Embryonic stem cell-based mapping of developmental transcriptional programs.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Mazzoni EO
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3228994 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Embryonic stem cell-based mapping of developmental transcriptional programs.
Mazzoni Esteban O EO Mahony Shaun S Iacovino Michelina M Morrison Carolyn A CA Mountoufaris George G Closser Michael M Whyte Warren A WA Young Richard A RA Kyba Michael M Gifford David K DK Wichterle Hynek H
Nature methods 20111113 12
The study of developmentally regulated transcription factors by chromatin immunoprecipitation and deep sequencing (ChIP-seq) faces two major obstacles: availability of ChIP-grade antibodies and access to sufficient number of cells. We describe versatile genome-wide analysis of transcription-factor binding sites by combining directed differentiation of embryonic stem cells and inducible expression of tagged proteins. We demonstrate its utility by mapping DNA-binding sites of transcription factors ...[more]
Similar Datasets
Project description:Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by deep sequencing (ChIP-seq) is the method of choice to study function of transcription factors in cell fate determination. This technique faces two major obstacles when applied to developmental studies: the availability of ChIP grade antibodies and access to sufficient quantities of the cells of interest. We present a robust method for the genome-wide analysis of transcription factor binding during development in highly homogenous cells in defined developmental states. It combines efficient embryonic stem cell (ESC) differentiation protocols with an inducible system of tagged transcription factors to enable affinity based assays such as ChIP-seq during lineage specific development. To validate the system, we compared the activity and genomic binding of native and V5-tagged Olig2 in motor neuron progenitors and Flag-tagged and V5-tagged Hoxc9 in motor neurons. We find that tagging transcription factors and expressing them alongside their endogenous counterparts does not alter their function or genomic association. The technology presented here can be applied to known as well as novel DNA-binding proteins. In combination with a suitable ESC differentiation paradigm it can be applied to determine how lineage-specific transcriptional networks are established and regulated. The aim of this study is to validate a platform for analysis of transcription factor binding that combines directed differentiation of ES cells with an inducible system of tagged transcription factors. Here, we perform ChIP-seq analysis to compare binding profiles of Olig2 as found using a native antibody and anti-V5 against the epitope tag. We also compare the ChIP-seq profiles of Hoxc9 as found using two independent epitope tags (V5 and FLAG). In all, there are 6 Illumina sequence datasets in this submission, including one replicate for each of native Olig2, iOlig2-V5 and FLAG-iHoxc9, two replicates of iHoxc9-V5, and a pseudo-ChIP control using anti-V5 in a non-induced iOlig2 cell-line. The differentiation of ventral motor neurons is induced by treating embryonic stem cell cultures with retinoic acid and hedgehog.
2011-11-12 | E-GEOD-30882 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by deep sequencing (ChIP-seq) is the method of choice to study function of transcription factors in cell fate determination. This technique faces two major obstacles when applied to developmental studies: the availability of ChIP grade antibodies and access to sufficient quantities of the cells of interest. We present a robust method for the genome-wide analysis of transcription factor binding during development in highly homogenous cells in defined developmental states. It combines efficient embryonic stem cell (ESC) differentiation protocols with an inducible system of tagged transcription factors to enable affinity based assays such as ChIP-seq during lineage specific development. To validate the system, we compared the activity and genomic binding of native and V5-tagged Olig2 in motor neuron progenitors and Flag-tagged and V5-tagged Hoxc9 in motor neurons. We find that tagging transcription factors and expressing them alongside their endogenous counterparts does not alter their function or genomic association. The technology presented here can be applied to known as well as novel DNA-binding proteins. In combination with a suitable ESC differentiation paradigm it can be applied to determine how lineage-specific transcriptional networks are established and regulated.
2011-11-12 | GSE30882 | GEO
Project description:BACKGROUND:obstructive sleep apnea is a prevalent disorder associated with cognitive dysfunction and cardiovascular and metabolic morbidity and is characterized by recurrent episodes of hypoxia during sleep. Bone marrow-derived very small embryonic-like (VSEL) pluripotent stem cells represent a recruitable pool that may play an important role in organ repair after injury. We hypothesized that exposure to intermittent hypoxia (IH) can mobilize VSELs from the bone marrow (BM) to peripheral blood (PB) in mice and can activate distinct transcriptional programs. METHODS:adult mice were exposed to IH or normoxia for 48 hours. VSELs were sorted from BM and PB using flow cytometry. Plasma levels of stem cell chemokines, stromal cell derived factor-1 (SDF-1), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) were measured. Transcriptional profiling of VSELs was performed, and differentially expressed genes were mapped to enriched functional categories and genetic networks. RESULTS:exposure to IH elicited migration of VSELs from BM to PB and elevations in plasma levels of chemokines. More than 1100 unique genes were differentially expressed in VSELs in response to IH. Gene Ontology and network analysis revealed the activation of organ-specific developmental programs among these genes. CONCLUSIONS:exposure to IH mobilizes VSELs from the BM to PB and activates distinct transcriptional programs in VSELs that are enriched in developmental pathways, including central nervous system development and angiogenesis. Thus, VSELs may serve as a reserve mobile pool of pluripotent stem cells that can be recruited into PB and may play an important role in promoting end-organ repair during IH.
