The plasticity of ageing suggests that longevity may be controlled epigenetically by specific alterations in chromatin state. The link between chromatin and ageing has mostly focused on histone deacetylation by the Sir2 family1, 2, but less is known about the role of other histone modifications in longevity. Histone methylation has a crucial role in development and in maintaining stem cell pluripotency in mammals3. Regulators of histone methylation have been associated with ageing in worms4, 5, 6, 7 and flies8, but characterization of their role and mechanism of action has been limited. Here we identify the ASH-2 trithorax complex9, which trimethylates histone H3 at lysine 4 (H3K4), as a regulator of lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans in a directed RNA interference (RNAi) screen in fertile worms. Deficiencies in members of the ASH-2 complexASH-2 itself, WDR-5 and the H3K4 methyltransferase SET-2extend worm lifespan. Conversely, the H3K4 demethylase RBR-2 is required for normal lifespan, consistent with the idea that an excess of H3K4 trimethylationa mark associated with active chromatinis detrimental for longevity. Lifespan extension induced by ASH-2 complex deficiency requires the presence of an intact adult germline and the continuous production of mature eggs. ASH-2 and RBR-2 act in the germline, at least in part, to regulate lifespan and to control a set of genes involved in lifespan determination. These results indicate that the longevity of the soma is regulated by an H3K4 methyltransferase/demethylase complex acting in the C. elegans germline.
Members of the H3K4 trimethylation complex regulate lifespan in a germline-dependent manner in C. elegans.
Treatment
View SamplesWe tamoxifen treated 8-12 week old mice that had floxed alleles of the following: 1) both Apc alleles (giving rise to Apc truncation/inactivation); 2) both Cdx2 alleles (giving rise to Cdx2 inactivation; 3) one Braf allele, that upon Cre-mediated recombination gives a Braf V600E mutant allele (details below), and 4) the combination of both the Cdx2 alleles and the BrafV600E allele. All four of those groups also had a CDX2P-CreERT2 transgene that expresses Cre recombinase fused to a tamoxifen-regulated fragment of the estrogen receptor ligand binding domain. CreERT2 expression occurs only in tissues where the Cdx2 gene is expressed, which is almost exclusively in adult mouse cecum and colon epithelium. A fifth group of mice had the floxed Cdx2 alleles, but no CDX2P-CreERT2 gene. Treating the mice having CDX2P-CreERT2 with tamoxifen permits the Cre recombinase to enter the cell nucleus and recombine the Apc, Braf, and/or Cdx2 alleles containing loxP sequence elements. Mice were treated with intraperitoneal injection of tamoxifen dissolved in corn oil. Three mice per group were used. The control mice did not develop tumors or any morphological or histological changes in their epithelium, but their colons were used to create the 3 control samples. To obtain the BrafV600E allele we used a genetically engineered mouse line previously described by Dankort et al. (Genes Dev 2007, 21:379-84) that can express the BrafV600E mutant protein following Cre-mediated recombination. The Braf(CA) (Braf-Cre-activated) allele mice carry a gene-targeted allele of Braf, where Braf sequences from exons 15-18 are present in the normal mouse Braf intron 14, followed by a mutated exon 15 (carrying the V600E mutation). The exon 15-18 sequence element is flanked by loxP sites. In the absence of Cre-mediated recombination, the Braf(CA) allele expresses a wild type Braf protein. Following Cre-mediated recombination, the Braf exon 15-18 element is removed, and the Braf(CA) allele then encodes the Braf V600E protein (from the introduced mutated exon 15). RNA was purified from tumor or normal tissue, and targets for Affymetrix arrays were synthesized from the mRNAs. We used Affymetrix Mouse Gene 2.1 ST arrays, which hold 41345 probe-sets, but we largely analyzed just those 25216 probe-sets that were mapped to Entrez gene IDs. Raw data was processed with the Robust Multi-array Average algorithm (RMA). Data is log2-transformed transcript abundance estimates. We fit a one-way ANOVA model to the five groups of samples. We supply a supplementary excel workbook that holds the same data as the data matrix file, but also holds the probe-set annotation at the time we analyzed the data, and some simple statistical calculations, which selects subsets of the probe-sets as differentially expressed between pairs of groups, as well as significant Cdx2-/- by Braf V600E interactions. It also gives the homologous human gene IDs we used for enrichment testing, which were 1-to-1 best homologs according to build 68 of NCBI's Homologene. A second supplementary sheet shows the data we enrichment tested after collapsing to distinct human homologs, joins of the results of tests with GSE4045 data and of tests with TCGA data to the mouse genes, and the intersections of selected genes in those data set with our gene selections in mouse. Consumers should consider obtaining more up-to-date probe-set annotation for the array platform.
