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Soragni E, Herman D, Dent SYR, Gottesfeld JM, Wells RD, Napierala M. Long intronic GAA*TTC repeats induce epigenetic changes and reporter gene silencing in a molecular model of Friedreich ataxia. Nucleic Acids Res 2008; 36:6056-65. [PMID: 18820300 PMCID: PMC2577344 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkn604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2008] [Revised: 09/05/2008] [Accepted: 09/05/2008] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is caused by hyperexpansion of GAA*TTC repeats located in the first intron of the FXN gene, which inhibits transcription leading to the deficiency of frataxin. The FXN gene is an excellent target for therapeutic intervention since (i) 98% of patients carry the same type of mutation, (ii) the mutation is intronic, thus leaving the FXN coding sequence unaffected and (iii) heterozygous GAA*TTC expansion carriers with approximately 50% decrease of the frataxin are asymptomatic. The discovery of therapeutic strategies for FRDA is hampered by a lack of appropriate molecular models of the disease. Herein, we present the development of a new cell line as a molecular model of FRDA by inserting 560 GAA*TTC repeats into an intron of a GFP reporter minigene. The GFP_(GAA*TTC)(560) minigene recapitulates the molecular hallmarks of the mutated FXN gene, i.e. inhibition of transcription of the reporter gene, decreased levels of the reporter protein and hypoacetylation and hypermethylation of histones in the vicinity of the repeats. Additionally, selected histone deacetylase inhibitors, known to stimulate the FXN gene expression, increase the expression of the GFP_(GAA*TTC)(560) reporter. This FRDA model can be adapted to high-throughput analyses in a search for new therapeutics for the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- E. Soragni
- Center for Genome Research, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, 2121 West Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX, 77030, The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Molecular Biology, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA, 92037 and University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Center for Cancer Epigenetics, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - D. Herman
- Center for Genome Research, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, 2121 West Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX, 77030, The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Molecular Biology, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA, 92037 and University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Center for Cancer Epigenetics, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - S. Y. R. Dent
- Center for Genome Research, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, 2121 West Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX, 77030, The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Molecular Biology, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA, 92037 and University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Center for Cancer Epigenetics, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - J. M. Gottesfeld
- Center for Genome Research, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, 2121 West Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX, 77030, The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Molecular Biology, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA, 92037 and University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Center for Cancer Epigenetics, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - R. D. Wells
- Center for Genome Research, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, 2121 West Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX, 77030, The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Molecular Biology, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA, 92037 and University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Center for Cancer Epigenetics, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - M. Napierala
- Center for Genome Research, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, 2121 West Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX, 77030, The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Molecular Biology, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA, 92037 and University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Center for Cancer Epigenetics, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX, 77030, USA
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Balestrini R, Mainieri D, Soragni E, Garnero L, Rollino S, Viotti A, Ottonello S, Bonfante P. Differential expression of chitin synthase III and IV mRNAs in ascomata of Tuber borchii Vittad. Fungal Genet Biol 2000; 31:219-32. [PMID: 11273683 DOI: 10.1006/fgbi.2000.1242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
A full-length genomic clone encoding a class III chitin synthase (CHS) and one DNA fragment corresponding to a class IV CHS were isolated from the mycorrhizal fungus Tuber borchii and used for an extensive expression analysis, together with a previously identified DNA fragment corresponding to a class II CHS. All three Chs mRNAs are constitutively expressed in vegetative mycelia, regardless of the age, mode of growth, and proliferation capacity of the hyphae. A strikingly different situation was observed in ascomata, where class III and IV, but not class II, mRNAs are differentially expressed in a maturation stage-dependent manner and accumulate, respectively, in sporogenic and vegetative hyphae. These data, the first on the expression of distinct Chs mRNAs during fruitbody development, point to the different cellular roles that can be played by distinct chitin synthases in the differentiation of spores of sexual origin (CHS III) or in ascoma enlargement promoted by the growth of vegetative hyphae (CHS IV).
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Affiliation(s)
- R Balestrini
- Centro di Studio sulla Micologia del Terreno, CNR, University of Torino, V.le Mattioli 25, 10125 Torino, Italy
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Torelli A, Soragni E, Bolchi A, Petrucco S, Ottonello S, Branca C. New potential markers of in vitro tomato morphogenesis identified by mRNA differential display. Plant Mol Biol 1996; 32:891-900. [PMID: 8980540 DOI: 10.1007/bf00020486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
The identification of plant genes involved in early phases of in vitro morphogenesis can not only contribute to our understanding of the processes underlying growth regulator-controlled determination, but also provide novel markers for evaluating the outcome of in vitro regeneration experiments. To search for such genes and to monitor changes in gene expression accompanying in vitro regeneration, we have adapted the mRNA differential display technique to the comparative analysis of a model system of tomato cotyledons that can be driven selectively toward either shoot or callus formation by means of previously determined growth regulator supplementations. Hormone-independent transcriptional modulation (mainly down-regulation) has been found to be the most common event, indicating that a non-specific reprogramming of gene expression quantitatively predominates during the early phases of in vitro culture. However, cDNA fragments representative of genes that are either down-regulated or induced in a programme-specific manner could also be identified, and two of them (G35, G36) were further characterized. One of these cDNA fragments, G35, corresponds to an mRNA that is down-regulated much earlier in callus- (day 2) than in shoot-determined explants (day 6). The other, G36, identifies an mRNA that is transiently expressed in shoot-determined explants only, well before any macroscopic signs of differentiation become apparent, and thus exhibits typical features of a morphogenetic marker.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Torelli
- Department of Evolutionary and Functional Biology, University of Parma, Italy
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