Bivalent Chromatin Marks Developmental Regulatory Genes in the Mouse Embryonic Germline in Vivo
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ABSTRACT: We developed a ChIP protocol for the analysis of histone marks using less than 10,000 cells per IP, and used it to investigate the chromatin state of E11.5 mouse primordial germ cells (PGCs). A genome-wide ChIP-Seq analysis of E11.5 PGCs revealed a distribution of H3K4me3/H3K27me3 bivalent domains highly enriched for developmental regulatory genes.
Project description:We developed a ChIP protocol for the analysis of histone marks using less than 10,000 cells per IP, and used it to investigate the chromatin state of E11.5 mouse primordial germ cells (PGCs). A genome-wide ChIP-Seq analysis of E11.5 PGCs revealed a distribution of H3K4me3/H3K27me3 bivalent domains highly enriched for developmental regulatory genes. H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 ChIP-Seq from mouse E11.5 primordial germ cells.
Project description:Purpose: To identify molecular pathways underlying epigenetic reprogramming in early germ cell precursors, we examined global gene expression of wild type primordial germ cells using mRNA sequencing. Methods: Given the limited number of PGCs collected from E9.5 to E13.5 (ranging from 300 to 5000), we used a low-input RNA sequencing method, Smart-Seq. RNA libraries were pooled and sequenced by Illumina Hiseq. Results: We generated >22 million uniquely mapped reads per sample and identified >10 thousand transcripts per genotype (RPKM>0.1). Hierarchical clustering and correlation analysis on gene expression indicates samples were clearly separated according to their genotypes with Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.98/0.99 within biological replicates. Compared with E9.5 PGCs, 479 genes were significantly up-regulated and 248 genes were down-regulated in E11.5 PGCs. When compared with E11.5 PGCs, male E13.5 PGCs had 362 up-regulated, and 239 down-regulated genes, whereas female E13.5 PGCs had 1163 up-regulated and 333 down-regulated genes. Overall, the number of up-regulated genes was greater than that of the down-regulated genes in every comparison, suggesting that gene expression is generally activated during PGC reprogramming. mRNA profiles of primordial germ cells derived from developmental embryos stages (E9.5, E11.5 and E13.5) were generated by deep sequencing, in duplicates (E9.5 and E11.5) or triplicates (E13.5f and E13.5m), using Illumina Hiseq.
Project description:Bivalent domains marked with repressive H3K27me3 and activating H3K4me2/3 are a molecular signature of totipotency in stem cells and development. While bivalent domains are retained throughout the germline to recover totipotency in the next generation, the mechanisms establishing bivalent domains remains unknown. Here we demonstrate that a germline-specific Polycomb protein, SCML2, binds to chromatin containing hypomethylated DNA to induce H3K27me3, thereby initiating the establishment of germline-specific bivalent domains in mice. SCML2 regulates two distinct classes of autosomal bivalent domains, the first are maintained constitutively through spermatogenesis (Class I), and the second are specifically established during meiosis (Class II). In postmeiotic spermatids, the loss of H3K27me3 leads to an increase of H3K4me2/3 on bivalent domains and disorganization of pericentromic heterochromatin. We propose that SCML2 regulates dynamic bivalent domains in the germline as a molecular imprint to recover totipotency after fertilization.
Project description:We have characterized by small-RNAseq the miRNA expression pattern of mouse male and female Primordial Germ Cells (PGCs) and somatic stromal cells from gonads at E11.5, E12.5 and E13.5. MiRNA accumulation was higher in somatic cells than in PGCs and more stable across the different developmental stages analyzed. Differential expression analyses showed differences in the regulation of key miRNA clusters such as miR-199-214, miR-182-183-96 and miR-34c-5p whose targets have defined roles in both germ and somatic cells in gonadal sexual determination. Extensive analyses of miRNA sequences revealed an increase in non-canonical isoforms in PGCs at E12.5 compared to E11.5 and E13.5 and a dramatic change in isomiR expression and non-template 3' nucleotide additions in female PGCs at E13.5 respect to the other samples.
