The Mediator complex regulates gene transcription by linking basal transcriptional machinery with DNA-bound transcription factors. The activity of the Mediator complex is mainly controlled by a kinase submodule that is comprised of four proteins, including MED12. Although ubiquitously expressed, Mediator subunits can differentially regulate gene expression in a tissue-specific manner. Here, we report that MED12 is required for normal cardiac function such that mice with conditional cardiac-specific deletion of MED12 display progressive dilated cardiomyopathy. Loss of MED12 perturbs expression of calcium handling genes in the heart, consequently altering calcium cycling in cardiomyocytes and disrupting cardiac electrical activity. We identified transcription factors that regulate expression of calcium-handling genes that are downregulated in the heart in the absence of MED12, and found that MED12 localizes to transcription factor consensus sequences within calcium handling genes. We showed that MED12 interacts with one such transcription factor, MEF2, in cardiomyocytes, and that MED12 and MEF2 co-occupy promoters of calcium handling genes. Furthermore, we demonstrated that MED12 enhances MEF2 transcriptional activity and overexpression of both increases expression of calcium handling genes in cardiomyocytes. Our data support a role for MED12 as a coordinator of transcription through MEF2 and other transcription factors. We conclude that MED12 is a regulator of a network of calcium handling genes, consequently “mediating” contractility in the mammalian heart. Overall design: Ventricle mRNA profiles of 1-day old control (CTL, CreNEG) and cardiac-specific Med12 knockout mice (Med12cKO, CrePOS) were generated by deep sequencing, in triplicate, using Illumina.
MED12 regulates a transcriptional network of calcium-handling genes in the heart.
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View SamplesWe profiled the gene expression/splicing program of normal and hnRNP U-deficient mouse hearts by RNA-seq. Overall design: RNA-seq profiles of control and Hnrnpu mutant hearts at postnatal day 14. Hnrnpu mutant hearts were generated by breeding the Hnrnpu conditional knockout mice with Ckmm-Cre transgenic mice.
hnRNP U protein is required for normal pre-mRNA splicing and postnatal heart development and function.
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View SamplesWe compared the gene expression profile from a group of children with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukamia who remained in continuous complete remission (CCR) (n = 7) with that from a group who relapsed (n = 5), using Affymetrix HG-U133A arrays. Using the decision-tree based supervised learning algorithm Random Forest (RF), genes were ranked with respect to their ability to discriminate between patients who remained in CCR and those who relapsed. From the 300 top-ranked probe sets 9 genes were selected for further investigation and validation in an independent cohort of 25 T-ALL patients using quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction.
Identification of novel molecular prognostic markers for paediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Disease, Subject
View SamplesBackground: E-cadherin is an adherens junction protein that forms homophilic intercellular contacts in epithelial cells while also interacting with the intracellular cytoskeletal networks. It has roles including establishment and maintenance of cell polarity, differentiation, migration and signalling in cell proliferation pathways. Its downregulation is commonly observed in epithelial tumours and is a hallmark of the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). Methods: To improve our understanding of how E-cadherin loss contributes to tumorigenicity, we investigated the impact of its elimination from the non-tumorigenic breast cell line MCF10A. We performed cell-based assays and whole genome RNAseq to characterize an isogenic MCF10A cell line that is devoid of CDH1 expression due to an engineered homozygous 4bp deletion in CDH1 exon 11. Results: The E-cadherin-deficient line, MCF10A CDH1-/- showed subtle morphological changes, weaker cell-substrate adhesion, delayed migration, but retained cell-cell contact, contact growth inhibition and anchorage-dependent growth. Within the cytoskeleton, the apical microtubule network in the CDH1-deficient cells lacked the radial pattern of organization present in the MCF10A cells and F-actin formed thicker, more numerous stress fibres in the basal part of the cell. Whole genome RNAseq identified compensatory changes in the genes involved in cell-cell adhesion while genes involved in cell-substrate adhesion, notably ITGA1, COL8A1, COL4A2 and COL12A1, were significantly downregulated. Key EMT markers including CDH2, FN1, VIM and VTN were not upregulated although increased expression of proteolytic matrix metalloprotease and kallikrein genes was observed. Conclusions: Overall, our results demonstrated that E-cadherin loss alone was insufficient to induce an EMT or enhance transforming potential in the non-tumorigenic MCF10A cells but was associated with broad transcriptional changes associated with tissue remodelling. Overall design: Examination of the impact of E-cadherin (CDH1) loss in an isogenic pair of breast cell lines.
