Hit-and-run epigenetic editing prevents senescence entry in primary breast cells from healthy donors
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE100209 | GEO | 2017/08/07
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA390993
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:Aberrant promoter DNA hypermethylation is a hallmark of cancer; however, whether this is sufficient to drive cellular transformation is not clear. To investigate this question, we use a CRISPR-dCas9 epigenetic editing tool, where an inactive form of Cas9 is fused to DNA methyltransferase effectors. Using this system, here we show simultaneous de novo DNA methylation of genes commonly methylated in cancer, CDKN2A, RASSF1, HIC1 and PTEN in primary breast cells isolated from healthy human breast tissue. We find that promoter methylation is maintained in this system, even in the absence of the fusion construct, and this prevents cells from engaging senescence arrest. Our data show that the key driver of this phenotype is repression of CDKN2A transcript p16 where myoepithelial cells harbour cancer-like gene expression but do not exhibit anchorage-independent growth. This work demonstrates that hit-and-run epigenetic events can prevent senescence entry, which may facilitate tumour initiation.
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Project description:Aberrant promoter DNA hypermethylation is a hallmark of cancer; however, whether this is sufficient to drive cellular transformation in the absence of genetic mutations is not clear. To investigate this question, we use a CRISPR/dCas9 based epigenetic editing tool, where an inactive form of Cas9 is fused to DNMT3A and its regulator DNMT3L. Using this system, we show simultaneous de novo DNA methylation of genes commonly methylated in cancer, CDKN2A, RASSF1, HIC1 and PTEN in primary myoepithelial cells isolated from healthy human breast tissue. We find that promoter methylation is maintained in this system, even in the absence of the fusion construct and results in sustained repression of CDKN2A and RASSF1 transcripts which prevents cells from entering senescence. The phenotype is associated with retuned expression of a subset of genes to levels in early passage cells; however, the outgrowing myoepithelial cells are not immortal but proliferate for 18-20 population doublings before cell cycle arrest. Finally, we show that the key driver of this phenotype is repression of CDKN2A transcript p16, but prolonged proliferation is enhanced by combined hypermethylation and repression of both CDKN2A transcripts p16 and p14. This work demonstrates that hit-and-run epigenetic events can prevent senescence entry, a potential first step in the disease process.
2017-08-07 | GSE100027 | GEO
Project description:Aberrant promoter DNA hypermethylation is a hallmark of cancer; however, whether this is sufficient to drive cellular transformation in the absence of genetic mutations is not clear. To investigate this question, we use a CRISPR/dCas9 based epigenetic editing tool, where an inactive form of Cas9 is fused to DNMT3A and its regulator DNMT3L. Using this system, we show simultaneous de novo DNA methylation of genes commonly methylated in cancer, CDKN2A, RASSF1, HIC1 and PTEN in primary myoepithelial cells isolated from healthy human breast tissue. We find that promoter methylation is maintained in this system, even in the absence of the fusion construct and results in sustained repression of CDKN2A and RASSF1 transcripts which prevents cells from entering senescence. The phenotype is associated with retuned expression of a subset of genes to levels in early passage cells; however, the outgrowing myoepithelial cells are not immortal but proliferate for 25-30 population doublings before cell cycle arrest. Finally, we show that the key driver of this phenotype is repression of CDKN2A transcript p16, but prolonged proliferation is enhanced by combined hypermethylation and repression of both CDKN2A transcripts p16 and p14. This work demonstrates that hit-and-run epigenetic events can prevent senescence entry, a potential first step in the disease process.
2017-08-07 | GSE100184 | GEO
Project description:Aberrant promoter DNA hypermethylation is a hallmark of cancer; however, whether this is sufficient to drive cellular transformation in the absence of genetic mutations is not clear. To investigate this question, we use a CRISPR/dCas9 based epigenetic editing tool, where an inactive form of Cas9 is fused to DNMT3A and its regulator DNMT3L. Using this system, we show simultaneous de novo DNA methylation of genes commonly methylated in cancer, CDKN2A, RASSF1, HIC1 and PTEN in primary myoepithelial cells isolated from healthy human breast tissue. We find that promoter methylation is maintained in this system, even in the absence of the fusion construct and results in sustained repression of CDKN2A and RASSF1 transcripts which prevents cells from entering senescence. The phenotype is associated with retuned expression of a subset of genes to levels in early passage cells; however, the outgrowing myoepithelial cells are not immortal but proliferate for 25-30 population doublings before cell cycle arrest. Finally, we show that the key driver of this phenotype is repression of CDKN2A transcript p16, but prolonged proliferation is enhanced by combined hypermethylation and repression of both CDKN2A transcripts p16 and p14. This work demonstrates that hit-and-run epigenetic events can prevent senescence entry, a potential first step in the disease process.
