1
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Perez RC, Yang X, Familari M, Martinez G, Lovicu FJ, Hime GR, de Iongh RU. TOB1 and TOB2 mark distinct RNA processing granules in differentiating lens fiber cells. J Mol Histol 2024; 55:121-138. [PMID: 38165569 DOI: 10.1007/s10735-023-10177-y] [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: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 11/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/04/2024]
Abstract
Differentiation of lens fiber cells involves a complex interplay of signals from growth factors together with tightly regulated gene expression via transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulators. Various studies have demonstrated that RNA-binding proteins, functioning in ribonucleoprotein granules, have important roles in regulating post-transcriptional expression during lens development. In this study, we examined the expression and localization of two members of the BTG/TOB family of RNA-binding proteins, TOB1 and TOB2, in the developing lens and examined the phenotype of mice that lack Tob1. By RT-PCR, both Tob1 and Tob2 mRNA were detected in epithelial and fiber cells of embryonic and postnatal murine lenses. In situ hybridization showed Tob1 and Tob2 mRNA were most intensely expressed in the early differentiating fibers, with weaker expression in anterior epithelial cells, and both appeared to be downregulated in the germinative zone of E15.5 lenses. TOB1 protein was detected from E11.5 to E16.5 and was predominantly detected in large cytoplasmic puncta in early differentiating fiber cells, often co-localizing with the P-body marker, DCP2. Occasional nuclear puncta were also observed. By contrast, TOB2 was detected in a series of interconnected peri-nuclear granules, in later differentiating fiber cells of the inner cortex. TOB2 did not appear to co-localize with DCP2 but did partially co-localize with an early stress granule marker (EIF3B). These data suggest that TOB1 and TOB2 are involved with different aspects of the mRNA processing cycle in lens fiber cells. In vitro experiments using rat lens epithelial explants treated with or without a fiber differentiating dose of FGF2 showed that both TOB1 and TOB2 were up-regulated during FGF-induced differentiation. In differentiating explants, TOB1 also co-localized with DCP2 in large cytoplasmic granules. Analyses of Tob1-/- mice revealed relatively normal lens morphology but a subtle defect in cell cycle arrest of some cells at the equator and in the lens fiber mass of E13.5 embryos. Overall, these findings suggest that TOB proteins play distinct regulatory roles in RNA processing during lens fiber differentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafaela C Perez
- Ocular Development Laboratory, Anatomy & Physiology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Xenia Yang
- Ocular Development Laboratory, Anatomy & Physiology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Mary Familari
- School of Biosciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Gemma Martinez
- Ocular Development Laboratory, Anatomy & Physiology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Frank J Lovicu
- Molecular and Cellular Biomedicine, School of Medical Sciences and Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Gary R Hime
- Stem Cell Genetics Laboratory, Anatomy & Physiology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Robb U de Iongh
- Ocular Development Laboratory, Anatomy & Physiology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.
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2
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Tangeman JA, Rebull SM, Grajales-Esquivel E, Weaver JM, Bendezu-Sayas S, Robinson ML, Lachke SA, Del Rio-Tsonis K. Integrated single-cell multiomics uncovers foundational regulatory mechanisms of lens development and pathology. Development 2024; 151:dev202249. [PMID: 38180241 PMCID: PMC10906490 DOI: 10.1242/dev.202249] [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: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
Ocular lens development entails epithelial to fiber cell differentiation, defects in which cause congenital cataracts. We report the first single-cell multiomic atlas of lens development, leveraging snRNA-seq, snATAC-seq and CUT&RUN-seq to discover previously unreported mechanisms of cell fate determination and cataract-linked regulatory networks. A comprehensive profile of cis- and trans-regulatory interactions, including for the cataract-linked transcription factor MAF, is established across a temporal trajectory of fiber cell differentiation. Furthermore, we identify an epigenetic paradigm of cellular differentiation, defined by progressive loss of the H3K27 methylation writer Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2). PRC2 localizes to heterochromatin domains across master-regulator transcription factor gene bodies, suggesting it safeguards epithelial cell fate. Moreover, we demonstrate that FGF hyper-stimulation in vivo leads to MAF network activation and the emergence of novel lens cell states. Collectively, these data depict a comprehensive portrait of lens fiber cell differentiation, while defining regulatory effectors of cell identity and cataract formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared A. Tangeman
- Department of Biology and Center for Visual Sciences, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
- Cell, Molecular, and Structural Biology Program, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
| | - Sofia M. Rebull
- Department of Biology and Center for Visual Sciences, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
| | - Erika Grajales-Esquivel
- Department of Biology and Center for Visual Sciences, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
| | - Jacob M. Weaver
- Department of Biology and Center for Visual Sciences, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
- Cell, Molecular, and Structural Biology Program, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
| | - Stacy Bendezu-Sayas
- Department of Biology and Center for Visual Sciences, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
- Cell, Molecular, and Structural Biology Program, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
| | - Michael L. Robinson
- Department of Biology and Center for Visual Sciences, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
- Cell, Molecular, and Structural Biology Program, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
| | - Salil A. Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
- Center for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19713, USA
| | - Katia Del Rio-Tsonis
- Department of Biology and Center for Visual Sciences, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
- Cell, Molecular, and Structural Biology Program, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
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3
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Xiang J, Pompetti AJ, Faranda AP, Wang Y, Novo SG, Li DWC, Duncan MK. ATF4 May Be Essential for Adaption of the Ocular Lens to Its Avascular Environment. Cells 2023; 12:2636. [PMID: 37998373 PMCID: PMC10670291 DOI: 10.3390/cells12222636] [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: 03/23/2023] [Revised: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The late embryonic mouse lens requires the transcription factor ATF4 for its survival although the underlying mechanisms were unknown. Here, RNAseq analysis revealed that E16.5 Atf4 null mouse lenses downregulate the mRNA levels of lens epithelial markers as well as known markers of late lens fiber cell differentiation. However, a comparison of this list of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with other known transcriptional regulators of lens development indicated that ATF4 expression is not directly controlled by the previously described lens gene regulatory network. Pathway analysis revealed that the Atf4 DEG list was enriched in numerous genes involved in nutrient transport, amino acid biosynthesis, and tRNA charging. These changes in gene expression likely result in the observed reductions in lens free amino acid and glutathione levels, which would result in the observed low levels of extractable lens protein, finally leading to perinatal lens disintegration. These data demonstrate that ATF4, via its function in the integrated stress response, is likely to play a crucial role in mediating the adaption of the lens to the avascularity needed to maintain lens transparency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiawen Xiang
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
- The State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510230, China
| | - Anthony J. Pompetti
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Adam P. Faranda
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Yan Wang
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Samuel G. Novo
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - David Wan-Cheng Li
- The State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510230, China
| | - Melinda K. Duncan
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
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4
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Tangeman JA, Rebull SM, Grajales-Esquivel E, Weaver JM, Bendezu-Sayas S, Robinson ML, Lachke SA, Rio-Tsonis KD. Integrated single-cell multiomics uncovers foundational regulatory mechanisms of lens development and pathology. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.07.10.548451. [PMID: 37502967 PMCID: PMC10369908 DOI: 10.1101/2023.07.10.548451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Ocular lens development entails epithelial to fiber cell differentiation, defects in which cause congenital cataract. We report the first single-cell multiomic atlas of lens development, leveraging snRNA-seq, snATAC-seq, and CUT&RUN-seq to discover novel mechanisms of cell fate determination and cataract-linked regulatory networks. A comprehensive profile of cis- and trans-regulatory interactions, including for the cataract-linked transcription factor MAF, is established across a temporal trajectory of fiber cell differentiation. Further, we divulge a conserved epigenetic paradigm of cellular differentiation, defined by progressive loss of H3K27 methylation writer Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2). PRC2 localizes to heterochromatin domains across master-regulator transcription factor gene bodies, suggesting it safeguards epithelial cell fate. Moreover, we demonstrate that FGF hyper-stimulation in vivo leads to MAF network activation and the emergence of novel lens cell states. Collectively, these data depict a comprehensive portrait of lens fiber cell differentiation, while defining regulatory effectors of cell identity and cataract formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared A Tangeman
- Department of Biology and Center for Visual Sciences, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 USA
- Cell, Molecular, and Structural Biology Program, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 USA
| | - Sofia M Rebull
- Department of Biology and Center for Visual Sciences, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 USA
| | - Erika Grajales-Esquivel
- Department of Biology and Center for Visual Sciences, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 USA
| | - Jacob M Weaver
- Department of Biology and Center for Visual Sciences, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 USA
- Cell, Molecular, and Structural Biology Program, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 USA
| | - Stacy Bendezu-Sayas
- Department of Biology and Center for Visual Sciences, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 USA
- Cell, Molecular, and Structural Biology Program, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 USA
| | - Michael L Robinson
- Department of Biology and Center for Visual Sciences, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 USA
- Cell, Molecular, and Structural Biology Program, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 USA
| | - Salil A Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
- Center for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19713 USA
| | - Katia Del Rio-Tsonis
- Department of Biology and Center for Visual Sciences, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 USA
- Cell, Molecular, and Structural Biology Program, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 USA
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5
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Aryal S, Anand D, Huang H, Reddy AP, Wilmarth PA, David LL, Lachke SA. Proteomic profiling of retina and retinal pigment epithelium combined embryonic tissue to facilitate ocular disease gene discovery. Hum Genet 2023; 142:927-947. [PMID: 37191732 PMCID: PMC10680127 DOI: 10.1007/s00439-023-02570-0] [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: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 05/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
To expedite gene discovery in eye development and its associated defects, we previously developed a bioinformatics resource-tool iSyTE (integrated Systems Tool for Eye gene discovery). However, iSyTE is presently limited to lens tissue and is predominantly based on transcriptomics datasets. Therefore, to extend iSyTE to other eye tissues on the proteome level, we performed high-throughput tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) on mouse embryonic day (E)14.5 retina and retinal pigment epithelium combined tissue and identified an average of 3300 proteins per sample (n = 5). High-throughput expression profiling-based gene discovery approaches-involving either transcriptomics or proteomics-pose a key challenge of prioritizing candidates from thousands of RNA/proteins expressed. To address this, we used MS/MS proteome data from mouse whole embryonic body (WB) as a reference dataset and performed comparative analysis-termed "in silico WB-subtraction"-with the retina proteome dataset. In silico WB-subtraction identified 90 high-priority proteins with retina-enriched expression at stringency criteria of ≥ 2.5 average spectral counts, ≥ 2.0 fold-enrichment, false discovery rate < 0.01. These top candidates represent a pool of retina-enriched proteins, several of which are associated with retinal biology and/or defects (e.g., Aldh1a1, Ank2, Ank3, Dcn, Dync2h1, Egfr, Ephb2, Fbln5, Fbn2, Hras, Igf2bp1, Msi1, Rbp1, Rlbp1, Tenm3, Yap1, etc.), indicating the effectiveness of this approach. Importantly, in silico WB-subtraction also identified several new high-priority candidates with potential regulatory function in retina development. Finally, proteins exhibiting expression or enriched-expression in the retina are made accessible in a user-friendly manner at iSyTE ( https://research.bioinformatics.udel.edu/iSyTE/ ), to allow effective visualization of this information and facilitate eye gene discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandeep Aryal
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Hongzhan Huang
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19713, USA
| | - Ashok P Reddy
- Proteomics Shared Resource, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
| | - Phillip A Wilmarth
- Proteomics Shared Resource, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
| | - Larry L David
- Proteomics Shared Resource, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
- Department of Chemical Physiology and Biochemistry, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
| | - Salil A Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19713, USA.
