1
|
Muhammad A, Sarkadi Z, van Emden T, Mazumder A, Capella M, Fekete G, Sreechakram VNS, Al-Sady B, Papp B, Barrales RR, Braun S. A systematic quantitative approach comprehensively defines domain-specific functional pathways linked to Schizosaccharomyces pombe heterochromatin regulation. bioRxiv 2024:2024.02.13.579970. [PMID: 38405799 PMCID: PMC10888830 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.13.579970] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
Heterochromatin plays a critical role in regulating gene expression and maintaining genome integrity. While structural and enzymatic components have been linked to heterochromatin establishment, a comprehensive view of the underlying pathways at diverse heterochromatin domains remains elusive. Here, we developed a systematic approach to identify factors involved in heterochromatin silencing at pericentromeres, subtelomeres, and the silent mating type locus in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Using quantitative measures, iterative genetic screening, and domain-specific heterochromatin reporters, we identified 369 mutants with different degrees of reduced or enhanced silencing. As expected, mutations in the core heterochromatin machinery globally decreased silencing. However, most other mutants exhibited distinct qualitative and quantitative profiles that indicate domain-specific functions. For example, decreased mating type silencing was linked to mutations in heterochromatin maintenance genes, while compromised subtelomere silencing was associated with metabolic pathways. Furthermore, similar phenotypic profiles revealed shared functions for subunits within complexes. We also discovered that the uncharacterized protein Dhm2 plays a crucial role in maintaining constitutive and facultative heterochromatin, while its absence caused phenotypes akin to DNA replication-deficient mutants. Collectively, our systematic approach unveiled a landscape of domain-specific heterochromatin regulators controlling distinct states and identified Dhm2 as a previously unknown factor linked to heterochromatin inheritance and replication fidelity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Abubakar Muhammad
- Institute for Genetics, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
- BioMedical Center (BMC), Division of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School for Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Zsuzsa Sarkadi
- BioMedical Center (BMC), Division of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
- Synthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Hungary
- HCEMM-BRC Metabolic Systems Biology Lab, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Thomas van Emden
- BioMedical Center (BMC), Division of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School for Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Agnisrota Mazumder
- Institute for Genetics, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
- BioMedical Center (BMC), Division of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Matias Capella
- BioMedical Center (BMC), Division of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
- Present address: Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral, CONICET, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina
| | - Gergely Fekete
- Synthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Hungary
- HCEMM-BRC Metabolic Systems Biology Lab, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Vishnu N Suma Sreechakram
- Institute for Genetics, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
- BioMedical Center (BMC), Division of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Bassem Al-Sady
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, George Williams Hooper Foundation, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - Balázs Papp
- Synthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Hungary
- HCEMM-BRC Metabolic Systems Biology Lab, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Ramón Ramos Barrales
- BioMedical Center (BMC), Division of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
- Present address: Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo (CABD), Universidad Pablo de Olavide-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Junta de Andalucía, Seville, Spain
| | - Sigurd Braun
- Institute for Genetics, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
- BioMedical Center (BMC), Division of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School for Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Martín Caballero L, Capella M, Barrales RR, Dobrev N, van Emden T, Hirano Y, Suma Sreechakram VN, Fischer-Burkart S, Kinugasa Y, Nevers A, Rougemaille M, Sinning I, Fischer T, Hiraoka Y, Braun S. The inner nuclear membrane protein Lem2 coordinates RNA degradation at the nuclear periphery. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2022; 29:910-921. [PMID: 36123402 PMCID: PMC9507967 DOI: 10.1038/s41594-022-00831-6] [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] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2021] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Transcriptionally silent chromatin often localizes to the nuclear periphery. However, whether the nuclear envelope (NE) is a site for post-transcriptional gene repression is not well understood. Here we demonstrate that Schizosaccharomycespombe Lem2, an NE protein, regulates nuclear-exosome-mediated RNA degradation. Lem2 deletion causes accumulation of RNA precursors and meiotic transcripts and de-localization of an engineered exosome substrate from the nuclear periphery. Lem2 does not directly bind RNA but instead interacts with the exosome-targeting MTREC complex and its human homolog PAXT to promote RNA recruitment. This pathway acts largely independently of nuclear bodies where exosome factors assemble. Nutrient availability modulates Lem2 regulation of meiotic transcripts, implying that this pathway is environmentally responsive. Our work reveals that multiple spatially distinct degradation pathways exist. Among these, Lem2 coordinates RNA surveillance of meiotic transcripts and non-coding RNAs by recruiting exosome co-factors to the nuclear periphery. The Braun lab shows that the conserved nuclear membrane protein Lem2 interacts with the MTREC complex of the nuclear-exosome pathway to promote recruitment and degradation of ncRNAs and meiotic transcripts at the nuclear periphery in Schizosaccharomycespombe.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lucía Martín Caballero
- BioMedical Center (BMC), Division of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.,International Max Planck Research School for Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Matías Capella
- BioMedical Center (BMC), Division of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.,Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral, CONICET, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina
| | - Ramón Ramos Barrales
- BioMedical Center (BMC), Division of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.,Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo (CABD), Universidad Pablo de Olavide-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Junta de Andalucía, Seville, Spain
| | - Nikolay Dobrev
- Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center (BZH), Heidelberg, Germany.,European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Hamburg Unit, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Thomas van Emden
- BioMedical Center (BMC), Division of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.,International Max Planck Research School for Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Yasuhiro Hirano
- Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Suita, Japan
| | - Vishnu N Suma Sreechakram