2017-08-07 | GSE100208 | GEO
Project description:Hit-and-run epigenetic editing prevents senescence entry in primary breast cells from healthy donors
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Project description:Gene silencing is instrumental to interrogate gene function and holds promise for therapeutic applications. Here, we repurpose the endogenous retroviruses' silencing machinery of embryonic stem cells to stably silence three highly expressed genes in somatic cells by epigenetics. This was achieved by transiently expressing combinations of engineered transcriptional repressors that bind to and synergize at the target locus to instruct repressive histone marks and de novo DNA methylation, thus ensuring long-term memory of the repressive epigenetic state. Silencing was highly specific, as shown by genome-wide analyses, sharply confined to the targeted locus without spreading to nearby genes, resistant to activation induced by cytokine stimulation, and relieved only by targeted DNA demethylation. We demonstrate the portability of this technology by multiplex gene silencing, adopting different DNA binding platforms and interrogating thousands of genomic loci in different cell types, including primary T lymphocytes. Targeted epigenome editing might have broad application in research and medicine.
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Project description:Snail-borne parasitic diseases represent an important challenge to human and animal health. Control strategies that target the intermediate snail host has proved very effective. Epigenetic mechanisms are involved in developmental processes and therefore play a fundamental role in developmental variation. DNA methylation is an important epigenetic information carrier in eukaryotes that plays a major role in the control of chromatin structure. Epigenome editing tools have been instrumental to demonstrate functional importance of this mark for gene expression in vertebrates. In invertebrates, such tools are missing, and the role of DNA methylation remains unknown. Here we demonstrate that methylome engineering can be used to modify in vivo the CpG methylation level of a target gene in the freshwater snail Biomphalaria glabrata, intermediate host of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni. We used a dCas9-SunTag-DNMT3A complex and synthetic sgRNA to transfect B. glabrata embryos and observed an increase of CpG methylation at the target site in 50% of the hatching snails.
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Project description:Gene silencing is a powerful approach for interrogating gene function and holds promise for therapeutic applications. Here we repurpose the ERV silencing machinery of embryonic stem cells to stably silence genes in somatic cells by epigenetics. This was achieved by transiently expressing combinations of artificial transcriptional repressors that bind to and synergize at the target locus to instruct de novo DNA methylation, thus ensuing long-term memory of the repressive epigenetic state. Silencing was highly specific and sharply confined to the targeted gene, was resistant to activation induced by cytokine stimulation and could be relieved only by targeted DNA demethylation. We demonstrate the portability of this technology by silencing three highly transcribed genes, B2M, IFNAR1, and VEGFA, using multiple DNA binding platforms and interrogating thousands of genomic loci after reporter insertion in different cell types, including primary T-lymphocytes. Finally, we expanded the breadth of targeted epigenome editing by multiplex gene silencing, setting the stage for its application in research and medicine.
2016-08-26 | GSE81826 | GEO
Project description:BackgroundDynamic transcriptional regulation is critical for an organism's response to environmental signals and yet remains elusive to capture. Such transcriptional regulation is mediated by master transcription factors (TF) that control large gene regulatory networks. Recently, we described a dynamic mode of TF regulation named "hit-and-run". This model proposes that master TF can interact transiently with a set of targets, but the transcription of these transient targets continues after the TF dissociation from the target promoter. However, experimental evidence validating active transcription of the transient TF-targets is still lacking.ResultsHere, we show that active transcription continues after transient TF-target interactions by tracking de novo synthesis of RNAs made in response to TF nuclear import. To do this, we introduced an affinity-labeled 4-thiouracil (4tU) nucleobase to specifically isolate newly synthesized transcripts following conditional TF nuclear import. Thus, we extended the TARGET system (Transient Assay Reporting Genome-wide Effects of Transcription factors) to include 4tU-labeling and named this new technology TARGET-tU. Our proof-of-principle example is the master TF Basic Leucine Zipper 1 (bZIP1), a central integrator of metabolic signaling in plants. Using TARGET-tU, we captured newly synthesized mRNAs made in response to bZIP1 nuclear import at a time when bZIP1 is no longer detectably bound to its target. Thus, the analysis of de novo transcripomics demonstrates that bZIP1 may act as a catalyst TF to initiate a transcriptional complex ("hit"), after which active transcription by RNA polymerase continues without the TF being bound to the gene promoter ("run").ConclusionOur findings provide experimental proof for active transcription of transient TF-targets supporting a "hit-and-run" mode of action. This dynamic regulatory model allows a master TF to catalytically propagate rapid and broad transcriptional responses to changes in environment. Thus, the functional read-out of de novo transcripts produced by transient TF-target interactions allowed us to capture new models for genome-wide transcriptional control.
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Project description:Transient expression of the CRISPR/Cas9 machinery will not only reduce risks of mutagenesis from off-target activities, but also decrease possible immune response to Cas9 protein. Building on our recent developing of a system able to package up to 100 copies of Cas9 mRNA in each lentivirus-like particle (LVLP) via the specific interaction between aptamer and aptamer-binding proteins (ABP), here we develop a lentiviral capsid-based bionanoparticle system, which allows efficient packaging of Cas9/sgRNA ribonucleoprotein (RNP). We show that replacing the Tetraloop of sgRNA scaffold with a com aptamer preserves the functions of the guide RNA, and the com-modified sgRNA can package Cas9/sgRNA RNP into lentivirus-like particles via the specific interactions between ABP and aptamer, and sgRNA and Cas9 protein. These RNP bionanoparticles generated Indels on different targets in different cells with efficiencies similar to or better than our recently described Cas9 mRNA LVLPs. The new system showed fast action and reduced off-target rates, and makes it more convenient and efficient in delivering Cas9 RNPs for transient Cas9 expression and efficient genome editing.
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