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6
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Siddam AD, Duot M, Coomson SY, Anand D, Aryal S, Weatherbee BAT, Audic Y, Paillard L, Lachke SA. High-Throughput Transcriptomics of Celf1 Conditional Knockout Lens Identifies Downstream Networks Linked to Cataract Pathology. Cells 2023; 12:1070. [PMID: 37048143 PMCID: PMC10093462 DOI: 10.3390/cells12071070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Revised: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 03/30/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Defects in the development of the ocular lens can cause congenital cataracts. To understand the various etiologies of congenital cataracts, it is important to characterize the genes linked to this developmental defect and to define their downstream pathways that are relevant to lens biology and pathology. Deficiency or alteration of several RNA-binding proteins, including the conserved RBP Celf1 (CUGBP Elav-like family member 1), has been described to cause lens defects and early onset cataracts in animal models and/or humans. Celf1 is involved in various aspects of post-transcriptional gene expression control, including regulation of mRNA stability/decay, alternative splicing and translation. Celf1 germline knockout mice and lens conditional knockout (Celf1cKO) mice develop fully penetrant cataracts in early postnatal stages. To define the genome-level changes in RNA transcripts that result from Celf1 deficiency, we performed high-throughput RNA-sequencing of Celf1cKO mouse lenses at postnatal day (P) 0. Celf1cKO lenses exhibit 987 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) at cut-offs of >1.0 log2 counts per million (CPM), ≥±0.58 log2 fold-change and <0.05 false discovery rate (FDR). Of these, 327 RNAs were reduced while 660 were elevated in Celf1cKO lenses. The DEGs were subjected to various downstream analyses including iSyTE lens enriched-expression, presence in Cat-map, and gene ontology (GO) and representation of regulatory pathways. Further, a comparative analysis was done with previously generated microarray datasets on Celf1cKO lenses P0 and P6. Together, these analyses validated and prioritized several key genes mis-expressed in Celf1cKO lenses that are relevant to lens biology, including known cataract-linked genes (e.g., Cryab, Cryba2, Cryba4, Crybb1, Crybb2, Cryga, Crygb, Crygc, Crygd, Cryge, Crygf, Dnase2b, Bfsp1, Gja3, Pxdn, Sparc, Tdrd7, etc.) as well as novel candidates (e.g., Ell2 and Prdm16). Together, these data have defined the alterations in lens transcriptome caused by Celf1 deficiency, in turn uncovering downstream genes and pathways (e.g., structural constituents of eye lenses, lens fiber cell differentiation, etc.) associated with lens development and early-onset cataracts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Archana D. Siddam
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Matthieu Duot
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
- CNRS, IGDR (Institut de Génétique et Développement de Rennes), Univ. Rennes, UMR 6290, Rennes, F-35000 Rennes, France
| | - Sarah Y. Coomson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Sandeep Aryal
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | | | - Yann Audic
- CNRS, IGDR (Institut de Génétique et Développement de Rennes), Univ. Rennes, UMR 6290, Rennes, F-35000 Rennes, France
| | - Luc Paillard
- CNRS, IGDR (Institut de Génétique et Développement de Rennes), Univ. Rennes, UMR 6290, Rennes, F-35000 Rennes, France
| | - Salil A. Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
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7
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Aryal S, Anand D, Huang H, Reddy AP, Wilmarth PA, David LL, Lachke SA. Proteomic profiling of retina and retinal pigment epithelium combined embryonic tissue to facilitate ocular disease gene discovery. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-2652395. [PMID: 36993571 PMCID: PMC10055508 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2652395/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
To expedite gene discovery in eye development and its associated defects, we previously developed a bioinformatics resource-tool iSyTE (integrated Systems Tool for Eye gene discovery). However, iSyTE is presently limited to lens tissue and is predominantly based on transcriptomics datasets. Therefore, to extend iSyTE to other eye tissues on the proteome level, we performed high-throughput tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) on mouse embryonic day (E)14.5 retina and retinal pigment epithelium combined tissue and identified an average of 3,300 proteins per sample (n=5). High-throughput expression profiling-based gene discovery approaches-involving either transcriptomics or proteomics-pose a key challenge of prioritizing candidates from thousands of RNA/proteins expressed. To address this, we used MS/MS proteome data from mouse whole embryonic body (WB) as a reference dataset and performed comparative analysis-termed "in silico WB-subtraction"-with the retina proteome dataset. In silico WB-subtraction identified 90 high-priority proteins with retina-enriched expression at stringency criteria of ³2.5 average spectral counts, ³2.0 fold-enrichment, False Discovery Rate <0.01. These top candidates represent a pool of retina-enriched proteins, several of which are associated with retinal biology and/or defects (e.g., Aldh1a1, Ank2, Ank3, Dcn, Dync2h1, Egfr, Ephb2, Fbln5, Fbn2, Hras, Igf2bp1, Msi1, Rbp1, Rlbp1, Tenm3, Yap1, etc.), indicating the effectiveness of this approach. Importantly, in silico WB-subtraction also identified several new high-priority candidates with potential regulatory function in retina development. Finally, proteins exhibiting expression or enriched-expression in the retina are made accessible in a user-friendly manner at iSyTE (https://research.bioinformatics.udel.edu/iSyTE/), to allow effective visualization of this information and facilitate eye gene discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandeep Aryal
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
| | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
| | - Hongzhan Huang
- Center for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19713 USA
| | - Ashok P. Reddy
- Proteomics Shared Resource, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Phillip A. Wilmarth
- Proteomics Shared Resource, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Larry L. David
- Proteomics Shared Resource, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
- Department of Chemical Physiology & Biochemistry, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Salil A. Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
- Center for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19713 USA
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8
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Li M, Olotu J, Buxo-Martinez CJ, Mossey PA, Anand D, Busch T, Alade A, Gowans LJJ, Eshete M, Adeyemo WL, Naicker T, Awotoye WO, Gupta S, Adeleke C, Bravo V, Huang S, Adamson OO, Toraño AM, Bello CA, Soto M, Soto M, Ledesma R, Marquez M, Cordero JF, Lopez-Del Valle LM, Salcedo MI, Debs N, Petrin A, Malloy H, Elhadi K, James O, Ogunlewe MO, Abate F, Hailu A, Mohammed I, Gravem P, Deribew M, Gesses M, Hassan M, Pape J, Obiri-Yeboah S, Arthur FKN, Oti AA, Donkor P, Marazita ML, Lachke SA, Adeyemo AA, Murray JC, Butali A. Variant analyses of candidate genes in orofacial clefts in multi-ethnic populations. Oral Dis 2022; 28:1921-1935. [PMID: 34061439 PMCID: PMC9733635 DOI: 10.1111/odi.13932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2020] [Revised: 04/14/2021] [Accepted: 05/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Cleft lip with/without cleft palate and cleft palate only is congenital birth defects where the upper lip and/or palate fail to fuse properly during embryonic facial development. Affecting ~1.2/1000 live births worldwide, these orofacial clefts impose significant social and financial burdens on affected individuals and their families. Orofacial clefts have a complex etiology resulting from genetic variants combined with environmental covariates. Recent genome-wide association studies and whole-exome sequencing for orofacial clefts identified significant genetic associations and variants in several genes. Of these, we investigated the role of common/rare variants in SHH, RORA, MRPL53, ACVR1, and GDF11. MATERIALS AND METHODS We sequenced these five genes in 1255 multi-ethnic cleft lip with/without palate and cleft palate only samples in order to find variants that may provide potential explanations for the missing heritability of orofacial clefts. Rare and novel variants were further analyzed using in silico predictive tools. RESULTS Ninteen total variants of interest were found, with variant types including stop-gain, missense, synonymous, intronic, and splice-site variants. Of these, 3 novel missense variants were found, one in SHH, one in RORA, and one in GDF11. CONCLUSION This study provides evidence that variants in SHH, RORA, MRPL53, ACVR1, and GDF11 may contribute to risk of orofacial clefts in various populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary Li
- Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Joy Olotu
- Department of Anatomy, University of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Choba, Nigeria
| | - Carmen J Buxo-Martinez
- Dental and Craniofacial Genomics Core, University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine, San Juan, PR, USA
| | - Peter A Mossey
- Department of Orthodontics, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK
| | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Tamara Busch
- Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Azeez Alade
- Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Lord J J Gowans
- Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
| | - Mekonen Eshete
- College of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Wasiu L Adeyemo
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
| | - Thirona Naicker
- Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | - Waheed O Awotoye
- Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Sagar Gupta
- Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Chinyere Adeleke
- Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Valeria Bravo
- Dental and Craniofacial Genomics Core, University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine, San Juan, PR, USA
| | - Siyong Huang
- Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Olatunbosun O Adamson
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
| | | | | | - Mairim Soto
- Dental and Craniofacial Genomics Core, University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine, San Juan, PR, USA
| | - Marilyn Soto
- Dental and Craniofacial Genomics Core, University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine, San Juan, PR, USA
| | - Ricardo Ledesma
- Dental and Craniofacial Genomics Core, University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine, San Juan, PR, USA
| | - Myrellis Marquez
- Dental and Craniofacial Genomics Core, University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine, San Juan, PR, USA
| | - Jose F Cordero
- Dental and Craniofacial Genomics Core, University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine, San Juan, PR, USA
| | - Lydia M Lopez-Del Valle
- Dental and Craniofacial Genomics Core, University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine, San Juan, PR, USA
| | - Maria I Salcedo
- Dental and Craniofacial Genomics Core, University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine, San Juan, PR, USA
| | - Natalio Debs
- Dental and Craniofacial Genomics Core, University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine, San Juan, PR, USA
| | - Aline Petrin
- Department of Orthodontics, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Hannah Malloy
- Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Khalid Elhadi
- Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Olutayo James
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
| | - Mobolanle O Ogunlewe
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
| | - Fekir Abate
- College of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Abiye Hailu
- College of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Ibrahim Mohammed
- College of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Paul Gravem
- College of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Milliard Deribew
- College of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Mulualem Gesses
- College of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Mohaned Hassan
- Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - John Pape
- Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Solomon Obiri-Yeboah
- Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
| | - Fareed K N Arthur
- Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
| | - Alexander A Oti
- Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
| | - Peter Donkor
- Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
| | - Mary L Marazita
- Center for Craniofacial and Dental Genetics, Departments of Oral Biology and Human Genetics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Salil A Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Adebowale A Adeyemo
- Department of Orthodontics, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK
- National Human Genomic Research Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Jeffrey C Murray
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Azeez Butali
- Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
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9
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Patel SD, Anand D, Motohashi H, Katsuoka F, Yamamoto M, Lachke SA. Deficiency of the bZIP transcription factors Mafg and Mafk causes misexpression of genes in distinct pathways and results in lens embryonic developmental defects. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:981893. [PMID: 36092713 PMCID: PMC9459095 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.981893] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Deficiency of the small Maf proteins Mafg and Mafk cause multiple defects, namely, progressive neuronal degeneration, cataract, thrombocytopenia and mid-gestational/perinatal lethality. Previous data shows Mafg -/-:Mafk +/- compound knockout (KO) mice exhibit cataracts age 4-months onward. Strikingly, Mafg -/-:Mafk -/- double KO mice develop lens defects significantly early in life, during embryogenesis, but the pathobiology of these defects is unknown, and is addressed here. At embryonic day (E)16.5, the epithelium of lens in Mafg -/-:Mafk -/- animals appears abnormally multilayered as demonstrated by E-cadherin and nuclear staining. Additionally, Mafg -/-:Mafk -/- lenses exhibit abnormal distribution of F-actin near the "fulcrum" region where epithelial cells undergo apical constriction prior to elongation and reorientation as early differentiating fiber cells. To identify the underlying molecular changes, we performed high-throughput RNA-sequencing of E16.5 Mafg -/-:Mafk -/- lenses and identified a cohort of differentially expressed genes that were further prioritized using stringent filtering criteria and validated by RT-qPCR. Several key factors associated with the cytoskeleton, cell cycle or extracellular matrix (e.g., Cdk1, Cdkn1c, Camsap1, Col3a1, Map3k12, Sipa1l1) were mis-expressed in Mafg -/-:Mafk -/- lenses. Further, the congenital cataract-linked extracellular matrix peroxidase Pxdn was significantly overexpressed in Mafg -/-:Mafk -/- lenses, which may cause abnormal cell morphology. These data also identified the ephrin signaling receptor Epha5 to be reduced in Mafg -/-:Mafk -/- lenses. This likely contributes to the Mafg -/-:Mafk -/- multilayered lens epithelium pathology, as loss of an ephrin ligand, Efna5 (ephrin-A5), causes similar lens defects. Together, these findings uncover a novel early function of Mafg and Mafk in lens development and identify their new downstream regulatory relationships with key cellular factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaili D. Patel
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States
| | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States
| | - Hozumi Motohashi
- Department of Gene Expression Regulation, Institute of Development, Aging, and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Fumiki Katsuoka
- Department of Integrative Genomics, Tohoku University Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Sendai, Japan
| | - Masayuki Yamamoto
- Department of Medical Biochemistry, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan
| | - Salil A. Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States,Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States,*Correspondence: Salil A. Lachke,
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10
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Wei Z, Gordon P, Hao C, Huangfu J, Fan E, Zhang X, Yan H, Fan X. Aged Lens Epithelial Cells Suppress Proliferation and Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition-Relevance for Posterior Capsule Opacification. Cells 2022; 11:cells11132001. [PMID: 35805085 PMCID: PMC9265589 DOI: 10.3390/cells11132001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2022] [Revised: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/18/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Posterior capsule opacification (PCO) is a frequent complication after cataract surgery, and advanced PCO requires YAG laser (Nd: YAG) capsulotomy, which often gives rise to more complications. Lens epithelial cell (LEC) proliferation and transformation (i.e., epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)) are two critical elements in PCO initiation and progression pathogenesis. While PCO marginally impacts aged cataract surgery patients, PCO incidences are exceptionally high in infants and children undergoing cataract surgery. The gene expression of lens epithelial cell aging and its role in the discrepancy of PCO prevalence between young and older people have not been fully studied. Here, we conducted a comprehensive differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis of a cell aging model by comparing the early and late passage FHL124 lens epithelial cells (LECs). In vitro, TGFβ2, cell treatment, and in vivo mouse cataract surgical models were used to validate our findings. We found that aged LECs decelerated rates of cell proliferation accompanied by dysregulation of cellular immune response and cell stress response. Surprisingly, we found that LECs systematically downregulated epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)-promoting genes. The protein expression of several EMT hallmark genes, e.g., fibronectin, αSMA, and cadherin 11, were gradually decreased during LECs aging. We then confirmed these findings in vitro and found that aged LECs markedly alleviated TGFβ2-mediated EMT. Importantly, we explicitly confirmed the in vitro findings from the in vivo mouse cataract surgery studies. We propose that both the high proliferation rate and EMT-enriched young LECs phenotypic characteristics contribute to unusually high PCO incidence in infants and children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zongbo Wei
- Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, 1460 Laney Walker Blvd., CB Building, Room CB1119, Augusta, GA 30912, USA; (Z.W.); (C.H.); (J.H.)
| | - Pasley Gordon
- Department of Ophthalmology, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA;
| | - Caili Hao
- Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, 1460 Laney Walker Blvd., CB Building, Room CB1119, Augusta, GA 30912, USA; (Z.W.); (C.H.); (J.H.)
| | - Jingru Huangfu
- Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, 1460 Laney Walker Blvd., CB Building, Room CB1119, Augusta, GA 30912, USA; (Z.W.); (C.H.); (J.H.)
| | - Emily Fan
- Lakeside High School at Columbia County, Evans, GA 30809, USA;
| | - Xiang Zhang
- Genomics, Epigenomics and Sequencing Core, Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA;
| | - Hong Yan
- Xi’an Fourth Hospital, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China;
| | - Xingjun Fan
- Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, 1460 Laney Walker Blvd., CB Building, Room CB1119, Augusta, GA 30912, USA; (Z.W.); (C.H.); (J.H.)
