scholarly journals RNA-Binding Proteins Direct Myogenic Cell Fate Decisions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua R. Wheeler ◽  
Oscar N. Whitney ◽  
Thomas O. Vogler ◽  
Eric D. Nguyen ◽  
Bradley Pawlikowski ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTRNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are essential for skeletal muscle regeneration and RBP dysfunction causes muscle degeneration and neuromuscular disease. How ubiquitously expressed RBPs orchestrate complex tissue regeneration and direct cell fate decisions in skeletal muscle remains poorly understood. Single cell RNA-sequencing of regenerating skeletal muscle reveals that RBP expression, including numerous neuromuscular disease-associated RBPs, is temporally regulated in skeletal muscle stem cells and correlates to stages of myogenic differentiation. By combining machine learning with RBP engagement scoring, we discover that the neuromuscular disease associated RBP Hnrnpa2b1 is a differentiation-specifying regulator of myogenesis controlling myogenic cell fate transitions during terminal differentiation. The timing of RBP expression specifies cell fate transitions by providing a layer of post-transcriptional regulation needed to coordinate stem cell fate decisions during complex tissue regeneration.

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura P.M.H. de Rooij ◽  
Derek C.H. Chan ◽  
Ava Keyvani Chahi ◽  
Kristin J. Hope

Normal hematopoiesis is sustained through a carefully orchestrated balance between hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) self-renewal and differentiation. The functional importance of this axis is underscored by the severity of disease phenotypes initiated by abnormal HSC function, including myelodysplastic syndromes and hematopoietic malignancies. Major advances in the understanding of transcriptional regulation of primitive hematopoietic cells have been achieved; however, the post-transcriptional regulatory layer that may impinge on their behavior remains underexplored by comparison. Key players at this level include RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), which execute precise and highly coordinated control of gene expression through modulation of RNA properties that include its splicing, polyadenylation, localization, degradation, or translation. With the recent identification of RBPs having essential roles in regulating proliferation and cell fate decisions in other systems, there has been an increasing appreciation of the importance of post-transcriptional control at the stem cell level. Here we discuss our current understanding of RBP-driven post-transcriptional regulation in HSCs, its implications for normal, perturbed, and malignant hematopoiesis, and the most recent technological innovations aimed at RBP–RNA network characterization at the systems level. Emerging evidence highlights RBP-driven control as an underappreciated feature of primitive hematopoiesis, the greater understanding of which has important clinical implications.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 930-939 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Müller-McNicoll ◽  
Oliver Rossbach ◽  
Jingyi Hui ◽  
Jan Medenbach

Abstract RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are key regulators in post-transcriptional control of gene expression. Mutations that alter their activity or abundance have been implicated in numerous diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders and various types of cancer. This highlights the importance of RBP proteostasis and the necessity to tightly control the expression levels and activities of RBPs. In many cases, RBPs engage in an auto-regulatory feedback by directly binding to and influencing the fate of their own mRNAs, exerting control over their own expression. For this feedback control, RBPs employ a variety of mechanisms operating at all levels of post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Here we review RBP-mediated autogenous feedback regulation that either serves to maintain protein abundance within a physiological range (by negative feedback) or generates binary, genetic on/off switches important for e.g. cell fate decisions (by positive feedback).


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa J. MacPherson ◽  
Sarah L Erickson ◽  
Drayden Kopp ◽  
Pengqiang Wen ◽  
Mohammadreza Aghanoori ◽  
...  

Abstract The formation of the cerebral cortex requires balanced expansion and differentiation of neural progenitor cells, the fate choice of which requires regulation at many steps of gene expression. As progenitor cells often exhibit transcriptomic stochasticity, the ultimate output of cell fate-determining genes must be carefully controlled at the post-transcriptional level, but how this is orchestrated is poorly understood. Here we report that de novo missense variants in an RNA-binding protein CELF2 cause human cortical malformations and perturb neural progenitor cell fate decisions in mice by disrupting the nucleocytoplasmic transport of CELF2. In self-renewing neural progenitors, CELF2 is localized in the cytoplasm where it binds and coordinates mRNAs that encode cell fate regulators and neurodevelopmental disorder-related factors. The translocation of CELF2 into the nucleus releases mRNAs for translation and thereby triggers neural progenitor differentiation. Our results reveal a mechanism by which transport of CELF2 between discrete subcellular compartments orchestrates an RNA regulon to instruct cell fates in cerebral cortical development.


Biomolecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ohashi ◽  
Shiina

Spatiotemporal translational regulation plays a key role in determining cell fate and function. Specifically, in neurons, local translation in dendrites is essential for synaptic plasticity and long-term memory formation. To achieve local translation, RNA-binding proteins in RNA granules regulate target mRNA stability, localization, and translation. To date, mRNAs localized to dendrites have been identified by comprehensive analyses. In addition, mRNAs associated with and regulated by RNA-binding proteins have been identified using various methods in many studies. However, the results obtained from these numerous studies have not been compiled together. In this review, we have catalogued mRNAs that are localized to dendrites and are associated with and regulated by the RNA-binding proteins fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), RNA granule protein 105 (RNG105, also known as Caprin1), Ras-GAP SH3 domain binding protein (G3BP), cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein 1 (CPEB1), and staufen double-stranded RNA binding proteins 1 and 2 (Stau1 and Stau2) in RNA granules. This review provides comprehensive information on dendritic mRNAs, the neuronal functions of mRNA-encoded proteins, the association of dendritic mRNAs with RNA-binding proteins in RNA granules, and the effects of RNA-binding proteins on mRNA regulation. These findings provide insights into the mechanistic basis of protein-synthesis-dependent synaptic plasticity and memory formation and contribute to future efforts to understand the physiological implications of local regulation of dendritic mRNAs in neurons.


