In mammals, a key transition in spermatogenesis is the exit from spermatogonial differentiation and mitotic proliferation and the entry into spermatocyte differentiation and meiosis. Although several genes that regulate this transition have been identified, how it is controlled and coordinated remains poorly understood. Here we examine the role in male gametogenesis of the Doublesex-related gene Dmrt6 (Dmrtb1) and find that Dmrt6 plays a critical role in directing germ cells through the mitotic to meiotic germ cell transition. DMRT6 protein is expressed in late mitotic spermatogonia. In mice of the C57BL/6J strain a null mutation in Dmrt6 disrupts spermatogonial differentiation, causing expression in inappropriate cell types of spermatogonial differentiation factors including SOHLH1, SOHLH2 and DMRT1 and the meiotic initiation factor STRA8 and causing most late spermatogonia to undergo apoptosis. In mice of the 129Sv background, most Dmrt6 mutant spermatogonia can complete differentiation and enter meiosis, but they show defects in chromosome pairing, establishment of the XY body, and processing of recombination foci, and mainly arrest in mid-pachynema. mRNA profiling of Dmrt6 mutant testes together with DMRT6 ChIP-seq suggest that DMRT6 represses genes involved in spermatogonial differentiation and activates genes required for meiotic prophase. Our results indicate that Dmrt6 plays a key role in coordinating the transition in gametogenic programs from spermatogonial differentiation and mitosis to spermatocyte development and meiosis. Overall design: Six samples for RNA-Seq with three biological replicates in each group. Two samples for ChIP-Seq (one input and one ChIP).
The mammalian Doublesex homolog DMRT6 coordinates the transition between mitotic and meiotic developmental programs during spermatogenesis.
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View SamplesDmrt1 (doublesex and mab-3 related transcription factor 1) is a conserved transcriptional regulator of male differentiation required for testicular development in vertebrates. This study examines the result of conditional removal of Dmrt1 from Sertoli cells in P28 testis tissue.
DMRT1 prevents female reprogramming in the postnatal mammalian testis.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesRetinoic acid (RA) is a potent inducer of cell differentiation and plays an essential role in sex-specific germ cell development in the mammalian gonad. RA is essential for male gametogenesis and hence fertility. However, RA can also disrupt sexual cell fate in somatic cells of the testis, promoting transdifferentiation of male Sertoli cells to female granulosa-like cells when the male sexual regulator Dmrt1 is absent. The feminizing ability of RA in the somatic testis suggests that RA might normally play a role in somatic cell differentiation or cell fate maintenance in the ovary. To test for this possibility we disrupted RA signaling in somatic cells of the early fetal ovary using three genetic strategies and one pharmaceutical approach. We found that deleting all three RA receptors (RARs) in the XX somatic gonad at the time of sex determination did not significantly affect ovarian differentiation, follicle development, or female fertility. Transcriptome analysis of adult triple mutant ovaries revealed remarkably little effect on gene expression in the absence of somatic RAR function. Likewise, deletion of three RA synthesis enzymes (Aldha1-3) at the time of sex determination did not masculinize the ovary. A dominant-negative RAR transgene altered granulosa cell proliferation, likely due to interference with a non-RA signaling pathway, but did not affect granulosa cell specification or fertility. Finally, culture of fetal XX gonads with an RAR antagonist blocked germ cell meiotic initiation but did not disrupt sex-biased gene expression. We conclude that RA signaling, although crucial in the ovary for meiotic initiation, is not required for granulosa cell specification, differentiation, or reproductive function. Overall design: Ovaries from six week old mice with five replicates in each of two genotypes were analyzed by RNA-Seq
Retinoic acid signaling is dispensable for somatic development and function in the mammalian ovary.
Age, Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
View SamplesDmrt1 (doublesex and mab-3 related transcription factor 1) is a conserved transcriptional regulator of male differentiation required for testicular development in vertebrates. In mice of the 129Sv strain, loss of Dmrt1 causes a high incidence of teratomas. Mutant 129Sv germ cells undergo apparently normal differentiation up to embryonic day 13.5 (E13.5), but some cells fail to arrest mitosis and ectopically express pluripotency markers. Expression analysis and chromatin immunoprecipitation identified DMRT1 target genes whose misexpression may underly teratoma formation.
The DM domain protein DMRT1 is a dose-sensitive regulator of fetal germ cell proliferation and pluripotency.
Specimen part
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
BCOR regulates myeloid cell proliferation and differentiation.