- Correspondence:
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11
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Lachke SA. RNA-binding proteins and post-transcriptional regulation in lens biology and cataract: Mediating spatiotemporal expression of key factors that control the cell cycle, transcription, cytoskeleton and transparency. Exp Eye Res 2022; 214:108889. [PMID: 34906599 PMCID: PMC8792301 DOI: 10.1016/j.exer.2021.108889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2021] [Revised: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Development of the ocular lens - a transparent tissue capable of sustaining frequent shape changes for optimal focusing power - pushes the boundaries of what cells can achieve using the molecular toolkit encoded by their genomes. The mammalian lens contains broadly two types of cells, the anteriorly located monolayer of epithelial cells which, at the equatorial region of the lens, initiate differentiation into fiber cells that contribute to the bulk of the tissue. This differentiation program involves massive upregulation of select fiber cell-expressed RNAs and their subsequent translation into high amounts of proteins, such as crystallins. But intriguingly, fiber cells achieve this while also simultaneously undergoing significant morphological changes such as elongation - involving about 1000-fold length-wise increase - and migration, which requires modulation of cytoskeletal and cell adhesion factors. Adding further to the challenges, these molecular and cellular events have to be coordinated as fiber cells progress toward loss of their nuclei and organelles, which irreversibly compromises their potential for harnessing genetically hardwired information. A long-standing question is how processes downstream of signaling and transcription, which may also participate in feedback regulation, contribute toward orchestrating these cellular differentiation events in the lens. It is now becoming clear from findings over the past decade that post-transcriptional gene expression regulatory mechanisms are critical in controlling cellular proteomes and coordinating key processes in lens development and fiber cell differentiation. Indeed, RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) such as Caprin2, Celf1, Rbm24 and Tdrd7 have now been described in mediating post-transcriptional control over key factors (e.g. Actn2, Cdkn1a (p21Cip1), Cdkn1b (p27Kip1), various crystallins, Dnase2b, Hspb1, Pax6, Prox1, Sox2) that are variously involved in cell cycle, transcription, cytoskeleton maintenance and differentiation in the lens. Furthermore, deficiencies of these RBPs have been shown to result in various eye and lens defects and/or cataract. Because fiber cell differentiation in the lens occurs throughout life, the underlying regulatory mechanisms operational in development are expected to also be recruited for the maintenance of transparency in aged lenses. Indeed, in support of this, TDRD7 and CAPRIN2 loci have been linked to age-related cataract in humans. Here, I will review the role of key RBPs in the lens and their importance in understanding the pathology of lens defects. I will discuss advances in RBP-based gene expression control, in general, and the important challenges that need to be addressed in the lens to define the mechanisms that determine the epithelial and fiber cell proteome. Finally, I will also discuss in detail several key future directions including the application of bioinformatics approaches such as iSyTE to study RBP-based post-transcriptional gene expression control in the aging lens and in the context of age-related cataract.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salil A Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, 105 The Green, Delaware Avenue, 236 Wolf Hall, Newark, DE, USA; Center for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
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12
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Lin X, Li H, Yang T, Liu X, Fan F, Zhou X, Luo Y. Transcriptomics Analysis of Lens from Patients with Posterior Subcapsular Congenital Cataract. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:1904. [PMID: 34946854 PMCID: PMC8702110 DOI: 10.3390/genes12121904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Revised: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 11/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
To gain insight into the aetiology of posterior subcapsular congenital cataract from the perspective of transcriptional changes, we conducted an mRNA sequencing analysis of the lenses in posterior subcapsular congenital cataract patients and in normal children. There were 1533 differentially expressed genes from 19,072 genes in the lens epithelial cells of the posterior subcapsular congenital cataract patients compared to in the normal controls at a cut-off criteria of |log2 fold change| of >1 and a p-value of <0.05, including 847 downregulated genes and 686 upregulated genes. To further narrow down the DEGs, we utilised the stricter criteria of |log2 fold change| of >1 and an FDR value of <0.05, and we identified 551 DEGs, including 97 upregulated genes and 454 downregulated genes. This study also identified 1263 differentially expressed genes of the 18,755 genes in lens cortex and nuclear fibres, including 646 downregulated genes and 617 upregulated genes. The downregulated genes in epithelial cells were significantly enriched in the structural constituent of lenses, lens development and lens fibre cell differentiation. After filtering the DEGs using the databases iSyTE and Cat-Map, several high-priority candidate genes related to posterior subcapsular congenital cataract such as GRIFIN, HTRA1 and DAPL1 were identified. The findings of our study may provide a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of posterior subcapsular congenital cataract and help in the prevention and treatment of this disease.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Yi Luo
- Department of Ophthalmology, Eye & ENT Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200031, China; (X.L.); (H.L.); (T.Y.); (X.L.); (F.F.); (X.Z.)
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13
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Choquet H, Melles RB, Anand D, Yin J, Cuellar-Partida G, Wang W, Hoffmann TJ, Nair KS, Hysi PG, Lachke SA, Jorgenson E. A large multiethnic GWAS meta-analysis of cataract identifies new risk loci and sex-specific effects. Nat Commun 2021; 12:3595. [PMID: 34127677 PMCID: PMC8203611 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23873-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Accepted: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Cataract is the leading cause of blindness among the elderly worldwide and cataract surgery is one of the most common operations performed in the United States. As the genetic etiology of cataract formation remains unclear, we conducted a multiethnic genome-wide association meta-analysis, combining results from the GERA and UK Biobank cohorts, and tested for replication in the 23andMe research cohort. We report 54 genome-wide significant loci, 37 of which were novel. Sex-stratified analyses identified CASP7 as an additional novel locus specific to women. We show that genes within or near 80% of the cataract-associated loci are significantly expressed and/or enriched-expressed in the mouse lens across various spatiotemporal stages as per iSyTE analysis. Furthermore, iSyTE shows 32 candidate genes in the associated loci have altered gene expression in 9 different gene perturbation mouse models of lens defects/cataract, suggesting their relevance to lens biology. Our work provides further insight into the complex genetic architecture of cataract susceptibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hélène Choquet
- Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC), Division of Research, Oakland, CA, USA.
| | | | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Jie Yin
- Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC), Division of Research, Oakland, CA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Thomas J Hoffmann
- Institute for Human Genetics, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA.,Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - K Saidas Nair
- Departments of Ophthalmology and Anatomy, School of Medicine, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Pirro G Hysi
- King's College London, Section of Ophthalmology, School of Life Course Sciences, London, UK.,King's College London, Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, London, UK.,University College London, Great Ormond Street Hospital Institute of Child Health, London, UK
| | - Salil A Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.,Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Eric Jorgenson
- Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC), Division of Research, Oakland, CA, USA
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14
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Faranda AP, Shihan MH, Wang Y, Duncan MK. The aging mouse lens transcriptome. Exp Eye Res 2021; 209:108663. [PMID: 34119483 DOI: 10.1016/j.exer.2021.108663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Revised: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 06/01/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Age is a major risk factor for cataract (ARC). However, the influence of aging on the lens transcriptome is under studied. Lens epithelial (LEC) and fiber cells (LFC) were isolated from young (3 month old) and aged (24 month old) C57BL/6J mice, and the transcriptome elucidated via RNAseq. EdgeR estimated differential gene expression in pairwise contrasts, and Advaita's Ipathway guide and custom R scripts were used to evaluate the potential biological significance of differentially expressed genes (DEGs). This analysis revealed age-dependent decreases in lens differentiation marker expression in both LECs and LFCs, with gamma crystallin transcripts downregulating nearly 50 fold in aged LFCs. The expression of the transcription factors Hsf4 and Maf, which are known to activate lens fiber cell preferred genes, are downregulated, while FoxE3, which represses gamma crystallin expression, is upregulated in aged fibers. Aged LECs upregulate genes controlling the immune response, complement pathways, and cellular stress responses, including glutathione peroxidase 3 (Gpx3). Aged LFCs exhibit broad changes in the expression of genes regulating cell communication, and upregulate genes involved in antigen processing/presentation and cholesterol metabolism, while changes in the expression of mitochondrial respiratory chain genes are consistent with mitochondrial stress, including upregulation of NDufa4l2, which encodes an alternate electron transport chain protein. However, age did not profoundly affect the response of LECs to injury as both young and aged LECs upregulate inflammatory gene signatures at 24 h post injury to similar extents. These RNAseq profiles provide a rich data set that can be mined to understand the genetic regulation of lens aging and how this impinges on the pathophysiology of age related cataract.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam P Faranda
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Delaware Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Mahbubul H Shihan
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Delaware Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Yan Wang
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Delaware Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Melinda K Duncan
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Delaware Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
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15
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Dash S, Brastrom LK, Patel SD, Scott CA, Slusarski DC, Lachke SA. The master transcription factor SOX2, mutated in anophthalmia/microphthalmia, is post-transcriptionally regulated by the conserved RNA-binding protein RBM24 in vertebrate eye development. Hum Mol Genet 2021; 29:591-604. [PMID: 31814023 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddz278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2019] [Revised: 10/24/2019] [Accepted: 11/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutations in the key transcription factor, SOX2, alone account for 20% of anophthalmia (no eye) and microphthalmia (small eye) birth defects in humans-yet its regulation is not well understood, especially on the post-transcription level. We report the unprecedented finding that the conserved RNA-binding motif protein, RBM24, positively controls Sox2 mRNA stability and is necessary for optimal SOX2 mRNA and protein levels in development, perturbation of which causes ocular defects, including microphthalmia and anophthalmia. RNA immunoprecipitation assay indicates that RBM24 protein interacts with Sox2 mRNA in mouse embryonic eye tissue. and electrophoretic mobility shift assay shows that RBM24 directly binds to the Sox2 mRNA 3'UTR, which is dependent on AU-rich elements (ARE) present in the Sox2 mRNA 3'UTR. Further, we demonstrate that Sox2 3'UTR AREs are necessary for RBM24-based elevation of Sox2 mRNA half-life. We find that this novel RBM24-Sox2 regulatory module is essential for early eye development in vertebrates. We show that Rbm24-targeted deletion using a constitutive CMV-driven Cre in mouse, and rbm24a-CRISPR/Cas9-targeted mutation or morpholino knockdown in zebrafish, results in Sox2 downregulation and causes the developmental defects anophthalmia or microphthalmia, similar to human SOX2-deficiency defects. We further show that Rbm24 deficiency leads to apoptotic defects in mouse ocular tissue and downregulation of eye development markers Lhx2, Pax6, Jag1, E-cadherin and gamma-crystallins. These data highlight the exquisite specificity that conserved RNA-binding proteins like RBM24 mediate in the post-transcriptional control of key transcription factors, namely, SOX2, associated with organogenesis and human developmental defects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soma Dash
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
| | - Lindy K Brastrom
- Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242 USA
| | - Shaili D Patel
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
| | - C Anthony Scott
- Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242 USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | | | - Salil A Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA.,Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
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16
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Cvekl A, Eliscovich C. Crystallin gene expression: Insights from studies of transcriptional bursting. Exp Eye Res 2021; 207:108564. [PMID: 33894228 DOI: 10.1016/j.exer.2021.108564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2021] [Revised: 03/05/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Cellular differentiation is marked by temporally and spatially regulated gene expression. The ocular lens is one of the most powerful mammalian model system since it is composed from only two cell subtypes, called lens epithelial and fiber cells. Lens epithelial cells differentiate into fiber cells through a series of spatially and temporally orchestrated processes, including massive production of crystallins, cellular elongation and the coordinated degradation of nuclei and other organelles. Studies of transcriptional and posttranscriptional gene regulatory mechanisms in lens provide a wide range of opportunities to understand global molecular mechanisms of gene expression as steady-state levels of crystallin mRNAs reach very high levels comparable to globin genes in erythrocytes. Importantly, dysregulation of crystallin gene expression results in lens structural abnormalities and cataracts. The mRNA life cycle is comprised of multiple stages, including transcription, splicing, nuclear export into cytoplasm, stabilization, localization, translation and ultimate decay. In recent years, development of modern mRNA detection methods with single molecule and single cell resolution enabled transformative studies to visualize the mRNA life cycle to generate novel insights into the sequential regulatory mechanisms of gene expression during embryogenesis. This review is focused on recent major advancements in studies of transcriptional bursting in differentiating lens fiber cells, analysis of nascent mRNA expression from bi-directional promoters, transient nuclear accumulation of specific mRNAs, condensation of chromatin prior lens fiber cell denucleation, and outlines future studies to probe the interactions of individual mRNAs with specific RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) in the cytoplasm and regulation of translation and mRNA decay.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ales Cvekl
- Department of Ophthalmology and VIsual Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA; Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA.
