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Smoom R, May CL, Ortiz V, Tigue M, Kolev HM, Rowe M, Reizel Y, Morgan A, Egyes N, Lichtental D, Skordalakes E, Kaestner KH, Tzfati Y. Telomouse-a mouse model with human-length telomeres generated by a single amino acid change in RTEL1. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6708. [PMID: 37872177 PMCID: PMC10593777 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42534-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2022] [Accepted: 10/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Telomeres, the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes, protect genome integrity and enable cell proliferation. Maintaining optimal telomere length in the germline and throughout life limits the risk of cancer and enables healthy aging. Telomeres in the house mouse, Mus musculus, are about five times longer than human telomeres, limiting the use of this common laboratory animal for studying the contribution of telomere biology to aging and cancer. We identified a key amino acid variation in the helicase RTEL1, naturally occurring in the short-telomere mouse species M. spretus. Introducing this variation into M. musculus is sufficient to reduce the telomere length set point in the germline and generate mice with human-length telomeres. While these mice are fertile and appear healthy, the regenerative capacity of their colonic epithelium is compromised. The engineered Telomouse reported here demonstrates a dominant role of RTEL1 in telomere length regulation and provides a unique model for aging and cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riham Smoom
- Department of Genetics, The Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Safra Campus, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel
| | - Catherine Lee May
- Department of Genetics and Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Vivian Ortiz
- Department of Genetics and Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Mark Tigue
- Department of Genetics and Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Hannah M Kolev
- Department of Genetics and Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Melissa Rowe
- Department of Genetics and Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Yitzhak Reizel
- Department of Genetics and Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion, Haifa, 3200003, Israel
| | - Ashleigh Morgan
- Department of Genetics and Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Nachshon Egyes
- Department of Genetics, The Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Safra Campus, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel
| | - Dan Lichtental
- Department of Genetics, The Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Safra Campus, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel
| | - Emmanuel Skordalakes
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, 401 College St, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA
| | - Klaus H Kaestner
- Department of Genetics and Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
| | - Yehuda Tzfati
- Department of Genetics, The Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Safra Campus, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel.
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2
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Katsman M, Azriel A, Horev G, Reizel Y, Levi BZ. N-VEGF, the Autoregulatory Arm of VEGF-A. Cells 2022; 11:cells11081289. [PMID: 35455969 PMCID: PMC9024919 DOI: 10.3390/cells11081289] [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] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Revised: 04/05/2022] [Accepted: 04/09/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) is a secreted protein that stimulates angiogenesis in response to hypoxia. Under hypoxic conditions, a non-canonical long isoform called L-VEGF is concomitantly expressed with VEGF-A. Once translated, L-VEGF is proteolytically cleaved to generate N-VEGF and VEGF-A. Interestingly, while VEGF-A is secreted and affects the surrounding cells, N-VEGF is mobilized to the nucleus. This suggests that N-VEGF participates in transcriptional response to hypoxia. In this study, we performed a series of complementary experiments to examine the functional role of N-VEGF. Strikingly, we found that the mere expression of N-VEGF followed by its hypoxia-independent mobilization to the nucleus was sufficient to induce key genes associated with angiogenesis, such as Hif1α,VEGF-A isoforms, as well as genes associated with cell survival under hypoxia. Complementarily, when N-VEGF was genetically depleted, key hypoxia-induced genes were downregulated and cells were significantly susceptible to hypoxia-mediated apoptosis. This is the first report of N-VEGF serving as an autoregulatory arm of VEGF-A. Further experiments will be needed to determine the role of N-VEGF in cancer and embryogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Katsman
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion-Israel, Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel; (M.K.); (A.A.)
| | - Aviva Azriel
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion-Israel, Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel; (M.K.); (A.A.)
| | - Guy Horev
- Bioinformatics Knowledge Unit, The Lorry I. Lokey Interdisciplinary Center for Life Sciences and Engineering, Technion-Israel, Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel;
| | - Yitzhak Reizel
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion-Israel, Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel; (M.K.); (A.A.)