2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (19) ◽  
pp. 8428-8436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heon-Jin Lee ◽  
Wolfgang Göring ◽  
Matthias Ochs ◽  
Christian Mühlfeld ◽  
Gerd Steding ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The Sox genes define a family of transcription factors that play a key role in the determination of cell fate during development. The preferential expression of the Sox15 in the myogenic precursor cells led us to suggest that the Sox15 is involved in the specification of myogenic cell lineages or in the regulation of the fusion of myoblasts to form myotubes during the development and regeneration of skeletal muscle. To identify the physiological function of Sox15 in mice, we disrupted the Sox15 by homologous recombination in mice. Sox15-deficient mice were born at expected ratios, were healthy and fertile, and displayed normal long-term survival rates. Histological analysis revealed the normal ultrastructure of myofibers and the presence of comparable amounts of satellite cells in the skeletal muscles of Sox15−/− animals compared to wild-type animals. These results exclude the role of Sox15 in the development of satellite cells. However, cultured Sox15−/− myoblasts displayed a marked delay in differentiation potential in vitro. Moreover, skeletal muscle regeneration in Sox15−/− mice was attenuated after application of a crush injury. These results suggest a requirement for Sox15 in the myogenic program. Expression analyses of the early myogenic regulated factors MyoD and Myf5 showed the downregulation of the MyoD and upregulation of the Myf5 in Sox15−/− myoblasts. These results show an increased proportion of the Myf5-positive cells and suggest a role for Sox15 in determining the early myogenic cell lineages during skeletal muscle development.


2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (24) ◽  
pp. 11089-11101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad A. Bryan ◽  
Dianne C. Mitchell ◽  
Lei Zhao ◽  
Wenbin Ma ◽  
Lewis J. Stafford ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Rho family guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) regulate diverse cellular processes including cytoskeletal reorganization, cell adhesion, and differentiation via activation of the Rho GTPases. However, no studies have yet implicated Rho-GEFs as molecular regulators of the mesenchymal cell fate decisions which occur during development and repair of tissue damage. In this study, we demonstrate that the steady-state protein level of the Rho-specific GEF GEFT is modulated during skeletal muscle regeneration and that gene transfer of GEFT into cardiotoxin-injured mouse tibialis anterior muscle exerts a powerful promotion of skeletal muscle regeneration in vivo. In order to molecularly characterize this regenerative effect, we extrapolate the mechanism of action by examining the consequence of GEFT expression in multipotent cell lines capable of differentiating into a number of cell types, including muscle and adipocyte lineages. Our data demonstrate that endogenous GEFT is transcriptionally upregulated during myogenic differentiation and downregulated during adipogenic differentiation. Exogenous expression of GEFT promotes myogenesis of C2C12 cells via activation of RhoA, Rac1, and Cdc42 and their downstream effector proteins, while a dominant-negative mutant of GEFT inhibits this process. Moreover, we show that GEFT inhibits insulin-induced adipogenesis in 3T3L1 preadipocytes. In summary, we provide the first evidence that the Rho family signaling pathways act as potential regulators of skeletal muscle regeneration and provide the first reported molecular mechanism illustrating how a mammalian Rho family GEF controls this process by modulating mesenchymal cell fate decisions.


2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angele Chopard ◽  
Anu Heidi Shukla ◽  
John Lunde ◽  
Bernard Jean Jasmin

Genome ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Sophie E. Keegan ◽  
Sarah C. Hughes

Nuclear-cytoplasmic localization is an efficient way to regulate transcription factors and chromatin remodelers. Altering the location of existing protein pools also facilitates a more rapid response to changes in cell activity or extracellular signals. There are several examples of proteins that are regulated by nucleo-cytoplasmic shuttling, which are required for Drosophila neuroblast development. Disruption of the localization of homologs of these proteins has also been linked to several neurodegenerative disorders in humans. Drosophila has been used extensively to model the neurodegenerative disorders caused by aberrant nucleo-cytoplasmic localization. Here, we focus on the role of alternative nucleo-cytoplasmic protein localization in regulating proliferation and cell fate decisions in the Drosophila neuroblast and in neurodegenerative disorders. We also explore the analogous role of RNA binding proteins and mRNA localization in the context of regulation of nucleo-cytoplasmic localization during neural development and a role in neurodegenerative disorders.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 3409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantin Schuschel ◽  
Matthias Helwig ◽  
Stefan Hüttelmaier ◽  
Dirk Heckl ◽  
Jan-Henning Klusmann ◽  
...  

Acute leukemias are genetic diseases caused by translocations or mutations, which dysregulate hematopoiesis towards malignant transformation. However, the molecular mode of action is highly versatile and ranges from direct transcriptional to post-transcriptional control, which includes RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) as crucial regulators of cell fate. RBPs coordinate RNA dynamics, including subcellular localization, translational efficiency and metabolism, by binding to their target messenger RNAs (mRNAs), thereby controlling the expression of the encoded proteins. In view of the growing interest in these regulators, this review summarizes recent research regarding the most influential RBPs relevant in acute leukemias in particular. The reported RBPs, either dysregulated or as components of fusion proteins, are described with respect to their functional domains, the pathways they affect, and clinical aspects associated with their dysregulation or altered functions.


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