ABSTRACT: Polycomb group proteins are transcriptional repressors that play a central role in the establishment and maintenance of gene expression patterns during development. Using mice with an N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU)-induced mutation in Suppressor of Zeste 12 (Suz12), a core component of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2), we show here that loss of Suz12 function enhances hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) activity. In addition to these effects on a wild-type genetic background, mutations in Suz12 are sufficient to ameliorate the stem cell defect and thrombocytopenia present in mice that lack the thrombopoietin receptor (c-Mpl). To investigate the molecular targets of the PRC2 complex in the HSC compartment, we examined changes in global patterns of gene expression in cells deficient in Suz12. We identified a distinct set of genes that are regulated by Suz12 in hematopoietic cells, including eight genes that appear to be highly responsive to PRC2 function within this compartment. These data suggest that PRC2 is required to maintain a specific gene expression pattern in hematopoiesis that is indispensable to normal stem cell function.
Project description:Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) plays a key role in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) function. Analyses of mouse mutants harboring deletions of core components have implicated PRC2 in fine-tuning multiple pathways that instruct HSPC behavior, yet how PRC2 is targeted to specific genomic loci within HSPCs remains unknown. Here we use short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown to survey the function of PRC2 accessory factors that were defined in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) by testing the competitive reconstitution capacity of transduced murine HSPCs. We find that, similar to the phenotype observed upon depletion of core subunit Suz12, depleting Jarid2 enhances the competitive transplantation capacity of both fetal and adult mouse HSPCs. Furthermore, we demonstrate that depletion of JARID2 enhances the in vitro expansion and in vivo reconstitution capacity of human HSPCs. Gene expression profiling revealed common Suz12 and Jarid2 target genes that are enriched for the H3K27me3 mark established by PRC2. These data implicate Jarid2 as an important component of PRC2 that has a central role in coordinating HSPC function.
Project description:Normal brain function depends on the interaction between highly specialized neurons that operate within anatomically and functionally distinct brain regions. Neuronal specification is driven by transcriptional programs that are established during early neuronal development and remain in place in the adult brain. The fidelity of neuronal specification depends on the robustness of the transcriptional program that supports the neuron type-specific gene expression patterns. Here we show that polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), which supports neuron specification during differentiation, contributes to the suppression of a transcriptional program that is detrimental to adult neuron function and survival. We show that PRC2 deficiency in striatal neurons leads to the de-repression of selected, predominantly bivalent PRC2 target genes that are dominated by self-regulating transcription factors normally suppressed in these neurons. The transcriptional changes in PRC2-deficient neurons lead to progressive and fatal neurodegeneration in mice. Our results point to a key role of PRC2 in protecting neurons against degeneration.
Project description:Recent studies point to a pivotal role of Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) in stem cell function and cancer. Loss-of-function approaches targeting individual PRC2 subunits have, however, generated findings that are difficult to reconcile. Here, we prevent assembly of both Ezh1- and Ezh2-containing PRC2 complexes by conditional deletion of Eed, a core subunit, and assess hematopoiesis. We find that deletion of Eed exhausts adult bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), although fetal liver HSCs are produced in normal numbers. Eed-null neonatal HSCs express HSC signature genes but are defective in maintenance and differentiation. Comparative gene expression profiling revealed that neonatal and adult HSCs lacking Eed upregulated gene sets of conflicting pathways. Deletion of Cdkn2a, a PRC2 target gene, in Eed-null mice enhances hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell (HSPC) survival but fails to restore HSC functions. Taken together, our findings define developmental-stage-specific requirements for canonical PRC2 complexes in normal HSC function.
Project description:The polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) is the major methyltransferase for H3K27 methylation, a modification critical for maintaining repressed gene expression programs throughout development. It has been previously shown that PRC2 maintains histone methylation patterns during DNA replication in part through its ability to bind to H3K27me3. However, the mechanism by which PRC2 recognizes H3K27me3 is unclear. Here we show that the WD40 domain of EED, a PRC2 component, is a methyllysine histone-binding domain. The crystal structures of apo-EED and EED in complex respectively with five different trimethyllysine histone peptides reveal that EED binds these peptides via the top face of its ?-propeller architecture. The ammonium group of the trimethyllysine is accommodated by an aromatic cage formed by three aromatic residues, while its aliphatic chain is flanked by a fourth aromatic residue. Our structural data provide an explanation for the preferential recognition of the Ala-Arg-Lys-Ser motif-containing trimethylated H3K27, H3K9, and H1K26 marks by EED over lower methylation states and other histone methyllysine marks. More importantly, we found that binding of different histone marks by EED differentially regulates the activity and specificity of PRC2. Whereas the H3K27me3 mark stimulates the histone methyltransferase activity of PRC2, the H1K26me3 mark inhibits PRC2 methyltransferase activity on the nucleosome. Moreover, H1K26me3 binding switches the specificity of PRC2 from methylating H3K27 to EED. In addition to determining the molecular basis of EED-methyllysine recognition, our work provides the biochemical characterization of how the activity of a histone methyltransferase is oppositely regulated by two histone marks.
Project description:The chromatin environment is modulated by a machinery of chromatin modifiers, required for the specification and maintenance of cell fate. Many mutations in the machinery have been linked to the development and progression of cancer. In this review, we give a brief introduction to Polycomb group (PcG) proteins, their assembly into Polycomb repressive complexes (PRCs) and the normal physiological roles of these complexes with a focus on the PRC2. We review the many findings of mutations in the PRC2 coding genes, both loss-of-function and gain-of-function, associated with human cancers and discuss potential molecular mechanisms involved in the contribution of PRC2 mutations to cancer development and progression. Finally, we discuss some of the recent advances in developing and testing drugs targeting the PRC2 as well as emerging results from clinical trials using these drugs in the treatment of human cancers.
