Project description:Glycogen is the largest soluble cytosolic macromolecule and considered as the principal storage form of glucose. Cancer cells generally increase their glucose consumption and rewire their metabolism towards aerobic glycolysis to promote growth. Here we report that glycogen accumulation is a key initiating oncogenic event and essential for malignant transformation. RNA-sequencing analysis reveals that G6PC, an enzyme catalyzing the last step of glycogenolysis, is frequently downregulated to augment glucose storage in pro-tumor cells. Accumulated glycogen undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation, which results in the assembly of the laforin-Mst1/2 complex and consequently traps Hippo kinases Mst1/2 in glycogen liquid droplets to relieve their inhibition on Yap. Moreover, G6PC or another glycogenolysis enzyme PYGL deficiency in both human and mice result in glycogen storage disease with enlarged liver size and cancer development, phenocopying Hippo deficiency. Consistently, elimination of glycogen accumulation abrogates liver enlargement and cancer incidence, whereas increasing glycogen storage accelerates tumorigenesis. Thus, we concluded that glycogen not only provides nutrition and energy to the cells but also functions as a key initiating oncogenic metabolite, which physically blocks Hippo signaling through glycogen phase separation to augment pro-tumor cell initiation and progression.
Project description:TAZ promotes cell proliferation, development, and tumorigenesis by regulating target gene transcription. However, how TAZ orchestrates the transcriptional responses remains poorly defined. Here we demonstrate that TAZ forms nuclear condensates via liquid-liquid phase separation to compartmentalize its DNA binding co-factor TEAD4, the transcription co-activators BRD4 and MED1 and the transcription elongation factor CDK9 for activation of gene expression. TAZ, but not its paralog YAP, forms phase-separated droplets in vitro and liquid-like nuclear condensates in cells and tissues, and this ability is negatively regulated by Hippo signaling via LATS-mediated phosphorylation and mediated by the coiled-coil domain. Deletion of the TAZ coiled-coil domain or substitution with the YAP coiled-coil domain does not affect the interaction with its partners, but prevents its phase separation and more importantly, its ability to induce expression of TAZ-specific target genes. Thus, our study has identified a novel mechanism for the transcriptional activation by TAZ and demonstrated for the first time that pathway-specific transcription factors also engage the phase separation mechanism for efficient and specific transcription activation.
Project description:Transcriptional silencing by RNAi paradoxically relies on transcription, but how the transition from transcription to silencing is achieved has remained unclear. The Cryptic Loci Regulator complex (CLRC) in Schizosaccharomyces pombe is a cullin-ring E3 ligase required for silencing that is recruited by RNAi. We found that the E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzyme Ubc4 interacts with CLRC and mono-ubiquitinates the histone H3K9 methyltransferase Clr4SUV39H1, promoting the transition from co-transcriptional gene silencing (H3K9me2) to transcriptional gene silencing (H3K9me3). Ubiquitination of Clr4 occurs in an intrinsically disordered region (IDR), which undergoes robust liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), along with Swi6HP1 the effector of transcriptional gene silencing. Phase separation of Clr4 and Swi6 is exquisitely sensitive to non-coding RNA (ncRNA), which promotes dimerization, chromatin association, and di-, but not tri- methylation instead. Ubc4-CLRC also targets the transcriptional co-activator Bdf2BRD4, down-regulating centromeric transcription and small RNA production. The deubiquitinase Ubp3 counteracts both activities.
Project description:HIPPO-YAP/TAZ signaling has been implicated in supratentorial ependymoma formation from neural progenitor cells (NPC) in the brain, however, the underlying mechanisms to trigger the neural progenitor cell transformation remains elusive. Here, we uncover that patient-derived tumorigenic YAP-fusion proteins (YAP-MAMLD1 and C11ORF95-YAP) promote ependymoma tumorigenesis through forming liquid-liquid phase-separated condensates. Intrinsically disordered regions (IDR) in the fusion proteins promote oligomerization of YAP-transcriptional co-activators and self-assembly of nuclear puncta-like membrane-less organelles. Phase separation of YAP-fusion proteins further facilitates the compartmentalization of transcriptional coactivators, BRD4 and MED1, resulting in pervasive enhancer landscape changes and exclusion of transcriptional repressors such as PRC2 complexes. YAP-fusion proteins-induced nuclear puncta recruit RNA polymerase II to promote transcriptional bursting of multiple oncogenic pathways. Moreover, we show that IDR-mediated phase separation is necessary for YAP-fusion protein-induced tumor formation. Distinct YAP fusion-proteins identified in other human tumors also encompass IDR features. Together, our data suggest that IDR-mediated phase separation is an integral component of YAP-fusion protein-induced tumorigenesis and might serve as a therapeutic target in supratentorial ependymoma.