E-cadherin loss alters cytoskeletal organization and adhesion in non-malignant breast cells but is insufficient to induce an epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
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View SamplesLateral root initiation was used as a model system to study the mechanisms behind auxin-induced cell division. Genome-wide transcriptional changes were monitored during the early steps of lateral root initiation. Inclusion of the dominant auxin signaling mutant solitary root1 (slr1) identified genes involved in lateral root initiation that act downstream of the AUX/IAA signaling pathway. Interestingly, key components of the cell cycle machinery were strongly defective in slr1, suggesting a direct link between AUX/IAA signaling and core cell cycle regulation. However, induction of the cell cycle in the mutant background by overexpression of the D-type cyclin (CYCD3;1) was able to trigger complete rounds of cell division in the pericycle that did not result in lateral root formation. Therefore, lateral root initiation can only take place when cell cycle activation is accompanied by cell fate respecification of pericycle cells. The microarray data also yielded evidence for the existence of both negative and positive feedback mechanisms that regulate auxin homeostasis and signal transduction in the pericycle, thereby fine-tuning the process of lateral root initiation.
Cell cycle progression in the pericycle is not sufficient for SOLITARY ROOT/IAA14-mediated lateral root initiation in Arabidopsis thaliana.
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View SamplesBackground: High density lipoprotein (HDL) protects the artery wall by removing cholesterol from lipid-laden macrophages. However, recent evidence suggests that it might also inhibit atherogenesis by combating inflammation. Methods and Results: To identify potential anti-inflammatory mechanisms, we challenged macrophages with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), an inflammatory microbial ligand for Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). HDL inhibited the expression of 33% (301 of 911) of the genes normally induced by LPS, microarray analysis revealed. One of its major targets was the type I interferon response pathway, a family of potent viral immunoregulators controlled by TLR4 and the TRAM/TRIF signaling pathway. Unexpectedly, HDLs ability to inhibit gene expression was independent of cellular cholesterol stores. Moreover, it was unaffected by downregulation of two ATP-binding cassette transporters, ABCA1 and ABCG1, that promote cholesterol efflux. To examine the pathways potential in vivo relevance, we used mice deficient in apolipoprotein (apo) A-I, HDLs major protein. After infection with Salmonella (a Gram-negative bacterium that expresses LPS), apoA-Ideficient mice had 6-fold higher plasma levels of interferon-beta-a key regulator of the type I interferon response than did wild-type mice. Conclusions: HDL inhibits a subset of LPS-stimulated macrophage genes that regulate the type I interferon response, and its action is independent of sterol metabolism. These findings raise the possibility that regulation of macrophage genes by HDL might link innate immunity and cardioprotection.
High-density lipoprotein suppresses the type I interferon response, a family of potent antiviral immunoregulators, in macrophages challenged with lipopolysaccharide.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe endogenous peptide Apelin is crucial for maintaining heart function in pressure overload and aging
Impaired heart contractility in Apelin gene-deficient mice associated with aging and pressure overload.
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View SamplesHearts of Myh6-MeCP2 transgenic mice and wildtype littermates were rapidly dissected and flash frozen.
Adrenergic Repression of the Epigenetic Reader MeCP2 Facilitates Cardiac Adaptation in Chronic Heart Failure.
Specimen part
View SamplesCD34+ positively isolated from healthy donors (stimulated by G-CSF) with magnetic beads (after blood leukapheresis)
NA-Seq: a discovery tool for the analysis of chromatin structure and dynamics during differentiation.
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View SamplesRNA-seq analysis of human 293 Tet-off cells depleted of PTBP1 and UPF1 alone and in tandem with specific siRNAs. Overall design: siRNA-based depletion of PTBP1, UPF1, and PTBP1/UPF1 together, with a validated non-silencing siRNA as a control.
Polypyrimidine tract binding protein 1 protects mRNAs from recognition by the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway.
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