scholarly journals Unraveling a Bacterial Starvation Response Through the Direct Targets of a Starvation-Induced Transcriptional Activator

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muqing Ma ◽  
Ting Li ◽  
David J. Lemon ◽  
Eduardo A. Caro ◽  
Linnea Judith Ritchie ◽  
...  

Organisms frequently encounter environments with nutrient shortages and their survival depends on changes in physiology and the ability to conserve resources. In bacteria, many physiological changes associated with starvation have been identified, but the underlying genetic components and regulatory networks that direct these physiological changes are often poorly defined. Here, we aimed to better define the gene regulatory networks that mediate the starvation response in Myxococcus xanthus, a bacterium that copes with starvation by producing fruiting bodies filled with dormant and stress-resistant spores. We focused on the direct promoter/gene targets of Nla28, a transcriptional activator/enhancer binding protein (EBP) that is important for early rounds of gene expression following starvation. Using expression profiling to identify genes that are downregulated in nla28 mutant cells and bioinformatics to identify the putative promoters of these genes, 12 potential promoter targets (37 genes) of Nla28 were identified. The results of in vitro promoter binding assays, coupled with in vitro and in vivo mutational analyses, suggested that the 12 promoters are in vivo targets of Nla28 and that Nla28 dimers use tandem, imperfect repeats of an 8-bp sequence for binding. Interestingly, nine of the Nla28 target promoters are intragenic, located in the protein coding sequence of an upstream gene or in the protein coding sequence of one gene within an operon (internal promoters). Based on mutational analyses, we concluded that the 12 Nla28 target loci contain at least one gene important for production of stress-resistant spores following starvation. Most of these loci contain genes predicted to be involved in regulatory or defense-related functions. Using the consensus Nla28 binding sequence, followed by bioinformatics and expression profiling, 58 additional promoters and 102 genes were tagged as potential Nla28 targets. Among these putative Nla28 targets, functions such as regulatory, metabolic and cell envelope biogenesis were commonly assigned to genes.

Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1868
Author(s):  
Yi-Tung Chen ◽  
Ian Yi-Feng Chang ◽  
Chia-Hua Kan ◽  
Yu-Hao Liu ◽  
Yu-Ping Kuo ◽  
...  

Deep sequencing technologies have revealed the once uncharted non-coding transcriptome of circular RNAs (circRNAs). Despite the lack of protein-coding potential, these unorthodox yet highly stable RNA species are known to act as critical gene regulatory hubs, particularly in malignancies. However, their mechanistic implications in tumor outcome and translational potential have not been fully resolved. Using RNA-seq data, we profiled the circRNAomes of tumor specimens derived from oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), which is a prevalently diagnosed cancer with a persistently low survival rate. We further catalogued dysregulated circRNAs in connection with tumorigenic progression. Using comprehensive bioinformatics analyses focused on co-expression maps and miRNA-interaction networks, we delineated the regulatory networks that are centered on circRNAs. Interestingly, we identified a tumor-associated, pro-tumorigenic circRNA, named circFLNB, that was implicated in maintaining several tumor-associated phenotypes in vitro and in vivo. Correspondingly, transcriptome profiling of circFLNB-knockdown cells showed alterations in tumor-related genes. Integrated in silico analyses further deciphered the circFLNB-targeted gene network. Together, our current study demarcates the OSCC-associated circRNAome, and unveils a novel circRNA circuit with functional implication in OSCC progression. These systems-based findings broaden mechanistic understanding of oral malignancies and raise new prospects for translational medicine.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 1390
Author(s):  
Julia Mester-Tonczar ◽  
Patrick Einzinger ◽  
Johannes Winkler ◽  
Nina Kastner ◽  
Andreas Spannbauer ◽  
...  

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are crucial in gene regulatory networks and disease development, yet circRNA expression in myocardial infarction (MI) is poorly understood. Here, we harvested myocardium samples from domestic pigs 3 days after closed-chest reperfused MI or sham surgery. Cardiac circRNAs were identified by RNA-sequencing of rRNA-depleted RNA from infarcted and healthy myocardium tissue samples. Bioinformatics analysis was performed using the CIRIfull and KNIFE algorithms, and circRNAs identified with both algorithms were subjected to differential expression (DE) analysis and validation by qPCR. Circ-RCAN2 and circ-C12orf29 expressions were significantly downregulated in infarcted tissue compared to healthy pig heart. Sanger sequencing was performed to identify the backsplice junctions of circular transcripts. Finally, we compared the expressions of circ-C12orf29 and circ-RCAN2 between porcine cardiac progenitor cells (pCPCs) that were incubated in a hypoxia chamber for different time periods versus normoxic pCPCs. Circ-C12orf29 did not show significant DE in vitro, whereas circ-RCAN2 exhibited significant ischemia-time-dependent upregulation in hypoxic pCPCs. Overall, our results revealed novel cardiac circRNAs with DE patterns in pCPCs, and in infarcted and healthy myocardium. Circ-RCAN2 exhibited differential regulation by myocardial infarction in vivo and by hypoxia in vitro. These results will improve our understanding of circRNA regulation during acute MI.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leilei Lin ◽  
Yu Wang ◽  
Sicheng Bian ◽  
Lili Sun ◽  
Zhibo Guo ◽  
...  

