Kumbhar R, Sanchez A, Perren J, Gong F, Corujo D, Medina F, Devanathan SK, Xhemalce B, Matouschek A, Buschbeck M, Buck-Koehntop BA, Miller KM
Poly(ADP-ribose) binding and macroH2A mediate recruitment and functions of KDM5A at DNA lesions.
J Cell Biol 5 Jul 2021, 220 (7) . Epub 18 May 2021The histone demethylase KDM5A erases histone H3 lysine 4 methylation, which is involved in transcription and DNA damage responses (DDRs). While DDR functions of KDM5A have been identified, how KDM5A recognizes DNA lesion sites within chromatin is unknown. Here, we identify two factors that act upstream of KDM5A to promote its association with DNA damage sites. We have identified a noncanonical poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR)-binding region unique to KDM5A. Loss of the PAR-binding region or treatment with PAR polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (PARPi's) blocks KDM5A-PAR interactions and DNA repair functions of KDM5A. The histone variant macroH2A1.2 is also specifically required for KDM5A recruitment and function at DNA damage sites, including homology-directed repair of DNA double-strand breaks and repression of transcription at DNA breaks. Overall, this work reveals the importance of PAR binding and macroH2A1.2 in KDM5A recognition of DNA lesion sites that drive transcriptional and repair activities at DNA breaks within chromatin that are essential for maintaining genome integrity.
More informationClaudia Vivori, Panagiotis Papasaikas, Ralph Stadhouders, Bruno Di Stefano, Anna Ribó Rubio, Clara Berenguer Balaguer, Serena Generoso, Anna Mallol, José Luis Sardina, Bernhard Payer, Thomas Graf, Juan Valcárcel
Dynamics of alternative splicing during somatic cell reprogramming reveals functions for RNA-binding proteins CPSF3, hnRNP UL1, and TIA1
Genome Biol 22, 171 (2021) 3 Jun 2021, . BACKGROUND
Somatic cell reprogramming is the process that allows differentiated cells to revert to a pluripotent state. In contrast to the extensively studied rewiring of epigenetic and transcriptional programs required for reprogramming, the dynamics of post-transcriptional changes and their associated regulatory mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here we study the dynamics of alternative splicing changes occurring during efficient reprogramming of mouse B cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells and compare them to those occurring during reprogramming of mouse embryonic fibroblasts.
RESULTS
We observe a significant overlap between alternative splicing changes detected in the two reprogramming systems, which are generally uncoupled from changes in transcriptional levels. Correlation between gene expression of potential regulators and specific clusters of alternative splicing changes enables the identification and subsequent validation of CPSF3 and hnRNP UL1 as facilitators, and TIA1 as repressor of mouse embryonic fibroblasts reprogramming. We further find that these RNA-binding proteins control partially overlapping programs of splicing regulation, involving genes relevant for developmental and morphogenetic processes.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results reveal common programs of splicing regulation during reprogramming of different cell types and identify three novel regulators of this process and their targets.
Antonio Gómez, Miguel L. Pato, Luis Bujanda, Núria Sala, Osmel Companioni, Ángel Cosme, Martina Tufano, David J. Hanly, Nadia García, José Miguel Sanz-Anquela, Javier P. Gisbert, Consuelo López, José Ignacio Elizalde, Miriam Cuatrecasas, Victoria Andreu, María José Paules, María Dolores Martín-Arranz, Luis Ortega, Elvira Poves, Jesús Barrio, María Ángeles Torres, Guillermo Muñoz, Ángel Ferrández, María José Ramírez-Lázaro, Sergio Lario, Carlos A González, Manel Esteller, María Berdasco
Follow-Up Study Confirms the Presence of Gastric Cancer DNA Methylation Hallmarks in High-Risk Precursor Lesions
Cancers 2021, 13(11), 2760; 2 Jun 2021, . To adopt prevention strategies in gastric cancer, it is imperative to develop robust biomarkers with acceptable costs and feasibility in clinical practice to stratified populations according to risk scores. With this aim, we applied an unbiased genome-wide CpG methylation approach to a discovery cohort composed of gastric cancer (n = 24), and non-malignant precursor lesions (n = 64). Then, candidate-methylation approaches were performed in a validation cohort of precursor lesions obtained from an observational longitudinal study (n = 264), with a 12-year follow-up to identify repression or progression cases. H. pylori stratification and histology were considered to determine their influence on the methylation dynamics. As a result, we ascertained that intestinal metaplasia partially recapitulates patterns of aberrant methylation of intestinal type of gastric cancer, independently of the H. pylori status. Two epigenetically regulated genes in cancer, RPRM and ZNF793, consistently showed increased methylation in intestinal metaplasia with respect to earlier precursor lesions. In summary, our result supports the need to investigate the practical utilities of the quantification of DNA methylation in candidate genes as a marker for disease progression. In addition, the H. pylori-dependent methylation in intestinal metaplasia suggests that pharmacological treatments aimed at H. pylori eradication in the late stages of precursor lesions do not prevent epigenome reprogramming toward a cancer signature.
