Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE27114: Expression data from REST knock-out versus REST wild type cells during in vitro neurogenesis GSE27148: A comparative epigenomics approach reveals REST as a mediator of Polycomb reprogramming during neuronal differentiation Refer to individual Series
Project description:While changes in chromatin are integral to transcriptional reprogramming during cellular differentiation, it is currently unclear how chromatin modifications are targeted to specific loci. We developed a computational model on the premise that transcription factors (TFs) direct dynamic chromatin changes during cell fate decisions. When applied to a neurogenesis paradigm, this approach predicted the TF REST as a determinant of gain of Polycomb-mediated H3K27me3 in neuronal progenitor cells. We prove this prediction experimentally by showing that the absence of REST causes loss of H3K27me3 at target promoters in trans at the same cellular state. Moreover, promoter fragments containing a REST binding site are sufficient to recruit H3K27me3 in cis, while deletion of their REST site results in loss of H3K27me3. These findings illustrate that computational modeling can systematically identify TFs that regulate chromatin dynamics genome-wide. Local determination of Polycomb activity by REST exemplifies such TF based regulation of chromatin. Expression profiling of REST knock-out (RESTko) versus REST wildtype (RESTwt) or REST heterozygous knock-out (RESThet) cells at three stages of in vitro neuronal differentiation. RESTko and RESTwt/RESThet embryonic stem (ES) cells were differentiated to terminal neurons (TN) via a defined neuronal progenitor (NP) state. Three biological replicates (suffixes a to c).
Project description:Rest (RE1 silencing transcription factor, also called NRSF) is involved in the maintenance of the undifferentiated state of neuronal stem/progenitor cells in vitro by preventing precocious expression of neuronal genes. However, the function of Rest during neurogenesis in vivo remains to be elucidated because of the early embryonic lethal phenotype of the conventional Rest knockout mice. In the present study, we have generated Rest conditional knockout mice, and the effect of genetic ablation of Rest during the embryonic neurogenesis can be examined in vivo. We herein show that Rest plays a role in suppressing the expression of neuronal genes in cultured neuronal cells in vitro, as well as in non-neuronal cells outside of the central nervous system, but that it is dispensable for the embryonic neurogenesis in vivo. Our findings highlight the significance of extrinsic signals for the proper intrinsic regulation of neuronal gene expression levels in the specification of cell fate during embryonic neurogenesis in vivo. Total RNAs from E13.5 limbs and brains were analyzed for global gene expressions by Agilent microarray.