Project description:Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are the embryonic precursors to egg and sperm. When removed from the embryonic gonad, PGCs can give rise to embryonic germ cell lines (EGs), pluripotent stem cells that display most of the characteristics of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) including the ability to form teratomas and to contribute to chimera formation. In mice, EG cells can be derived between E8.5 up to E12.5 of embryonic development, at which point the PGCs undergo sexual differentiation and in the male transition into unipotent gonocytes. Dazl, a germ cell-specific RNA-binding protein, is specifically expressed in developing PGCs and is required for proper germ cell development. Dazl knockout mice are infertile, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenotype are still unknown. Here we demonstrate that Dazl localizes in granular structures in mammalian PGCs but not in ESCs. We demonstrate Dazl plays a central role in a large mRNA/protein interactive network that includes members of Fragile-X family RNA-binding proteins. We demonstrate that Dazl and Fxr1 play a central role in these granules and directly regulate the translation of specific core pluripotency factors, including Sox2 and Suz12. RNA species interacting specifically with Dazl in primordial germ cells were identified by RNA-IP microarray analysis. This dataset contains data from native RNA-IPs without UV-crosslinking. Two independent native RNA-IP (anti-V5 and anti-GFP) experiments from in vitro derived primordial germ cells expressing Dazl-GFP-V5. Input Total RNA and mock IP using normal mouse IgG were used as controls. Control and IP-enriched RNA samples were analyzed by Agilent Mouse Whole Genome 4X44K one-color microarrays.
Project description:Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are the embryonic precursors to egg and sperm. When removed from the embryonic gonad, PGCs can give rise to embryonic germ cell lines (EGs), pluripotent stem cells that display most of the characteristics of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) including the ability to form teratomas and to contribute to chimera formation. In mice, EG cells can be derived between E8.5 up to E12.5 of embryonic development, at which point the PGCs undergo sexual differentiation and in the male transition into unipotent gonocytes. Dazl, a germ cell-specific RNA-binding protein, is specifically expressed in developing PGCs and is required for proper germ cell development. Dazl knockout mice are infertile, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenotype are still unknown. Here we demonstrate that Dazl localizes in granular structures in mammalian PGCs but not in ESCs. We demonstrate Dazl plays a central role in a large mRNA/protein interactive network that includes members of Fragile-X family RNA-binding proteins. We demonstrate that Dazl and Fxr1 play a central role in these granules and directly regulate the translation of specific core pluripotency factors, including Sox2 and Suz12. RNA species interacting specifically with Dazl in primordial germ cells were identified by RNA-IP microarray analysis. This dataset contains data from UV-crosslinked RNA-IPs from in vitro PGC lysates. UV-crosslinked RNA-IP (anti-GFP and anti-PABP1) experiments from in vitro derived primordial germ cells expressing Dazl-GFP-V5. Input Total RNA and polyA-binding protein 1 (PABP1) IP were used as controls. Control and IP-enriched RNA samples were analyzed by Agilent Mouse Whole Genome 4X44K one-color microarrays. Two replicates for each condition were done.
