Project description:Alternative 3M-bM-^@M-^Y-terminal exons, which use intronic polyadenylation sites, are generally unconserved and lowly expressed, while the main gene products end in the last exon of genes. In this study, we discover a class of human genes, where the last exon appeared recently during evolution, and the major gene product uses an alternative 3M-bM-^@M-^Y-terminal exon corresponding to the ancestral last exon of the gene. This novel class of alternative 3M-bM-^@M-^Y-terminal exons are down-regulated on a large scale by doxorubicin, a cytostatic drug targeting topoisomerase II, and play a role in cell cycle regulation, including centromere-kinetochore assembly. The RNA-binding protein, HuR/ELAVL1 is a major regulator of this specific set of alternative 3M-bM-^@M-^Y-terminal exons. HuR binding to the alternative 3M-bM-^@M-^Y-terminal exon in the pre-messenger RNA promotes its splicing, and is reduced by topoisomerase inhibitors. These findings provide new insights into the evolution, function and molecular regulation of alternative 3M-bM-^@M-^Y-terminal exons. 6 samples of MCF7 cells exposed to different treatments were analyzed: 3 x control_6 hours; 3 x doxorubicin_6 hours.
Project description:Alternative 3’-terminal exons, which use intronic polyadenylation sites, are generally unconserved and lowly expressed, while the main gene products end in the last exon of genes. In this study, we discover a class of human genes, where the last exon appeared recently during evolution, and the major gene product uses an alternative 3’-terminal exon corresponding to the ancestral last exon of the gene. This novel class of alternative 3’-terminal exons are down-regulated on a large scale by doxorubicin, a cytostatic drug targeting topoisomerase II, and play a role in cell cycle regulation, including centromere-kinetochore assembly. The RNA-binding protein, HuR/ELAVL1 is a major regulator of this specific set of alternative 3’-terminal exons. HuR binding to the alternative 3’-terminal exon in the pre-messenger RNA promotes its splicing, and is reduced by topoisomerase inhibitors. These findings provide new insights into the evolution, function and molecular regulation of alternative 3’-terminal exons.
Project description:One major class of anti-cancer drugs targets topoisomerase II to induce DNA double-strand breaks and cell death of fast growing cells. Here, we compare three members of this class - the antracyclines doxorubicin and aclarubicin, and a chemically unrelated compound, etoposide. Aclarubicin does not induce DNA breaks. We define a new activity for the antracyclines: unsupported histone eviction from ´open´ or loosely packed chromosomal areas reflecting exon and promoter regions. Comparison of histone H3K4me3 of cells post topoisomerase II inhibitors treatment to un-treated ones by ChIP-seq. Comparison of phosphorylated histone H2AX of cells post topoisomerase II inhibitors doxorubicin and etoposide treatment to un-treated ones by ChIP-seq.
Project description:A major class of chemotherapeutics targets topoisomerase II for DNA double-strand breaks and cancer cell elimination. We compare four members of this class?the anthracyclines doxorubicin, daunorubicin and aclarubicin that does not induce DNA breaks?and a different compound, etoposide. We define a novel activity for anthracyclines: histone eviction from open chromosomal areas. Since histone variant H2AX is also evicted, DNA damage response is attenuated when compared to etoposide. Histone eviction also affects the epigenetic code and deregulates the transcriptome in cancer cells and organs such as the heart. Histone eviction by anthracyclines can drive apoptosis of topoisomerase-negative acute myeloid leukemia blasts in patients. Doxo- and daunorubicin combine the activities of two anti-cancer drugs: etoposide for DNA damage and aclarubicin for histone eviction. We define a novel mechanism of action of anti-cancer drugs doxo- and daunorubicin on chromatin biology with profound consequences on DNA damage responses, epigenetics, transcription, side effects and anti-cancer activities. Comparison of histone occupancy of cells or tissues treated with topoisomerase II inhibitors to un-treated ones by FAIRE-seq.
Project description:Zebrafish embryos are transcriptional silent until activation of the zygotic genome during the 10th cell cycle. Onset of transcription is followed by cellular and morphological changes involving cell speciation and gastrulation. Previous genome-wide surveys of transcriptional changes only assessed gene expression levels; however, recent studies have shown the necessity to map isoform-specific transcriptional changes. Here we perform isoform discovery and quantification on transcriptome sequences from before and after zebrafish zygotic genome activation (ZGA). We identify novel isoforms and isoform switches during ZGA for genes related to cell adhesion, pluripotency and DNA methylation. Isoform switching events include alternative splicing and changes in transcriptional start sites and in 3’ untranslated regions. New isoforms are identified even for well-characterized genes such as pou5f1, sall4 and dnmt1. Genes involved in cell-cell interactions such as f11r and magi1 display isoform switches with alterations of coding sequences. We also detect over 1000 transcripts that acquire a longer 3’ terminal exon when transcribed zygotically relative to the maternal transcript counterparts. ChIP-seq data mapped onto skipped exon events reveals a correlation between histone H3K36trimethylation peaks and the skipped exons, suggesting epigenetic marks being part of alternative splicing regulation. The novel isoforms and isoform switches reported here include regulators of the transcriptional, cellular and morphological changes taking place around ZGA. Our data display an array of isoform-related functional changes and represent a valuable resource complementary to existing early embryo transcriptomes. Examination H3K36me3 in zebrafish whole embryos at the Post-MBT stage
Project description:Critical DNA repair pathways become deranged during cancer development. This vulnerability may be exploited with DNA-targeting chemotherapy. Topoisomerase II inhibitors induce double-strand breaks which are detrimental to the cell, if not repaired. This repair process requires high-fidelity functional homologous recombination or error-prone non-homologous recombination. If either of these pathways is targeted, the compensatory pathway may rescue the cells and induce treatment resistance. c-Abl is a protein tyrosine kinase that is involved in cell differentiation, cell division, cell adhesion, and stress response including DNA damage induced stress. Here we used a low dose topoisomerase II inhibitor mitoxantrone to induce DNA damage and c-Abl kinase inhibitor imatinib in combination and studied the drug effects at transcriptomic level. The microarray data suggests that DNA repair, particularly homologous recombination, is downregulated together with alterations in cell cycle regulation. The data prompted to further validation assays on functional level which are shown in the original publication.
