Project description:In the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena, an RNAi-mediated feedback loop is important for assembling heterochromatin on the sequences that are removed from the somatic genome by programmed DNA elimination. Because heterochromatin is formed exclusively on the eliminated sequences, some mechanism must inhibit this feedback loop at the boundaries of the eliminated sequences. In this study, we show that the HP1-like protein Coi6p, its interaction partners Coi7p and Lia5p, and the histone demethylase Jmj1p are crucial for confining the production of small RNAs to the eliminated sequences.
Project description:In the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena, an RNAi-mediated feedback loop is important for assembling heterochromatin on the sequences that are removed from the somatic genome by programmed DNA elimination. Because heterochromatin is formed exclusively on the eliminated sequences, some mechanism must inhibit this feedback loop at the boundaries of the eliminated sequences. In this study, we show that the HP1-like protein Coi6p, its interaction partners Coi7p and Lia5p, and the histone demethylase Jmj1p are crucial for confining the formation of heterochromatin to the eliminated sequences.
Project description:The goal of this study was to compare the qualitative and quantitative differences in the presence of DNA:RNA hybrids (R-loops) between wild type and PrimPol knockout cell lines. Our initial genetic experiments on a reporter locus have showed a link between the formation of R-loop and non-B DNA motifs; we have therefore analysed the correlation between R-loop abundance and of sequences computationaly predicted to form triplex-DNA or G-quadruplex forming sequences, and whether this changes between the two cell lines.
Project description:We investigated herein the interaction between nucleolin (NCL) and a set of G4 sequences derived from the CEB25 human minisatellite which adopt a parallel topology while differing by the length of the central loop (from 9nt to1nt). It is revealed that NCL strongly binds to long-loop (9-5 nt) G4 whilst interacting weakly with the shorter variants (loop < 3nt). Photocrosslinking experiments using 5-bromouracil (BrdU) modified sequences further confirmed the loop-length dependency thereby indicating that the CEB25-WT (9nt) is the best G4 substrate. Quantitative proteomic analysis (LC-MS/MS) of the photocrosslinking product(s) obtained with NCL bound to this sequence enabled the identification of one contact site within the 9nt loop. The protein fragment identified is located in the helix of the RBD2 domain of NCL, shedding light on the role of this structural element in the G4-loop recognition. Then, the ability of a panel of benchmark G4 ligands to prevent the NCL/G4 interaction was explored. It was found that only the most potent ligand PhenDC3 is able to inhibit NCL binding, thereby suggesting that the terminal guanine quartet is also a strong determinant of G4 recognition, putatively through interaction with the RGG domain. This study puts forward the molecular mechanism by which NCL recognizes G4-containing long loops and leads to propose a model implying a concerted action of RBD2 and RGG domains to achieve specific G4 recognition via a dual loop-quartet interaction.
Project description:RAG endonuclease initiates IgH locus (Igh) V(D)J assembly in progenitor (pro)-B cells by joining Ds to JHs, before joining upstream VHs to DJH intermediates. In mouse pro-B cells, the CTCF-binding element (CBE)-anchored chromatin loop domain at the 3’end of Igh contains an internal sub-domain spanning the 5’CBE anchor (IGCR1), the DHs, and a RAG-bound recombination center (RC). The RC comprises JH-proximal D (DQ52), 4 JHs, and the intronic enhancer (“iEmu”). Robust RAG cleavage is restricted to paired V(D)J segments flanked by complementary recombination signal sequences (12RSSs and 23RSSs). Ds are flanked downstream and upstream by 12RSSs that, respectively, mediate deletional joining with convergently-oriented JH-23RSSs and VH-23RSSs. Despite 12/23 compatibility, inversional D to JH joining via upstream D-12RSSs is rare. Plasmid-based assays attributed lack of inversional D to JH joining to sequence-based preference for downstream D-12RSSs, as opposed to putative linear scanning mechanisms. Given recent findings that RAG linearly scans convergent CBE-anchored chromatin loops, potentially formed by cohesin-mediated loop extrusion, we revisited a scanning role. Here, we report that JH-23RSS chromosomal orientation programs RC-bound RAG to linearly scan upstream chromatin in the 3’Igh sub-domain for convergently-oriented D-12RSSs and, thereby, to mediate deletional joining of all Ds, except RC-based DQ52 that joins by a diffusion-related mechanism. In a DQ52-based RC, formed in the absence of JHs, RAG bound by the downstream DQ52-RSS scans the downstream constant region exon-containing 3’Igh sub-domain in which scanning can be impeded by targeted nuclease-dead Cas9 (dCas9) binding, by transcription through repetitive Igh switch sequences, and by the 3’Igh CBE-based loop anchor. Notably, each scanning impediment focally increases RAG activity on potential substrate sequences within the impeded region. High resolution mapping of RC chromatin interactions reveals that such focal RAG targeting is associated with corresponding impediments to the loop extrusion process that drives chromatin past RC-bound RAG.
