Repression of Pax-2 by WT1 during normal kidney development

Development ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 867-875 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Ryan ◽  
V. Steele-Perkins ◽  
J.F. Morris ◽  
F.J. Rauscher ◽  
G.R. Dressler

The developmental, regulatory gene Pax-2 is activated during early kidney morphogenesis and repressed in mature renal epithelium. Persistent Pax-2 expression is also observed in a variety of kidney tumors. Yet, little is known about the signals regulating this transient expression pattern in the developing kidney. We have examined the spatial and temporal expression patterns of Pax-2 and the Wilm's tumor suppresser protein WT1 with specific antibodies in developing mouse kidneys. A marked increase in WT1 protein levels coincided precisely with down-regulation of the Pax-2 gene in the individual precursor cells of the visceral glomerular epithelium, suggesting a direct effect of the WT1 repressor protein on Pax-2 regulatory elements. To examine whether WT1 could directly repress Pax-2 transcription, binding of WT1 to three high affinity sites in the 5′ untranslated Pax-2 leader sequence was demonstrated by DNAseI footprinting analysis. Furthermore, co-transfection assays using CAT reporter constructs under the control of Pax-2 regulatory sequences demonstrated WT1-dependent transcriptional repression. These three WT1 binding sites were also able to repress transcription, in a WT1-dependent manner, when inserted between a heterologous promoter and the reporter gene. The data indicate that Pax-2 is a likely target gene for WT1 and suggest a direct link, at the level of transcriptional regulation, between a developmental control gene, active in undifferentiated and proliferating cells, and a known tumor suppressor gene.

Development ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Grossniklaus ◽  
H.J. Bellen ◽  
C. Wilson ◽  
W.J. Gehring

We have stained the ovaries of nearly 600 different Drosophila strains carrying single copies of a P-element enhancer detector. This transposon detects neighbouring genomic transcriptional regulatory sequences by means of a beta-galactosidase reporter gene. Numerous strains are stained in specific cells and at specific stages of oogenesis and provide useful ovarian markers for cell types that in some cases have not previously been recognized by morphological criteria. Since recent data have suggested that a substantial number of the regulatory elements detected by enhancer detection control neighbouring genes, we discuss the implications of our results concerning ovarian gene expression patterns in Drosophila. We have also identified a small number of insertion-linked recessive mutants that are sterile or lead to ovarian defects. We observe a strong correlation with specific germ line staining patterns in these strains, suggesting that certain patterns are more likely to be associated with female sterile genes than others. On the basis of our results, we suggest new strategies, which are not primarily based on the generation of mutants, to screen for and isolated female sterile genes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1795) ◽  
pp. 20190347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasavi Sundaram ◽  
Joanna Wysocka

Eukaryotic gene regulation is mediated by cis -regulatory elements, which are embedded within the vast non-coding genomic space and recognized by the transcription factors in a sequence- and context-dependent manner. A large proportion of eukaryotic genomes, including at least half of the human genome, are composed of transposable elements (TEs), which in their ancestral form carried their own cis -regulatory sequences able to exploit the host trans environment to promote TE transcription and facilitate transposition. Although not all present-day TE copies have retained this regulatory function, the preexisting regulatory potential of TEs can provide a rich source of cis -regulatory innovation for the host. Here, we review recent evidence documenting diverse contributions of TE sequences to gene regulation by functioning as enhancers, promoters, silencers and boundary elements. We discuss how TE-derived enhancer sequences can rapidly facilitate changes in existing gene regulatory networks and mediate species- and cell-type-specific regulatory innovations, and we postulate a unique contribution of TEs to species-specific gene expression divergence in pluripotency and early embryogenesis. With advances in genome-wide technologies and analyses, systematic investigation of TEs' cis -regulatory potential is now possible and our understanding of the biological impact of genomic TEs is increasing. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Crossroads between transposons and gene regulation’.


2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 2934-2951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald L. Chandler ◽  
Kelly J. Chandler ◽  
Karen A. McFarland ◽  
Douglas P. Mortlock