- Correspondence: (Y.R.); (B.-Z.L.)
| | - Ben-Zion Levi
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion-Israel, Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel; (M.K.); (A.A.)
- Correspondence: (Y.R.); (B.-Z.L.)
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3
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
Although it is well known that DNA methylation serves to repress gene expression, precisely how it functions during the process of development remains unclear. Here, we propose that the overall pattern of DNA methylation established in the early embryo serves as a sophisticated mechanism for maintaining a genome-wide network of gene regulatory elements in an inaccessible chromatin structure throughout the body. As development progresses, programmed demethylation in each cell type then provides the specificity for maintaining select elements in an open structure. This allows these regulatory elements to interact with a large range of transcription factors and thereby regulate the gene expression profiles that define cell identity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Howard Cedar
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Hebrew University Medical School, P.O. Box 12272, 91120 Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Ofra Sabag
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Hebrew University Medical School, P.O. Box 12272, 91120 Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Yitzhak Reizel
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel
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4
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Jacob Berger A, Gigi E, Kupershmidt L, Meir Z, Gavert N, Zwang Y, Prior A, Gilad S, Harush U, Haviv I, Stemmer SM, Blum G, Merquiol E, Mardamshina M, Kaminski Strauss S, Friedlander G, Bar J, Kamer I, Reizel Y, Geiger T, Pilpel Y, Levin Y, Tanay A, Barzel B, Reuveni H, Straussman R. IRS1 phosphorylation underlies the non-stochastic probability of cancer cells to persist during EGFR inhibition therapy. Nat Cancer 2021; 2:1055-1070. [PMID: 35121883 DOI: 10.1038/s43018-021-00261-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2020] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Stochastic transition of cancer cells between drug-sensitive and drug-tolerant persister phenotypes has been proposed to play a key role in non-genetic resistance to therapy. Yet, we show here that cancer cells actually possess a highly stable inherited chance to persist (CTP) during therapy. This CTP is non-stochastic, determined pre-treatment and has a unimodal distribution ranging from 0 to almost 100%. Notably, CTP is drug specific. We found that differential serine/threonine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) protein determines the CTP of lung and of head and neck cancer cells under epidermal growth factor receptor inhibition, both in vitro and in vivo. Indeed, the first-in-class IRS1 inhibitor NT219 was highly synergistic with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor therapy across multiple in vitro and in vivo models. Elucidation of drug-specific mechanisms that determine the degree and stability of cellular CTP may establish a framework for the elimination of cancer persisters, using new rationally designed drug combinations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adi Jacob Berger
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Elinor Gigi
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Lana Kupershmidt
- TyrNovo Ltd, Rehovot, Israel.,Cancer Personalized Medicine and Diagnostic Genomics Lab, Azrieli Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel
| | - Zohar Meir
- Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.,Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Nancy Gavert
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Yaara Zwang
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Amir Prior
- De Botton Institute for Protein Profiling, The Nancy and Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Shlomit Gilad
- The Nancy and Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Uzi Harush
- Department of Mathematics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.,Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
| | - Izhak Haviv
- TyrNovo Ltd, Rehovot, Israel.,Cancer Personalized Medicine and Diagnostic Genomics Lab, Azrieli Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel.,AID Genomics and Gensort Ltd, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Salomon M Stemmer
- Davidoff Center, Rabin Medical Center, Felsenstien Medical Research Center, Petach Tikva, and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Galia Blum
- Institute of Drug Research, The School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Campus Ein Karem, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Emmanuelle Merquiol
- Institute of Drug Research, The School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Campus Ein Karem, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Mariya Mardamshina
- Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | | | - Gilgi Friedlander
- Ilana and Pascal Mantoux Institute for Bioinformatics, The Nancy and Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Jair Bar
- Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | | | - Yitzhak Reizel