Abstract Background As a common haematological malignancy, acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), particularly with extramedullary infiltration (EMI), often results in a high mortality rate and poor prognosis. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) regulate biological and pathogenic processes, suggesting a potential role in AML. We have previously described the overall alterations in circRNAs and their regulatory networks between patients with AML presenting with and without EMI. This study aims to find new prognostic and therapeutic targets potentially associated with AML. Methods qRT-PCR was performed on samples from 40 patients with AML and 15 healthy controls. The possibility of using circPLXNB2 (circRNA derived from PLXNB2) as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for AML was analysed with multiple statistical methods. In vitro, the function of circPLXNB2 was studied by lentivirus transfection, CCK-8 assays, flow cytometry, and Transwell experiments. Western blotting and qRT-PCR were performed to detect the expression of related proteins and genes. The distribution of circPLXNB2 in cells was observed using RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (RNA-FISH). We also investigated the role of circPLXNB2 by establishing AML xenograft models in NOD/SCID mice. Results By analysing the results of qRT-PCR detection of clinical samples, the expression of the circPLXNB2 and PLXNB2 mRNAs were significantly increased in patients with AML, more specifically in patients with AML presenting with EMI. High circPLXNB2 expression was associated with an obviously shorter overall survival and leukaemia-free survival of patients with AML. The circPLXNB2 expression was positively correlated with PLXNB2 mRNA expression, as evidenced by Pearson’s correlation analysis. RNA-FISH revealed that circPLXNB2 is mainly located in the nucleus. In vitro and in vivo, circPLXNB2 promoted cell proliferation and migration and inhibited apoptosis. Notably, circPLXNB2 also increased the expression of PLXNB2, BCL2 and cyclin D1, and reduced the expression of BAX. Conclusion In summary, we validated the high expression of circPLXNB2 and PLXNB2 in patients with AML. Elevated circPLXNB2 levels were associated with poor clinical outcomes in patients with AML. Importantly, circPLXNB2 accelerated tumour growth and progression, possibly by regulating PLXNB2 expression. Our study highlights the potential of circPLXNB2 as a new prognostic predictor and therapeutic target for AML in the future.


Gut Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
De Xi ◽  
Lukas Hofmann ◽  
Thomas Alter ◽  
Ralf Einspanier ◽  
Stefan Bereswill ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) infections are of increasing importance worldwide. As a typical mucosal pathogen, the interaction of C. jejuni with mucins is a prominent step in the colonisation of mucosal surfaces. Despite recent advances in understanding the interaction between bacterial pathogens and host mucins, the mechanisms of mucin glycosylation during intestinal C. jejuni infection remain largely unclear. This prompted us to identify relevant regulatory networks that are concerted by miRNAs and could play a role in the mucin modification and interaction. Results We firstly used a human intestinal in vitro model, in which we observed altered transcription of MUC2 and TFF3 upon C. jejuni NCTC 11168 infection. Using a combined approach consisting of in silico analysis together with in vitro expression analysis, we identified the conserved miRNAs miR-125a-5p and miR-615-3p associated with MUC2 and TFF3. Further pathway analyses showed that both miRNAs appear to regulate glycosyltransferases, which are related to the KEGG pathway ‘Mucin type O-glycan biosynthesis’. To validate the proposed interactions, we applied an in vivo approach utilising a well-established secondary abiotic IL-10−/− mouse model for infection with C. jejuni 81-176. In colonic tissue samples, we confirmed infection-dependent aberrant transcription of MUC2 and TFF3. Moreover, two predicted glycosyltransferases, the sialyltransferases ST3GAL1 and ST3GAL2, exhibited inversely correlated transcriptional levels compared to the expression of the identified miRNAs miR-125a-5p and miR-615-3p, respectively. In this study, we mainly focused on the interaction between miR-615-3p and ST3GAL2 and were able to demonstrate their molecular interaction using luciferase reporter assays and RNAi. Detection of ST3GAL2 in murine colonic tissue by immunofluorescence demonstrated reduced intensity after C. jejuni 81-176 infection and was thus consistent with the observations made above. Conclusions We report here for the first time the regulation of glycosyltransferases by miRNAs during murine infection with C. jejuni 81-176. Our data suggest that mucin type O-glycan biosynthesis is concerted by the interplay of miRNAs and glycosyltransferases, which could determine the shape of intestinal glycosylated proteins during infection.


2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (10) ◽  
pp. 2648-2657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitte Bau ◽  
Pia M. Gebhard ◽  
Jochen Haag ◽  
Thomas Knorr ◽  
Eckart Bartnik ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Michelle Naidoo ◽  
Fayola Levine ◽  
Tamara Gillot ◽  
Akintunde T. Orunmuyi ◽  
E. Oluwabunmi Olapade-Olaopa ◽  
...  

