Project description:Transcription factor-induced reprogramming of somatic cells to pluripotency is a very inefficient process, probably due to the existence of important epigenetic barriers that are imposed during differentiation and that contribute to preserve cell identity. In an effort to decipher the molecular nature of these barriers, we followed a genome-wide approach, in which we identified macro histone variants (macroH2A) as highly expressed in human somatic cells but downregulated after reprogramming to pluripotency, as well as strongly induced during differentiation. Knock down of macro histone variants in human keratinocytes increased the efficiency of reprogramming to pluripotency, while overexpression had opposite effects. Genome-wide occupancy profiles show that in human keratinocytes macroH2A.1 preferentially occupies genes that are expressed at low levels and are marked with H3K27me3, including pluripotency-related genes and bivalent developmental regulators, at which its presence prevents the regain of H3K4me2 during reprogramming, over imposing an additional layer of repression that preserves cell identity. Gemone wide occupancy of HA:macroH2A.1 in human keratinocytes
Project description:Genome-wide occupancy of PPARbeta/delta in human myofibroblast (WPMY-1 celline) was studied with ChIP-Seq. Additionally, H3K4 trimethylation and RNA polymerase II status was examined.
Project description:Regulation of gene expression by chromatin modification through methylation of histone lysine residues is a dynamic, reversible process that when deregulated is associated with cancer development. In multiple myeloma, combined inhibition of the histone demethylases JARID1B, UTX and JmjD3 by the small molecule GSK-J4 prevents cellular glutamine utilization leading to amino acids deprivation, activates the integrated stress response via GCN2-dependent ATF4 activation, and induces apoptosis. This response is associated with a profound upregulation of metallothionein genes. Combined with clinical data demonstrating that overexpression of JARID1B is associated with shorter survival in multiple myeloma patients, this study highlights histone demethylases as epigenetic drug targets and places this demethylase inhibitor chemotype as having unique potential relative to established anti-myeloma treatment options. In total there are 7 different samples analyzed and one input control. Treatments are carried out with the demethylase inhibitor (or DMSO as negative control) at 6h and 48h, or with LNA targeting demethylases (or scrambled LNA) at 7 days. A negative control at 0h is included.
Project description:Combinatorial recruitment of CREB, C/EBPb and Jun determines activation of promoters upon keratinocyte differentiation Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) of RNAP II, CREB C/EBPb and cJun in undifferentiated or differentiated keratinocytes demonstrate recruitment of RNAP II to promoters bound by combination of specific transcription factors comparison of undifferentiated and differentated keratinocytes
Project description:The mouse R178E (EE) mutation of the Trp53 is a p53 mutant protein with native conformation that lacks the ability to form tetramers and thus constitutes a mutant form of p53 that lacks DNA binding cooperativity. Here we want to assess DNA binding ability of the EE mutant in MEFs under untreated conditions and following p53 stabilization with the Mdm2 inhibitor nutlin-3a and compare it to p53 KO and WT mice.
Project description:The mouse S180A (SA) mutation of the Trp53 is a p53 phosphorylation-deficient mutant protein with native conformation. Here we want to assess the impact of DNA binding site phosphorylation of the p53 target gene spectrum and transcriptional activity under untreated conditions and following p53 stabilization with the Mdm2 inhibitor nutlin-3a.
Project description:The C4-12/Flag.ERβ cell line which stably expressed Flag.ERβ is used to study ERβ genomic functions without ERα interference. Mapping ERβ binding sites in these cells reveals ERβ unique distribution and motif enrichment patterns. Accompanying our mapping results, nascent RNA profiling is performed on cells at the same treatment time. The combined results allow the identification of ERβ target genes. Gene ontology analysis reveals that ERβ targets are enriched in differentiation, development and apoptosis. Concurrently, E2 treatment suppresses proliferation in these cells. Within ERβ binding sites, while the most prevalent binding motif is the canonical ERE, motifs of known ER interactors are also enriched in ERβ binding sites. Moreover, among enriched binding motifs are those of GFI, REST and EBF1, which are unique to ERβ binding sites in these cells. Further characterization confirms the association between EBF1 and the estrogen receptors, which favors the N-terminal region of the receptor. Furthermore, EBF1 negatively regulates ERs at the protein level. In summary, by studying ERβ genomic functions in our cell model, we confirm the anti-proliferative role of ERβ and discover the novel cross talk of ERβ with EBF1 which has various implications in normal physiology. C4-12/Flag.ERβ cells were treated with 10nM E2 for 1 hour then crosslinked with 1% formaldehyde; EtOH treatment was used as control. Crosslinked samples were processed for ChIP-seq and sequenced with Illumina Genome Analyzer II and aligned to hg18. QuEST was used as the peak-calling software, using default parameters recommended to analyze transcription factor ChIP-seq data. The entire ChIP-seq process was performed once on each sample (Vehicle or E2-treated).
Project description:An ability to sense and respond to changes in extracellular phosphate is critical to the survival of most bacteria. For Caulobacter crescentus, which typically lives in phosphate-limited environments, this process is especially crucial. Like many bacteria, Caulobacter responds to phosphate limitation through a conserved two-component signaling pathway called PhoR-PhoB, but the direct regulon of PhoB in this organism is unknown. Here, we use ChIP-Seq to map the global binding patterns of the phosphate-responsive transcriptional regulator PhoB in both phosphate-limited and -replete conditions. Combined with genome-wide expression profiling, our work demonstrates that PhoB is induced to regulate nearly 50 genes in phosphate-starved conditions. The PhoB regulon is comprised primarily of genes known or predicted to help Caulobacter scavenge for and import inorganic phosphate, including 15 different membrane transporters. We also investigated the regulatory role of PhoU, a widely conserved protein proposed to coordinate phosphate import with expression of the PhoB regulon by directly modulating the histidine kinase PhoR. However, our studies show that it likely does not play such a role in Caulobacter as depleting PhoU has no significant effect on PhoB-dependent gene expression. Instead, cells lacking PhoU exhibit a striking accumulation of large polyphosphate granules suggesting that PhoU participates in controlling intracellular phosphate metabolism. An allele of phoB bearing a C-terminal 3x-flag tag was integrated at its native locus, and ChIP followed by deep sequencing on Illumina MiSeq was performed on samples grown in rich medium, phosphate-limited medium, and in a pstS::Tn5 mutant background in rich medium.