- Department of Genetics and Institute for Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Tamar Geiger
- Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yitzhak Pilpel
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Yishai Levin
- De Botton Institute for Protein Profiling, The Nancy and Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Amos Tanay
- Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.,Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Baruch Barzel
- Department of Mathematics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.,Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
| | - Hadas Reuveni
- TyrNovo Ltd, Rehovot, Israel.,Purple Biotech Ltd, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Ravid Straussman
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
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5
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Reizel Y, Morgan A, Gao L, Lan Y, Manduchi E, Waite EL, Wang AW, Wells A, Kaestner KH. Collapse of the hepatic gene regulatory network in the absence of FoxA factors. Genes Dev 2020; 34:1039-1050. [PMID: 32561546 PMCID: PMC7397852 DOI: 10.1101/gad.337691.120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [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: 02/18/2020] [Accepted: 05/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Here, Reizel et al. investigated the FoxA factor's role in maintaining the regulatory network needed for liver development, and ablated all FoxA genes in the adult mouse liver. They found that loss of FoxA caused rapid and massive reduction in the expression of critical liver genes, and that FoxA proteins are be required for maintaining enhancer activity, chromatin accessibility, nucleosome positioning, and binding of HNF4α. The FoxA transcription factors are critical for liver development through their pioneering activity, which initiates a highly complex regulatory network thought to become progressively resistant to the loss of any individual hepatic transcription factor via mutual redundancy. To investigate the dispensability of FoxA factors for maintaining this regulatory network, we ablated all FoxA genes in the adult mouse liver. Remarkably, loss of FoxA caused rapid and massive reduction in the expression of critical liver genes. Activity of these genes was reduced back to the low levels of the fetal prehepatic endoderm stage, leading to necrosis and lethality within days. Mechanistically, we found FoxA proteins to be required for maintaining enhancer activity, chromatin accessibility, nucleosome positioning, and binding of HNF4α. Thus, the FoxA factors act continuously, guarding hepatic enhancer activity throughout adult life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yitzhak Reizel
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
| | - Ashleigh Morgan
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
| | - Long Gao
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
| | - Yemin Lan
- Epigenetics Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
| | - Elisabetta Manduchi
- Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
| | - Eric L Waite
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
| | - Amber W Wang
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
| | - Andrew Wells
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
| | - Klaus H Kaestner
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.,Epigenetics Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
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Abstract
DNA methylation patterns are set up in a relatively fixed programmed manner during normal embryonic development and are then stably maintained. Using genome-wide analysis, we discovered a postnatal pathway involving gender-specific demethylation that occurs exclusively in the male liver. This demodification is programmed to take place at tissue-specific enhancer sequences, and our data show that the methylation state at these loci is associated with and appears to play a role in the transcriptional regulation of nearby genes. This process is mediated by the secretion of testosterone at the time of sexual maturity, but the resulting methylation profile is stable and therefore can serve as an epigenetic memory even in the absence of this inducer. These findings add a new dimension to our understanding of the role of DNA methylation in vivo and provide the foundations for deciphering how environment can impact on the epigenetic regulation of genes in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yitzhak Reizel
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
| | - Adam Spiro
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
| | - Ofra Sabag
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
| | - Yael Skversky
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
| | - Merav Hecht
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
| | - Ilana Keshet
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
| | - Benjamin P Berman
- Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Research Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California 90048, USA
| | - Howard Cedar
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel;
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7
