Project description:Ten-eleven translocation (Tet) hydroxylases (Tet1-3) oxidize 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC). In neurons increased 5hmC levels within gene bodies correlate positively with gene expression. The mechanisms controlling Tet activity and 5hmC levels are poorly understood. In particular, it is not known how the neuronal Tet3 isoform lacking a DNA binding domain is targeted to the DNA. To identify factors binding to Tet3 we screened for proteins that co-precipitate with Tet3 from mouse retina and identified the transcriptional repressor Rest as a highly enriched Tet3-specific interactor. Rest was able to enhance Tet3 hydroxylase activity after co-expression and overexpression of Tet3 activated transcription of Rest-target genes. Moreover, we found that Tet3 also interacts with Nsd3 and two other H3K36 methyltransferases and is able to induce H3K36 trimethylation. We propose a mechanism for transcriptional activation in neurons that involves Rest-guided targeting of Tet3 to the DNA for directed 5hmC-generation and Nsd3-mediated H3K36 trimethylation.
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:PURPOSE: To provide a detailed gene expression profile of the normal postnatal mouse cornea. METHODS: Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) was performed on postnatal day (PN)9 and adult mouse (6 week) total corneas. The expression of selected genes was analyzed by in situ hybridization. RESULTS: A total of 64,272 PN9 and 62,206 adult tags were sequenced. Mouse corneal transcriptomes are composed of at least 19,544 and 18,509 unique mRNAs, respectively. One third of the unique tags were expressed at both stages, whereas a third was identified exclusively in PN9 or adult corneas. Three hundred thirty-four PN9 and 339 adult tags were enriched more than fivefold over other published nonocular libraries. Abundant transcripts were associated with metabolic functions, redox activities, and barrier integrity. Three members of the Ly-6/uPAR family whose functions are unknown in the cornea constitute more than 1% of the total mRNA. Aquaporin 5, epithelial membrane protein and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) omega-1, and GST alpha-4 mRNAs were preferentially expressed in distinct corneal epithelial layers, providing new markers for stratification. More than 200 tags were differentially expressed, of which 25 mediate transcription. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to providing a detailed profile of expressed genes in the PN9 and mature mouse cornea, the present SAGE data demonstrate dynamic changes in gene expression after eye opening and provide new probes for exploring corneal epithelial cell stratification, development, and function and for exploring the intricate relationship between programmed and environmentally induced gene expression in the cornea. Keywords: other
Project description:To further investigate the gene expression at different courses in MEFs and Tet3 induced neurons, we have employed whole genome microarray expression profiling as a discovery platform to identify the expression level of specific genes, such as neuronal specific genes, fibrobalst specific genes. The gene expression in mouse embryonic fibroblasts and Tet3 induced neurons at 1, 3, 5, 7 dpi.