Project description:ATAC-seq profiling of Nfat5 KO and wild type macrophages derived from bone marrow (primary cells), treated or not with Lipopolysaccharide (LPS).
Project description:Introgressed variants from other species can be an important source of genetic variation because they may arise rapidly, can include multiple mutations on a single haplotype, and have often been pretested by selection in the species of origin. Although introgressed alleles are generally deleterious, several studies have reported introgression as the source of adaptive alleles-including the rodenticide-resistant variant of Vkorc1 that introgressed from Mus spretus into European populations of Mus musculus domesticus. Here, we conducted bidirectional genome scans to characterize introgressed regions into one wild population of M. spretus from Spain and three wild populations of M. m. domesticus from France, Germany, and Iran. Despite the fact that these species show considerable intrinsic postzygotic reproductive isolation, introgression was observed in all individuals, including in the M. musculus reference genome (GRCm38). Mus spretus individuals had a greater proportion of introgression compared with M. m. domesticus, and within M. m. domesticus, the proportion of introgression decreased with geographic distance from the area of sympatry. Introgression was observed on all autosomes for both species, but not on the X-chromosome in M. m. domesticus, consistent with known X-linked hybrid sterility and inviability genes that have been mapped to the M. spretus X-chromosome. Tract lengths were generally short with a few outliers of up to 2.7 Mb. Interestingly, the longest introgressed tracts were in olfactory receptor regions, and introgressed tracts were significantly enriched for olfactory receptor genes in both species, suggesting that introgression may be a source of functional novelty even between species with high barriers to gene flow.
Project description:Cellular binary fate decisions require the progeny to silence genes associated with the alternative fate. The major subsets of alpha:beta T cells have been extensively studied as a model system for fate decisions. While the transcription factor RUNX3 is required for the initiation of Cd4 silencing in CD8 T cell progenitors, it is not required to maintain the silencing of Cd4 and other helper T lineage genes. The other runt domain containing protein, RUNX1, silences Cd4 in an earlier T cell progenitor, but this silencing is reversed whereas the gene silencing after RUNX3 expression is not reverse. Therefore, we hypothesized that RUNX3 and not RUNX1 recruits other factors that maintains the silencing of helper T lineage genes in CD8 T cells. To this end, we performed a proteomics screen of RUNX1 and RUNX3 to determine candidate silencing factors.
Project description:ATAC-seq was performed, mapped, and analyzed as previously described (PMID: 34446717: \\"ATAC-seq was performed on 50,000 cells per replicate as described in Buenrostro et al. (with modifications based on Corces et al.), on EpiSCs and PSM-differentiated cell populations at desired time-points. Libraries were generated using the Ad1_noMX and Ad2.1–2.16 barcoded primers64 and amplified for 10 total PCR cycles. Libraries were purified with AMPure XP beads to remove contaminating primer dimers and fragments >1,000 bp. Library quality was assessed using the Fragment analyzer and quantitated by Qubit assay. The libraries were sequenced with 50 bp paired-end reads on a Next-Seq 500 Sequencer (Illumina) at the DanStem Genomics Platform (University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark).\\"). For all conditions, two biological replicate samples were collected from independent experiments. Library quality was assessed using the Fragment Analyzer and quantitated by Qubit assay. The libraries were sequenced with 50 bp paired-end reads on a NextSeq 500 Sequencer (Illumina) at the DanStem/reNEW Genomics Platform (University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark). Prediction of cis-regulatory elements (CREs) and gene annotation was done using rGREAT (v4.0.4) [PMID: 20436461],[PMID: 36040971] or HOMER (v.4.7)[PMID: 20513432]
Project description:A single hematopoietic stem cell can give rise to all blood cells with remarkable fidelity. Here, we define the chromatin accessibility and transcriptional landscape controlling this process in thirteen primary cell types that traverse the hematopoietic hierarchy. Exploiting the finding that enhancer landscapes better reflect cell identity than mRNA levels, we enable "enhancer cytometry" for accurate enumeration of pure cell types from complex populations. We further reveal the lineage ontogeny of genetic elements linked to diverse human diseases. In acute myeloid leukemia, chromatin accessibility reveals distinctive regulatory evolution in pre-leukemic HSCs (pHSCs), leukemia stem cells, and leukemic blasts. These leukemic cells demonstrate unique lineage infidelity, confirmed by single cell regulomes. We further show that pHSCs have a competitive advantage that is conferred by reduced chromatin accessibility at HOXA9 targets and is associated with adverse patient outcomes. Thus, regulome dynamics can provide diverse insights into human hematopoietic development and disease. Single-cell ATAC-seq of LMPPs, Monocytes, LSCs and Luekemic blast cells.