| S-EPMC2954693 | biostudies-literature
Project description:To realize the full potential of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), it is important to develop culture conditions that maintain hESCs in a pluripotent, undifferentiated state. A low O(2) atmosphere (approximately 4% O(2)), for example, prevents spontaneous differentiation and supports self-renewal of hESCs. To identify genes whose expression is sensitive to O(2) conditions, microarray analysis was performed on RNA from hESCs that had been maintained under either 4% or 20% O(2). Of 149 genes differentially expressed, 42 were up-regulated and 107 down-regulated under 20% O(2). Several of the down-regulated genes are most likely under the control of hypoxia-inducing factors and include genes encoding enzymes involved in carbohydrate catabolism and cellular redox state. Although genes associated with pluripotency, including OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG were generally unaffected, some genes controlled by these transcription factors, including LEFTY2, showed lowered expression under 20% O(2), while a few genes implicated in lineage specification were up-regulated. Although the differences between O(2) conditions were generally subtle, they were observed in two different hESC lines and at different passage numbers. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that 4% O(2) favors the molecular mechanisms required for the maintenance of pluripotency.
| S-EPMC3189708 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Elucidating the underlying transcriptional control of pluripotent cells is necessary for the development of new methods of inducing and maintaining pluripotent cells in vitro. Three transcription factors, Nanog, Oct4, and Sox2, have been reported to form a feedforward circuit promoting pluripotent cell self-renewal in embryonic stem cells (ESC). Previously, we found that a transcriptional repressor activity of Tcf3, a DNA-binding effector of Wnt signaling, reduced Nanog promoter activity and Nanog levels in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESC). The objective of this study was to determine the scope of Tcf3 effects on gene expression and self-renewal beyond the regulation of Nanog levels. We show that Tcf3 acts broadly on a genome-wide scale to reduce the levels of several promoters of self-renewal (Nanog, Tcl1, Tbx3, Esrrb) while not affecting other ESC genes (Oct4, Sox2, Fgf4). Comparing effects of Tcf3 ablation with Oct4 or Nanog knockdown revealed that Tcf3 counteracted effects of both Nanog and Oct4. Interestingly, the effects of Tcf3 were more strongly correlated with Oct4 than with Nanog, despite the normal levels of Oct4 in TCF3-/- mESC. The deranged gene expression allowed TCF3-/- mESC self-renewal even in the absence of leukemia inhibitory factor and delayed differentiation in embryoid bodies. These findings identify Tcf3 as a cell-intrinsic inhibitor of pluripotent cell self-renewal that functions by limiting steady-state levels of self-renewal factors. Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.
| S-EPMC2743928 | biostudies-literature
Project description:With the growing use of genome-wide screens for cis-regulatory elements, there is a pressing need for platforms that enable fast and cost-effective experimental validation of identified hits in relevant developmental and tissue contexts. Here, we describe a murine embryonic stem cell (ESC)-based system that facilitates rapid analysis of putative transcriptional enhancers. Candidate enhancers are targeted with high efficiency to a defined genomic locus via recombinase-mediated cassette exchange. Targeted ESCs are subsequently differentiated in vitro into desired cell types, where enhancer activity is monitored by reporter gene expression. As a proof of principle, we analyzed a previously characterized, Sonic hedgehog (Shh)-dependent, V3 interneuron progenitor (pV3)-specific enhancer for the Nkx2.2 gene, and observed highly specific enhancer activity. Given the broad potential of ESCs to generate a spectrum of cell types, this system can serve as an effective platform for the characterization of gene regulatory networks controlling cell fate specification and cell function.
| S-EPMC3334447 | biostudies-other
Project description:Recent ChIP experiments of human and mouse embryonic stem cells have elucidated the architecture of the transcriptional regulatory circuitry responsible for cell determination, which involves the transcription factors OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG. In addition to regulating each other through feedback loops, these genes also regulate downstream target genes involved in the maintenance and differentiation of embryonic stem cells. A search for the OCT4-SOX2-NANOG network motif in other species reveals that it is unique to mammals. With a kinetic modeling approach, we ascribe function to the observed OCT4-SOX2-NANOG network by making plausible assumptions about the interactions between the transcription factors at the gene promoter binding sites and RNA polymerase (RNAP), at each of the three genes as well as at the target genes. We identify a bistable switch in the network, which arises due to several positive feedback loops, and is switched on/off by input environmental signals. The switch stabilizes the expression levels of the three genes, and through their regulatory roles on the downstream target genes, leads to a binary decision: when OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG are expressed and the switch is on, the self-renewal genes are on and the differentiation genes are off. The opposite holds when the switch is off. The model is extremely robust to parameter changes. In addition to providing a self-consistent picture of the transcriptional circuit, the model generates several predictions. Increasing the binding strength of NANOG to OCT4 and SOX2, or increasing its basal transcriptional rate, leads to an irreversible bistable switch: the switch remains on even when the activating signal is removed. Hence, the stem cell can be manipulated to be self-renewing without the requirement of input signals. We also suggest tests that could discriminate between a variety of feedforward regulation architectures of the target genes by OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG.