- BioMedical Center (BMC), Division of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.,Institute for Genetics, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Sabine Fischer-Burkart
- BioMedical Center (BMC), Division of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Yasuha Kinugasa
- Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.,Regulation for intractable Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Alicia Nevers
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette, France.,University Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, Micalis Institute, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Mathieu Rougemaille
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Irmgard Sinning
- Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center (BZH), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Tamás Fischer
- Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center (BZH), Heidelberg, Germany.,The John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Yasushi Hiraoka
- Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Suita, Japan
| | - Sigurd Braun
- BioMedical Center (BMC), Division of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany. .,International Max Planck Research School for Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany. .,Institute for Genetics, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Abstract
The nuclear envelope plays a pivotal role in the functional organization of chromatin. Various inner nuclear membrane (INM) proteins associate with transcriptionally repressed chromatin, which is often found at the nuclear periphery. A prominent example is the conserved family of LEM (LAP2-Emerin-MAN1) domain proteins that interact with DNA-binding proteins and have been proposed to mediate tethering of chromatin to the nuclear membrane. We recently reported that the fission yeast protein Lem2, a homolog of metazoan LEM proteins, contributes to perinuclear localization and silencing of heterochromatin. 1 We demonstrate that binding and tethering of centromeric chromatin depends on the LEM domain of Lem2. Unexpectedly, this domain is dispensable for heterochromatin silencing, which is instead mediated by a different structural domain of Lem2, the MSC (MAN1-Src1 C-terminal) domain. Hence, silencing and tethering by Lem2 can be mechanistically separated. Notably, the MSC domain has multiple functions beyond heterochromatic silencing. Here we discuss the implications of these novel findings for the understanding of this conserved INM protein.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sigurd Braun
- a Department of Physiological Chemistry , Biomedical Center (BMC), Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich , Martinsried , Germany
| | - Ramón Ramos Barrales
- a Department of Physiological Chemistry , Biomedical Center (BMC), Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich , Martinsried , Germany.,b Present address: Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo. Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla-CSIC-Junta de Andalucía , Sevilla , Spain
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Abstract
Transcriptionally repressed chromatin localizes to specific areas within the eukaryotic nucleus and is often found at the nuclear periphery, which is thought to provide a specialized compartment for gene silencing. However, the molecular mechanisms that establish this spatial chromatin organization are still poorly understood. In our recent work (Barrales et al. 2016), we identified the nuclear envelope protein Lem2, a homolog of metazoan lamin-associated proteins (LAPs), as a relevant factor for heterochromatin silencing and perinuclear localization in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Several other LAPs have previously been reported to associate with heterochromatin, and it has been proposed that this interaction might directly contribute to gene repression, perhaps through tethering via chromatin-binding domains like the LEM domain. We demonstrated that the LEM domain of Lem2 is indeed essential for centromere binding and perinuclear tethering. However, we made the surprising finding that tethering via the LEM domain is functionally independent of Lem2's role in silencing, which instead is mediated by a different part of the protein, the MSC domain. Our study demonstrates that tethering and silencing, although mediated by the same molecule, Lem2, can be mechanistically separated. This further unveils a complex function of this protein at the interface between the nuclear periphery and silent chromatin, which might be preserved among the other members of this conserved family of LEM proteins.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ramón Ramos Barrales
- Department of Physiological Chemistry, Biomedical Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Grosshaderner Str. 9, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Sigurd Braun
- Department of Physiological Chemistry, Biomedical Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Grosshaderner Str. 9, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Barrales RR, Forn M, Georgescu PR, Sarkadi Z, Braun S. Control of heterochromatin localization and silencing by the nuclear membrane protein Lem2. Genes Dev 2016; 30:133-48. [PMID: 26744419 PMCID: PMC4719305 DOI: 10.1101/gad.271288.115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2015] [Accepted: 12/07/2015] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Transcriptionally silent chromatin localizes to the nuclear periphery, which provides a special microenvironment for gene repression. A variety of nuclear membrane proteins interact with repressed chromatin, yet the functional role of these interactions remains poorly understood. Here, we show that, in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the nuclear membrane protein Lem2 associates with chromatin and mediates silencing and heterochromatin localization. Unexpectedly, we found that these functions can be separated and assigned to different structural domains within Lem2, excluding a simple tethering mechanism. Chromatin association and tethering of centromeres to the periphery are mediated by the N-terminal LEM (LAP2-Emerin-MAN1) domain of Lem2, whereas telomere anchoring and heterochromatin silencing require exclusively its conserved C-terminal MSC (MAN1-Src1 C-terminal) domain. Particularly, silencing by Lem2 is epistatic with the Snf2/HDAC (histone deacetylase) repressor complex SHREC at telomeres, while its necessity can be bypassed by deleting Epe1, a JmjC protein with anti-silencing activity. Furthermore, we found that loss of Lem2 reduces heterochromatin association of SHREC, which is accompanied by increased binding of Epe1. This reveals a critical function of Lem2 in coordinating these antagonistic factors at heterochromatin. The distinct silencing and localization functions mediated by Lem2 suggest that these conserved LEM-containing proteins go beyond simple tethering to play active roles in perinuclear silencing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ramón Ramos Barrales
- Department of Physiological Chemistry, Biomedical Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Marta Forn
- Department of Physiological Chemistry, Biomedical Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Paula Raluca Georgescu
- Department of Physiological Chemistry, Biomedical Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Zsuzsa Sarkadi
- Department of Physiological Chemistry, Biomedical Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Sigurd Braun
- Department of Physiological Chemistry, Biomedical Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, 82152 Martinsried, Germany; International Max Planck Research School for Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| |
Collapse
|