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Chapal-Ilani N, Maruvka YE, Spiro A, Reizel Y, Adar R, Shlush LI, Shapiro E. Comparing algorithms that reconstruct cell lineage trees utilizing information on microsatellite mutations. PLoS Comput Biol 2013; 9:e1003297. [PMID: 24244121 PMCID: PMC3828138 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [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: 12/01/2012] [Accepted: 09/09/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Organism cells proliferate and die to build, maintain, renew and repair it. The cellular history of an organism up to any point in time can be captured by a cell lineage tree in which vertices represent all organism cells, past and present, and directed edges represent progeny relations among them. The root represents the fertilized egg, and the leaves represent extant and dead cells. Somatic mutations accumulated during cell division endow each organism cell with a genomic signature that is unique with a very high probability. Distances between such genomic signatures can be used to reconstruct an organism's cell lineage tree. Cell populations possess unique features that are absent or rare in organism populations (e.g., the presence of stem cells and a small number of generations since the zygote) and do not undergo sexual reproduction, hence the reconstruction of cell lineage trees calls for careful examination and adaptation of the standard tools of population genetics. Our lab developed a method for reconstructing cell lineage trees by examining only mutations in highly variable microsatellite loci (MS, also called short tandem repeats, STR). In this study we use experimental data on somatic mutations in MS of individual cells in human and mice in order to validate and quantify the utility of known lineage tree reconstruction algorithms in this context. We employed extensive measurements of somatic mutations in individual cells which were isolated from healthy and diseased tissues of mice and humans. The validation was done by analyzing the ability to infer known and clear biological scenarios. In general, we found that if the biological scenario is simple, almost all algorithms tested can infer it. Another somewhat surprising conclusion is that the best algorithm among those tested is Neighbor Joining where the distance measure used is normalized absolute distance. We include our full dataset in Tables S1, S2, S3, S4, S5 to enable further analysis of this data by others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noa Chapal-Ilani
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
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8
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Pomerantz Y, Elbaz J, Ben-Eliezer I, Reizel Y, David Y, Galiani D, Nevo N, Navon A, Dekel N. From ubiquitin-proteasomal degradation to CDK1 inactivation: requirements for the first polar body extrusion in mouse oocytes. FASEB J 2012; 26:4495-505. [PMID: 22859367 DOI: 10.1096/fj.12-209866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [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: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Completion of the first meiotic division, manifested by extrusion of the first polar body (PBI), depends on proteasomal degradation of cyclin B1 and securin and the subsequent respective CDK1 inactivation and chromosome segregation. We aimed at identifying the polyubiquitin signal that mediates proteasomal action and at a better characterization of the role of CDK1 inactivation at this stage of meiosis. Microinjections of mutated ubiquitin proteins into mouse oocytes revealed that interference with lysine-11 polyubiquitin chains abrogated chromosome segregation and reduced PBI extrusion by 63% as compared to WT ubiquitin-injected controls. Inactivation of CDK1 in oocytes arrested at first metaphase by a proteasome inhibitor fully rescued PBI extrusion. However, removal of CDK1 inhibition failed to allow progression to the second metaphase, rather, inducing PBI reengulfment in 62% of the oocytes. Inhibition of either PLK1 or MEK1/2 during the first anaphase changed spindle dimensions. The PLK1 inhibitor also blocked PBI emission and prevented RhoA translocation. Our results identified lysine-11 rather than the canonic lysine-48 ubiquitin chains as the degradation signal in oocytes resuming meiosis, further disclosing that CDK1 inactivation is necessary and sufficient for PBI emission. This information significantly contributes to our understanding of faulty chromosome segregation that may lead to aneuploidy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yael Pomerantz
- Department of Biological Regulation, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
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9
