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Human and mouse switch-like genes share common transcriptional regulatory mechanisms for bimodality.

ABSTRACT: Gene expression is controlled over a wide range at the transcript level through complex interplay between DNA and regulatory proteins, resulting in profiles of gene expression that can be represented as normal, graded, and bimodal (switch-like) distributions. We have previously performed genome-scale identification and annotation of genes with switch-like expression at the transcript level in mouse, using large microarray datasets for healthy tissue, in order to study the cellular pathways and regulatory mechanisms involving this class of genes. We showed that a large population of bimodal mouse genes encoding for cell membrane and extracellular matrix proteins is involved in communication pathways. This study expands on previous results by annotating human bimodal genes, investigating their correspondence to bimodality in mouse orthologs and exploring possible regulatory mechanisms that contribute to bimodality in gene expression in human and mouse.Fourteen percent of the human genes on the HGU133A array (1847 out of 13076) were identified as bimodal or switch-like. More than 40% were found to have bimodal mouse orthologs. KEGG pathways enriched for bimodal genes included ECM-receptor interaction, focal adhesion, and tight junction, showing strong similarity to the results obtained in mouse. Tissue-specific modes of expression of bimodal genes among brain, heart, and skeletal muscle were common between human and mouse. Promoter analysis revealed a higher than average number of transcription start sites per gene within the set of bimodal genes. Moreover, the bimodal gene set had differentially methylated histones compared to the set of the remaining genes in the genome.The fact that bimodal genes were enriched within the cell membrane and extracellular environment make these genes as candidates for biomarkers for tissue specificity. The commonality of the important roles bimodal genes play in tissue differentiation in both the human and mouse indicates the potential value of mouse data in providing context for human tissue studies. The regulation motifs enriched in the bimodal gene set (TATA boxes, alternative promoters, methlyation) have known associations with complex diseases, such as cancer, providing further potential for the use of bimodal genes in studying the molecular basis of disease.

SUBMITTER: Ertel A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2631022 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Human and mouse switch-like genes share common transcriptional regulatory mechanisms for bimodality.

Ertel Adam A Tozeren Aydin A

BMC genomics 20081223

<h4>Background</h4>Gene expression is controlled over a wide range at the transcript level through complex interplay between DNA and regulatory proteins, resulting in profiles of gene expression that can be represented as normal, graded, and bimodal (switch-like) distributions. We have previously performed genome-scale identification and annotation of genes with switch-like expression at the transcript level in mouse, using large microarray datasets for healthy tissue, in order to study the cell ...[more]

PMID: 19105848

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Endocrine cells of the zebrafish digestive system play an important role in regulating metabolism and include pancreatic endocrine cells (PECs) clustered in the islets of Langerhans and the enteroendocrine cells (EECs) scattered in the intestinal epithelium. Despite EECs and PECs are being located in distinct organs, their differentiation involves shared molecular mechanisms and transcription factors. However, their degree of relatedness remains unexplored. In this study, we investigated comprehensively the similarity of EECs and PECs by defining their transcriptomic landscape and comparing the regulatory programmes controlled by Pax6b, a key player in both EEC and PEC differentiations. RESULTS:RNA sequencing was performed on EECs and PECs isolated from wild-type and pax6b mutant zebrafish. Data mining of wild-type zebrafish EEC data confirmed the expression of orthologues for most known mammalian EEC hormones, but also revealed the expression of three additional neuropeptide hormones (Proenkephalin-a, Calcitonin-a and Adcyap1a) not previously reported to be expressed by EECs in any species. Comparison of transcriptomes from EECs, PECs and other zebrafish tissues highlights a very close similarity between EECs and PECs, with more than 70% of genes being expressed in both endocrine cell types. Comparison of Pax6b-regulated genes in EECs and PECs revealed a significant overlap. pax6b loss-of-function does not affect the total number of EECs and PECs but instead disrupts the balance between endocrine cell subtypes, leading to an increase of ghrelin- and motilin-like-expressing cells in both the intestine and pancreas at the expense of other endocrine cells such as beta and delta cells in the pancreas and pyyb-expressing cells in the intestine. Finally, we show that the homeodomain of Pax6b is dispensable for its action in both EECs and PECs. CONCLUSION:We have analysed the transcriptomic landscape of wild-type and pax6b mutant zebrafish EECs and PECs. Our study highlights the close relatedness of EECs and PECs at the transcriptomic and regulatory levels, supporting the hypothesis of a common phylogenetic origin and underscoring the potential implication of EECs in metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes.

Dataset Information

Human and mouse switch-like genes share common transcriptional regulatory mechanisms for bimodality.

Publications

Human and mouse switch-like genes share common transcriptional regulatory mechanisms for bimodality.

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