Abstract
Drosophila Argonaute2 (AGO2) has been shown to regulate expression of certain loci in an RNA interference (RNAi)-independent manner, but its genome-wide function on chromatin remains unknown. Here, we identified the nuclear scaffolding protein LaminB as a novel interactor of AGO2. When either AGO2 or LaminB are depleted in Kc cells, similar transcription changes are observed genome-wide. In particular, changes in expression occur mainly in active or potentially active chromatin, both inside and outside LaminB-associated domains (LADs). Furthermore, we identified a somatic target of AGO2 transcriptional repression, no hitter (nht), which is immersed in a LAD located within a repressive topologically-associated domain (TAD). Null mutation but not catalytic inactivation of AGO2 leads to ectopic expression of nht and downstream spermatogenesis genes. Depletion of either AGO2 or LaminB results in reduced looping interactions within the nht TAD as well as ectopic inter-TAD interactions, as detected by 4C-seq analysis. Overall, our findings reveal coordination of AGO2 and LaminB function to dictate genome architecture and thereby regulate gene expression.
Argonaute proteins are an evolutionarily conserved protein family engaged in gene silencing. The key RNA interference (RNAi) pathway protein AGO2 interacts with small RNAs to regulate gene silencing in the cytoplasm. In addition, AGO2 has been shown to regulate gene expression by functioning in the nucleus. In this study, we determined that AGO2 forms a nuclear complex with LaminB, a nuclear scaffolding protein, as well as the transcription machinery. Together, AGO2 and LaminB limit transcription in active or potentially active regions that either do or do not interact directly with the nuclear lamina. We focused on nht, a master control gene of the sperm developmental program, which is up-regulated in the absence of AGO2 or LaminB. The nht gene interacts with the nuclear lamina in somatic cells, and we determined that AGO2 and LaminB control the three-dimensional configuration of the chromatin region in which nht is located. We conclude that AGO2 and LaminB work in concert to regulate how genes are turned on or off by controlling how the genome is folded within the nucleus, and therefore can affect key developmental processes such as the production of sperm.
Collapse