| | - Carolina Eliscovich
- Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA; Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA
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17
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Anand D, Al Saai S, Shrestha SK, Barnum CE, Chuma S, Lachke SA. Genome-Wide Analysis of Differentially Expressed miRNAs and Their Associated Regulatory Networks in Lenses Deficient for the Congenital Cataract-Linked Tudor Domain Containing Protein TDRD7. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9:615761. [PMID: 33665188 PMCID: PMC7921330 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.615761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2020] [Accepted: 01/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutations/deficiency of TDRD7, encoding a tudor domain protein involved in post-transcriptional gene expression control, causes early onset cataract in humans. While Tdrd7 is implicated in the control of key lens mRNAs, the impact of Tdrd7 deficiency on microRNAs (miRNAs) and how this contributes to transcriptome misexpression and to cataracts, is undefined. We address this critical knowledge-gap by investigating Tdrd7-targeted knockout (Tdrd7-/-) mice that exhibit fully penetrant juvenile cataracts. We performed Affymetrix miRNA 3.0 microarray analysis on Tdrd7-/- mouse lenses at postnatal day (P) 4, a stage preceding cataract formation. This analysis identifies 22 miRNAs [14 over-expressed (miR-15a, miR-19a, miR-138, miR-328, miR-339, miR-345, miR-378b, miR-384, miR-467a, miR-1224, miR-1935, miR-1946a, miR-3102, miR-3107), 8 reduced (let-7b, miR-34c, miR-298, miR-382, miR-409, miR-1198, miR-1947, miR-3092)] to be significantly misexpressed (fold-change ≥ ± 1.2, p-value < 0.05) in Tdrd7-/- lenses. To understand how these misexpressed miRNAs impact Tdrd7-/- cataract, we predicted their mRNA targets and examined their misexpression upon Tdrd7-deficiency by performing comparative transcriptomics analysis on P4 and P30 Tdrd7-/- lens. To prioritize these target mRNAs, we used various stringency filters (e.g., fold-change in Tdrd7-/- lens, iSyTE-based lens-enriched expression) and identified 98 reduced and 89 elevated mRNA targets for overexpressed and reduced miRNAs, respectively, which were classified as “top-priority” “high-priority,” and “promising” candidates. For Tdrd7-/- lens overexpressed miRNAs, this approach identified 18 top-priority reduced target mRNAs: Alad, Ankrd46, Ceacam10, Dgat2, Ednrb, H2-Eb1, Klhl22, Lin7a, Loxl1, Lpin1, Npc1, Olfm1, Ppm1e, Ppp1r1a, Rgs8, Shisa4, Snx22 and Wnk2. Majority of these targets were also altered in other gene-specific perturbation mouse models (e.g., Brg1, E2f1/E2f2/E2f3, Foxe3, Hsf4, Klf4, Mafg/Mafk, Notch) of lens defects/cataract, suggesting their importance to lens biology. Gene ontology (GO) provided further insight into their relevance to lens pathology. For example, the Tdrd7-deficient lens capsule defect may be explained by reduced mRNA targets (e.g., Col4a3, Loxl1, Timp2, Timp3) associated with “basement membrane”. GO analysis also identified new genes (e.g., Casz1, Rasgrp1) recently linked to lens biology/pathology. Together, these analyses define a new Tdrd7-downstream miRNA-mRNA network, in turn, uncovering several new mRNA targets and their associated pathways relevant to lens biology and offering molecular insights into the pathology of congenital cataract.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States
| | - Salma Al Saai
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States.,Center for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States
| | - Sanjaya K Shrestha
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States
| | - Carrie E Barnum
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States
| | - Shinichiro Chuma
- Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Salil A Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States.,Center for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States
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18
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Brastrom LK, Scott CA, Wang K, Slusarski DC. Functional Role of the RNA-Binding Protein Rbm24a and Its Target sox2 in Microphthalmia. Biomedicines 2021; 9:100. [PMID: 33494192 PMCID: PMC7909789 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines9020100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2020] [Revised: 01/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Congenital eye defects represent a large class of disorders affecting roughly 21 million children worldwide. Microphthalmia and anophthalmia are relatively common congenital defects, with approximately 20% of human cases caused by mutations in SOX2. Recently, we identified the RNA-binding motif protein 24a (Rbm24a) which binds to and regulates sox2 in zebrafish and mice. Here we show that morpholino knockdown of rbm24a leads to microphthalmia and visual impairment. By utilizing sequential injections, we demonstrate that addition of exogenous sox2 RNA to rbm24a-deplete embryos is sufficient to suppress morphological and visual defects. This research demonstrates a critical role for understanding the post-transcriptional regulation of genes needed for development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindy K. Brastrom
- Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52245, USA;
| | | | - Kai Wang
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52245, USA;
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19
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Common variants in SOX-2 and congenital cataract genes contribute to age-related nuclear cataract. Commun Biol 2020; 3:755. [PMID: 33311586 PMCID: PMC7733496 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-01421-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2020] [Accepted: 10/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Nuclear cataract is the most common type of age-related cataract and a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Age-related nuclear cataract is heritable (h2 = 0.48), but little is known about specific genetic factors underlying this condition. Here we report findings from the largest to date multi-ethnic meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (discovery cohort N = 14,151 and replication N = 5299) of the International Cataract Genetics Consortium. We confirmed the known genetic association of CRYAA (rs7278468, P = 2.8 × 10−16) with nuclear cataract and identified five new loci associated with this disease: SOX2-OT (rs9842371, P = 1.7 × 10−19), TMPRSS5 (rs4936279, P = 2.5 × 10−10), LINC01412 (rs16823886, P = 1.3 × 10−9), GLTSCR1 (rs1005911, P = 9.8 × 10−9), and COMMD1 (rs62149908, P = 1.2 × 10−8). The results suggest a strong link of age-related nuclear cataract with congenital cataract and eye development genes, and the importance of common genetic variants in maintaining crystalline lens integrity in the aging eye. Here, the authors report a multi-ethnic genome wide association meta-analysis of 12 studies from the International Cataract Genetics Consortium. They find six new loci associated with age-related nuclear cataract, in addition to replicating the association at CRYAA, and suggest a strong genetic link between age-related nuclear and congenital cataracts.
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20
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Barnum CE, Al Saai S, Patel SD, Cheng C, Anand D, Xu X, Dash S, Siddam AD, Glazewski L, Paglione E, Polson SW, Chuma S, Mason RW, Wei S, Batish M, Fowler VM, Lachke SA. The Tudor-domain protein TDRD7, mutated in congenital cataract, controls the heat shock protein HSPB1 (HSP27) and lens fiber cell morphology. Hum Mol Genet 2020; 29:2076-2097. [PMID: 32420594 PMCID: PMC7390939 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddaa096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2020] [Revised: 04/10/2020] [Accepted: 05/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutations of the RNA granule component TDRD7 (OMIM: 611258) cause pediatric cataract. We applied an integrated approach to uncover the molecular pathology of cataract in Tdrd7-/- mice. Early postnatal Tdrd7-/- animals precipitously develop cataract suggesting a global-level breakdown/misregulation of key cellular processes. High-throughput RNA sequencing integrated with iSyTE-bioinformatics analysis identified the molecular chaperone and cytoskeletal modulator, HSPB1, among high-priority downregulated candidates in Tdrd7-/- lens. A protein fluorescence two-dimensional difference in-gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE)-coupled mass spectrometry screen also identified HSPB1 downregulation, offering independent support for its importance to Tdrd7-/- cataractogenesis. Lens fiber cells normally undergo nuclear degradation for transparency, posing a challenge: how is their cell morphology, also critical for transparency, controlled post-nuclear degradation? HSPB1 functions in cytoskeletal maintenance, and its reduction in Tdrd7-/- lens precedes cataract, suggesting cytoskeletal defects may contribute to Tdrd7-/- cataract. In agreement, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed abnormal fiber cell morphology in Tdrd7-/- lenses. Further, abnormal phalloidin and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) staining of Tdrd7-/- fiber cells, particularly those exhibiting nuclear degradation, reveals distinct regulatory mechanisms control F-actin cytoskeletal and/or membrane maintenance in post-organelle degradation maturation stage fiber cells. Indeed, RNA immunoprecipitation identified Hspb1 mRNA in wild-type lens lysate TDRD7-pulldowns, and single-molecule RNA imaging showed co-localization of TDRD7 protein with cytoplasmic Hspb1 mRNA in differentiating fiber cells, suggesting that TDRD7-ribonucleoprotein complexes may be involved in optimal buildup of key factors. Finally, Hspb1 knockdown in Xenopus causes eye/lens defects. Together, these data uncover TDRD7's novel upstream role in elevation of stress-responsive chaperones for cytoskeletal maintenance in post-nuclear degradation lens fiber cells, perturbation of which causes early-onset cataracts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carrie E Barnum
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Salma Al Saai
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Shaili D Patel
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Catherine Cheng
- School of Optometry, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Xiaolu Xu
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Soma Dash
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Archana D Siddam
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Lisa Glazewski
- Nemours Biomedical Research Department, Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE 19803, USA
| | - Emily Paglione
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Shawn W Polson
- Center for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Shinichiro Chuma
- Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan
| | - Robert W Mason
- Nemours Biomedical Research Department, Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE 19803, USA
| | - Shuo Wei
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Mona Batish
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
- Department of Medical and Molecular Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Velia M Fowler
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Salil A Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
- Center for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
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21
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Viet J, Reboutier D, Hardy S, Lachke SA, Paillard L, Gautier-Courteille C. Modeling ocular lens disease in Xenopus. Dev Dyn 2020; 249:610-621. [PMID: 31872467 PMCID: PMC7759097 DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2019] [Revised: 12/18/2019] [Accepted: 12/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Ocular lens clouding is termed as cataract, which depending on the onset, is classified as congenital or age-related. Developing new cataract treatments requires new models. Thus far, Xenopus embryos have not been evaluated as a system for studying cataract. RESULTS We characterized the developmental process of lens formation in Xenopus laevis tailbuds and tadpoles, and we disrupted the orthologues of three mammalian cataract-linked genes in F0 by CRISPR/Cas9. We assessed the consequences of gene inactivation by combining external examination with histochemical analyses and functional vision assays. Inactivating the key metazoan eye development transcription factor gene pax6 produces a strong eye phenotype including an absence of eye tissue. Inactivating the genes for gap-junction protein and a nuclease, gja8 and dnase2b, produces lens defects that share several features of human cataracts, including impaired vision acuity, nuclei retention in lens fiber cells, and actin fibers disorganization. We tested the potential improvement of the visual acuity of gja8 crispant tadpoles upon treatment with the molecular chaperone 4-phenylbutyrate. CONCLUSION Xenopus is a valuable model organism to understand the molecular pathology of congenital eye defects, including cataracts, and to screen molecules with a potential to prevent or reverse cataracts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justine Viet
- Univ Rennes, CNRS, IGDR-UMR 6290, F-35000 Rennes, France
| | | | - Serge Hardy
- Univ Rennes, CNRS, IGDR-UMR 6290, F-35000 Rennes, France
| | - Salil A. Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Luc Paillard
- Univ Rennes, CNRS, IGDR-UMR 6290, F-35000 Rennes, France
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22
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Aryal S, Anand D, Hernandez FG, Weatherbee BAT, Huang H, Reddy AP, Wilmarth PA, David LL, Lachke SA. MS/MS in silico subtraction-based proteomic profiling as an approach to facilitate disease gene discovery: application to lens development and cataract. Hum Genet 2019; 139:151-184. [PMID: 31797049 DOI: 10.1007/s00439-019-02095-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2019] [Accepted: 11/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
While the bioinformatics resource-tool iSyTE (integrated Systems Tool for Eye gene discovery) effectively identifies human cataract-associated genes, it is currently based on just transcriptome data, and thus, it is necessary to include protein-level information to gain greater confidence in gene prioritization. Here, we expand iSyTE through development of a novel proteome-based resource on the lens and demonstrate its utility in cataract gene discovery. We applied high-throughput tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to generate a global protein expression profile of mouse lens at embryonic day (E)14.5, which identified 2371 lens-expressed proteins. A major challenge of high-throughput expression profiling is identification of high-priority candidates among the thousands of expressed proteins. To address this problem, we generated new MS/MS proteome data on mouse whole embryonic body (WB). WB proteome was then used as a reference dataset for performing "in silico WB-subtraction" comparative analysis with the lens proteome, which effectively identified 422 proteins with lens-enriched expression at ≥ 2.5 average spectral counts, ≥ 2.0 fold enrichment (FDR < 0.01) cut-off. These top 20% candidates represent a rich pool of high-priority proteins in the lens including known human cataract-linked genes and many new potential regulators of lens development and homeostasis. This rich information is made publicly accessible through iSyTE (https://research.bioinformatics.udel.edu/iSyTE/), which enables user-friendly visualization of promising candidates, thus making iSyTE a comprehensive tool for cataract gene discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandeep Aryal
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, 105 The Green, Delaware Avenue, 236 Wolf Hall, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, 105 The Green, Delaware Avenue, 236 Wolf Hall, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Francisco G Hernandez
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, 105 The Green, Delaware Avenue, 236 Wolf Hall, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Bailey A T Weatherbee
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, 105 The Green, Delaware Avenue, 236 Wolf Hall, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Hongzhan Huang
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Ashok P Reddy
- Proteomics Shared Resource, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
| | - Phillip A Wilmarth
- Proteomics Shared Resource, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
| | - Larry L David
- Proteomics Shared Resource, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
- Department of Chemical Physiology and Biochemistry, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
| | - Salil A Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, 105 The Green, Delaware Avenue, 236 Wolf Hall, Newark, DE, USA.
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
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23
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Molecular genetics of congenital cataracts. Exp Eye Res 2019; 191:107872. [PMID: 31770519 DOI: 10.1016/j.exer.2019.107872] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2019] [Revised: 11/12/2019] [Accepted: 11/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Congenital cataracts, the most common cause of visual impairment and blindness in children worldwide, have diverse etiologies. According to statistics analysis, about one quarter of congenital cataracts caused by genetic defects. Various mutations of more than one hundred genes have been identified in hereditary cataracts so far. In this review, we briefly summarize recent developments about the genetics, molecular mechanisms, and treatments of congenital cataracts. The studies of these pathogenic mutations and molecular genetics is making it possible for us to comprehend the underlying mechanisms of cataractogenesis and providing new insights into the preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches of cataracts.
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24
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Six2 regulates Pax9 expression, palatogenesis and craniofacial bone formation. Dev Biol 2019; 458:246-256. [PMID: 31765609 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2019.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2019] [Revised: 10/30/2019] [Accepted: 11/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
In this study, we investigated the role of the transcription factor Six2 in palate development. Six2 was selected using the SysFACE tool to predict genes from the 2p21 locus, a region associated with clefting in humans by GWAS, that are likely to be involved in palatogenesis. We functionally validated the predicted role of Six2 in palatogenesis by showing that 22% of Six2 null embryos develop cleft palate. Six2 contributes to palatogenesis by promoting mesenchymal cell proliferation and regulating bone formation. The clefting phenotype in Six2-/- embryos is similar to Pax9 null embryos, so we examined the functional relationship of these two genes. Mechanistically, SIX2 binds to a PAX9 5' upstream regulatory element and activates PAX9 expression. In addition, we identified a human SIX2 coding variant (p.Gly264Glu) in a proband with cleft palate. We show this missense mutation affects the stability of the SIX2 protein and leads to decreased PAX9 expression. The low penetrance of clefting in the Six2 null mouse combined with the mutation in one patient with cleft palate underscores the potential combinatorial interactions of other genes in clefting. Our study demonstrates that Six2 interacts with the developmental gene regulatory network in the developing palate.