Age, Specimen part, Disease, Disease stage
View SamplesBCOR is a component of a variant Polycomb group repressive complex 1 (PRC1) complex. Recently, we and others reported recurrent somatic BCOR loss-of-function mutations in myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML). However the role of BCOR in normal hematopoiesis is largely unknown. Here, we explored the function of BCOR in myeloid cells using myeloid murine cell models with Bcor conditional loss-of-function or overexpression alleles. Bcor mutant bone marrow cells showed significantly higher proliferation and differentiation rates with reduced protein levels of RING1B, a ubiquitin ligase subunit of PRC1 family complexes. Global RNA expression profiling in murine cells and AML patient samples with BCOR loss-of-function mutation suggested that loss of BCOR expression is associated with proliferation and myeloid differentiation and decreased stem cell quiescence. Further, we used a MLL-AF9 murine model of AML and found that loss of Bcor increased serial replating efficiency, enhanced MLL-AF9 in blocking cell differentiation, and increased expression of Evi1 which is associated with leukemic transformation. Our results strongly suggest that BCOR plays an indispensable role in maintaining hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) quiescence by inhibiting myeloid stem cell proliferation and differentiation and offer a mechanistic explanation for how BCOR regulates gene expression such as Hox genes.
BCOR regulates myeloid cell proliferation and differentiation.
Age, Specimen part, Disease, Disease stage
View SamplesWe studied the variations of mRNA amounts after Flag-EVI1, Flag-EVI1324, or Flag expression in HeLa cells. Despites EVI1 discovery in 1988, its recognized role as a dominant oncogene in myeloid leukemia and more recently in epithelial cancers, only a few target genes were known and it was not clear why EVI1 was involved in cancer progression. Here we obtained the genomic binding occupancy and expression data for EVI1 in human cells. We identified numerous EVI1 target cancer genes and genes controlling cell migration and adhesion. Moreover, we characterized a transcriptional cooperation between AP1 and EVI1 that regulated proliferation and adhesion through a feed-forward loop. This study provides human genome-wide mapping and expression analyses for EVI1 that will be useful for the research community.
Functional features of EVI1 and EVI1Δ324 isoforms of MECOM gene in genome-wide transcription regulation and oncogenicity.
Cell line
View SamplesHypertension remains a poorly understood condition, and the understanding of the sympathetic nervous systems role in this disease remains even more limited. In this study, RNA-sequencing is used to identify transcriptomal differences in the sympathetic stellate ganglia between the 16-week-old normotensive wistar strain and the spontaneously hypertensive rat strain.This dataset should allow for further molecular characterisation of hypertensive changes in a cardiac-innervating sympathetic ganglion. Overall design: Comparison of normotensive and hypertensive rat stellate ganglia. 4 biological replicates for both 16 week wistar and SHR stellate ganglia samples were contrasted
Neurotransmitter Switching Coupled to β-Adrenergic Signaling in Sympathetic Neurons in Prehypertensive States.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesAdult right ventricle from Tetralogy of Fallot patients undergoing pulmonary valve replacement vs right ventricle myocardium from unused donor hearts
Right Ventricle Has Normal Myofilament Function But Shows Perturbations in the Expression of Extracellular Matrix Genes in Patients With Tetralogy of Fallot Undergoing Pulmonary Valve Replacement.
Specimen part
View SamplesKRAS mutations are present at a high frequency in human cancers. The development of therapies targeting mutated KRAS requires cellular and animal preclinical models. We exploited adeno-associated virus-mediated homologous recombination to insert the KRAS G12D allele in the genome of mouse somatic cells. Heterozygous mutant cells displayed a constitutively active Kras protein, marked morphologic changes, increased proliferation and motility but were not transformed. On the contrary, mouse cells in which we overexpressed the corresponding KRAS cDNA were readily transformed. The levels of Kras activation in knock-in cells were comparable with those present in human cancer cells carrying the corresponding mutation. KRAS-mutated cells were compared with their wild-type counterparts by gene expression profiling, leading to the definition of a "mutated KRAS-KI signature" of 345 genes. This signature was capable of classifying mouse and human cancers according to their KRAS mutational status, with an accuracy similar or better than published Ras signatures. The isogenic cells that we have developed recapitulate the oncogenic activation of Kras occurring in cancer and represent new models for studying Kras-mediated transformation. Our results have implications for the identification of human tumors in which the oncogenic KRAS transcriptional response is activated and suggest new strategies to build mouse models of tumor progression.
Knock-in of oncogenic Kras does not transform mouse somatic cells but triggers a transcriptional response that classifies human cancers.
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