Project description:HIPPO-YAP/TAZ signaling has been implicated in supratentorial ependymoma formation from neural progenitor cells (NPC) in the brain, however, the underlying mechanisms to trigger the neural progenitor cell transformation remains elusive. Here, we uncover that patient-derived tumorigenic YAP-fusion proteins (YAP-MAMLD1 and C11ORF95-YAP) promote ependymoma tumorigenesis through forming liquid-liquid phase-separated condensates. Intrinsically disordered regions (IDR) in the fusion proteins promote oligomerization of YAP-transcriptional co-activators and self-assembly of nuclear puncta-like membrane-less organelles. Phase separation of YAP-fusion proteins further facilitates the compartmentalization of transcriptional coactivators, BRD4 and MED1, resulting in pervasive enhancer landscape changes and exclusion of transcriptional repressors such as PRC2 complexes. YAP-fusion proteins-induced nuclear puncta recruit RNA polymerase II to promote transcriptional bursting of multiple oncogenic pathways. Moreover, we show that IDR-mediated phase separation is necessary for YAP-fusion protein-induced tumor formation. Distinct YAP fusion-proteins identified in other human tumors also encompass IDR features. Together, our data suggest that IDR-mediated phase separation is an integral component of YAP-fusion protein-induced tumorigenesis and might serve as a therapeutic target in supratentorial ependymoma.
Project description:N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is a dynamic and reversible nucleotide modification in mRNA. m6A alters mRNA fate, but it is unclear why the effects of m6A can vary in different cellular contexts. Here we show that methylated mRNAs are catalysts for liquid-liquid phase separation of the YTHDF family of m6A-binding proteins. RNAs that contain multiple, but not single, m6A residues recruit multiple YTHDF proteins, causing them to undergo a proximity-induced phase separation. YTHDF proteins show liquid-like properties upon binding polymethylated mRNAs in cells, and partition into endogenous phase-separated compartments, such as P-bodies, neuronal RNA granules, and stress granules. The complexes of YTHDF proteins and polymethylated mRNAs are targeted to different compartments depending on the cell context, leading to different effects on m6A mRNAs. These studies reveal a role for nucleotide modifications in regulating phase separation and indicate that the cellular properties of m6A-modified mRNAs can be explained by liquid-liquid phase separation principles.
Project description:Components of the transcription machinery can undergo liquid-liquid phase separation, but the functional importance of phase-separated condensates in transcriptional control is not well understood. Here we report that disease-causing mutations in several transcription factors (TFs) alter the phase separation capacity of those TFs. We first demonstrate that the Hoxd13 TF, and its intrinsically disordered N-terminus form phase-separated condensates. Expansions of a polyalanine repeat, which cause hereditary synpolydactyly in humans, facilitate phase separation of Hoxd13, and alter the transcriptional program of several cell types in a cell-specific manner in vivo. Disease-associated expansions of aminoacid repeats in intrinsically disordered regions of other TFs were similarly found to alter phase separation. These results suggest that aberrant phase separation of transcriptional regulators may underlie a spectrum of human pathologies. The paper is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.018
Project description:The protein Fused in Sarcoma undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation. To investigate whether this phase transition alters the RNA interactome we purified phase-separated FUS droplets and soluble FUS from HEK 293T cells transfected with GFP-tagged WT FUS or P525L FUS. Phase separated FUS was purified by fluorescence-activated particle sorting (droplets) and soluble FUS by co-Immunoprecipitation (IP) respectively followed by isolation of co-purified RNA. Here we show that phase separation affects the RNA interactome of FUS.