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Wang L, Trasanidis N, Wu T, Dong G, Hu M, Bauer DE, Pinello L. Dictys: dynamic gene regulatory network dissects developmental continuum with single-cell multiomics. Nat Methods 2023; 20:1368-1378. [PMID: 37537351 DOI: 10.1038/s41592-023-01971-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 08/05/2023]
Abstract
Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) are key determinants of cell function and identity and are dynamically rewired during development and disease. Despite decades of advancement, challenges remain in GRN inference, including dynamic rewiring, causal inference, feedback loop modeling and context specificity. To address these challenges, we develop Dictys, a dynamic GRN inference and analysis method that leverages multiomic single-cell assays of chromatin accessibility and gene expression, context-specific transcription factor footprinting, stochastic process network and efficient probabilistic modeling of single-cell RNA-sequencing read counts. Dictys improves GRN reconstruction accuracy and reproducibility and enables the inference and comparative analysis of context-specific and dynamic GRNs across developmental contexts. Dictys' network analyses recover unique insights in human blood and mouse skin development with cell-type-specific and dynamic GRNs. Its dynamic network visualizations enable time-resolved discovery and investigation of developmental driver transcription factors and their regulated targets. Dictys is available as a free, open-source and user-friendly Python package.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lingfei Wang
- Molecular Pathology Unit and Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts General Hospital Research Institute, Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Gene Regulation Observatory, The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Nikolaos Trasanidis
- Molecular Pathology Unit and Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts General Hospital Research Institute, Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Hugh and Josseline Langmuir Centre for Myeloma Research, Centre for Haematology, Department of Immunology and Inflammation, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Ting Wu
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Boston Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Guanlan Dong
- Molecular Pathology Unit and Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts General Hospital Research Institute, Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Division of Genetics and Genomics, Boston Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics PhD Program, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Michael Hu
- Molecular Pathology Unit and Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts General Hospital Research Institute, Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daniel E Bauer
- Gene Regulation Observatory, The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Boston Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Luca Pinello
- Molecular Pathology Unit and Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts General Hospital Research Institute, Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Gene Regulation Observatory, The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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Khaveh N, Schachler K, Berghöfer J, Jung K, Metzger J. Altered hair root gene expression profiles highlight calcium signaling and lipid metabolism pathways to be associated with curly hair initiation and maintenance in Mangalitza pigs. Front Genet 2023; 14:1184015. [PMID: 37351343 PMCID: PMC10282778 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1184015] [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: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Hair types have been under strong targeted selection in domestic animals for their impact on skin protection, thermoregulation and exterior morphology, and subsequent economic importance. In pigs, a very special hair phenotype was observed in Mangalitza, who expresses a thick coat of curly bristles and downy hair. Two breed-specific missense variants in TRPM2 and CYP4F3 were suggested to be associated with the Mangalitza pig's hair shape due to their role in hair follicle morphogenesis reported for human and mice. However, the mechanism behind this expression of a curly hair type is still unclear and needs to be explored. In our study, hair shafts were measured and investigated for the curvature of the hair in Mangalitza and crossbreeds in comparison to straight-coated pigs. For molecular studies, hair roots underwent RNA sequencing for a differential gene expression analysis using DESeq2. The output matrix of normalized counts was then used to construct weighted gene co-expression networks. The resulting hair root gene expression profiles highlighted 454 genes to be significantly differentially expressed for initiation of curly hair phenotype in newborn Mangalitza piglets versus post-initiation in later development. Furthermore, 2,554 genes showed a significant differential gene expression in curly hair in comparison to straight hair. Neither TRPM2 nor CYP4F3 were identified as differentially expressed. Incidence of the genes in weighted co-expression networks associated with TRPM2 and CYP4F3, and prominent interactions of subsequent proteins with lipids and calcium-related pathways suggested calcium signaling and/or lipid metabolism as essential players in the induction of the curly hair as well as an ionic calcium-dependency to be a prominent factor for the maintenance of this phenotype. Subsequently, our study highlights the complex interrelations and dependencies of mutant genes TRPM2 and CYP4F3 and associated gene expression patterns, allowing the initiation of curly hair type during the development of a piglet as well as the maintenance in adult individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadia Khaveh
- Research Group Veterinary Functional Genomics, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Kathrin Schachler
- Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Jan Berghöfer
- Research Group Veterinary Functional Genomics, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Klaus Jung
- Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Julia Metzger
- Research Group Veterinary Functional Genomics, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
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3