Project description:An intron-spliced hairpin RNA approach was used for the targeted silencing of the MtTdp1α gene encoding the αisoform of tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 1 in Medicago truncatula Gaertn. Tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 1, involved in the repair of DNA topoisomerase I-mediated DNA damage, has been poorly investigated in plants. RNA-Seq analysis, carried out in the MtTdp1α-depleted plants, revealed different levels of transcriptional modulation (up- and down-regulation, alternative splicing, activation of alternative promoter) in genes involved in DNA damage sensing, DNA repair, and chromatin remodelling.
Project description:N-Myristoyltransferase (NMT) covalently attaches a C14-fatty acid to the N-terminal glycine of proteins and has been proposed as a therapeutic target in cancer. We used quantitative proteomics to map protein expression changes for more than 2700 proteins in response to treatment with an NMT inhibitor in HeLa cells, and observed down-regulation of proteins involved in cell cycle regulation, and up-regulation of many proteins involved in the endoplasmic reticulum stress response. This study defines the cellular response to NMT inhibition at the proteome level, and provides a knowledgebase for targeting specific cancers with NMT inhibitors, potentially in combination with other targeted agents.
Project description:22 Normal adult mouse tissues on custom alternative transcript sensitive Affymetrix microarray used to address differeneces in tissue specific alternative splicing. Abstract: Alternative splicing contributes to both gene regulation and protein diversity. To discover broad relationships between regulation of alternative splicing and sequence conservation, we applied a systems approach, using oligonucleotide microarrays designed to capture splicing information across the mouse genome. In a set of 22 adult tissues, we observe expression of RNA containing at least two alternative splice junctions for about a third of the 3200 alternative events we could detect. Statistical comparisons identify 171 cassette exons whose inclusion or skipping is different in brain relative to other tissues, and another 28 exons whose splicing is different in muscle. A subset of these exons is associated with unusual blocks of intron sequence whose conservation in vertebrates rivals that of protein-coding exons. By focusing on sets of exons with similar regulatory patterns, we have identified new sequence motifs implicated in brain and muscle splicing regulation. Of note is a motif strikingly similar to the branchpoint consensus, but which is located downstream of the 5' splice site of exons included in muscle. Analysis of three paralogous membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK) genes reveals that each contains a paralogous tissue regulated exon with a similar tissue inclusion pattern. While the intron sequences flanking these exons remain highly conserved among mammalian orthologs, the paralogous flanking intron sequences have diverged considerably, suggesting unusually complex evolution of the regulation of alternative splicing in multigene families. Keywords: Alternative splicing isoform specific, adult mouse tissues
Project description:Zebrafish embryos are transcriptional silent until activation of the zygotic genome during the 10th cell cycle. Onset of transcription is followed by cellular and morphological changes involving cell speciation and gastrulation. Previous genome-wide surveys of transcriptional changes only assessed gene expression levels; however, recent studies have shown the necessity to map isoform-specific transcriptional changes. Here we perform isoform discovery and quantification on transcriptome sequences from before and after zebrafish zygotic genome activation (ZGA). We identify novel isoforms and isoform switches during ZGA for genes related to cell adhesion, pluripotency and DNA methylation. Isoform switching events include alternative splicing and changes in transcriptional start sites and in 3’ untranslated regions. New isoforms are identified even for well-characterized genes such as pou5f1, sall4 and dnmt1. Genes involved in cell-cell interactions such as f11r and magi1 display isoform switches with alterations of coding sequences. We also detect over 1000 transcripts that acquire a longer 3’ terminal exon when transcribed zygotically relative to the maternal transcript counterparts. ChIP-seq data mapped onto skipped exon events reveals a correlation between histone H3K36trimethylation peaks and the skipped exons, suggesting epigenetic marks being part of alternative splicing regulation. The novel isoforms and isoform switches reported here include regulators of the transcriptional, cellular and morphological changes taking place around ZGA. Our data display an array of isoform-related functional changes and represent a valuable resource complementary to existing early embryo transcriptomes.