BRAF<sup>V600E</sup> cooperates with CDX2 inactivation to promote serrated colorectal tumorigenesis.
Sex, Treatment
View SamplesThe gene expression profile of TAMs microbead isolated from freshly obtained human GISTs were compared in tumors that were untreated, responding to imatinib (sensitive), or resistant to imatinib (resistant)
KIT oncogene inhibition drives intratumoral macrophage M2 polarization.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe gene expression profile of TAMs sorted from vehicle control tumors in GIST mice (Sommer et al, PNAS 2003) was compared to TAMs sorted from mice after 2 weeks of imatinib therapy
KIT oncogene inhibition drives intratumoral macrophage M2 polarization.
Specimen part
View SamplesCharacterize the spatiotemporal dynamics of gene expression in neurons in developing olfactory bulb Overall design: Comparison of transcriptome profiles of GFP+ and GFP- cells derived from olfactory bulb of NTS-GFP at different developmetal time points (E13, E15, E17 and P0).
RNA-seq analysis of developing olfactory bulb projection neurons.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesImmune cell infiltration in myositis were by examining microarray expression profiles in muscle biopsies from 31 myositis patients and 5 normal controls.
Genomic signatures characterize leukocyte infiltration in myositis muscles.
Sex, Specimen part, Disease, Disease stage
View SamplesIn mammals, small RNAs are important players in post-transcriptional gene regulation. While their roles in mRNA destabilization and translational repression are well appreciated, their involvement in endonucleolytic cleavage of target RNAs is poorly understood. Very few microRNAs are known to guide RNA cleavage. Endogenous small interfering RNAs are expected to induce target cleavage, but their target genes remain largely unknown. We report a systematic study of small RNA-mediated endonucleolytic cleavage in mouse through integrative analysis of small RNA and degradome sequencing data without imposing any bias towards known small RNAs. Hundreds of small cleavage-inducing RNAs and their cognate target genes were identified, significantly expanding the repertoire of known small RNA-guided cleavage events. Strikingly, both small RNAs and their target sites demonstrated significant overlap with retrotransposons, providing evidence for the long-standing speculation that retrotransposable elements in mRNAs are leveraged as signals for gene targeting. Furthermore, our analysis showed that the RNA cleavage pathway is also present in human cells but affecting a different repertoire of retrotransposons. These results show that small RNA-guided cleavage is more widespread than previously appreciated. Their impact on retrotransposons in non-coding regions shed light on important aspects of mammalian gene regulation. Overall design: rRNA depleted RNA sequencing was done for four stages of testis development.
Global analyses of endonucleolytic cleavage in mammals reveal expanded repertoires of cleavage-inducing small RNAs and their targets.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesAnalysis of MCF7 cells transfected with ER mutants (S463P, Y537S and D538G) in phenol-red free, charcoal stripped FBS media and regular DMEM/F12 media. Results provide insight on the gene expression profiles induced by the various ER mutants.
ESR1 ligand-binding domain mutations in hormone-resistant breast cancer.
Cell line
View SamplesChromatin modifiers regulate lifespan in several organisms, raising the question of whether changes in chromatin states in the parental generation could be incompletely reprogrammed in the next generation and thereby affect the lifespan of descendents. The histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) complex composed of ASH-2, WDR-5, and the histone methyltransferase SET-2 regulates C. elegans lifespan. Here we show that deficiencies in the H3K4me3 chromatin modifiers ASH-2, WDR-5, or SET-2 in the parental generation extend the lifespan of descendents up until the third generation. The transgenerational inheritance of lifespan extension by members of the ASH-2 complex is dependent on the H3K4me3 demethylase RBR-2, and requires the presence of a functioning germline in the descendents. Transgenerational inheritance of lifespan is specific for the H3K4me3 methylation complex and is associated with epigenetic changes in gene expression. Thus, manipulation of specific chromatin modifiers only in parents can induce an epigenetic memory of longevity in descendents.
Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance of longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesMajor roadblocks to developing effective progesterone receptor (PR)-targeted therapies in breast cancer include the lack of highly-specific PR modulators, a poor understanding of the pro- or anti-tumorigenic networks for PR isoforms and ligands, and an incomplete understanding of the cross talk between PR and estrogen receptor (ER) signaling. Through genomic analyses of xenografts treated with various clinically-relevant ER and PR-targeting drugs, we describe how the activation or inhibition of PR dictates distinct ER and PR chromatin binding and differentially reprograms estrogen signaling, resulting in the segregation of transcriptomes into separate PR agonist and antagonist-mediated groups. These findings address an ongoing controversy regarding the clinical utility of PR agonists and antagonists, alone or in combination with tamoxifen, for breast cancer management. Genomic analyses of the two PR isoforms, PRA and PRB, indicate that these isoforms bind distinct genomic sites and interact with different sets of co-regulators to differentially modulate gene expression as well as pro- or anti-tumorigenic phenotypes. Of the two isoforms, PRA inhibited gene expression and ER chromatin binding significantly more than PRB. Of note, the two isoforms reprogrammed estrogen activity to be either pro or anti-tumorigenic. In concordance to the in-vitro observations, differential gene expression was observed in PRA and PRB-rich patient tumors and importantly, PRA-rich gene signatures had poorer survival outcomes. In support of antiprogestin responsiveness of PRA-rich tumors, gene signatures associated with PR antagonists, but not PR agonists, predicted better survival outcomes. This differential of better patient survival associated with PR antagonists versus PR agonists treatments was further reflected in the higher anti-tumor activity of combination therapies of tamoxifen with PR antagonists and modulators. Knowledge of various determinants of PR action and their interactions with estrogen signaling to differentially modulate breast cancer biology should serve as a guide to the development of biomarkers for patient selection and translation of PR-targeted therapies to the clinic. Overall design: For in-vitro experiments, cells were grown in steroid-deprived RPMI for 48 hours to 80% confluence, before being treated for with the hormones of interest (vehicle, 10 nM estrogen, 10 nM R5020 or both estrogen +R5020). Cells were then fixed with 1% formaldehyde for 10 minutes and the crosslinking was quenched with 0.125 M glycine for 5 minutes. Fixed cells were suspended in ChIP lysis buffer (1 ml 1M Tris pH 8.0; 200 µl 5M NaCl; 1 ml 0.5M EDTA; 1 ml NP-40; 1 g SDS, 0.5 g deoxycholate) and sheared in the Diagenode Biorupter for 20 minutes (30 second cycles). 100 µl of sheared chromatin was removed as input control. A 1:10 dilution of sheared chromatin in ChIP dilution buffer (1.7 ml 1M Tris pH 8.0; 3.3 ml 5M NaCl; 5 ml 10% NP-40; 200 µl 10% SDS; to 100 ml with H2O), 4 µg antibody and 30 µl magnetic DynaBeads were incubated in a rotator at 4oC overnight. Chromatin was immunoprecipitated overnight using anti-ER (Santa Cruz Biotechnology HC-20), anti-PR (in-house made KD68) or rabbit IgG (Santa Cruz Biotechnology SC-2027). Next, the immunoprecipitated chromatin was washed with ChIP wash buffer I (2 ml 1M Tris pH 8.0; 3 ml 5M NaCl; 400 µl 0.5M EDTA; 10 ml 10% NP-40; 1 ml 10% SDS; to 100 ml with H2O), ChIP wash buffer II (2 ml 1M Tris pH 8.0; 10 ml 5M NaCl; 400 µl 0.5M EDTA; 10 ml 10% NP-40; 1 ml 10% SDS; to 100 ml with H2O), ChIP wash buffer III (1 ml 1M Tris pH 8.0; 5 ml of 5M LiCl; 200 µl 0.5M EDTA; 10 ml 10% NP-40; 10 ml 10% deoxycholate; to 100 ml with H2O) and TE (pH 8.0). Elution was performed twice from beads by incubating them with 100 µl ChIP-elution buffer (1% SDS, 0.1 M NaHCO3) at 65oC for 15 minutes each. The eluted protein-DNA complexes were de-crosslinked overnight at 65oC in 200 µM NaCl. After de-crosslinking, the mixture was treated with proteinase K for 45 minutes followed by incubation with RNase A for 30 minutes. Finally, DNA fragments were purified using Qiagen PCR purification kit and reconstituted in 50 µl nuclear-free water. Real time PCR was performed using SYBR green. For ChIP-seq library preparations, libraries were prepared using KapaBiosystems LTP library preparation kit (#KK8232) according to the manufacturer's protocol.
Progesterone receptor isoforms, agonists and antagonists differentially reprogram estrogen signaling.
No sample metadata fields
View Samples