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Mitchell AV, Wu L, James Block C, Zhang M, Hackett J, Craig DB, Chen W, Zhao Y, Zhang B, Dang Y, Zhang X, Zhang S, Wang C, Gibson H, Pile LA, Kidder B, Matherly L, Yang Z, Dou Y, Wu G. FOXQ1 recruits the MLL complex to activate transcription of EMT and promote breast cancer metastasis. Nat Commun 2022; 13:6548. [PMID: 36319643 PMCID: PMC9626503 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34239-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Aberrant expression of the Forkhead box transcription factor, FOXQ1, is a prevalent mechanism of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and metastasis in multiple carcinoma types. However, it remains unknown how FOXQ1 regulates gene expression. Here, we report that FOXQ1 initiates EMT by recruiting the MLL/KMT2 histone methyltransferase complex as a transcriptional coactivator. We first establish that FOXQ1 promoter recognition precedes MLL complex assembly and histone-3 lysine-4 trimethylation within the promoter regions of critical genes in the EMT program. Mechanistically, we identify that the Forkhead box in FOXQ1 functions as a transactivation domain directly binding the MLL core complex subunit RbBP5 without interrupting FOXQ1 DNA binding activity. Moreover, genetic disruption of the FOXQ1-RbBP5 interaction or pharmacologic targeting of KMT2/MLL recruitment inhibits FOXQ1-dependent gene expression, EMT, and in vivo tumor progression. Our study suggests that targeting the FOXQ1-MLL epigenetic axis could be a promising strategy to combat triple-negative breast cancer metastatic progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison V Mitchell
- Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4100 John R, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA
| | - Ling Wu
- Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4100 John R, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA
| | - C James Block
- Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4100 John R, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA
| | - Mu Zhang
- Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4100 John R, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA
| | - Justin Hackett
- Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4100 John R, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA
| | - Douglas B Craig
- Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4100 John R, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA
| | - Wei Chen
- Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4100 John R, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA
| | - Yongzhong Zhao
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn Institute of Genomics and Multiscale Biology, Icahn Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Bin Zhang
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn Institute of Genomics and Multiscale Biology, Icahn Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Yongjun Dang
- Key Laboratory of Metabolism and Molecular Medicine, the Ministry of Education, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Xiaohong Zhang
- Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4100 John R, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA
| | - Shengping Zhang
- Institute of Translational Medicine, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, No. 650 Xinsongjiang Road, Songjiang District, Shanghai, 201620, China
| | - Chuangui Wang
- Institute of Translational Medicine, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, No. 650 Xinsongjiang Road, Songjiang District, Shanghai, 201620, China
| | - Heather Gibson
- Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4100 John R, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA
| | - Lori A Pile
- The Department of Biological Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA
| | - Benjamin Kidder
- Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4100 John R, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA
| | - Larry Matherly
- Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4100 John R, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA
| | - Zhe Yang
- Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA
| | - Yali Dou
- Department of Pathology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Guojun Wu
- Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4100 John R, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA.
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LI YANG, ZHANG YEFEI, YAO ZHENDONG, LI SISI, YIN ZHENHUA, XU MIN. Forkhead box Q1: A key player in the pathogenesis of tumors (Review). Int J Oncol 2016; 49:51-8. [DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2016.3517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2016] [Accepted: 03/30/2016] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
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Sundberg JP, Awgulewitsch A, Pruett ND, Potter CS, Silva KA, Stearns TM, Sundberg BA, Muñoz MW, Cuasnicu PS, King LE, Rice RH. Crisp1 and alopecia areata in C3H/HeJ mice. Exp Mol Pathol 2014; 97:525-8. [PMID: 25446841 PMCID: PMC4262666 DOI: 10.1016/j.yexmp.2014.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2014] [Accepted: 10/28/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Alopecia areata (AA), a cell mediated autoimmune disease, is the second most common form of hair loss in humans. While the autoimmune disease is responsible for the underlying pathogenesis, the alopecia phenotype is ultimately due to hair shaft fragility and breakage associated with structural deficits. Quantitative trait genetic analyses using the C3H/HeJ mouse AA model identified cysteine-rich secretory protein 1 (Crisp1), a hair shaft structural protein, as a candidate gene within the major AA locus. Crisp1 transcripts in the skin at various times during disease development were barely detectable. In situ hybridization identified Crisp1 expression within the medulla of hair shafts from clinically normal strains of mice but not C3H/HeJ mice with AA. Follow-up work with 5-day-old C3H/HeJ mice with normal hair also had essentially no expression of Crisp1. Other non-inflammatory based follicular dystrophy mouse models with similar hair shaft abnormalities also have little or no Crisp1 expression. Shotgun proteomics, used to determine strain difference in hair proteins, confirmed that there was very little CRISP1 within normal C3H/HeJ mouse hair in comparison to 11 other strains. However, mutant mice with hair medulla defects also had undetectable levels of CRISP1 in their hair. Crisp1 null mice had normal skin, hair follicles, and hair shafts indicating that the lack of the CRISP1 protein does not translate directly into defects in the hair shaft or hair follicle. These results suggest that CRISP1 may be an important structural component of mouse hair and that its strain-specific dysregulation may indicate a predisposition to hair shaft disease such as AA.
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Affiliation(s)
- John P Sundberg
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, United States; Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States.
| | - Alexander Awgulewitsch
- Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States
| | - Nathan D Pruett
- Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States
| | | | | | | | | | - Mariana Weigel Muñoz
- Instituto de Biologia y Medicina Experimental (IBYME-CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Patricia S Cuasnicu
- Instituto de Biologia y Medicina Experimental (IBYME-CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Lloyd E King
- Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Robert H Rice
- Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis, CA, United States
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