SP transcription factor paralogs and DNA-binding sites coevolve and adaptively converge in mammals and birds

Viral Appropriation of Specificity Protein 1 (Sp1): The Role of Sp1 in Human Retro- and DNA Viruses in Promoter Activation and Beyond

Specificity protein 1 (Sp1) is a highly ubiquitous transcription factor and one employed by numerous viruses to complete their life cycles. In this review, we start by summarizing the relationships between Sp1 function, DNA binding, and structural motifs. We then describe the role Sp1 plays in transcriptional activation of seven viral families, composed of human retro- and DNA viruses, with a focus on key promoter regions. Additionally, we discuss pathways in common across multiple viruses, highlighting the importance of the cell regulatory role of Sp1. We also describe Sp1-related epigenetic and protein post-translational modifications during viral infection and how they relate to Sp1 binding. Finally, with these insights in mind, we comment on the potential for Sp1-targeting therapies, such as repurposing drugs currently in use in the anti-cancer realm, and what limitations such agents would have as antivirals.

Cross-species single-cell transcriptomics reveals neuronal similarities and heterogeneity in amniote pallium

The amniote pallium, a vital component of the forebrain, exhibits considerable evolutionary divergence across species and mediates diverse functions, including sensory processing, memory formation, and learning. However, the relationships among pallial subregions in different species remain poorly characterized, particularly regarding the identification of homologous neurons and their transcriptional signatures. In this study, we utilized single-nucleus RNA sequencing to examine over 130 000 nuclei from the macaque ( Macaca fascicularis) neocortex, complemented by datasets from humans ( Homo sapiens), mice ( Mus musculus), zebra finches ( Taeniopygia guttata), turtles ( Chrysemys picta bellii), and lizards ( Pogona vitticeps), enabling comprehensive cross-species comparison. Results revealed transcriptomic conservation and species-specific distinctions within the amniote pallium. Notable similarities were observed among cell subtypes, particularly within PVALB + inhibitory neurons, which exhibited species-preferred subtypes. Furthermore, correlations between pallial subregions and several transcription factor candidates were identified, including RARB, DLX2, STAT6, NR3C1, and THRB, with potential regulatory roles in gene expression in mammalian pallial neurons compared to their avian and reptilian counterparts. These results highlight the conserved nature of inhibitory neurons, remarkable regional divergence of excitatory neurons, and species-specific gene expression and regulation in amniote pallial neurons. Collectively, these findings provide valuable insights into the evolutionary dynamics of the amniote pallium.

Over-representation of potential SP4 target genes within schizophrenia-risk genes

Reduction of Sp4 expression causes age-dependent hippocampal vacuolization and many other intermediate phenotypes of schizophrenia in Sp4 hypomorphic mice. Recent human genetic studies from both the Schizophrenia Exome Sequencing Meta-Analysis (SCHEMA) and the Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) validated SP4 as a schizophrenia-risk gene over the exome-wide or the genome-wide significance. Truncation of the human SP4 gene has an odds ratio of 9.37 (3.38-29.7) for schizophrenia. Despite successful identification of many schizophrenia-risk genes, it is unknown whether and how these risk genes may interact with each other in the development of schizophrenia. By taking advantage of the specific localization of the GC-boxes bound by SP4 transcription factors, I analyzed the relative abundance of these GC-boxes in the proximal promoter regions of schizophrenia-risk genes. I found that the GC-box containing genes are significantly over-represented within schizophrenia-risk genes, suggesting that SP4 is not only a high-risk gene for schizophrenia, but may also act as a hub of network in the regulation of many other schizophrenia-risk genes via these GC-boxes in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.

Competition for DNA binding between paralogous transcription factors determines their genomic occupancy and regulatory functions

Most eukaryotic transcription factors (TFs) are part of large protein families, with members of the same family (i.e., paralogous TFs) recognizing similar DNA-binding motifs but performing different regulatory functions. Many TF paralogs are coexpressed in the cell and thus can compete for target sites across the genome. However, this competition is rarely taken into account when studying the in vivo binding patterns of eukaryotic TFs. Here, we show that direct competition for DNA binding between TF paralogs is a major determinant of their genomic binding patterns. Using yeast proteins Cbf1 and Pho4 as our model system, we designed a high-throughput quantitative assay to capture the genomic binding profiles of competing TFs in a cell-free system. Our data show that Cbf1 and Pho4 greatly influence each other's occupancy by competing for their common putative genomic binding sites. The competition is different at different genomic sites, as dictated by the TFs' expression levels and their divergence in DNA-binding specificity and affinity. Analyses of ChIP-seq data show that the biophysical rules that dictate the competitive TF binding patterns in vitro are also followed in vivo, in the complex cellular environment. Furthermore, the Cbf1-Pho4 competition for genomic sites, as characterized in vitro using our new assay, plays a critical role in the specific activation of their target genes in the cell. Overall, our study highlights the importance of direct TF-TF competition for genomic binding and gene regulation by TF paralogs, and proposes an approach for studying this competition in a quantitative and high-throughput manner.

The transcription factor SP3 drives TNF-α expression in response to Smac mimetics

The controlled production and downstream signaling of the inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) are important for immunity and its anticancer effects. Although chronic stimulation with TNF-α is detrimental to the health of the host in several autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, TNF-α-contrary to what its name implies-leads to cancer formation by promoting cell proliferation and survival. Smac mimetic compounds (SMCs), small-molecule antagonists of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs), switch the TNF-α signal from promoting survival to promoting death in cancer cells. Using a genome-wide siRNA screen to identify factors required for SMC-to-TNF-α-mediated cancer cell death, we identified the transcription factor SP3 as a critical molecule in both basal and SMC-induced production of TNF-α by engaging the nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) transcriptional pathway. Moreover, the promotion of TNF-α expression by SP3 activity confers differential sensitivity of cancer versus normal cells to SMC treatment. The key role of SP3 in TNF-α production and signaling will help us further understand TNF-α biology and provide insight into mechanisms relevant to cancer and inflammatory disease.