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25
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Carlson JC, Anand D, Butali A, Buxo CJ, Christensen K, Deleyiannis F, Hecht JT, Moreno LM, Orioli IM, Padilla C, Shaffer JR, Vieira AR, Wehby GL, Weinberg SM, Murray JC, Beaty TH, Saadi I, Lachke SA, Marazita ML, Feingold E, Leslie EJ. A systematic genetic analysis and visualization of phenotypic heterogeneity among orofacial cleft GWAS signals. Genet Epidemiol 2019; 43:704-716. [PMID: 31172578 PMCID: PMC6687557 DOI: 10.1002/gepi.22214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2018] [Revised: 03/29/2019] [Accepted: 04/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Phenotypic heterogeneity is a hallmark of complex traits, and genetic studies of such traits may focus on them as a single diagnostic entity or by analyzing specific components. For example, in orofacial clefting (OFC), three subtypes-cleft lip (CL), cleft lip and palate (CLP), and cleft palate (CP) have been studied separately and in combination. To further dissect the genetic architecture of OFCs and how a given associated locus may be contributing to distinct subtypes of a trait we developed a framework for quantifying and interpreting evidence of subtype-specific or shared genetic effects in complex traits. We applied this technique to create a "cleft map" of the association of 30 genetic loci with three OFC subtypes. In addition to new associations, we found loci with subtype-specific effects (e.g., GRHL3 [CP], WNT5A [CLP]), as well as loci associated with two or all three subtypes. We cross-referenced these results with mouse craniofacial gene expression datasets, which identified additional promising candidate genes. However, we found no strong correlation between OFC subtypes and expression patterns. In aggregate, the cleft map revealed that neither subtype-specific nor shared genetic effects operate in isolation in OFC architecture. Our approach can be easily applied to any complex trait with distinct phenotypic subgroups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenna C. Carlson
- Department of Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA
- Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA
| | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
| | - Azeez Butali
- Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine, University of Iowa, IA 52242, USA
| | - Carmen J. Buxo
- Dental and Craniofacial Genomics Core, School of Dental Medicine, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00936, USA
| | - Kaare Christensen
- Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, DK-5230, Denmark
| | | | - Jacqueline T. Hecht
- Department of Pediatrics, McGovern Medical School and School of Dentistry UT Health at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Lina M. Moreno
- Department of Orthodontics, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA
| | - Ieda M. Orioli
- INAGEMP (National Institute of Population Medical Genetics), Porto Alegre, 91501-970, Brazil
- ECLAMC (Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations) at Department of Genetics, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Carmencita Padilla
- Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine; Institute of Human Genetics, National Institutes of Health; University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, 1000, The Philippines
- Philippine Genome Center, University of the Philippines System, Quezon City, 1101, The Philippines
| | - John R. Shaffer
- Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA
- Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA,15219, USA
| | - Alexandre R. Vieira
- Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA,15219, USA
| | - George L. Wehby
- Department of Health Management and Policy, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA
| | - Seth M. Weinberg
- Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA
- Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA,15219, USA
- Center for Craniofacial and Dental Genetics, School of Dental Medicine, and Clinical and Translational Science, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219, USA
| | - Jeffrey C. Murray
- Department of Pediatrics, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa,52242, USA
| | - Terri H. Beaty
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore MD, 21205, USA
| | - Irfan Saadi
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160 USA
| | - Salil A. Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
| | - Mary L. Marazita
- Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA
- Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA,15219, USA
- Center for Craniofacial and Dental Genetics, School of Dental Medicine, and Clinical and Translational Science, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219, USA
| | - Eleanor Feingold
- Department of Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA
- Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA
- Center for Craniofacial and Dental Genetics, School of Dental Medicine, and Clinical and Translational Science, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219, USA
| | - Elizabeth J. Leslie
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
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26
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Weatherbee BAT, Barton JR, Siddam AD, Anand D, Lachke SA. Molecular characterization of the human lens epithelium-derived cell line SRA01/04. Exp Eye Res 2019; 188:107787. [PMID: 31479653 DOI: 10.1016/j.exer.2019.107787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2019] [Revised: 08/26/2019] [Accepted: 08/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Cataract-associated gene discovery in human and animal models have informed on key aspects of human lens development, homeostasis and pathology. Additionally, in vitro models such as the culture of permanent human lens epithelium-derived cell lines (LECs) have also been utilized to understand the molecular biology of lens cells. However, these resources remain uncharacterized, specifically regarding their global gene expression and suitability to model lens cell biology. Therefore, we sought to molecularly characterize gene expression in the human LEC, SRA01/04, which is commonly used in lens studies. We first performed short tandem repeat (STR) analysis and validated SRA01/04 LEC for its human origin, as recommended by the eye research community. Next, we used Illumina HumanHT-12 v3.0 Expression BeadChip arrays to gain insights into the global gene expression profile of SRA01/04. Comparative analysis of SRA01/04 microarray data was performed using other resources such as the lens expression database iSyTE (integrated Systems Tool for Eye gene discovery), the cataract gene database Cat-Map and the published lens literature. This analysis showed that SRA01/04 significantly expresses >40% of the top iSyTE lens-enriched genes (313 out of 749) across different developmental stages. Further, SRA01/04 also significantly expresses ~53% (168 out of 318) of cataract-associated genes in Cat-Map. We also performed comparative gene expression analysis between SRA01/04 cells and the previously validated mouse LEC 21EM15. To gain insight into whether SRA01/04 reflects epithelial or fiber cell characteristics, we compared its gene expression profile to previously reported differentially expressed genes in isolated mouse lens epithelial and fiber cells. This analysis suggests that SRA01/04 has reduced expression of several fiber cell-enriched genes. In agreement with these findings, cell culture analysis demonstrates that SRA01/04 has reduced potential to initiate spontaneous lentoid body formation compared to 21EM15 cells. Next, to independently validate SRA01/04 microarray gene expression, we subjected several candidate genes to RT-PCR and RT-qPCR assays. This analysis demonstrates that SRA01/04 supports expression of many key genes associated with lens development and cataract, including CRYAB, CRYBB2, CRYGS, DKK3, EPHA2, ETV5, GJA1, HSPB1, INPPL1, ITGB1, PAX6, PVRL3, SFRP1, SPARC, TDRD7, and VIM, among others, and therefore can be relevant for understanding the mechanistic basis of these factors. At the same time, SRA01/04 cells do not exhibit robust expression of several genes known to be important to lens biology and cataract such as ALDH1A1, COL4A6, CP, CRYBA4, FOXE3, HMX1, HSF4, MAF, MEIS1, PITX3, PRX, SIX3, and TRPM3, among many others. Therefore, the present study offers a rich transcript-level resource for case-by-case evaluation of the potential advantages and limitations of SRA01/04 cells prior to their use in downstream investigations. In sum, these data show that the human LEC, SRA01/04, exhibits lens epithelial cell-like character reflected in the expression of several lens-enriched and cataract-associated genes, and therefore can be considered as a useful in vitro resource when combined with in vivo studies to gain insight into specific aspects of human lens epithelial cells.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Joshua R Barton
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Archana D Siddam
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Salil A Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA; Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
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27
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Kakrana A, Yang A, Anand D, Djordjevic D, Ramachandruni D, Singh A, Huang H, Ho JWK, Lachke SA. iSyTE 2.0: a database for expression-based gene discovery in the eye. Nucleic Acids Res 2019; 46:D875-D885. [PMID: 29036527 PMCID: PMC5753381 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkx837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2017] [Accepted: 09/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Although successful in identifying new cataract-linked genes, the previous version of the database iSyTE (integrated Systems Tool for Eye gene discovery) was based on expression information on just three mouse lens stages and was functionally limited to visualization by only UCSC-Genome Browser tracks. To increase its efficacy, here we provide an enhanced iSyTE version 2.0 (URL: http://research.bioinformatics.udel.edu/iSyTE) based on well-curated, comprehensive genome-level lens expression data as a one-stop portal for the effective visualization and analysis of candidate genes in lens development and disease. iSyTE 2.0 includes all publicly available lens Affymetrix and Illumina microarray datasets representing a broad range of embryonic and postnatal stages from wild-type and specific gene-perturbation mouse mutants with eye defects. Further, we developed a new user-friendly web interface for direct access and cogent visualization of the curated expression data, which supports convenient searches and a range of downstream analyses. The utility of these new iSyTE 2.0 features is illustrated through examples of established genes associated with lens development and pathobiology, which serve as tutorials for its application by the end-user. iSyTE 2.0 will facilitate the prioritization of eye development and disease-linked candidate genes in studies involving transcriptomics or next-generation sequencing data, linkage analysis and GWAS approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atul Kakrana
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19711, USA
| | - Andrian Yang
- Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia.,St. Vincent's Clinical School, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Djordje Djordjevic
- Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia.,St. Vincent's Clinical School, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Deepti Ramachandruni
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Abhyudai Singh
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19711, USA.,Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Hongzhan Huang
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19711, USA
| | - Joshua W K Ho
- Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia.,St. Vincent's Clinical School, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Salil A Lachke
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19711, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
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28
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Cox TC, Lidral AC, McCoy JC, Liu H, Cox LL, Zhu Y, Anderson RD, Moreno Uribe LM, Anand D, Deng M, Richter CT, Nidey NL, Standley JM, Blue EE, Chong JX, Smith JD, Kirk EP, Venselaar H, Krahn KN, van Bokhoven H, Zhou H, Cornell RA, Glass IA, Bamshad MJ, Nickerson DA, Murray JC, Lachke SA, Thompson TB, Buckley MF, Roscioli T. Mutations in GDF11 and the extracellular antagonist, Follistatin, as a likely cause of Mendelian forms of orofacial clefting in humans. Hum Mutat 2019; 40:1813-1825. [PMID: 31215115 DOI: 10.1002/humu.23793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2018] [Revised: 05/02/2019] [Accepted: 05/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) is generally viewed as a complex trait with multiple genetic and environmental contributions. In 70% of cases, CL/P presents as an isolated feature and/or deemed nonsyndromic. In the remaining 30%, CL/P is associated with multisystem phenotypes or clinically recognizable syndromes, many with a monogenic basis. Here we report the identification, via exome sequencing, of likely pathogenic variants in two genes that encode interacting proteins previously only linked to orofacial clefting in mouse models. A variant in GDF11 (encoding growth differentiation factor 11), predicting a p.(Arg298Gln) substitution at the Furin protease cleavage site, was identified in one family that segregated with CL/P and both rib and vertebral hypersegmentation, mirroring that seen in Gdf11 knockout mice. In the second family in which CL/P was the only phenotype, a mutation in FST (encoding the GDF11 antagonist, Follistatin) was identified that is predicted to result in a p.(Cys56Tyr) substitution in the region that binds GDF11. Functional assays demonstrated a significant impact of the specific mutated amino acids on FST and GDF11 function and, together with embryonic expression data, provide strong evidence for the importance of GDF11 and Follistatin in the regulation of human orofacial development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy C Cox
- Division of Craniofacial Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.,Center for Developmental Biology & Regenerative Medicine, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, Washington.,Department of Oral & Craniofacial Science, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri
| | | | - Jason C McCoy
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry, and Microbiology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
| | - Huan Liu
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
| | - Liza L Cox
- Division of Craniofacial Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.,Center for Developmental Biology & Regenerative Medicine, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, Washington.,Department of Oral & Craniofacial Science, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri.,Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington
| | - Ying Zhu
- New South Wales Health Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.,Genetics of Learning Disability Service, Hunter Genetics, Waratah, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ryan D Anderson
- Department of Oral & Craniofacial Science, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri
| | - Lina M Moreno Uribe
- Department of Orthodontics & the Iowa Institute for Oral Health Research, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
| | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware
| | - Mei Deng
- Birth Defects Research Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Chika T Richter
- Department of Orthodontics & the Iowa Institute for Oral Health Research, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
| | - Nichole L Nidey
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
| | | | - Elizabeth E Blue
- Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Jessica X Chong
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Joshua D Smith
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Edwin P Kirk
- New South Wales Health Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.,Centre for Clinical Genetics, Sydney Children's Hospital, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Hanka Venselaar
- Centre for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Katy N Krahn
- UVA Center for Advanced Medical Analytics, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
| | - Hans van Bokhoven
- Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,Department of Cognitive Neurosciences, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Huiqing Zhou
- Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,Department of Molecular Developmental Biology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Robert A Cornell
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
| | - Ian A Glass
- Birth Defects Research Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.,Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Michael J Bamshad
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.,Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Deborah A Nickerson
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | | | - Salil A Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware
| | - Thomas B Thompson
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry, and Microbiology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
| | - Michael F Buckley
- New South Wales Health Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Tony Roscioli
- New South Wales Health Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.,Centre for Clinical Genetics, Sydney Children's Hospital, New South Wales, Australia.,Prince of Wales Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.,Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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29
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Zhao Y, Zheng D, Cvekl A. Profiling of chromatin accessibility and identification of general cis-regulatory mechanisms that control two ocular lens differentiation pathways. Epigenetics Chromatin 2019; 12:27. [PMID: 31053165 PMCID: PMC6498704 DOI: 10.1186/s13072-019-0272-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2019] [Accepted: 04/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Promoters and enhancers are cis-regulatory DNA sequences that control specificity and quantity of transcription. Both are rich on clusters of cis-acting sites that interact with sequence-specific DNA-binding transcription factors (TFs). At the level of chromatin, these regions display increased nuclease sensitivity, reduced nucleosome density, including nucleosome-free regions, and specific combinations of posttranslational modifications of core histone proteins. Together, "open" and "closed" chromatins represent transcriptionally active and repressed states of individual genes, respectively. Cellular differentiation is marked by changes in local chromatin structure. Lens morphogenesis, regulated by TF Pax6, includes differentiation of epithelial precursor cells into lens fibers in parallel with differentiation of epithelial precursors into the mature lens epithelium. RESULTS Using ATAC-seq, we investigated dynamics of chromatin changes during mouse lens fibers and epithelium differentiation. Tissue-specific features of these processes are demonstrated via comparative studies of embryonic stem cells, forebrain, and liver chromatins. Unbiased analysis reveals cis-regulatory logic of lens differentiation through known (e.g., AP-1, Ets, Hsf4, Maf, and Pax6 sites) and novel (e.g., CTCF, Tead, and NF1) motifs. Twenty-six DNA-binding TFs, recognizing these cis-motifs, are markedly up-regulated in differentiating lens fibers. As specific examples, our ATAC-seq data uncovered both the regulatory regions and TF binding motifs in Foxe3, Prox1, and Mip loci that are consistent with previous, though incomplete, experimental data. A cross-examination of Pax6 binding with ATAC-seq data demonstrated that Pax6 bound to both open (H3K27ac and P300-enriched) and closed chromatin domains in lens and forebrain. CONCLUSIONS Our study has generated the first lens chromatin accessibility maps that support a general model of stage-specific chromatin changes associated with transcriptional activities of batteries of genes required for lens fiber cell formation. Analysis of active (or open) promoters and enhancers reveals important cis-DNA motifs that establish the molecular foundation for temporally and spatially regulated gene expression in lens. Together, our data and models open new avenues for the field to conduct mechanistic studies of transcriptional control regions, reconstruction of gene regulatory networks that govern lens morphogenesis, and identification of cataract-causing mutations in noncoding sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yilin Zhao
- The Departments of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461 USA
| | - Deyou Zheng
- The Departments of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461 USA
- Neurology and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461 USA
| | - Ales Cvekl
- The Departments of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461 USA
- Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461 USA
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30
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A High-Throughput Assay for Congenital and Age-Related Eye Diseases in Zebrafish. Biomedicines 2019; 7:biomedicines7020028. [PMID: 30979021 PMCID: PMC6631034 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines7020028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2019] [Revised: 04/02/2019] [Accepted: 04/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Debilitating visual impairment caused by cataracts or microphthalmia is estimated to affect roughly 20 million people in the United States alone. According to the National Eye Institute, by 2050 that number is expected to more than double to roughly 50 million. The identification of candidate disease-causing alleles for cataracts and microphthalmia has been accelerated with advanced sequencing technologies creating a need for verification of the pathophysiology of these genes. Zebrafish pose many advantages as a high-throughput model for human eye disease. By 5 days post-fertilization, zebrafish have quantifiable behavioral responses to visual stimuli. Their small size, many progeny, and external fertilization allows for rapid screening for vision defects. We have adapted the OptoMotor Response to assay visual impairment in zebrafish models of cataracts and microphthalmia. This research demonstrates an inexpensive, high-throughput method for analyzing candidate genes involved in visual impairment.
