were cultured in the absence or presence of LIF and treated with 1 mM and 0.5 mM 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-d-ribofuranoside (AICAR), 2 mM metformin, compound C, and the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 for 24, 72, and 120 h. The levels of Nanog, Oct3/4, and REX1 and Brachyury, Notch2, and Gata4 mRNAs and Nanog or OCT3/4 protein levels were analyzed. Alkaline phosphatase and the cellular cycle were determined. The pGSK3β, GSK3β, p-β-catenin, and β-catenin protein levels were also investigated. We found that AMPK activators such as AICAR and metformin increase mRNA expression of pluripotency markers and decrease mRNA expression of differentiation markers in R1/E and D3 ES cells. AICAR increases phosphatase activity and arrests the cellular cycle in the G1 phase in these cells. We describe that AICAR effects were mediated by AMPK activation using a chemical inhibitor or by silencing this gene. AICAR effects were also mediated by PI3K, GSK3β, and β-catenin in R1/E ES cells. According to our findings, we provide a mechanism by which AICAR increases and maintains a pluripotency state through enhanced Nanog expression, involving AMPK/PI3K and p-GSK3β Ser21/9 pathways backing up the AICAR function as a potential target for this drug controlling pluripotency. The highlights of this study are that AICAR (5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamied-1-b-riboside), an AMP protein kinase (AMPK) activator, blocks the ESC differentiation and AMPK is a key enzyme for pluripotency and shows valuable data to clarify the molecular pluripotency mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gonzalo Alba
- Department
of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville 41009, Spain
- . Telephone: +34-955421044. Fax: +34-954907048
| | - Raquel Martínez
- Department
of Regeneration and Cell Therapy, Andalusian Center for Molecular
Biology and Regenerative Medicine-CABIMER, Universidad Pablo de Olavide-University of Seville-CSIC, Seville 41013, Spain
| | - Fátima Postigo-Corrales
- Department
of Regeneration and Cell Therapy, Andalusian Center for Molecular
Biology and Regenerative Medicine-CABIMER, Universidad Pablo de Olavide-University of Seville-CSIC, Seville 41013, Spain
| | - Soledad López
- Department
of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville 41009, Spain
| | - Consuelo Santa-María
- Department
of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universidad
de Sevilla, Seville 41009, Spain
| | - Juan Jiménez
- Department
of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville 41009, Spain
| | - Gladys M. Cahuana
- Department
of Molecular Biology and Biochemical Engineering, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville 41013, Spain
- Biomedical
Research Network for Diabetes and Related Metabolic Diseases-CIBERDEM,
Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid 28029, Spain
| | - Bernat Soria
- Department
of Regeneration and Cell Therapy, Andalusian Center for Molecular
Biology and Regenerative Medicine-CABIMER, Universidad Pablo de Olavide-University of Seville-CSIC, Seville 41013, Spain
- Biomedical
Research Network for Diabetes and Related Metabolic Diseases-CIBERDEM,
Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid 28029, Spain
- Cell
Therapy
Network, Madrid (RED-TERCEL), Instituto
de Salud Carlos III, Madrid 28029, Spain
- Universidad
Miguel Hernández, Alicante 03550, Spain
| | - Francisco J. Bedoya
- Department
of Regeneration and Cell Therapy, Andalusian Center for Molecular
Biology and Regenerative Medicine-CABIMER, Universidad Pablo de Olavide-University of Seville-CSIC, Seville 41013, Spain
- Department
of Molecular Biology and Biochemical Engineering, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville 41013, Spain
- Biomedical
Research Network for Diabetes and Related Metabolic Diseases-CIBERDEM,
Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid 28029, Spain
- Cell
Therapy
Network, Madrid (RED-TERCEL), Instituto
de Salud Carlos III, Madrid 28029, Spain
| | - Juan R. Tejedo
- Department
of Regeneration and Cell Therapy, Andalusian Center for Molecular
Biology and Regenerative Medicine-CABIMER, Universidad Pablo de Olavide-University of Seville-CSIC, Seville 41013, Spain
- Department
of Molecular Biology and Biochemical Engineering, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville 41013, Spain
- Biomedical
Research Network for Diabetes and Related Metabolic Diseases-CIBERDEM,
Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid 28029, Spain
- Cell
Therapy
Network, Madrid (RED-TERCEL), Instituto
de Salud Carlos III, Madrid 28029, Spain
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