Project description:In this study, we analyzed the genome-wide miRNAs dynamics that occur during the differentitation of HESCs into the erythroid lineage using high throughput sequencing technology. Undifferentiated HESCs as well as erythroid cells at three developmental stages-ESER (embryonic stage), FLER (fetal stage) and PBER (adult stage) were analyzed.
Project description:β-thalassemia cell lines were generated via CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing of Bristol Erythroid Line Adult (BEL-A) and differentiated to the basophilic and polychromatic erythroid cell stage. TMT comparative proteomics was then performed on stage matched WT and β-thalassemia cells isolated by FACS.
Project description:Chromosome conformation capture (3C) provides an adaptable tool through which to study diverse biological questions. Currently, 3C techniques provide either low-resolution interaction profiles across the entire genome, e.g. HiC, or high-resolution interaction profiles at up to several hundred loci, e.g. NG Capture-C and 4C-seq. Generation of high-resolution, genome-wide interaction profiles can feasibly be achieved through efficiency improvements to current high-resolution methods. To this end we systematically tested and removed areas inefficiency in NG Capture-C to develop a new method Nuclear Capture-C, which provides a 300% increase in informative sequencing content. Using Nuclear Capture-C we target 8,026 erythroid promoters in triplicate, showing that this method can achieve high-resolution genome-wide 3C interaction profiles at scale.
Project description:Terminal differentiation of mammalian erythroid progenitors involves 4-5 cell divisions and induction of many erythroid important genes, followed by chromatin and nuclear condensation and enucleation. The protein levels of c-myc (Myc) are reduced dramatically during late stage erythroid maturation, coinciding with cell cycle arrest in G1-phase and enucleation, suggesting possible roles for c-myc in either or both of these processes. Here we demonstrate that ectopic Myc expression affects terminal erythroid maturation in a dose-dependent manner. Expression of Myc at physiological levels did not affect erythroid differentiation or cell cycle shutdown, but specifically blocked erythroid nuclear condensation and enucleation. Myc prevented deacetylation of several lysine residues in histones H3 and H4 that are normally deacetylated during erythroid maturation. When over-expressed at levels higher than the physiological range, Myc blocked erythroid differentiation and the cells continued to proliferate in cytokine-free, serum-containing culture medium with an early erythroblast morphology. These studies reveal an important dose-dependent function of Myc in regulating terminal maturation in mammalian erythroid cells. Our findings further support the emerging notion that Myc regulates chromatin structure by regulating global histone acetylation states. Five groups with three biological replicates in each.
Project description:Nuclear receptor binding SET domain protein 1 (NSD1) is recurrently mutated in human cancers including acute leukemia. We found that NSD1 knockdown altered erythroid clonogenic growth of human CD34+ hematopoietic cells. Ablation of Nsd1 in the hematopoietic system induced a transplantable erythroleukemia in mice. Despite abundant expression of the transcriptional master regulator GATA1, in vitro differentiation of Nsd1-/- erythroblasts was majorly impaired associated with reduced activation of GATA1-induced targets, while GATA1-repressed target genes were less affected. Retroviral expression of wildtype Nsd1, but not a catalytically-inactive Nsd1N1918Q SET-domain mutant induced terminal maturation of Nsd1-/- erythroblasts. Despite similar GATA1 levels, exogenous Nsd1 but not Nsd1N1918Q significantly increased GATA1 chromatin occupancy and target gene activation. Notably, Nsd1 expression reduced the association of GATA1 with the co-repressor SKI, and knockdown of SKI induced differentiation of Nsd1-/- erythroblasts. Collectively, we identified the NSD1 methyltransferase as a novel regulator of GATA1-controlled erythroid differentiation and leukemogenesis.
Project description:The chromatin modifying enzymes that drive the erythroid-specific transcription program are incompletely understood. Setd8 is the sole histone methyltransferase in mammals capable of generating mono-methylated histone H4 lysine 20 (H4K20me1) and is expressed at significantly higher levels in erythroid cells than any other cell- or tissue- type, suggesting that Setd8 has an erythroid-specific function. To test this hypothesis, stable knockdown of Setd8 was established in extensively self-renewing erythroblasts (ESREs), a well-characterized, non-transformed, model of erythroid maturation. Setd8 knockdown impaired erythroid maturation, characterized by a delay in hemoglobin accumulation, larger cell area, persistent kit expression, incomplete nuclear condensation, and lower rates of enucleation than control cells. Setd8 knockdown did not alter ESRE proliferation or viability, or result in accumulation of DNA damage. Global gene expression analyses following Setd8 knockdown suggests that in erythroid cells, Setd8 functions primarily as a repressor and demonstrated high levels of Gata2 expression. Setd8 occupies critical regulatory elements in the Gata2 locus, and knockdown of Setd8 resulted in loss of H4K20me1 and gain of H4 acetylation at the Gata2 1S promoter. Taken together, these results imply that Setd8 is an important regulator of erythroid maturation that works in part through repression of Gata2. RNA-seq was performed of Setd8 knockdown and control cells, both while the cells were proliferating, and after 6 hours of maturation.
Project description:Terminal differentiation of mammalian erythroid progenitors involves 4-5 cell divisions and induction of many erythroid important genes, followed by chromatin and nuclear condensation and enucleation. The protein levels of c-myc (Myc) are reduced dramatically during late stage erythroid maturation, coinciding with cell cycle arrest in G1-phase and enucleation, suggesting possible roles for c-myc in either or both of these processes. Here we demonstrate that ectopic Myc expression affects terminal erythroid maturation in a dose-dependent manner. Expression of Myc at physiological levels did not affect erythroid differentiation or cell cycle shutdown, but specifically blocked erythroid nuclear condensation and enucleation. Myc prevented deacetylation of several lysine residues in histones H3 and H4 that are normally deacetylated during erythroid maturation. When over-expressed at levels higher than the physiological range, Myc blocked erythroid differentiation and the cells continued to proliferate in cytokine-free, serum-containing culture medium with an early erythroblast morphology. These studies reveal an important dose-dependent function of Myc in regulating terminal maturation in mammalian erythroid cells. Our findings further support the emerging notion that Myc regulates chromatin structure by regulating global histone acetylation states.