Project description:The limited number of in vivo germ cells poses an impediment to genome-wide studies. Here, we applied a small-scale ChIP-Seq method on purified mouse fetal germ cells to generate genome-wide maps of four histone modifications (H3K4me3, H3K27me3, H3K27ac and H2BK20ac), facilitating the identification of active and repressed cis-regulatory elements in germ cells in vivo. Comparison of active chromatin state between somatic, embryonic stem cells (ESC) and germ cells revealed promoters and enhancers needed for stem cell maintenance and germ cell development. The nuclear receptor Nr5a2 motif is enriched at a subset of cis-regulatory regions and we confirm its role in germ cell differentiation. Interestingly, germ cells have comparatively more H3K27me3-marked sites that are absent in ESC and other somatic cell types. These repressed regions are enriched for retrotransposons and MHC genes and this indicates that these loci are specifically silenced in germ cells. Together, our study provides the first genome-wide histone modification maps of in vivo germ cells and revealed the molecular chromatin signatures unique to germ cells. Germ cells were FACS-purified from gonadal single cell suspension based on Pou5f1-GFP expression. ChIP-seq of Histone modification was done for two timepoints in this study: E11.5 (male/female), E13.5 (male). For E13.5 timepoint, two biological replicates were analyzed. In order to validate small scale ChIP-seq method limited number of ES cells were used to check consistency of ChIP-seq data.
Project description:The limited number of in vivo germ cells poses an impediment to genome-wide studies. Here, we applied a small-scale ChIP-Seq method on purified mouse fetal germ cells to generate genome-wide maps of four histone modifications (H3K4me3, H3K27me3, H3K27ac and H2BK20ac), facilitating the identification of active and repressed cis-regulatory elements in germ cells in vivo. Comparison of active chromatin state between somatic, embryonic stem cells (ESC) and germ cells revealed promoters and enhancers needed for stem cell maintenance and germ cell development. The nuclear receptor Nr5a2 motif is enriched at a subset of cis-regulatory regions and we confirm its role in germ cell differentiation. Interestingly, germ cells have comparatively more H3K27me3-marked sites that are absent in ESC and other somatic cell types. These repressed regions are enriched for retrotransposons and MHC genes and this indicates that these loci are specifically silenced in germ cells. Together, our study provides the first genome-wide histone modification maps of in vivo germ cells and revealed the molecular chromatin signatures unique to germ cells.
Project description:This phase I clinical trial tests the immune effects of fermented wheat germ in patients with advanced solid tumor cancers who are being treated with standard of care checkpoint inhibitors. Fermented wheat germ is a nutritional supplement that some claim is a "dietary food for special medical purposes for cancer patients" to support them in treatment. There have also been claims that fermented wheat germ is "clinically proven" and "recognized by medical experts" to "enhance oncological treatment" and boost immune response to cancer; however, there are currently no documented therapeutic effects of fermented wheat germ as a nutritional supplement. Checkpoint inhibitors, given as part of standard of care for advanced solid tumors, are a type of immunotherapy that may help the body’s immune system attack the cancer and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. The information gained from this trial may allow researchers to determine if there is any value of giving fermented wheat germ with standard of care checkpoint inhibitors for patients with advanced solid tumor malignancies.
Project description:Germ plasm, the Balbiani body and nuage are evolutionary conserved structures essential for germ cell specification and maintenance. We describe Tdrd6a as a component of these structures with two distinct molecular functions. First, Tdrd6a facilitates the accumulation of the typical antisense-bias of piRNAs, without having effects on piRNA biogenesis signatures. Second, we show that Tdrd6a is required for Balbiani body and germ plasm integrity, and associates with RNA-binding proteins and germ plasm mRNAs. On the cell-biological level, maternally contributed Tdrd6a strongly impacts germ cell formation, but is dispensable for fertility. Using single-cell RNA-sequencing we demonstrate that Tdrd6a promotes early germ cell development and regulates the stoichiometry of germ plasm mRNAs. We propose that Tdrd6a functions as a scaffold to recruit correct ratios of germ plasm transcripts and to accumulate antisense piRNA complexes in order to ensure both specification and maintenance of germ cells.
Project description:MCM8 has emerged as a core gene in reproductive aging and is crucial for meiotic homologous recombination repair. It also safeguards genome stability by coordinating the replication stress response during mitosis, but its function in mitotic germ cells remains elusive. Here we found that the number of primordial germ cells (PGCs) decreased dramatically after MCM8 deficiency due to proliferation defects. We further demonstrated that MCM8 interacted with two known helicases DDX5 and DHX9 in PGCs, and loss of MCM8 led to R-loop accumulation by reducing the retention of these helicases at R-loops, thus inducing genome instability. Cells expressing premature ovarian insufficiency-causative mutants of MCM8 with decreased interaction with DDX5 displayed increased R-loop levels. These results suggest that MCM8 interacts with R-loop-resolving factors to prevent DNA damage in PGCs, thus maintaining PGC proliferation and establishing the reproductive reserve. Our findings thus reveal a novel role for MCM8 in PGC development and improve our understanding of reproductive aging caused by genome instability in mitotic germ cells.