Project description:RAG endonuclease initiates IgH locus (Igh) V(D)J assembly in progenitor (pro)-B cells by joining Ds to JHs, before joining upstream VHs to DJH intermediates. In mouse pro-B cells, the CTCF-binding element (CBE)-anchored chromatin loop domain at the 3’end of Igh contains an internal sub-domain spanning the 5’CBE anchor (IGCR1), the DHs, and a RAG-bound recombination center (RC). The RC comprises JH-proximal D (DQ52), 4 JHs, and the intronic enhancer (“iEmu”). Robust RAG cleavage is restricted to paired V(D)J segments flanked by complementary recombination signal sequences (12RSSs and 23RSSs). Ds are flanked downstream and upstream by 12RSSs that, respectively, mediate deletional joining with convergently-oriented JH-23RSSs and VH-23RSSs. Despite 12/23 compatibility, inversional D to JH joining via upstream D-12RSSs is rare. Plasmid-based assays attributed lack of inversional D to JH joining to sequence-based preference for downstream D-12RSSs, as opposed to putative linear scanning mechanisms. Given recent findings that RAG linearly scans convergent CBE-anchored chromatin loops, potentially formed by cohesin-mediated loop extrusion, we revisited a scanning role. Here, we report that JH-23RSS chromosomal orientation programs RC-bound RAG to linearly scan upstream chromatin in the 3’Igh sub-domain for convergently-oriented D-12RSSs and, thereby, to mediate deletional joining of all Ds, except RC-based DQ52 that joins by a diffusion-related mechanism. In a DQ52-based RC, formed in the absence of JHs, RAG bound by the downstream DQ52-RSS scans the downstream constant region exon-containing 3’Igh sub-domain in which scanning can be impeded by targeted nuclease-dead Cas9 (dCas9) binding, by transcription through repetitive Igh switch sequences, and by the 3’Igh CBE-based loop anchor. Notably, each scanning impediment focally increases RAG activity on potential substrate sequences within the impeded region. High resolution mapping of RC chromatin interactions reveals that such focal RAG targeting is associated with corresponding impediments to the loop extrusion process that drives chromatin past RC-bound RAG.
Project description:RAG endonuclease initiates IgH locus (Igh) V(D)J assembly in progenitor (pro)-B cells by joining Ds to JHs, before joining upstream VHs to DJH intermediates. In mouse pro-B cells, the CTCF-binding element (CBE)-anchored chromatin loop domain at the 3’end of Igh contains an internal sub-domain spanning the 5’CBE anchor (IGCR1), the DHs, and a RAG-bound recombination center (RC). The RC comprises JH-proximal D (DQ52), 4 JHs, and the intronic enhancer (“iEmu”). Robust RAG cleavage is restricted to paired V(D)J segments flanked by complementary recombination signal sequences (12RSSs and 23RSSs). Ds are flanked downstream and upstream by 12RSSs that, respectively, mediate deletional joining with convergently-oriented JH-23RSSs and VH-23RSSs. Despite 12/23 compatibility, inversional D to JH joining via upstream D-12RSSs is rare. Plasmid-based assays attributed lack of inversional D to JH joining to sequence-based preference for downstream D-12RSSs, as opposed to putative linear scanning mechanisms. Given recent findings that RAG linearly scans convergent CBE-anchored chromatin loops, potentially formed by cohesin-mediated loop extrusion, we revisited a scanning role. Here, we report that JH-23RSS chromosomal orientation programs RC-bound RAG to linearly scan upstream chromatin in the 3’Igh sub-domain for convergently-oriented D-12RSSs and, thereby, to mediate deletional joining of all Ds, except RC-based DQ52 that joins by a diffusion-related mechanism. In a DQ52-based RC, formed in the absence of JHs, RAG bound by the downstream DQ52-RSS scans the downstream constant region exon-containing 3’Igh sub-domain in which scanning can be impeded by targeted nuclease-dead Cas9 (dCas9) binding, by transcription through repetitive Igh switch sequences, and by the 3’Igh CBE-based loop anchor. Notably, each scanning impediment focally increases RAG activity on potential substrate sequences within the impeded region. High resolution mapping of RC chromatin interactions reveals that such focal RAG targeting is associated with corresponding impediments to the loop extrusion process that drives chromatin past RC-bound RAG.