Project description:The male germline transcriptome changes dramatically during the mitosis-to-meiosis transition to activate late spermatogenesis genes and to transiently suppress genes commonly expressed in somatic lineages and spermatogenesis progenitor cells, termed somatic/progenitor genes. These changes reflect epigenetic regulation. Induction of late spermatogenesis genes during spermatogenesis is facilitated by poised chromatin established in the stem cell phases of spermatogonia, whereas silencing of somatic/progenitor genes during meiosis and postmeiosis is associated with formation of bivalent domains which also allows the recovery of the somatic/progenitor program after fertilization. Importantly, during spermatogenesis mechanisms of epigenetic regulation on sex chromosomes are different from autosomes: X-linked somatic/progenitor genes are suppressed by meiotic sex chromosome inactivation without deposition of H3K27me3. Our results suggest that bivalent H3K27me3 and H3K4me2/3 domains are not limited to developmental promoters (which maintain bivalent domains that are silent throughout the reproductive cycle), but also underlie reversible silencing of somatic/progenitor genes during the mitosis-to-meiosis transition in late spermatogenesis. 29 samples analyzed by ChIP-Seq
Project description:Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are the foundation of totipotency and vital for reproduction and heredity. PGCs in mice arise from the epiblast around Embryonic Day (E) 7.0, migrate through the hindgut endoderm, and colonize and proliferate in the embryonic gonads until around E13.5 prior to their differentiation either into pro-spermatogonia or oogonia. PRDM1, a transcriptional repressor, plays an essential role in PGC specification that includes robustly repressing a somatic mesodermal program. Using an inducible conditional knockout system, we show here that PRDM1 is critically required throughout PGC development. When Prdm1 was deleted in migrating PGCs at E9.5/E10.5 or in male gonadal PGCs at E11.5, PGCs were eliminated by apoptosis from around E10/5/E11.5 or E13.5, respectively. When Prdm1 was deleted in female gonadal PGCs at E11.5, PGCs progressed into the first meiotic prophase in an apparently normal fashion, but the oogonia exhibited an aberrant pachytene phenotype, undergoing abrupt apoptosis from around E16.5. The escape of a fraction of PGCs (~10%) from the Prdm1 deletion was sufficient to recover fairly normal germ-cell pools both in male and female adults. The key targets of PRDM1 in migrating/gonadal PGCs, including genes for development, apoptosis, and pro-spermatogonial differentiation, showed only a modest overlap with those upon PGC specification and were enriched with histone H3 lysine 27 tri-methylation (H3K27me3). Our findings provide a critical insight into the mechanism for maintaining the transcriptional integrity of PGCs.
Project description:Developmental regulatory genes have both activating (H3K4me3) and repressive (H3K27me3) histone modifications in embryonic stem cells (ESCs). This bivalent configuration is thought to maintain lineage commitment programs in a poised state. However, establishing physiological relevance has been complicated by the high number of cells required for chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). We developed a low-cell-number chromatin immunoprecipitation (low-cell ChIP) protocol to investigate the chromatin of mouse primordial germ cells (PGCs). Genome-wide analysis of embryonic day 11.5 (E11.5) PGCs revealed H3K4me3/H3K27me3 bivalent domains highly enriched at developmental regulatory genes in a manner remarkably similar to ESCs. Developmental regulators remain bivalent and transcriptionally silent through the initiation of sexual differentiation at E13.5. We also identified >2,500 "orphan" bivalent domains that are distal to known genes and expressed in a tissue-specific manner but silent in PGCs. Our results demonstrate the existence of bivalent domains in the germline and raise the possibility that the somatic program is continuously maintained as bivalent, potentially imparting transgenerational epigenetic inheritance.
Project description:Mouse primordial germ cells (PGCs) erase global DNA methylation (5mC) as part of the comprehensive epigenetic reprogramming that occurs during PGC development. 5mC plays an important role in maintaining stable gene silencing and repression of transposable elements (TE) but it is not clear how the extensive loss of DNA methylation impacts on gene expression and TE repression in developing PGCs. Using a novel epigenetic disruption and recovery screen and genetic analyses, we identified a core set of germline-specific genes that are dependent exclusively on promoter DNA methylation for initiation and maintenance of developmental silencing. These gene promoters appear to possess a specialised chromatin environment that does not acquire any of the repressive H3K27me3, H3K9me2, H3K9me3 or H4K20me3 histone modifications when silenced by DNA methylation. Intriguingly, this methylation-dependent subset is highly enriched in genes with roles in suppressing TE activity in germ cells. We show that the mechanism for developmental regulation of the germline genome-defence genes involves DNMT3B-dependent de novo DNA methylation. These genes are then activated by lineage-specific promoter demethylation during distinct global epigenetic reprogramming events in migratory (~E8.5) and post-migratory (E10.5-E11.5) PGCs. We propose that genes involved in genome defence are developmentally regulated exclusively by promoter DNA methylation as a sensory mechanism that is coupled to the potential for TE activation during global 5mC erasure, thereby acting as a failsafe to ensure TE suppression and maintain genomic integrity in the germline. Total RNA isolated from control p53-/- or sample Dnmt1-/- (p53-/-) mouse embryonic fibroblasts