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Pollina EA, Greer EL. Prometheus unshackled: Liver regeneration makes you young. Mol Cell 2023; 83:1546-1548. [PMID: 37207622 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.04.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Revised: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 04/25/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
In this issue of Molecular Cell, Yang and colleagues1 discover age-dependent increases in broad regions of the repressive histone modification H3K27me3. They also demonstrate partial reversion to younger H3K27me3 patterns and gene expression upon resection of older livers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth Ann Pollina
- Department of Developmental Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
| | - Eric Lieberman Greer
- Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA; Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
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Wang SY, Pollina EA, Wang IH, Pino LK, Bushnell HL, Takashima K, Fritsche C, Sabin G, Garcia BA, Greer PL, Greer EL. Role of epigenetics in unicellular to multicellular transition in Dictyostelium. Genome Biol 2021; 22:134. [PMID: 33947439 PMCID: PMC8094536 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-021-02360-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 04/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The evolution of multicellularity is a critical event that remains incompletely understood. We use the social amoeba, Dictyostelium discoideum, one of the rare organisms that readily transits back and forth between both unicellular and multicellular stages, to examine the role of epigenetics in regulating multicellularity. RESULTS While transitioning to multicellular states, patterns of H3K4 methylation and H3K27 acetylation significantly change. By combining transcriptomics, epigenomics, chromatin accessibility, and orthologous gene analyses with other unicellular and multicellular organisms, we identify 52 conserved genes, which are specifically accessible and expressed during multicellular states. We validated that four of these genes, including the H3K27 deacetylase hdaD, are necessary and that an SMC-like gene, smcl1, is sufficient for multicellularity in Dictyostelium. CONCLUSIONS These results highlight the importance of epigenetics in reorganizing chromatin architecture to facilitate multicellularity in Dictyostelium discoideum and raise exciting possibilities about the role of epigenetics in the evolution of multicellularity more broadly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Yuan Wang
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | | | - I-Hao Wang
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Lindsay Kristina Pino
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Henry L Bushnell
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Ken Takashima
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Colette Fritsche
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - George Sabin
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Benjamin Aaron Garcia
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Paul Lieberman Greer
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Eric Lieberman Greer
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
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Benayoun B, Pollina EA, Brunet A. EPIGENOMICS OF AGING IN VERTEBRATES. Innov Aging 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igy023.2330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- B Benayoun
- Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States
| | - E A Pollina
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford CA 94305, USA
| | - A Brunet
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford CA 94305, USA
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Abstract
The function of adult tissue-specific stem cells declines with age, which may contribute to the physiological decline in tissue homeostasis and the increased risk of neoplasm during aging. Old stem cells can be 'rejuvenated' by environmental stimuli in some cases, raising the possibility that a subset of age-dependent stem cell changes is regulated by reversible mechanisms. Epigenetic regulators are good candidates for such mechanisms, as they provide a versatile checkpoint to mediate plastic changes in gene expression and have recently been found to control organismal longevity. Here, we review the importance of chromatin regulation in adult stem cell compartments. We particularly focus on the roles of chromatin-modifying complexes and transcription factors that directly impact chromatin in aging stem cells. Understanding the regulation of chromatin states in adult stem cells is likely to have important implications for identifying avenues to maintain the homeostatic balance between sustained function and neoplastic transformation of aging stem cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- E A Pollina
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, CA, USA
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