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31
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Anand D, Kakrana A, Siddam AD, Huang H, Saadi I, Lachke SA. RNA sequencing-based transcriptomic profiles of embryonic lens development for cataract gene discovery. Hum Genet 2018; 137:941-954. [PMID: 30417254 DOI: 10.1007/s00439-018-1958-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2018] [Accepted: 11/07/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Isolated or syndromic congenital cataracts are heterogeneous developmental defects, making the identification of the associated genes challenging. In the past, mouse lens expression microarrays have been successfully applied in bioinformatics tools (e.g., iSyTE) to facilitate human cataract-associated gene discovery. To develop a new resource for geneticists, we report high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) profiles of mouse lens at key embryonic stages (E)10.5 (lens pit), E12.5 (primary fiber cell differentiation), E14.5 and E16.5 (secondary fiber cell differentiation). These stages capture important events as the lens develops from an invaginating placode into a transparent tissue. Previously, in silico whole-embryo body (WB)-subtraction-based "lens-enriched" expression has been effective in prioritizing cataract-linked genes. To apply an analogous approach, we generated new mouse WB RNA-seq datasets and show that in silico WB subtraction of lens RNA-seq datasets successfully identifies key genes based on lens-enriched expression. At ≥2 counts-per-million expression, ≥1.5 log2 fold-enrichment (p < 0.05) cutoff, E10.5 lens exhibits 1401 enriched genes (17% lens-expressed genes), E12.5 lens exhibits 1937 enriched genes (22% lens-expressed genes), E14.5 lens exhibits 2514 enriched genes (31% lens-expressed genes), and E16.5 lens exhibits 2745 enriched genes (34% lens-expressed genes). Biological pathway analysis identified genes associated with lens development, transcription regulation and signaling pathways, among other functional groups. Furthermore, these new RNA-seq data confirmed high expression of established cataract-linked genes and identified new potential regulators in the lens. Finally, we developed new lens stage-specific UCSC Genome Brower annotation tracks and made these publicly accessible through iSyTE ( https://research.bioinformatics.udel.edu/iSyTE/ ) for user-friendly visualization of lens gene expression/enrichment to prioritize genes from high-throughput data from cataract cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, 105 The Green, Delaware Avenue, 236 Wolf Hall, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Atul Kakrana
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Archana D Siddam
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, 105 The Green, Delaware Avenue, 236 Wolf Hall, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Hongzhan Huang
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Irfan Saadi
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, 66160, USA
| | - Salil A Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, 105 The Green, Delaware Avenue, 236 Wolf Hall, Newark, DE, 19716, USA. .,Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
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32
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Grifone R, Saquet A, Xu Z, Shi DL. Expression patterns of Rbm24 in lens, nasal epithelium, and inner ear during mouse embryonic development. Dev Dyn 2018; 247:1160-1169. [PMID: 30133047 DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.24666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2017] [Revised: 07/13/2018] [Accepted: 08/17/2018] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND RNA-binding proteins plays critical roles in several post-transcriptional regulatory processes. The RNA-binding protein, Rbm24, has been shown to be involved in the development of the heart and skeletal muscles by regulating different post-transcriptional processes such as splicing and stabilization of specific target mRNAs. Here, by performing a detailed expression and localization analysis in mice embryos, we show that Rbm24 protein is not only expressed in heart and skeletal muscles as previously reported, but it is also strongly and specifically detected in specific regions of all the head sensory organs during mouse development. RESULTS Rbm24 expression is indeed found to be activated in the lens, in the sensory olfactory epithelium and in mechanosensory cells of the auditory and vestibular systems. Within these territories, Rbm24 is shown to be restricted to distinct subdomains, potentially regulating cell specificity and proliferation. Moreover, Rbm24 protein is found to be restricted to the cytoplasmic compartment in all these organs, thus providing clues to the posttranscriptional activity that it may exert in these cells. CONCLUSIONS Altogether, these results highlight that Rbm24 may potentially function as a novel key regulator for the development of the eye, nasal epithelium, and inner ear in vertebrates. Developmental Dynamics 247:1160-1169, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raphaëlle Grifone
- Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS UMR7622, IBPS-Developmental Biology Laboratory, Paris, France
| | - Audrey Saquet
- Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS UMR7622, IBPS-Developmental Biology Laboratory, Paris, France
| | - Zhigang Xu
- School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - De-Li Shi
- Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS UMR7622, IBPS-Developmental Biology Laboratory, Paris, France
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33
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Bi-allelic Loss-of-Function Variants in DNMBP Cause Infantile Cataracts. Am J Hum Genet 2018; 103:568-578. [PMID: 30290152 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2018] [Accepted: 09/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Infantile and childhood-onset cataracts form a heterogeneous group of disorders; among the many genetic causes, numerous pathogenic variants in additional genes associated with autosomal-recessive infantile cataracts remain to be discovered. We identified three consanguineous families affected by bilateral infantile cataracts. Using exome sequencing, we found homozygous loss-of-function variants in DNMBP: nonsense variant c.811C>T (p.Arg271∗) in large family F385 (nine affected individuals; LOD score = 5.18 at θ = 0), frameshift deletion c.2947_2948del (p.Asp983∗) in family F372 (two affected individuals), and frameshift variant c.2852_2855del (p.Thr951Metfs∗41) in family F3 (one affected individual). The phenotypes of all affected individuals include infantile-onset cataracts. RNAi-mediated knockdown of the Drosophila ortholog still life (sif), enriched in lens-secreting cells, affects the development of these cells as well as the localization of E-cadherin, alters the distribution of septate junctions in adjacent cone cells, and leads to a ∼50% reduction in electroretinography amplitudes in young flies. DNMBP regulates the shape of tight junctions, which correspond to the septate junctions in invertebrates, as well as the assembly pattern of E-cadherin in human epithelial cells. E-cadherin has an important role in lens vesicle separation and lens epithelial cell survival in humans. We therefore conclude that DNMBP loss-of-function variants cause infantile-onset cataracts in humans.
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34
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Reis LM, Semina EV. Genetic landscape of isolated pediatric cataracts: extreme heterogeneity and variable inheritance patterns within genes. Hum Genet 2018; 138:847-863. [PMID: 30187164 DOI: 10.1007/s00439-018-1932-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2018] [Accepted: 08/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Pediatric cataract represents an important cause of pediatric visual impairment. While both genetic and environmental causes for pediatric cataract are known, a large proportion remains idiopathic. The purpose of this review is to discuss genes involved in isolated pediatric cataract, with a focus on variable inheritance patterns within genes. Mutations in over 52 genes are known to cause isolated pediatric cataract, with a major contribution from genes encoding for crystallins, transcription factors, membrane proteins, and cytoskeletal proteins. Interestingly, both dominant and recessive inheritance patterns have been reported for mutations in 13 different cataract genes. For some genes, dominant and recessive alleles represent distinct types of mutations, but for many, especially missense variants, there are no clear patterns to distinguish between dominant and recessive alleles. Further research into the functional effects of these mutations, as well as additional data on the frequency of the identified variants, is needed to clarify variant pathogenicity. Exome sequencing continues to be successful in identifying novel genes associated with congenital cataract but is hindered by the extreme genetic heterogeneity of this condition. The large number of idiopathic cases suggests that more genes and potentially novel mechanisms of gene disruption remain to be identified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda M Reis
- Department of Pediatrics and Children's Research Institute, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA
| | - Elena V Semina
- Department of Pediatrics and Children's Research Institute, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA. .,Department of Ophthalmology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA.
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35
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Li Q, Guo Y, Yao M, Li J, Chen Y, Liu Q, Chen Y, Zeng Y, Ji B, Feng Y. Methylation of Cdkn1c may be involved in the regulation of tooth development through cell cycle inhibition. J Mol Histol 2018; 49:459-469. [PMID: 30014245 PMCID: PMC6182578 DOI: 10.1007/s10735-018-9785-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2018] [Accepted: 07/09/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Cdkn1c, a member of the Cip/Kip cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor family, is critically involved in regulating cell cycle and cellular differentiation during development in mammals. However, the functional role of Cdkn1c and the underlying mechanisms by which Cdkn1c affects odontogenesis remain largely unknown. In our study, we found that Cdkn1c expression dynamically changes from embryonic day 11.5 (E11.5) to postnatal day 3 (P3), and exhibits tissue-specific expression profiles. Evaluation of CDKN1C protein by immunohistochemistry and western blot, revealed that CDKN1C protein expression peaks at P3 and then is reduced at P5 and P7. Interestingly, we observed that CDKN1C expression is higher in immature odontoblasts than preodontoblasts, is lower in mature odontoblasts, and is practically absent from ameloblasts. We evaluated cell cycle progression to further investigate the mechanisms underlying CDKN1C-mediated regulation of odontogenesis, and found that pRB, cyclin D1 and CDK2 expression decreased from P1 to P3, and reduced at P5 and P7. In addition, we observed increased methylation of KvDMR1 at P1 and P3, and reduced KvDMR1 methylation at P5 and P7. However, the methylation levels of Cdkn1c-sDMR were relatively low from P1 to P7. In summary, we demonstrated that Cdkn1c expression and methylation status may be involved in early postnatal tooth development through regulating the cell cycle inhibition activity of Cdkn1c. Notably, Cdkn1c expression and methylation may associate with cell cycle exit and differentiation of odontoblasts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiulan Li
- Department of Stomatology, Second Xiangya Hospital, Renmin Middle Road, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Yue Guo
- Department of Stomatology, Second Xiangya Hospital, Renmin Middle Road, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Mianfeng Yao
- Department of Oral Medicine, Xiangya Hospital Central South University, Changsha, 410083, Hunan, China
| | - Jun Li
- Department of Stomatology, Second Xiangya Hospital, Renmin Middle Road, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Yingyi Chen
- Department of Stomatology, Second Xiangya Hospital, Renmin Middle Road, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Qiong Liu
- Department of Stomatology, Second Xiangya Hospital, Renmin Middle Road, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Yun Chen
- Department of Stomatology, Second Xiangya Hospital, Renmin Middle Road, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Yuanyuan Zeng
- Department of Stomatology, Second Xiangya Hospital, Renmin Middle Road, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Bin Ji
- Department of Stomatology, Second Xiangya Hospital, Renmin Middle Road, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Yunzhi Feng
- Department of Stomatology, Second Xiangya Hospital, Renmin Middle Road, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China.
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36
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A zebrafish model of foxe3 deficiency demonstrates lens and eye defects with dysregulation of key genes involved in cataract formation in humans. Hum Genet 2018; 137:315-328. [PMID: 29713869 DOI: 10.1007/s00439-018-1884-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2018] [Accepted: 04/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The Forkhead box E3 (FOXE3) gene encodes a transcription factor with a forkhead/winged helix domain that is critical for development of the lens and anterior segment of the eye. Monoallelic and biallelic deleterious sequence variants in FOXE3 cause aphakia, cataracts, sclerocornea and microphthalmia in humans. We used clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/Cas9 injections to target the foxe3 transcript in zebrafish in order to create an experimental model of loss of function for this gene. Larvae that were homozygous for an indel variant, c.296_300delTGCAG, predicting p.(Val99Alafs*2), demonstrated severe eye defects, including small or absent lenses and microphthalmia. The lenses of the homozygous foxe3 indel mutants showed more intense staining with zl-1 antibody compared to control lenses, consistent with increased lens fiber cell differentiation. Whole genome transcriptome analysis (RNA-Seq) on RNA isolated from wildtype larvae and larvae with eye defects that were putative homozygotes for the foxe3 indel variant found significant dysregulation of genes expressed in the lens and eye whose orthologues are associated with cataracts in human patients, including cryba2a, cryba1l1, mipa and hsf4. Comparative analysis of this RNA-seq data with iSyTE data identified several lens-enriched genes to be down-regulated in foxe3 indel mutants. We also noted upregulation of lgsn and crygmxl2 and downregulation of fmodb and cx43.4, genes that are expressed in the zebrafish lens, but that are not yet associated with an eye phenotype in humans. These findings demonstrate that this new zebrafish foxe3 mutant model is highly relevant to the study of the gene regulatory networks conserved in vertebrate lens and eye development.