| S-EPMC1570179 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A hallmark of graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD), a life-threatening complication after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, is the cytopathic injury of host tissues mediated by persistent alloreactive effector T cells (T(E)). However, the mechanisms that regulate the persistence of alloreactive T(E) during GVHD remain largely unknown. Using mouse GVHD models, we demonstrate that alloreactive CD8(+) T(E) rapidly diminished in vivo when adoptively transferred into irradiated secondary congenic recipient mice. In contrast, although alloreactive CD8(+) T(E) underwent massive apoptosis upon chronic exposure to alloantigens, they proliferated in vivo in secondary allogeneic recipients, persisted, and caused severe GVHD. Thus, the continuous proliferation of alloreactive CD8(+) T(E), which is mediated by alloantigenic stimuli rather than homeostatic factors, is critical to maintaining their persistence. Gene expression profile analysis revealed that although alloreactive CD8(+) T(E) increased the expression of genes associated with cell death, they activated a group of stem cell genes normally expressed in embryonic and neural stem cells. Most of these stem cell genes are associated with cell cycle regulation, DNA replication, chromatin modification, and transcription. One of these genes, Ezh2, which encodes a chromatin modifying enzyme, was abundantly expressed in CD8(+) T(E). Silencing Ezh2 significantly reduced the proliferation of alloantigen-activated CD8(+) T cells. Thus, these findings identify that a group of stem cell genes could play important roles in sustaining terminally differentiated alloreactive CD8(+) T(E) and may be therapeutic targets for controlling GVHD.
| S-EPMC2913321 | biostudies-other
Project description:A major problem of allogeneic stem cell therapy is immunologically mediated graft rejection. HLA class I A, B, and Cw antigens are crucial factors, but little is known of their respective expression on stem cells and their progenies. We have recently shown that locus-specific expression (HLA-A, but not -B) is seen on some multipotent stem cells, and this raises the question how this is in other stem cells and how it changes during differentiation. In this study, we have used flow cytometry to investigate the cell surface expression of HLA-A and -B on human embryonic stem cells (hESC), human hematopoietic stem cells (hHSC), human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) and their fully-differentiated progenies such as lymphocytes, adipocytes and osteoblasts. hESC showed extremely low levels of HLA-A and no -B. In contrast, multipotent hMSC and hHSC generally expressed higher levels of HLA-A and clearly HLA-B though at lower levels. IFN? induced HLA-A to very high levels on both hESC and hMSC and HLA-B on hMSC. Even on hESC, a low expression of HLA-B was achieved. Differentiation of hMSC to osteoblasts downregulated HLA-A expression (P = 0.017). Interestingly HLA class I on T lymphocytes differed between different compartments. Mature bone marrow CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells expressed similar HLA-A and -B levels as hHSC, while in the peripheral blood they expressed significantly more HLA-B7 (P = 0.0007 and P = 0.004 for CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells, respectively). Thus different HLA loci are differentially regulated during differentiation of stem cells.
| S-EPMC3548781 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundUnderstanding the molecular mechanisms controlling pluripotency in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is of central importance towards realizing their potentials in medicine and science. Cross-species examination of transcriptional co-expression allows elucidation of fundamental and species-specific mechanisms regulating ESC self-renewal or differentiation.Methodology/principal findingsWe examined transcriptional co-expression of ESCs from pathways to global networks under the framework of human-mouse comparisons. Using generalized singular value decomposition and comparative partition around medoids algorithms, evolutionarily conserved and divergent transcriptional co-expression regulating pluripotency were identified from ESC-critical pathways including ACTIVIN/NODAL, ATK/PTEN, BMP, CELL CYCLE, JAK/STAT, PI3K, TGFbeta and WNT. A set of transcription factors, including FOX, GATA, MYB, NANOG, OCT, PAX, SOX and STAT, and the FGF response element were identified that represent key regulators underlying the transcriptional co-expression. By transcriptional intervention conducted in silico, dynamic behavior of pathways was examined, which demonstrate how much and in which specific ways each gene or gene combination effects the behavior transition of a pathway in response to ESC differentiation or pluripotency induction. The global co-expression networks of ESCs were dominated by highly connected hub genes such as IGF2, JARID2, LCK, MYCN, NASP, OCT4, ORC1L, PHC1 and RUVBL1, which are possibly critical in determining the fate of ESCs.Conclusions/significanceThrough these studies, evolutionary conservation at genomic, transcriptomic, and network levels is shown to be an effective predictor of molecular factors and mechanisms controlling ESC development. Various hypotheses regarding mechanisms controlling ESC development were generated, which could be further validated by in vitro experiments. Our findings shed light on the systems-level understanding of how ESC differentiation or pluripotency arises from the connectivity or networks of genes, and provide a "road-map" for further experimental investigation.
| S-EPMC2566604 | biostudies-literature