Nonadaptive Amino Acid Convergence Rates Decrease over Time

Convergence is a central concept in evolutionary studies because it provides strong evidence for adaptation. It also provides information about the nature of the fitness landscape and the repeatability of evolution, and can mislead phylogenetic inference. To understand the role of adaptive convergence, we need to understand the patterns of nonadaptive convergence. Here, we consider the relationship between nonadaptive convergence and divergence in mitochondrial and model proteins. Surprisingly, nonadaptive convergence is much more common than expected in closely related organisms, falling off as organisms diverge. The extent of the convergent drop-off in mitochondrial proteins is well predicted by epistatic or coevolutionary effects in our "evolutionary Stokes shift" models and poorly predicted by conventional evolutionary models. Convergence probabilities decrease dramatically if the ancestral amino acids of branches being compared have diverged, but also drop slowly over evolutionary time even if the ancestral amino acids have not substituted. Convergence probabilities drop-off rapidly for quickly evolving sites, but much more slowly for slowly evolving sites. Furthermore, once sites have diverged their convergence probabilities are extremely low and indistinguishable from convergence levels at randomized sites. These results indicate that we cannot assume that excessive convergence early on is necessarily adaptive. This new understanding should help us to better discriminate adaptive from nonadaptive convergence and develop more relevant evolutionary models with improved validity for phylogenetic inference.

Tracing the evolution of lineage-specific transcription factor binding sites in a birth-death framework

Changes in cis-regulatory element composition that result in novel patterns of gene expression are thought to be a major contributor to the evolution of lineage-specific traits. Although transcription factor binding events show substantial variation across species, most computational approaches to study regulatory elements focus primarily upon highly conserved sites, and rely heavily upon multiple sequence alignments. However, sequence conservation based approaches have limited ability to detect lineage-specific elements that could contribute to species-specific traits. In this paper, we describe a novel framework that utilizes a birth-death model to trace the evolution of lineage-specific binding sites without relying on detailed base-by-base cross-species alignments. Our model was applied to analyze the evolution of binding sites based on the ChIP-seq data for six transcription factors (GATA1, SOX2, CTCF, MYC, MAX, ETS1) along the lineage toward human after human-mouse common ancestor. We estimate that a substantial fraction of binding sites (∼58–79% for each factor) in humans have origins since the divergence with mouse. Over 15% of all binding sites are unique to hominids. Such elements are often enriched near genes associated with specific pathways, and harbor more common SNPs than older binding sites in the human genome. These results support the ability of our method to identify lineage-specific regulatory elements and help understand their roles in shaping variation in gene regulation across species.

Recent experimental studies showed that the evolution of transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) is highly dynamic, with sites differing a great deal even between closely related mammalian species. Despite the substantial experimental evidence for rapid divergence of regulatory protein-binding events across species, computational methods designed to analyze regulatory elements evolution have focused primarily on phylogenetic footprinting approaches, in which putative functional regulatory elements are identified according to strong sequence conservation. Cross-species comparisons of non-coding sequences are limited in their ability to fully understand the evolution of regulatory sequences, particularly in cases where the elements are selected for novelty or species-specific. We have developed a novel framework to reconstruct the history of lineage-specific TFBS and showed that large amount of TFBS in human were born after human-mouse divergence. These elements also have distinct biological implications as compared to more ancient ones. This method can help understand the roles of lineage-specific TFBS in shaping gene regulation across different species.

Increased expression of colonic Wnt9A through Sp1-mediated transcriptional effects involving arylsulfatase B, chondroitin 4-sulfate, and galectin-3

In cultured human colonic epithelial cells and mouse colonic tissue, exposure to the common food additive carrageenan leads to inflammation, activation of Wnt signaling, increased Wnt9A expression, and decline in the activity of the enzyme arylsulfatase B (ARSB; N-acetylgalactosamine-4-sulfatase). In this study, the novel transcriptional mechanism by which carrageenan and decline in ARSB increase Wnt9A expression in NCM460 and HT-29 human colonic epithelial cells and in mouse colon is presented. Increased expression of Wnt9A has been associated with multiple malignancies, including colon carcinoma, and with ectodermal and mesoendodermal morphogenesis. When ARSB activity was reduced by siRNA or by exposure to carrageenan (1 μg/ml for 24 h), degradation of chondroitin 4-sulfate (C4S) was inhibited, leading to accumulation of more highly sulfated C4S, which binds less galectin-3, a β-galactoside-binding protein. Nuclear galectin-3 increased and mediated increased binding of Sp1 to the Sp1 consensus sequence in the Wnt9A promoter, shown by oligonucleotide-binding assay and by chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. When galectin-3 was silenced, the increases in Sp1 binding to the Wnt9A promoter and in Wnt9A expression, which followed carrageenan or ARSB silencing, were inhibited. Mithramycin A, a specific inhibitor of Sp1 oligonucleotide binding, and Sp1 siRNA blocked the carrageenan- and ARSB siRNA-induced increases in Wnt9A expression. These studies reveal how carrageenan exposure can lead to transcriptional events in colonic epithelial cells through decline in arylsulfatase B activity, with subsequent impact on C4S, galectin-3, Sp1, and Wnt9A and can exert significant effects on Wnt-initiated signaling and related vital cell processes.