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37
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Anand D, Agrawal SA, Slavotinek A, Lachke SA. Mutation update of transcription factor genes FOXE3, HSF4, MAF, and PITX3 causing cataracts and other developmental ocular defects. Hum Mutat 2018; 39:471-494. [PMID: 29314435 PMCID: PMC5839989 DOI: 10.1002/humu.23395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2017] [Revised: 12/19/2017] [Accepted: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Mutations in the transcription factor genes FOXE3, HSF4, MAF, and PITX3 cause congenital lens defects including cataracts that may be accompanied by defects in other components of the eye or in nonocular tissues. We comprehensively describe here all the variants in FOXE3, HSF4, MAF, and PITX3 genes linked to human developmental defects. A total of 52 variants for FOXE3, 18 variants for HSF4, 20 variants for MAF, and 19 variants for PITX3 identified so far in isolated cases or within families are documented. This effort reveals FOXE3, HSF4, MAF, and PITX3 to have 33, 16, 18, and 7 unique causal mutations, respectively. Loss-of-function mutant animals for these genes have served to model the pathobiology of the associated human defects, and we discuss the currently known molecular function of these genes, particularly with emphasis on their role in ocular development. Finally, we make the detailed FOXE3, HSF4, MAF, and PITX3 variant information available in the Leiden Online Variation Database (LOVD) platform at https://www.LOVD.nl/FOXE3, https://www.LOVD.nl/HSF4, https://www.LOVD.nl/MAF, and https://www.LOVD.nl/PITX3. Thus, this article informs on key variants in transcription factor genes linked to cataract, aphakia, corneal opacity, glaucoma, microcornea, microphthalmia, anterior segment mesenchymal dysgenesis, and Ayme-Gripp syndrome, and facilitates their access through Web-based databases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
| | - Smriti A. Agrawal
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
| | - Anne Slavotinek
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Genetics, University of California, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, San Francisco, CA 19716 USA
| | - Salil A. Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 USA
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19711 USA
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38
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Liu H, Busch T, Eliason S, Anand D, Bullard S, Gowans LJJ, Nidey N, Petrin A, Augustine-Akpan EA, Saadi I, Dunnwald M, Lachke SA, Zhu Y, Adeyemo A, Amendt B, Roscioli T, Cornell R, Murray J, Butali A. Exome sequencing provides additional evidence for the involvement of ARHGAP29 in Mendelian orofacial clefting and extends the phenotypic spectrum to isolated cleft palate. Birth Defects Res 2018; 109:27-37. [PMID: 28029220 PMCID: PMC5388577 DOI: 10.1002/bdra.23596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2016] [Revised: 09/21/2016] [Accepted: 10/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent advances in genomics methodologies, in particular the availability of next-generation sequencing approaches have made it possible to identify risk loci throughout the genome, in particular the exome. In the current study, we present findings from an exome study conducted in five affected individuals of a multiplex family with cleft palate only. METHODS The GEnome MINIng (GEMINI) pipeline was used to functionally annotate the single nucleotide polymorphisms, insertions and deletions. Filtering methods were applied to identify variants that are clinically relevant and present in affected individuals at minor allele frequencies (≤1%) in the 1000 Genomes Project single nucleotide polymorphism database, Exome Aggregation Consortium, and Exome Variant Server databases. The bioinformatics tool Systems Tool for Craniofacial Expression-Based Gene Discovery was used to prioritize cleft candidates in our list of variants, and Sanger sequencing was used to validate the presence of identified variants in affected and unaffected relatives. RESULTS Our analyses approach narrowed the candidates down to the novel missense variant in ARHGAP29 (GenBank: NM_004815.3, NP_004806.3;c.1654T>C [p.Ser552Pro]. A functional assay in zebrafish embryos showed that the encoded protein lacks the activity possessed by its wild-type counterpart, and migration assays revealed that keratinocytes transfected with wild-type ARHGAP29 migrated faster than counterparts transfected with the p.Ser552Pro ARHGAP29 variant or empty vector (control). CONCLUSION These findings reveal ARHGAP29 to be a regulatory protein essential for proper development of the face, identifies an amino acid that is key for this, and provides a potential new diagnostic tool.Birth Defects Research 109:27-37, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huan Liu
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Iowa City, U.S.A
| | - Tamara Busch
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, U.S.A
| | - Steven Eliason
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Iowa City, U.S.A
| | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Steven Bullard
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, U.S.A
| | - Lord J J Gowans
- Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, U.S.A
| | - Nichole Nidey
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, U.S.A
| | - Aline Petrin
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, U.S.A
| | | | - Irfan Saadi
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Kansas Medical Center Kansas City, KS, USA
| | | | - Salil A Lachke
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, U.S.A.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.,Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Ying Zhu
- Newcastle GOLD Service, Hunter Genetics, Waratah, NSW, Australia
| | - Adebowale Adeyemo
- Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, U.S.A
| | - Brad Amendt
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Iowa City, U.S.A.,Dows Research Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, U.S.A
| | - Tony Roscioli
- Department of Medical Genetics, Sydney Children's Hospital, Sydney, Australia.,The Kinghorn Centre for Clinical Genomics, Sydney, Australia
| | - Robert Cornell
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Iowa City, U.S.A
| | - Jeffrey Murray
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, U.S.A
| | - Azeez Butali
- Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology and Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, U.S.A.,Dows Research Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, U.S.A
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Siddam AD, Gautier-Courteille C, Perez-Campos L, Anand D, Kakrana A, Dang CA, Legagneux V, Méreau A, Viet J, Gross JM, Paillard L, Lachke SA. The RNA-binding protein Celf1 post-transcriptionally regulates p27Kip1 and Dnase2b to control fiber cell nuclear degradation in lens development. PLoS Genet 2018; 14:e1007278. [PMID: 29565969 PMCID: PMC5889275 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2017] [Revised: 04/06/2018] [Accepted: 02/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Opacification of the ocular lens, termed cataract, is a common cause of blindness. To become transparent, lens fiber cells undergo degradation of their organelles, including their nuclei, presenting a fundamental question: does signaling/transcription sufficiently explain differentiation of cells progressing toward compromised transcriptional potential? We report that a conserved RNA-binding protein Celf1 post-transcriptionally controls key genes to regulate lens fiber cell differentiation. Celf1-targeted knockout mice and celf1-knockdown zebrafish and Xenopus morphants have severe eye defects/cataract. Celf1 spatiotemporally down-regulates the cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor p27Kip1 by interacting with its 5' UTR and mediating translation inhibition. Celf1 deficiency causes ectopic up-regulation of p21Cip1. Further, Celf1 directly binds to the mRNA of the nuclease Dnase2b to maintain its high levels. Together these events are necessary for Cdk1-mediated lamin A/C phosphorylation to initiate nuclear envelope breakdown and DNA degradation in fiber cells. Moreover, Celf1 controls alternative splicing of the membrane-organization factor beta-spectrin and regulates F-actin-crosslinking factor Actn2 mRNA levels, thereby controlling fiber cell morphology. Thus, we illustrate new Celf1-regulated molecular mechanisms in lens development, suggesting that post-transcriptional regulatory RNA-binding proteins have evolved conserved functions to control vertebrate oculogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Archana D. Siddam
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States of America
| | - Carole Gautier-Courteille
- Institut de Génétique et Développement de Rennes, Université de Rennes 1, CNRS UMR6290, Rennes, France
| | - Linette Perez-Campos
- Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Cartago, Costa Rica
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas, Austin, TX, United States of America
| | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States of America
| | - Atul Kakrana
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States of America
| | - Christine A. Dang
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States of America
| | - Vincent Legagneux
- Institut de Génétique et Développement de Rennes, Université de Rennes 1, CNRS UMR6290, Rennes, France
| | - Agnès Méreau
- Institut de Génétique et Développement de Rennes, Université de Rennes 1, CNRS UMR6290, Rennes, France
| | - Justine Viet
- Institut de Génétique et Développement de Rennes, Université de Rennes 1, CNRS UMR6290, Rennes, France
| | - Jeffrey M. Gross
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas, Austin, TX, United States of America
- Department of Ophthalmology, Louis J. Fox Center for Vision Restoration, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
| | - Luc Paillard
- Institut de Génétique et Développement de Rennes, Université de Rennes 1, CNRS UMR6290, Rennes, France
| | - Salil A. Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States of America
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States of America
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40
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Budak G, Dash S, Srivastava R, Lachke SA, Janga SC. Express: A database of transcriptome profiles encompassing known and novel transcripts across multiple development stages in eye tissues. Exp Eye Res 2018; 168:57-68. [PMID: 29337142 DOI: 10.1016/j.exer.2018.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2016] [Revised: 01/08/2018] [Accepted: 01/11/2018] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Advances in sequencing have facilitated nucleotide-resolution genome-wide transcriptomic profiles across multiple mouse eye tissues. However, these RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) based eye developmental transcriptomes are not organized for easy public access, making any further analysis challenging. Here, we present a new database "Express" (http://www.iupui.edu/∼sysbio/express/) that unifies various mouse lens and retina RNA-seq data and provides user-friendly visualization of the transcriptome to facilitate gene discovery in the eye. We obtained RNA-seq data encompassing 7 developmental stages of lens in addition to that on isolated lens epithelial and fibers, as well as on 11 developmental stages of retina/isolated retinal rod photoreceptor cells from publicly available wild-type mouse datasets. These datasets were pre-processed, aligned, quantified and normalized for expression levels of known and novel transcripts using a unified expression quantification framework. Express provides heatmap and browser view allowing easy navigation of the genomic organization of transcripts or gene loci. Further, it allows users to search candidate genes and export both the visualizations and the embedded data to facilitate downstream analysis. We identified total of >81,000 transcripts in the lens and >178,000 transcripts in the retina across all the included developmental stages. This analysis revealed that a significant number of the retina-expressed transcripts are novel. Expression of several transcripts in the lens and retina across multiple developmental stages was independently validated by RT-qPCR for established genes such as Pax6 and Lhx2 as well as for new candidates such as Elavl4, Rbm5, Pabpc1, Tia1 and Tubb2b. Thus, Express serves as an effective portal for analyzing pruned RNA-seq expression datasets presently collected for the lens and retina. It will allow a wild-type context for the detailed analysis of targeted gene-knockout mouse ocular defect models and facilitate the prioritization of candidate genes from Exome-seq data of eye disease patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gungor Budak
- Department of BioHealth Informatics, School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University Purdue University, 719 Indiana Ave Ste 319, Walker Plaza Building, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States
| | - Soma Dash
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, United States
| | - Rajneesh Srivastava
- Department of BioHealth Informatics, School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University Purdue University, 719 Indiana Ave Ste 319, Walker Plaza Building, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States
| | - Salil A Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, United States; Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, United States
| | - Sarath Chandra Janga
- Department of BioHealth Informatics, School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University Purdue University, 719 Indiana Ave Ste 319, Walker Plaza Building, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States; Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Indiana University School of Medicine, 5021 Health Information and Translational Sciences (HITS), 410 West 10th Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, United States; Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Medical Research and Library Building, 975 West Walnut Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, United States.
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Murphy P, Kabir MH, Srivastava T, Mason ME, Dewi CU, Lim S, Yang A, Djordjevic D, Killingsworth MC, Ho JWK, Harman DG, O'Connor MD. Light-focusing human micro-lenses generated from pluripotent stem cells model lens development and drug-induced cataract in vitro. Development 2018; 145:dev.155838. [PMID: 29217756 PMCID: PMC5825866 DOI: 10.1242/dev.155838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2017] [Accepted: 11/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Cataracts cause vision loss and blindness by impairing the ability of the ocular lens to focus light onto the retina. Various cataract risk factors have been identified, including drug treatments, age, smoking and diabetes. However, the molecular events responsible for these different forms of cataract are ill-defined, and the advent of modern cataract surgery in the 1960s virtually eliminated access to human lenses for research. Here, we demonstrate large-scale production of light-focusing human micro-lenses from spheroidal masses of human lens epithelial cells purified from differentiating pluripotent stem cells. The purified lens cells and micro-lenses display similar morphology, cellular arrangement, mRNA expression and protein expression to human lens cells and lenses. Exposing the micro-lenses to the emergent cystic fibrosis drug Vx-770 reduces micro-lens transparency and focusing ability. These human micro-lenses provide a powerful and large-scale platform for defining molecular disease mechanisms caused by cataract risk factors, for anti-cataract drug screening and for clinically relevant toxicity assays.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia Murphy
- School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia.,Medical Sciences Research Group, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia
| | - Md Humayun Kabir
- School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia.,Medical Sciences Research Group, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia.,Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia
| | - Tarini Srivastava
- School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia.,Medical Sciences Research Group, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia
| | - Michele E Mason
- School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia.,Medical Sciences Research Group, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia
| | - Chitra U Dewi
- School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia.,Medical Sciences Research Group, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia
| | - Seakcheng Lim
- School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia.,Medical Sciences Research Group, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia
| | - Andrian Yang
- Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia.,St Vincent's Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia
| | - Djordje Djordjevic
- Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia.,St Vincent's Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia
| | - Murray C Killingsworth
- Electron Microscopy Laboratory, NSW Health Pathology and Correlative Microscopy Facility, Ingham Institute, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia
| | - Joshua W K Ho
- Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia.,St Vincent's Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia
| | - David G Harman
- School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia.,Medical Sciences Research Group, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia
| | - Michael D O'Connor
- School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia .,Medical Sciences Research Group, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia
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42
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Transcriptome analysis of developing lens reveals abundance of novel transcripts and extensive splicing alterations. Sci Rep 2017; 7:11572. [PMID: 28912564 PMCID: PMC5599659 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-10615-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2017] [Accepted: 08/11/2017] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Lens development involves a complex and highly orchestrated regulatory program. Here, we investigate the transcriptomic alterations and splicing events during mouse lens formation using RNA-seq data from multiple developmental stages, and construct a molecular portrait of known and novel transcripts. We show that the extent of novelty of expressed transcripts decreases significantly in post-natal lens compared to embryonic stages. Characterization of novel transcripts into partially novel transcripts (PNTs) and completely novel transcripts (CNTs) (novelty score ≥ 70%) revealed that the PNTs are both highly conserved across vertebrates and highly expressed across multiple stages. Functional analysis of PNTs revealed their widespread role in lens developmental processes while hundreds of CNTs were found to be widely expressed and predicted to encode for proteins. We verified the expression of four CNTs across stages. Examination of splice isoforms revealed skipped exon and retained intron to be the most abundant alternative splicing events during lens development. We validated by RT-PCR and Sanger sequencing, the predicted splice isoforms of several genes Banf1, Cdk4, Cryaa, Eif4g2, Pax6, and Rbm5. Finally, we present a splicing browser Eye Splicer (http://www.iupui.edu/~sysbio/eye-splicer/), to facilitate exploration of developmentally altered splicing events and to improve understanding of post-transcriptional regulatory networks during mouse lens development.