Project description:Translational research is commonly performed in the C57B6/J mouse strain, chosen for its genetic homogeneity and phenotypic uniformity. Here, we evaluate the suitability of the white-footed deer mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) as a model organism for aging research, offering a comparative analysis against C57B6/J and diversity outbred (DO) Mus musculus strains. Our study includes comparisons of body composition, skeletal muscle function, and cardiovascular parameters, shedding light on potential applications and limitations of P. leucopus in aging studies. Notably, P. leucopus exhibits distinct body composition characteristics, emphasizing reduced muscle force exertion and a unique metabolism, particularly in fat mass. Cardiovascular assessments showed changes in arterial stiffness, challenging conventional assumptions and highlighting the need for a nuanced interpretation of aging-related phenotypes. Our study also highlights inherent challenges associated with maintaining and phenotyping P. leucopus cohorts. Behavioral considerations, including anxiety-induced responses during handling and phenotyping assessment, pose obstacles in acquiring meaningful data. Moreover, the unique anatomy of P. leucopus necessitates careful adaptation of protocols designed for Mus musculus. While showcasing potential benefits, further extensive analyses across broader age ranges and larger cohorts are necessary to establish the reliability of P. leucopus as a robust and translatable model for aging studies.
Project description:A single hematopoietic stem cell can give rise to all blood cells with remarkable fidelity. Here, we define the chromatin accessibility and transcriptional landscape controlling this process in thirteen primary cell types that traverse the hematopoietic hierarchy. Exploiting the finding that enhancer landscapes better reflect cell identity than mRNA levels, we enable "enhancer cytometry" for accurate enumeration of pure cell types from complex populations. We further reveal the lineage ontogeny of genetic elements linked to diverse human diseases. In acute myeloid leukemia, chromatin accessibility reveals distinctive regulatory evolution in pre-leukemic HSCs (pHSCs), leukemia stem cells, and leukemic blasts. These leukemic cells demonstrate unique lineage infidelity, confirmed by single cell regulomes. We further show that pHSCs have a competitive advantage that is conferred by reduced chromatin accessibility at HOXA9 targets and is associated with adverse patient outcomes. Thus, regulome dynamics can provide diverse insights into human hematopoietic development and disease. ATAC-seq profiles of hematopoietic and leukemic cell types, across 13 normal hematopoietic cell types and 3 acute myeloid leukemia cell types. The complete data set contains a total of 132 samples.
Project description:BackgroundCopy number variation is an important dimension of genetic diversity and has implications in development and disease. As an important model organism, the mouse is a prime candidate for copy number variant (CNV) characterization, but this has yet to be completed for a large sample size. Here we report CNV analysis of publicly available, high-density microarray data files for 351 mouse tail samples, including 290 mice that had not been characterized for CNVs previously.ResultsWe found 9634 putative autosomal CNVs across the samples affecting 6.87% of the mouse reference genome. We find significant differences in the degree of CNV uniqueness (single sample occurrence) and the nature of CNV-gene overlap between wild-caught mice and classical laboratory strains. CNV-gene overlap was associated with lipid metabolism, pheromone response and olfaction compared to immunity, carbohydrate metabolism and amino-acid metabolism for wild-caught mice and classical laboratory strains, respectively. Using two subspecies of wild-caught Mus musculus, we identified putative CNVs unique to those subspecies and show this diversity is better captured by wild-derived laboratory strains than by the classical laboratory strains. A total of 9 genic copy number variable regions (CNVRs) were selected for experimental confirmation by droplet digital PCR (ddPCR).ConclusionThe analysis we present is a comprehensive, genome-wide analysis of CNVs in Mus musculus, which increases the number of known variants in the species and will accelerate the identification of novel variants in future studies.
Project description:BackgroundLong terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons make up a large fraction of the typical mammalian genome. They comprise about 8% of the human genome and approximately 10% of the mouse genome. On account of their abundance, LTR retrotransposons are believed to hold major significance for genome structure and function. Recent advances in genome sequencing of a variety of model organisms has provided an unprecedented opportunity to evaluate better the diversity of LTR retrotransposons resident in eukaryotic genomes.ResultsUsing a new data-mining program, LTR_STRUC, in conjunction with conventional techniques, we have mined the GenBank mouse (Mus musculus) database and the more complete Ensembl mouse dataset for LTR retrotransposons. We report here that the M. musculus genome contains at least 21 separate families of LTR retrotransposons; 13 of these families are described here for the first time.ConclusionsAll families of mouse LTR retrotransposons are members of the gypsy-like superfamily of retroviral-like elements. Several different families of unrelated non-autonomous elements were identified, suggesting that the evolution of non-autonomy may be a common event. High sequence similarity between several LTR retrotransposons identified in this study and those found in distantly-related species suggests that horizontal transfer has been a significant factor in the evolution of mouse LTR retrotransposons.