scholarly journals Scavenger receptor A gene regulatory elements target gene expression to macrophages and to foam cells of atherosclerotic lesions.

1995 ◽  
Vol 92 (12) ◽  
pp. 5391-5395 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Horvai ◽  
W. Palinski ◽  
H. Wu ◽  
K. S. Moulton ◽  
K. Kalla ◽  
...  
Genetics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 212 (3) ◽  
pp. 729-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Annika Street ◽  
Ana Karina Morao ◽  
Lara Heermans Winterkorn ◽  
Chen-Yu Jiao ◽  
Sarah Elizabeth Albritton ◽  
...  

Condensins are evolutionarily conserved protein complexes that are required for chromosome segregation during cell division and genome organization during interphase. In Caenorhabditis elegans, a specialized condensin, which forms the core of the dosage compensation complex (DCC), binds to and represses X chromosome transcription. Here, we analyzed DCC localization and the effect of DCC depletion on histone modifications, transcription factor binding, and gene expression using chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing and mRNA sequencing. Across the X, the DCC accumulates at accessible gene regulatory sites in active chromatin and not heterochromatin. The DCC is required for reducing the levels of activating histone modifications, including H3K4me3 and H3K27ac, but not repressive modification H3K9me3. In X-to-autosome fusion chromosomes, DCC spreading into the autosomal sequences locally reduces gene expression, thus establishing a direct link between DCC binding and repression. Together, our results indicate that DCC-mediated transcription repression is associated with a reduction in the activity of X chromosomal gene regulatory elements.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moataz Dowaidar

Changes in gene expression levels above or below a particular threshold may have a dramatic impact on phenotypes, leading to a wide spectrum of human illnesses. Gene-regulatory elements, also known as cis-regulatory elements (CREs), may change the amount, timing, or location (cell/tissue type) of gene expression, whereas mutations in a gene's coding sequence may result in lower or higher gene expression levels resulting in protein loss or gain. Loss-of-function mutations in both genes produce recessive human illness, while haploinsufficient mutations in 65 genes are also known to be deleterious due to function gain, according to the ClinVar1 and ClinGen3 databases. CREs are promoters living near to a gene's transcription start site and switching it on at predefined times, places, and levels. Other distal CREs, like enhancers and silencers, are temporal and tissue-specific control promoters. Enhancers activate promoters, commonly referred to as "promoters," whereas silencers turn them off. Insulators also restrict promiscuous interactions between enhancers and gene promoters. Systematic genomic approaches can help understand the cis-regulatory circuitry of gene expression by highly detecting and functionally defining these CREs. This includes the new use of CRISPR–CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR–Cas9) and other editing approaches to discover CREs. Cis-Regulation therapy (CRT) provides many promises to heal human ailments. CRT may be used to upregulate or downregulate disease-causing genes due to lower or higher levels of expression, and it may also be used to precisely adjust the expression of genes that assist in alleviating disease features. CRT may employ proteins that generate epigenetic modifications like methylation, histone modification, or gene expression regulation looping. Weighing CRT's advantages and downsides against alternative treatment methods is crucial. CRT platforms might become a practical technique to treat many genetic diseases that now lack treatment alternatives if academics, patient communities, clinicians, regulators and industry work together.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadezda A. Fursova ◽  
Anne H. Turberfield ◽  
Neil P. Blackledge ◽  
Emma L. Findlater ◽  
Anna Lastuvkova ◽  
...  

AbstractHistone-modifying systems play fundamental roles in gene regulation and the development of multicellular organisms. Histone modifications that are enriched at gene regulatory elements have been heavily studied, but the function of modifications that are found more broadly throughout the genome remains poorly understood. This is exemplified by histone H2A mono-ubiquitylation (H2AK119ub1) which is enriched at Polycomb-repressed gene promoters, but also covers the genome at lower levels. Here, using inducible genetic perturbations and quantitative genomics, we discover that the BAP1 deubiquitylase plays an essential role in constraining H2AK119ub1 throughout the genome. Removal of BAP1 leads to pervasive accumulation of H2AK119ub1, which causes widespread reductions in gene expression. We show that elevated H2AK119ub1 represses gene expression by counteracting transcription initiation from gene regulatory elements, causing reductions in transcription-associated histone modifications. Furthermore, failure to constrain pervasive H2AK119ub1 compromises Polycomb complex occupancy at a subset of Polycomb target genes leading to their derepression, therefore explaining the original genetic characterisation of BAP1 as a Polycomb group gene. Together, these observations reveal that the transcriptional potential of the genome can be modulated by regulating the levels of a pervasive histone modification, without the need for elaborate gene-specific targeting mechanisms.