High mortality rates of prostate cancer (PCa) are associated with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) due to the maintenance of androgen receptor (AR) signaling despite androgen deprivation therapies (ADTs). The 8q24 chromosomal locus is a region of very high PCa susceptibility that carries genetic variants associated with high risk of PCa incidence. This region also carries frequent amplifications of the PVT1 gene, a non-protein coding gene that encodes a cluster of microRNAs including, microRNA-1205 (miR-1205), which are largely understudied. Herein, we demonstrate that miR-1205 is underexpressed in PCa cells and tissues and suppresses CRPC tumors in vivo. To characterize the molecular pathway, we identified and validated fry-like (FRYL) as a direct molecular target of miR-1205 and observed its overexpression in PCa cells and tissues. FRYL is predicted to regulate dendritic branching, which led to the investigation of FRYL in neuroendocrine PCa (NEPC). Resistance toward ADT leads to the progression of treatment related NEPC often characterized by PCa neuroendocrine differentiation (NED), however, this mechanism is poorly understood. Underexpression of miR-1205 is observed when NED is induced in vitro and inhibition of miR-1205 leads to increased expression of NED markers. However, while FRYL is overexpressed during NED, FRYL knockdown did not reduce NED, therefore revealing that miR-1205 induces NED independently of FRYL.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin A. Sorg ◽  
Clement Gallay ◽  
Jan-Willem Veening

AbstractStreptococcus pneumoniae can cause disease in various human tissues and organs, including the ear, the brain, the blood and the lung, and thus in highly diverse and dynamic environments. It is challenging to study how pneumococci control virulence factor expression, because cues of natural environments and the presence of an immune system are difficult to simulate in vitro. Here, we apply synthetic biology methods to reverse-engineer gene expression control in S. pneumoniae. A selection platform is described that allows for straightforward identification of transcriptional regulatory elements out of combinatorial libraries. We present TetR- and LacI-regulated promoters that show expression ranges of four orders of magnitude. Based on these promoters, regulatory networks of higher complexity are assembled, such as logic AND and IMPLY gates. Finally, we demonstrate single-copy genome-integrated toggle switches that give rise to bimodal population distributions. The tools described here can be used to mimic complex expression patterns, such as the ones found for pneumococcal virulence factors, paving the way for in vivo investigations of the importance of gene expression control on the pathogenicity of S. pneumoniae.


Development ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 110 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Payre ◽  
S. Noselli ◽  
V. Lefrere ◽  
A. Vincent

Serendipity (sry) beta (beta) and delta (delta) are two finger protein genes resulting from a duplication event. Comparison of their respective protein products shows interspersed blocks of conserved and divergent amino-acid sequences. The most extensively conserved region corresponds to the predicted DNA-binding domain which includes 6 contiguous fingers; no significant sequence conservation is found upstream and downstream of the protein-coding region. We have analysed the evolutionary divergence of the sry beta and delta proteins on two separate levels, their embryonic pattern of expression and their DNA-binding properties in vitro and in vivo. By using specific antibodies and transformant lines containing beta-galactosidase fusion genes, we show that the sry beta and sry delta proteins are maternally inherited and present in embryonic nuclei at the onset of zygotic transcription, suggesting that they are transcription factors involved in this process. Zygotic synthesis of the sry beta protein starts during nuclear division cycles 12–13, prior to cellularisation of the blastoderm, while the zygotic sry delta protein is not detectable before germ band extension (stage 10 embryos). Contrary to sry delta, the zygotic sry beta protein constitutes only a minor fraction of the total embryonic protein. The sry beta and delta proteins made in E. coli bind to DNA, with partly overlapping specificities. Their in vivo patterns of binding to DNA, visualised by immunostaining polytene chromosomes, differ both in the number and position of their binding sites. Thus changes in expression pattern and DNA-binding specificity have contributed to the evolution of the sry beta and delta genes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Enhui Ma ◽  
Qianqian Wang ◽  
Jinhua Li ◽  
Xinqi Zhang ◽  
Zhenjia Guo ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Prostate cancer (PCa) is a kind of malignancy occurring in the prostate gland. Substantial researches have proved the major role of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in PCa. However, the role of long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 1006 (LINC01006) in PCa has not been investigated yet. Methods RT-qPCR was used to examine the expression levels of LINC01006 and its downstream targets. The function of LINC01006 in PCa was tested by in vitro and in vivo assays. With application of RNA pull down, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and luciferase reporter assays, the interaction among LINC01006, miR-34a-5p and disheveled associated activator of morphogenesis 1 (DAAM1) were verified. Results LINC01006 expression presented high in PCa cell lines. LINC01006 silencing suppressed cell proliferative, migratory, invasive capacities while accelerated apoptotic rate. Besides, LINC01006 knockdown also suppressed tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. Furthermore, miR-34a-5p, a tumor suppressor in PCa, was sponged by LINC01006. Moreover, DAAM1 was targeted by miR-34a-5p and promoted PCa progression. More intriguingly, rescue assays suggested that the inhibitory effect of LINC01006 knockdown on PCa development was offset by DAAM1 overexpression. Conclusions LINC01006 promoted PCa progression by sponging miR-34a-5p to up-regulate DAAM1, providing a novel target for PCa therapy.


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