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43
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Cvekl A, Zhang X. Signaling and Gene Regulatory Networks in Mammalian Lens Development. Trends Genet 2017; 33:677-702. [PMID: 28867048 DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2017.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2017] [Revised: 07/27/2017] [Accepted: 08/01/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Ocular lens development represents an advantageous system in which to study regulatory mechanisms governing cell fate decisions, extracellular signaling, cell and tissue organization, and the underlying gene regulatory networks. Spatiotemporally regulated domains of BMP, FGF, and other signaling molecules in late gastrula-early neurula stage embryos generate the border region between the neural plate and non-neural ectoderm from which multiple cell types, including lens progenitor cells, emerge and undergo initial tissue formation. Extracellular signaling and DNA-binding transcription factors govern lens and optic cup morphogenesis. Pax6, c-Maf, Hsf4, Prox1, Sox1, and a few additional factors regulate the expression of the lens structural proteins, the crystallins. Extensive crosstalk between a diverse array of signaling pathways controls the complexity and order of lens morphogenetic processes and lens transparency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ales Cvekl
- Departments of Genetics and Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
| | - Xin Zhang
- Departments of Ophthalmology, Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA.
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44
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Wang Y, Terrell AM, Riggio BA, Anand D, Lachke SA, Duncan MK. β1-Integrin Deletion From the Lens Activates Cellular Stress Responses Leading to Apoptosis and Fibrosis. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2017; 58:3896-3922. [PMID: 28763805 PMCID: PMC5539801 DOI: 10.1167/iovs.17-21721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose Previous research showed that the absence of β1-integrin from the mouse lens after embryonic day (E) 13.5 (β1MLR10) leads to the perinatal apoptosis of lens epithelial cells (LECs) resulting in severe microphthalmia. This study focuses on elucidating the molecular connections between β1-integrin deletion and this phenotype. Methods RNA sequencing was performed to identify differentially regulated genes (DRGs) in β1MLR10 lenses at E15.5. By using bioinformatics analysis and literature searching, Egr1 (early growth response 1) was selected for further study. The activation status of certain signaling pathways (focal adhesion kinase [FAK]/Erk, TGF-β, and Akt signaling) was studied via Western blot and immunohistochemistry. Mice lacking both β1-integrin and Egr1 genes from the lenses were created (β1MLR10/Egr1−/−) to study their relationship. Results RNA sequencing identified 120 DRGs that include candidates involved in the cellular stress response, fibrosis, and/or apoptosis. Egr1 was investigated in detail, as it mediates cellular stress responses in various cell types, and is recognized as an upstream regulator of numerous other β1MLR10 lens DRGs. In β1MLR10 mice, Egr1 levels are elevated shortly after β1-integrin loss from the lens. Further, pErk1/2 and pAkt are elevated in β1MLR10 LECs, thus providing the potential signaling mechanism that causes Egr1 upregulation in the mutant. Indeed, deletion of Egr1 from β1MLR10 lenses partially rescues the microphthalmia phenotype. Conclusions β1-integrin regulates the appropriate levels of Erk1/2 and Akt phosphorylation in LECs, whereas its deficiency results in the overexpression of Egr1, culminating in reduced cell survival. These findings provide insight into the molecular mechanism underlying the microphthalmia observed in β1MLR10 mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yichen Wang
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, United States
| | - Anne M Terrell
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, United States
| | - Brittany A Riggio
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, United States
| | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, United States
| | - Salil A Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, United States
| | - Melinda K Duncan
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, United States
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45
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Cavalheiro GR, Matos-Rodrigues GE, Zhao Y, Gomes AL, Anand D, Predes D, de Lima S, Abreu JG, Zheng D, Lachke SA, Cvekl A, Martins RAP. N-myc regulates growth and fiber cell differentiation in lens development. Dev Biol 2017; 429:105-117. [PMID: 28716713 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2017.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2017] [Revised: 06/07/2017] [Accepted: 07/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Myc proto-oncogenes regulate diverse cellular processes during development, but their roles during morphogenesis of specific tissues are not fully understood. We found that c-myc regulates cell proliferation in mouse lens development and previous genome-wide studies suggested functional roles for N-myc in developing lens. Here, we examined the role of N-myc in mouse lens development. Genetic inactivation of N-myc in the surface ectoderm or lens vesicle impaired eye and lens growth, while "late" inactivation in lens fibers had no effect. Unexpectedly, defective growth of N-myc-deficient lenses was not associated with alterations in lens progenitor cell proliferation or survival. Notably, N-myc-deficient lens exhibited a delay in degradation of DNA in terminally differentiating lens fiber cells. RNA-sequencing analysis of N-myc-deficient lenses identified a cohort of down-regulated genes associated with fiber cell differentiation that included DNaseIIβ. Further, an integrated analysis of differentially expressed genes in N-myc-deficient lens using normal lens expression patterns of iSyTE, N-myc-binding motif analysis and molecular interaction data from the String database led to the derivation of an N-myc-based gene regulatory network in the lens. Finally, analysis of N-myc and c-myc double-deficient lens demonstrated that these Myc genes cooperate to drive lens growth prior to lens vesicle stage. Together, these findings provide evidence for exclusive and cooperative functions of Myc transcription factors in mouse lens development and identify novel mechanisms by which N-myc regulates cell differentiation during eye morphogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel R Cavalheiro
- Programa de Biologia Celular e do Desenvolvimento, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Gabriel E Matos-Rodrigues
- Programa de Biologia Celular e do Desenvolvimento, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Yilin Zhao
- Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Anielle L Gomes
- Programa de Biologia Celular e do Desenvolvimento, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Danilo Predes
- Programa de Biologia Celular e do Desenvolvimento, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Silmara de Lima
- Programa de Biologia Celular e do Desenvolvimento, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Jose G Abreu
- Programa de Biologia Celular e do Desenvolvimento, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Deyou Zheng
- Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA; Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Salil A Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA; Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Ales Cvekl
- Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA; Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Rodrigo A P Martins
- Programa de Biologia Celular e do Desenvolvimento, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
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46
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Liu Y, Allingham RR. Major review: Molecular genetics of primary open-angle glaucoma. Exp Eye Res 2017; 160:62-84. [PMID: 28499933 DOI: 10.1016/j.exer.2017.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2017] [Revised: 03/29/2017] [Accepted: 05/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), the most common type, is a complex inherited disorder that is characterized by progressive retinal ganglion cell death, optic nerve head excavation, and visual field loss. The discovery of a large, and growing, number of genetic and chromosomal loci has been shown to contribute to POAG risk, which carry implications for disease pathogenesis. Differential gene expression analyses in glaucoma-affected tissues as well as animal models of POAG are enhancing our mechanistic understanding in this common, blinding disorder. In this review we summarize recent developments in POAG genetics and molecular genetics research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yutao Liu
- Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, United States; James & Jean Culver Vision Discovery Institute, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, United States; Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, United States
| | - R Rand Allingham
- Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States; Duke - National University of Singapore (Duke-NUS), Singapore.
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47
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Patel N, Anand D, Monies D, Maddirevula S, Khan AO, Algoufi T, Alowain M, Faqeih E, Alshammari M, Qudair A, Alsharif H, Aljubran F, Alsaif HS, Ibrahim N, Abdulwahab FM, Hashem M, Alsedairy H, Aldahmesh MA, Lachke SA, Alkuraya FS. Novel phenotypes and loci identified through clinical genomics approaches to pediatric cataract. Hum Genet 2016; 136:205-225. [PMID: 27878435 DOI: 10.1007/s00439-016-1747-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2016] [Accepted: 11/16/2016] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Pediatric cataract is highly heterogeneous clinically and etiologically. While mostly isolated, cataract can be part of many multisystem disorders, further complicating the diagnostic process. In this study, we applied genomic tools in the form of a multi-gene panel as well as whole-exome sequencing on unselected cohort of pediatric cataract (166 patients from 74 families). Mutations in previously reported cataract genes were identified in 58% for a total of 43 mutations, including 15 that are novel. GEMIN4 was independently mutated in families with a syndrome of cataract, global developmental delay with or without renal involvement. We also highlight a recognizable syndrome that resembles galactosemia (a fulminant infantile liver disease with cataract) caused by biallelic mutations in CYP51A1. A founder mutation in RIC1 (KIAA1432) was identified in patients with cataract, brain atrophy, microcephaly with or without cleft lip and palate. For non-syndromic pediatric cataract, we map a novel locus in a multiplex consanguineous family on 4p15.32 where exome sequencing revealed a homozygous truncating mutation in TAPT1. We report two further candidates that are biallelically inactivated each in a single cataract family: TAF1A (cataract with global developmental delay) and WDR87 (non-syndromic cataract). In addition to positional mapping data, we use iSyTE developmental lens expression and gene-network analysis to corroborate the proposed link between the novel candidate genes and cataract. Our study expands the phenotypic, allelic and locus heterogeneity of pediatric cataract. The high diagnostic yield of clinical genomics supports the adoption of this approach in this patient group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nisha Patel
- Department of Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Deepti Anand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Dorota Monies
- Department of Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.,Saudi Human Genome Program, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Sateesh Maddirevula
- Department of Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Arif O Khan
- Department of Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.,Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Talal Algoufi
- Department of Pediatrics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammed Alowain
- Department of Medical Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Eissa Faqeih
- Department of Pediatrics, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Muneera Alshammari
- Department of Pediatrics, King Khalid University Hospital and College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ahmed Qudair
- Department of Medical Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Hadeel Alsharif
- Department of Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Fatimah Aljubran
- Department of Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Hessa S Alsaif
- Department of Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Niema Ibrahim
- Department of Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Firdous M Abdulwahab
- Department of Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mais Hashem
- Department of Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Haifa Alsedairy
- Department of Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammed A Aldahmesh
- Department of Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Salil A Lachke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.,Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Fowzan S Alkuraya
- Department of Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. .,Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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48
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Ren M, Yang XG, Dang XJ, Xiao JA. Exome sequencing identifies a novel mutation in GJA8 associated with inherited cataract in a Chinese family. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 2016; 255:141-151. [DOI: 10.1007/s00417-016-3513-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2016] [Revised: 08/30/2016] [Accepted: 10/03/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
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49
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Machado JP, Philip S, Maldonado E, O'Brien SJ, Johnson WE, Antunes A. Positive Selection Linked with Generation of Novel Mammalian Dentition Patterns. Genome Biol Evol 2016; 8:2748-59. [PMID: 27613398 PMCID: PMC5630915 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evw200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
A diverse group of genes are involved in the tooth development of mammals. Several studies, focused mainly on mice and rats, have provided a detailed depiction of the processes coordinating tooth formation and shape. Here we surveyed 236 tooth-associated genes in 39 mammalian genomes and tested for signatures of selection to assess patterns of molecular adaptation in genes regulating mammalian dentition. Of the 236 genes, 31 (∼13.1%) showed strong signatures of positive selection that may be responsible for the phenotypic diversity observed in mammalian dentition. Mammalian-specific tooth-associated genes had accelerated mutation rates compared with older genes found across all vertebrates. More recently evolved genes had fewer interactions (either genetic or physical), were associated with fewer Gene Ontology terms and had faster evolutionary rates compared with older genes. The introns of these positively selected genes also exhibited accelerated evolutionary rates, which may reflect additional adaptive pressure in the intronic regions that are associated with regulatory processes that influence tooth-gene networks. The positively selected genes were mainly involved in processes like mineralization and structural organization of tooth specific tissues such as enamel and dentin. Of the 236 analyzed genes, 12 mammalian-specific genes (younger genes) provided insights on diversification of mammalian teeth as they have higher evolutionary rates and exhibit different expression profiles compared with older genes. Our results suggest that the evolution and development of mammalian dentition occurred in part through positive selection acting on genes that previously had other functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- João Paulo Machado
- CIIMAR/CIMAR, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute (ICBAS), University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Siby Philip
- CIIMAR/CIMAR, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Emanuel Maldonado
- CIIMAR/CIMAR, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Stephen J O'Brien
- Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale
| | - Warren E Johnson
- Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Front Royal, Virginia, USA
| | - Agostinho Antunes
- CIIMAR/CIMAR, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute (ICBAS), University of Porto, Porto, Portugal Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
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50
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Rothe M, Monteiro F, Dietmann P, Kühl SJ. Comparative expression study of sipa family members during early Xenopus laevis development. Dev Genes Evol 2016; 226:369-82. [DOI: 10.1007/s00427-016-0556-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2016] [Accepted: 06/28/2016] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
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