Project description:The observation that human microvascular pericytes transdifferentiate into neurons provided an opportunity to explore the endogenous molecular basis for lineage reprogramming. Here, we show that abrupt destabilization of the higher-order chromatin topology that chaperones lineage memory of pericytes is driven by transient global transcriptional arrest. This leads within minutes to localized decompression of the repressed competing higher-order chromatin topology and expression of pro-neural genes. Transition to neural lineage is completed by probabilistic induction of R-loops in key myogenic loci upon re-initiation of RNA polymerase activity, leading to depletion of the myogenic transcriptome and emergence of the neurogenic transcriptome.
Project description:The observation that human microvascular pericytes transdifferentiate into neurons provided an opportunity to explore the endogenous molecular basis for lineage reprogramming. Here, we show that abrupt destabilization of the higher-order chromatin topology that chaperones lineage memory of pericytes is driven by transient global transcriptional arrest. This leads within minutes to localized decompression of the repressed competing higher-order chromatin topology and expression of pro-neural genes. Transition to neural lineage is completed by probabilistic induction of R-loops in key myogenic loci upon re-initiation of RNA polymerase activity, leading to depletion of the myogenic transcriptome and emergence of the neurogenic transcriptome.
Project description:The observation that human microvascular pericytes transdifferentiate into neurons provided an opportunity to explore the endogenous molecular basis for lineage reprogramming. Here, we show that abrupt destabilization of the higher-order chromatin topology that chaperones lineage memory of pericytes is driven by transient global transcriptional arrest. This leads within minutes to localized decompression of the repressed competing higher-order chromatin topology and expression of pro-neural genes. Transition to neural lineage is completed by probabilistic induction of R-loops in key myogenic loci upon re-initiation of RNA polymerase activity, leading to depletion of the myogenic transcriptome and emergence of the neurogenic transcriptome.
Project description:The observation that human microvascular pericytes transdifferentiate into neurons provided an opportunity to explore the endogenous molecular basis for lineage reprogramming. Here, we show that abrupt destabilization of the higher-order chromatin topology that chaperones lineage memory of pericytes is driven by transient global transcriptional arrest. This leads within minutes to localized decompression of the repressed competing higher-order chromatin topology and expression of pro-neural genes. Transition to neural lineage is completed by probabilistic induction of R-loops in key myogenic loci upon re-initiation of RNA polymerase activity, leading to depletion of the myogenic transcriptome and emergence of the neurogenic transcriptome.
Project description:BackgroundTransdifferentiation describes transformation in vivo of specialized cells from one lineage into another. While there is extensive literature on forced induction of lineage reprogramming in vitro, endogenous mechanisms that govern transdifferentiation remain largely unknown. The observation that human microvascular pericytes transdifferentiate into neurons provided an opportunity to explore the endogenous molecular basis for lineage reprogramming.ResultsWe show that abrupt destabilization of the higher-order chromatin topology that chaperones lineage memory of pericytes is driven by transient global transcriptional arrest. This leads within minutes to localized decompression of the repressed competing higher-order chromatin topology and expression of pro-neural genes. Transition to neural lineage is completed by probabilistic induction of R-loops in key myogenic loci upon re-initiation of RNA polymerase activity, leading to depletion of the myogenic transcriptome and emergence of the neurogenic transcriptome.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that the global transcriptional landscape not only shapes the functional cellular identity of pericytes, but also stabilizes lineage memory by silencing the competing neural program within a repressed chromatin state.
Project description:The objective of the present study is to investigate the effect of a stroke mimic condition on human brain pericytes. Comparative gene expression analysis was performed using cultured human brain microvascular pericytes with 1% oxygen for 24 hours or with acidic condition at pH 6.5 for 24 hours. Gene expression was analyzed using 3D-Gene® Human 25k oligonucleotide microarrays and computational gene expression analysis tools. Incubation of cells under these conditions resulted in significant changes in numerous genes related with glycolysis, immune responses, and angiogenesis.