Project description:Human naive pluripotent stem cells have unrestricted lineage potential. Underpinning this property, naive cells are thought to lack chromatin-based lineage barriers. However, this assumption has not been tested. Here we define the chromatin-associated proteome, histone post-translational modifications and transcriptome of human naive and primed pluripotent stem cells. Our integrated analysis reveals differences in the relative abundance and activities of distinct chromatin modules. We identify a strong enrichment of polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2)-associated H3K27me3 in the chromatin of naive pluripotent stem cells and H3K27me3 enrichment at promoters of lineage-determining genes, including trophoblast regulators. PRC2 activity acts as a chromatin barrier restricting the differentiation of naive cells towards the trophoblast lineage, whereas inhibition of PRC2 promotes trophoblast-fate induction and cavity formation in human blastoids. Together, our results establish that human naive pluripotent stem cells are not epigenetically unrestricted, but instead possess chromatin mechanisms that oppose the induction of alternative cell fates.
Project description:The histone methyltransferase complex PRC2 controls key steps in developmental transitions and cell fate choices; however, its roles in vertebrate eye development remain unknown. Here, we report that in Xenopus, PRC2 regulates the progression of retinal progenitors from proliferation to differentiation. We show that the PRC2 core components are enriched in retinal progenitors and downregulated in differentiated cells. Knockdown of the PRC2 core component Ezh2 leads to reduced retinal progenitor proliferation, in part due to upregulation of the Cdk inhibitor p15(Ink4b). In addition, although PRC2 knockdown does not alter eye patterning, retinal progenitor gene expression or expression of the neural competence factor Sox2, it does cause suppression of proneural bHLH gene expression, indicating that PRC2 is crucial for the initiation of neural differentiation in the retina. Consistent with this, knocking down or blocking PRC2 function constrains the generation of most retinal neural cell types and promotes a Müller glial cell fate decision. We also show that Wnt/β-catenin signaling acting through the receptor Frizzled 5, but independent of Sox2, regulates expression of key PRC2 subunits in the developing retina. This is consistent with a role for this pathway in coordinating proliferation and the transition to neurogenesis in the Xenopus retina. Our data establish PRC2 as a regulator of proliferation and differentiation during eye development.
Project description:Neural crest cells arise from the border of the neural plate and epidermal ectoderm, migrate extensively and differentiate into diverse cell types during vertebrate embryogenesis. Although much has been learnt about growth factor signals and gene regulatory networks that regulate neural crest development, limited information is available on how epigenetic mechanisms control this process. In this study, we show that Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) cooperates with the transcription factor Snail2/Slug to modulate neural crest development in Xenopus. The PRC2 core components Eed, Ezh2 and Suz12 are expressed in the neural crest cells and are required for neural crest marker expression. Knockdown of Ezh2, the catalytic subunit of PRC2 for histone H3K27 methylation, results in defects in neural crest specification, migration and craniofacial cartilage formation. EZH2 interacts directly with Snail2, and Snail2 fails to expand the neural crest domains in the absence of Ezh2. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis shows that Snail2 regulates EZH2 occupancy and histone H3K27 trimethylation levels at the promoter region of the Snail2 target E-cadherin. Our results indicate that Snail2 cooperates with EZH2 and PRC2 to control expression of the genes important for neural crest specification and migration during neural crest development.
Project description:Human naive pluripotent stem cells have unrestricted lineage potential. Underpinning this property, naive cells are thought to lack chromatin-based lineage barriers. However, this assumption has not been tested. Here, we apply multi-omics to comprehensively define the chromatin-associated proteome, histone post-translational modifications and transcriptome of human naive and primed pluripotent stem cells. Integrating the chromatin-bound proteome and histone modification data sets reveals differences in the relative abundance and activities of distinct chromatin modules, identifying a strong enrichment of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2)-associated H3K27me3 in naive pluripotent stem cell chromatin. Single-cell approaches and human blastoid models reveal that PRC2 activity acts as a chromatin barrier restricting the differentiation of naive cells towards the trophoblast lineage, and inhibiting PRC2 promotes trophoblast fate induction and cavity formation. Our results establish that human naive pluripotent stem cells are not epigenetically unrestricted, but instead possess chromatin mechanisms that oppose the induction of alternative cell fates.
Project description:Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) catalyzes histone H3 lysine 27 tri-methylation (H3K27me3), an epigenetic modification associated with gene repression. H3K27me3 is enriched at the promoters of a large cohort of developmental genes in embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Loss of H3K27me3 leads to a failure of ESCs to properly differentiate, making it difficult to determine the precise roles of PRC2 during lineage commitment. Moreover, while studies suggest that PRC2 prevents DNA methylation, how these two epigenetic regulators coordinate to regulate lineage programs is poorly understood. Using several PRC2 mutant ESC lines that maintain varying levels of H3K27me3, we found that partial maintenance of H3K27me3 allowed for proper temporal activation of lineage genes during directed differentiation of ESCs to spinal motor neurons (SMNs). In contrast, genes that function to specify other lineages failed to be repressed in these cells, suggesting that PRC2 is also necessary for lineage fidelity. We also found that loss of H3K27me3 leads to a modest gain in DNA methylation at PRC2 target regions in both ESCs and in SMNs. Our study demonstrates a critical role for PRC2 in safeguarding lineage decisions and in protecting genes against inappropriate DNA methylation.