Mhibik M, Gaglione EM, Eik D, Kendall EK, Blackburn A, Keyvanfar K, Baptista MJ, Ahn IE, Sun C, Qi J, Rader C, Wiestner A
BTK Inhibitors, Irrespective of ITK Inhibition, Increase Efficacy of a CD19/CD3 Bispecific Antibody in CLL.
Blood 27 May 2021, . Epub 27 May 2021Bruton Tyrosine Kinase inhibitors (BTKis) are a preferred treatment for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Indefinite therapy with BTKis, while effective, presents clinical challenges. Combination therapy can deepen responses, shorten treatment duration, and possibly prevent or overcome drug resistance. We previously reported on a CD19/CD3 bispecific antibody (bsAb) that recruits autologous T cell cytotoxicity against CLL cells in vitro. Compared to observations with samples from treatment-naïve patients, T cells from patients being treated with ibrutinib expanded more rapidly and exerted superior cytotoxic activity in response to the bsAb. In addition to BTK, ibrutinib also inhibits IL2 inducible T cell Kinase (ITK). In contrast, acalabrutinib, does not inhibit ITK. Whether ITK inhibition contributes to the observed immune effects is unknown. To better understand how BTKis modulate T-cell function and cytotoxic activity, we cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from BTKi-naive, and ibrutinib- or acalabrutinib-treated CLL patients with CD19/CD3 bsAb in vitro. T-cell expansion, activation, differentiation, and cytotoxicity were increased in PBMCs from patients on treatment with either BTKi compared to that observed for BKTi-naïve patients. BTKi therapy transcriptionally downregulated immunosuppressive effectors expressed by CLL cells, including CTLA-4 and CD200. CTLA-4 blockade with ipilimumab in vitro increased the cytotoxic activity of the bsAb in BTKi-naïve but not BTKi-treated PBMCS. Taken together, BTKis enhance bsAb induced cytotoxicity by relieving T cells of immunosuppressive restraints imposed by CLL cells. The benefit of combining bsAb immunotherapy with BTKis needs to be confirmed in clinical trials.
More informationMaximilian Lassi, Archana Tomar, Gemma Comas-Armangué, Rebekka Vogtmann
Dorieke J. Dijkstra, David Corujo, Raffaele Gerlini, Jonatan Darr, Fabienne Scheid, Jan Rozman, Antonio Aguilar-Pimentel, Omry Koren, Marcus Buschbeck, Helmut Fuchs, Susan Marschall, Valerie Gailus-Durner, Martin Hrabe de Angelis, Torsten Plösch, Alexandra Gellhaus and
Raffaele Teperino
Disruption of paternal circadian rhythm affects metabolic health in male offspring via nongerm cell factors
Science Advances 26 May 2021: Vol. 7, no. 22, eabg6424 26 May 2021, . Circadian rhythm synchronizes each body function with the environment and regulates physiology. Disruption of normal circadian rhythm alters organismal physiology and increases disease risk. Recent epidemiological data and studies in model organisms have shown that maternal circadian disruption is important for offspring health and adult phenotypes. Less is known about the role of paternal circadian rhythm for offspring health. Here, we disrupted circadian rhythm in male mice by night-restricted feeding and showed that paternal circadian disruption at conception is important for offspring feeding behavior, metabolic health, and oscillatory transcription. Mechanistically, our data suggest that the effect of paternal circadian disruption is not transferred to the offspring via the germ cells but initiated by corticosterone-based parental communication at conception and programmed during in utero development through a state of fetal growth restriction. These findings indicate paternal circadian health at conception as a newly identified determinant of offspring phenotypes.
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