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Reizel Y, Itzkovitz S, Adar R, Elbaz J, Jinich A, Chapal-Ilani N, Maruvka YE, Nevo N, Marx Z, Horovitz I, Wasserstrom A, Mayo A, Shur I, Benayahu D, Skorecki K, Segal E, Dekel N, Shapiro E. Cell lineage analysis of the mammalian female germline. PLoS Genet 2012; 8:e1002477. [PMID: 22383887 PMCID: PMC3285577 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2011] [Accepted: 11/23/2011] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Fundamental aspects of embryonic and post-natal development, including maintenance of the mammalian female germline, are largely unknown. Here we employ a retrospective, phylogenetic-based method for reconstructing cell lineage trees utilizing somatic mutations accumulated in microsatellites, to study female germline dynamics in mice. Reconstructed cell lineage trees can be used to estimate lineage relationships between different cell types, as well as cell depth (number of cell divisions since the zygote). We show that, in the reconstructed mouse cell lineage trees, oocytes form clusters that are separate from hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells, both in young and old mice, indicating that these populations belong to distinct lineages. Furthermore, while cumulus cells sampled from different ovarian follicles are distinctly clustered on the reconstructed trees, oocytes from the left and right ovaries are not, suggesting a mixing of their progenitor pools. We also observed an increase in oocyte depth with mouse age, which can be explained either by depth-guided selection of oocytes for ovulation or by post-natal renewal. Overall, our study sheds light on substantial novel aspects of female germline preservation and development. Many aspects of mammalian female germline development during embryogenesis and throughout adulthood are either unknown or under debate. In this study we applied a novel method for the reconstruction of cell lineage trees utilizing microsatellite mutations, accumulated during mouse life, in oocytes and other cells, sampled from young and old mice. Analysis of the reconstructed cell lineage trees shows that oocytes are clustered separately from bone-marrow derived cells, that oocytes from different ovaries share common progenitors, and that oocyte depth (number of cell divisions since the zygote) increases significantly with mouse age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yitzhak Reizel
- Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Shalev Itzkovitz
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Rivka Adar
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Judith Elbaz
- Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Adrian Jinich
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Noa Chapal-Ilani
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Yosef E. Maruvka
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Nava Nevo
- Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Zipora Marx
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Inna Horovitz
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Adam Wasserstrom
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Avi Mayo
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Irena Shur
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Dafna Benayahu
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Karl Skorecki
- Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute, Technion and Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel
| | - Eran Segal
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Nava Dekel
- Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- * E-mail: (ND); (ES)
| | - Ehud Shapiro
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- * E-mail: (ND); (ES)
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10
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Segev E, Shefer G, Adar R, Chapal-Ilani N, Itzkovitz S, Horovitz I, Reizel Y, Benayahu D, Shapiro E. Muscle-bound primordial stem cells give rise to myofiber-associated myogenic and non-myogenic progenitors. PLoS One 2011; 6:e25605. [PMID: 22022423 PMCID: PMC3194814 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0025605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2010] [Accepted: 09/07/2011] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Myofiber cultures give rise to myogenic as well as to non-myogenic cells. Whether these myofiber-associated non-myogenic cells develop from resident stem cells that possess mesenchymal plasticity or from other stem cells such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) remain unsolved. To address this question, we applied a method for reconstructing cell lineage trees from somatic mutations to MSCs and myogenic and non-myogenic cells from individual myofibers that were cultured at clonal density. Our analyses show that (i) in addition to myogenic progenitors, myofibers also harbor non-myogenic progenitors of a distinct, yet close, lineage; (ii) myofiber-associated non-myogenic and myogenic cells share the same muscle-bound primordial stem cells of a lineage distinct from bone marrow MSCs; (iii) these muscle-bound primordial stem-cells first part to individual muscles and then differentiate into myogenic and non-myogenic stem cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elad Segev
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Gabi Shefer
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Rivka Adar
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Noa Chapal-Ilani
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Shalev Itzkovitz
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Inna Horovitz
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Yitzhak Reizel
- Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Dafna Benayahu
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Ehud Shapiro
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- * E-mail:
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Reizel Y, Chapal-Ilani N, Adar R, Itzkovitz S, Elbaz J, Maruvka YE, Segev E, Shlush LI, Dekel N, Shapiro E. Colon stem cell and crypt dynamics exposed by cell lineage reconstruction. PLoS Genet 2011; 7:e1002192. [PMID: 21829376 PMCID: PMC3145618 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2011] [Accepted: 06/05/2011] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Stem cell dynamics in vivo are often being studied by lineage tracing methods. Our laboratory has previously developed a retrospective method for reconstructing cell lineage trees from somatic mutations accumulated in microsatellites. This method was applied here to explore different aspects of stem cell dynamics in the mouse colon without the use of stem cell markers. We first demonstrated the reliability of our method for the study of stem cells by confirming previously established facts, and then we addressed open questions. Our findings confirmed that colon crypts are monoclonal and that, throughout adulthood, the process of monoclonal conversion plays a major role in the maintenance of crypts. The absence of immortal strand mechanism in crypts stem cells was validated by the age-dependent accumulation of microsatellite mutations. In addition, we confirmed the positive correlation between physical and lineage proximity of crypts, by showing that the colon is separated into small domains that share a common ancestor. We gained new data demonstrating that colon epithelium is clustered separately from hematopoietic and other cell types, indicating that the colon is constituted of few progenitors and ruling out significant renewal of colonic epithelium from hematopoietic cells during adulthood. Overall, our study demonstrates the reliability of cell lineage reconstruction for the study of stem cell dynamics, and it further addresses open questions in colon stem cells. In addition, this method can be applied to study stem cell dynamics in other systems. The study of stem cell and tissue dynamics in vivo is often carried out by lineage tracing methods that depend on the presence of specific markers and on the availability of stem cells. In the current study, we applied a novel method for the reconstruction of cell lineage trees from microsatellite mutations accumulated during mouse life. We focused on the intestinal epithelium, since its stem cells were intensively studied by various tracing methods that clarified many aspects of their dynamics. We first showed the reliability of our method by confirming three previously established facts: the existence of “monoclonal conversion,” the absence of an immortal strand mechanism in colon stem cells, and the separation of the colon into small domains each with a common ancestor. We also answered a few open questions, showing that the colon's lineage is separated from other lineages such as the hematopoietic and pancreatic lineages. Overall, our work presents a new approach for the study of stem cell dynamics and can similarly be used for studying stem cell dynamics in other systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yitzhak Reizel
- Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Noa Chapal-Ilani
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Rivka Adar
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Shalev Itzkovitz
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Judith Elbaz
- Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Yosef E. Maruvka
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Elad Segev
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Liran I. Shlush
- Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute, Technion and Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel
| | - Nava Dekel
- Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Ehud Shapiro
- Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- * E-mail:
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Elbaz J, Reizel Y, Nevo N, Galiani D, Dekel N. Epithelial cell transforming protein 2 (ECT2) depletion blocks polar body extrusion and generates mouse oocytes containing two metaphase II spindles. Endocrinology 2010; 151:755-65. [PMID: 19996184 DOI: 10.1210/en.2009-0830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Completion of the first meiosis in oocytes is achieved by the extrusion of the first polar body (PBI), a particular example of cell division. In mitosis, the small GTPase RhoA, which is activated by epithelial cell transforming protein 2 (ECT2), orchestrates contractile ring constriction, thus enabling cytokinesis. However, the involvement of this pathway in mammalian oocytes has not been established. To characterize the role of ECT2 in PBI emission in mouse oocytes, the small interfering RNA approach was employed. We found that ECT2 depletion significantly reduces PBI emission, induces first metaphase arrest, and generates oocytes containing two properly formed spindles of the second metaphase. Moreover, we describe, for the first time, that before PBI emission, RhoA forms a ring that is preceded by a dome-like accumulation at the oocyte cortex, next to the spindle. This unique mode of RhoA translocation failed to occur in the absence of ECT2. We further found that the Rho-dependent kinase, a main RhoA effector, is essential for PBI emission. In addition, we demonstrate herein that ECT2 is subjected to phosphorylation/dephosphorylation throughout meiosis in oocytes and further reveal that PBI emission is temporally associated with ECT2 dephosphorylation. Our data provide the first demonstration that an active cyclin-dependent kinase 1, the catalytic subunit of the maturation-promoting factor, phosphorylates ECT2 during the first meiotic metaphase and that cyclin-dependent kinase 1 inactivation at anaphase allows ECT2 dephosphorylation. In conclusion, our study demonstrates the indispensable role of the maturation-promoting factor/ECT2/RhoA pathway in PBI extrusion in mouse oocytes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith Elbaz
- Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Biological Regulation, Herzel Street 1, Rehovot 76100, Israel
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Reizel Y, Elbaz J, Dekel N. Sustained activity of the EGF receptor is an absolute requisite for LH-induced oocyte maturation and cumulus expansion. Mol Endocrinol 2009; 24:402-11. [PMID: 20009084 DOI: 10.1210/me.2009-0267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Mammalian reproduction depends on the release of a mature oocyte from the ovarian follicle. Maturation of the oocyte and rupture of the follicle wall constitute part of the responses to the preovulatory surge of LH, which also include cumulus expansion and granulosa cell luteinization. It was previously shown that the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mediates the ovulatory response to LH in the ovarian follicle. We hypothesized that it is a sustained activity of the EGFR that generates oocyte maturation and cumulus expansion. We demonstrated that, whereas a transient exposure of rat isolated, intact, preovulatory follicles to either LH or forskolin was sufficient to induce oocyte maturation and cumulus expansion, these LH-induced responses were only generated upon a prolonged activity of the EGFR. In addition, the continuous activity of the EGFR is essential for the chronic phosphorylation of the ERK1/2 downstream signaling molecules, which were shown to be essential for oocyte maturation and cumulus expansion. Interestingly, EGFR-sustained activity was also necessary to maintain the up-regulation of Ptgs2, a gene essential for cumulus expansion. The unusual prolonged duration of ERK1/2 activity may possibly be attributed to the late induction of the ERK-specific phosphatase 3, demonstrated herein. These new data shed light on the unique characteristics of EGFR-ERK1/2 activity in the ovarian follicle and emphasize the fact that the ovulatory process involves a nonclassical activation of this pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yitzhak Reizel
- Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
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Reizel Y, Elbaz J, Dekel N. Sustained Activation of the EGFR Is Necessary for the Induction of Oocyte Maturation and Cumulus Expansion by LH. Biol Reprod 2009. [DOI: 10.1093/biolreprod/81.s1.46] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Gershon E, Plaks V, Aharon I, Galiani D, Reizel Y, Sela-Abramovich S, Granot I, Winterhager E, Dekel N. Oocyte-directed depletion of connexin43 using the Cre-LoxP system leads to subfertility in female mice. Dev Biol 2007; 313:1-12. [PMID: 18005958 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2007.08.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2006] [Revised: 08/22/2007] [Accepted: 08/23/2007] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Gap junctions, predominantly comprising connexin43 (Cx43), mediate cell-to-cell communication within the ovarian follicle. However, the partaking of Cx43 in the formation of the gap junction channels, between the oocyte and the somatic cells, is controversial. We addressed this dispute by crossing females that carry a Cx43 coding region, flanked by loxP recognition sites, with males expressing the Cre recombinase under the control of Zp3 promoter. Oocytes of the resultant Zp3Cre;Gja1(lox/lox) mice did not express Cx43 and were referred to as Cx43(del/del). Unexpectedly, a decrease in Cx43 was observed in cumulus/granulosa cells of some follicles as well. Nevertheless, no histological abnormalities were detected in the ovaries of the Zp3Cre;Gja1(lox/lox) mice. Furthermore, these mice ovulated normally and developed fully functional corpora lutea. Additionally, the ovarian Cx43(del/del) oocytes were meiotically arrested and transferred Lucifer yellow to the surrounding cumulus cells. However, mating Zp3Cre;Gja1(lox/lox) females with wild-type males resulted in a reduced rate of parturition and a substantial decrease in litter size. Further examination revealed that although preimplantation development of Zp3Cre;Gja1(lox/+) embryos was normal, the blactocysts exhibited impaired implantation. Our data suggest that total ablation of Cx43 in the oocyte, combined with its decrease in the surrounding somatic cells, allows normal oogenesis and folliculogenesis, ovulation and early embryonic development but severely impairs the implantation capacity of the resulting blactocysts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eran Gershon
- Department of Biological Regulation, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
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