2018 ◽  
Vol 218 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marit W. Vermunt ◽  
Di Zhang ◽  
Gerd A. Blobel

Imaging studies, high-resolution chromatin conformation maps, and genome-wide occupancy data of architectural proteins have revealed that genome topology is tightly intertwined with gene expression. Cross-talk between gene-regulatory elements is often organized within insulated neighborhoods, and regulatory cues that induce transcriptional changes can reshape chromatin folding patterns and gene positioning within the nucleus. The cause–consequence relationship of genome architecture and gene expression is intricate, and its molecular mechanisms are under intense investigation. Here, we review the interdependency of transcription and genome organization with emphasis on enhancer–promoter contacts in gene regulation.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Annika Street ◽  
Ana Karina Morao ◽  
Lara Heermans Winterkorn ◽  
Chen-Yu Jiao ◽  
Sarah Elizabeth Albritton ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTCondensins are evolutionarily conserved protein complexes that are required for chromosome segregation during cell division and genome organization during interphase. In C. elegans,, a specialized condensin, which forms the core of the dosage compensation complex (DCC), binds to and represses X chromosome transcription. Here, we analyzed DCC localization and the effect of DCC depletion on histone modifications, transcription factor binding, and gene expression using ChIP-seq and mRNA-seq. Across the X, DCC accumulates at accessible gene regulatory sites in active chromatin and not heterochromatin. DCC is required for reducing the levels of activating histone modifications, including H3K4me3 and H3K27ac, but not repressive modification H3K9me3. In X-to-autosome fusion chromosomes, DCC spreading into the autosomal sequences locally reduces gene expression, thus establishing a direct link between DCC binding and repression. Together, our results indicate that DCC-mediated transcription repression is associated with a reduction in the activity of X chromosomal gene regulatory elements.SUMMARYCondensins are evolutionarily conserved protein complexes that mediate chromosome condensation during cell division and have been implicated in gene regulation during interphase. Here, we analyzed the gene regulatory role of an X-specific condensin (DCC) in C. elegans, by measuring its effect on histone modifications associated with transcription regulation. We found that in X-to-autosome fusion chromosomes, DCC spreading into autosomal sequences locally reduces gene expression, establishing a direct link between DCC binding and repression. DCC is required for reduced levels of histone modifications associated with transcription activation at X chromosomal promoters and enhancers. These results are consistent with a model whereby DCC binding directly or indirectly results in a reduction in the activity of X chromosomal gene regulatory elements through specific activating histone modifications.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilia Dimitrova ◽  
Angelika Feldmann ◽  
Robin H van der Weide ◽  
Koen D Flach ◽  
Anna Lastuvkova ◽  
...  

Precise control of gene expression underpins normal development. This relies on mechanisms that enable communication between gene promoters and other regulatory elements. In embryonic stem cells (ESCs), the CDK-Mediator (CDK-MED) complex has been reported to physically link gene regulatory elements to enable gene expression and also prime genes for induction during differentiation. Here we discover that CDK-MED contributes little to 3D genome organisation in ESCs, but has a specific and essential role in controlling interactions between inactive gene regulatory elements bound by Polycomb repressive complexes (PRCs). These interactions are established by the canonical PRC1 (cPRC1) complex but rely on CDK-MED, which facilitates binding of cPRC1 to its target sites. Importantly, through separation of function experiments, we reveal that this collaboration between CDK-MED and cPRC1 in creating long-range interactions does not function to prime genes for induction during differentiation. Instead, we discover that priming relies on an interaction-independent mechanism whereby the CDK module supports core Mediator engagement with gene promoters to enable gene activation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shobha Ghosh ◽  
Jing Wang ◽  
Jinghua Bie ◽  
Quan Yuan ◽  
Olga Zolotarskaya ◽  
...  

No therapy is currently available to enhance the removal of cholesteryl esters (CE) from existing atherosclerotic plaques to facilitate plaque regression. Such a strategy is crucial to reduce the burden of existing disease in addition to preventing the progression targeted by the current therapeutics. Earlier studies from our laboratory have established the anti-atherogenic role of CE hydrolase (CEH)-mediated CE mobilization from macrophage foam cells and final elimination of cholesterol by the liver. While transgenic expression of CEH was used in pre-clinical animal studies, increase in human CEH by activation of Liver-X-receptor (LXR) was also established. Increased lipogenesis induced by LXR ligands precludes their use. The current studies focused on the development of mannose-functionalized dendrimer nanoparticles (DNPs) for the delivery of LXR ligand (TO901317) or CEH expression vector to plaque associated macrophage foam cells. As shown in the Figure, mannose functionalization restricts the uptake of DNPs to macrophages and minimal uptake was seen with primary hepatocytes ( A ). Western diet fed LDLR-/- mice were injected (iv) with DNPs and tissues harvested 48 later to monitor gene expression by QPCR. DNP-mediated delivery of LXR ligand (DNP-LXR) increased the target gene expression (ABCA1, ABCG1) in plaque associated macrophage foam cells in the aortic arch with no effects on target gene expression in the liver ( B ) demonstrating the specific delivery of LXR ligand. Comparable increase in CEH activity was seen following exposure of macrophages to free LXR ligand and DNP-delivered LXR ligand ( C ) and DNP-mediated delivery of CEH expression vectors driven either by CMV or SR-A promoter induced dramatic increase in CEH expression ( D ). These data establish functionalized DNP as a suitable platform for specific and functional delivery of drugs or DNA to plaque associated macrophages to enhance processes involved in cholesterol removal and plaque regression.


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