ABSTRACT Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (encoded by Bmp2) has been implicated as an important signaling ligand for osteoblast differentiation and bone formation and as a genetic risk factor for osteoporosis. To initially survey a large genomic region flanking the mouse Bmp2 gene for cis-regulatory function, two bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones that extend far upstream and downstream of the gene were engineered to contain a lacZ reporter cassette and tested in transgenic mice. Each BAC clone directs a distinct subset of normal Bmp2 expression patterns, suggesting a modular arrangement of distant Bmp2 regulatory elements. Strikingly, regulatory sequences required for Bmp2 expression in differentiating osteoblasts, as well as tooth buds, hair placodes, kidney, and other tissues, are located more than 53 kilobases 3′ to the promoter. By testing BACs with engineered deletions across this distant 3′ region, we parsed these regulatory elements into separate locations and more closely refined the location of the osteoblast progenitor element. Finally, a conserved osteoblast progenitor enhancer was identified within a 656-bp sequence located 156.3 kilobases 3′ from the promoter. The identification of this enhancer should permit further investigation of upstream regulatory mechanisms that control Bmp2 transcription during osteoblast differentiation and are relevant to further studies of Bmp2 as a candidate risk factor gene for osteoporosis.


Author(s):  
John Maynard Smith ◽  
Eors Szathmary

Two cellular mechanisms are essential for development. The first, gene regulation, makes it possible to switch on different genes in different cells, in response either to conditions external to the cell or to the activity of other genes within the cell. The second, cell heredity, ensures that these states of gene activity, once induced, can be stably transmitted through cell division, without the need for the continued presence of an external inducer. In this chapter, we describe how gene regulation and cell heredity are achieved in metazoans, and point to some similar mechanisms that are already present in prokaryotes. The central problem of gene regulation was posed, in a social context, by the scholastic Master Eckhardt: ‘Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?’ [Who regulates the regulators?] Clearly, the proposition that every gene needs a separate regulator gene leads to an infinite regress. There are various ways of resolving the paradox, which include one regulator controls several other genes, including regulators; one gene, even a regulator, is controlled by several other genes; and some genes may be both regulatory and structural. Plenty of examples are known for each case. It is also necessary that some genes be regulated by signals from outside the cell. The essential mechanism of gene regulation was discovered by Jacob & Monod (1961; Fig. 13.1) in E. coli. A regulatory gene codes for a protein, which, by binding to a specific regulatory sequence of another gene, alters the activity of that gene (negatively in the case originally described by Jacob & Monod, but the effect can also be positive). The regulation can be modified by a specific inducing molecule that alters the effect of the regulatory protein by binding to it allosterically. It is interesting that these two properties of regulatory proteins—that they can recognize specific regulatory sequences, and that their effectiveness can be altered by binding allosterically to inducers—are already present in prokaryotes. The complexity of multicellular eukaryotic development requires that an average gene be controlled by many others. Whereas regulatory elements in bacteria are usually simple switches, eukaryotes tend to have ‘smart’ genes, controlled by a complex of several regulatory proteins (Davidson, 1990; Beardsley, 1991).


Development ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 110 (4) ◽  
pp. 1223-1231 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.R. Howard ◽  
G. Struhl

In the series of local gene activations that occur during early Drosophila development, the striped expression patterns of the pair-rule genes provide the first indication of segmental periodicity. The experiments that we report here address the question of how these patterns arise, by studying the regulation of one of these genes, hairy. We show that each of the seven stripes of hairy expression is controlled by a distinct subset of cis-acting regulatory elements, some mediating transcriptional activation and others transcriptional repression. In general, elements necessary and sufficient for triggering a particular stripe response are clustered on the DNA and appear to overlap or be interspersed with elements involved in at least one other stripe response. Our results extend previous findings suggesting that periodic hairy expression arises by a decoding process in which each stripe is triggered by particular combinations or concentrations of regulatory factors. These regulatory factors are likely to include the products of the gap class of segmentation genes that are required for activating or positioning particular subsets of hairy stripes and are expressed with overlapping distributions during early embryogenesis.


1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 4524-4534 ◽  
Author(s):  
M J McGrew ◽  
N Bogdanova ◽  
K Hasegawa ◽  
S H Hughes ◽  
R N Kitsis ◽  
...  

The myosin light-chain 1/3 locus (MLC1/3) is regulated by two promoters and a downstream enhancer element which produce two protein isoforms in fast skeletal muscle at distinct stages of mouse embryogenesis. We have analyzed the expression of transcripts from the internal MLC3 promoter and determined that it is also expressed in the atria of the heart. Expression from the MLC3 promoter in these striated muscle lineages is differentially regulated during development. In transgenic mice, the MLC3 promoter is responsible for cardiac-specific reporter gene expression while the downstream enhancer augments expression in skeletal muscle. Examination of the methylation status of endogenous and transgenic promoter and enhancer elements indicates that the internal promoter is not regulated in a manner similar to that of the MLC1 promoter or the downstream enhancer. A GATA protein consensus sequence in the proximal MLC3 promoter but not the MLC1 promoter binds with high affinity to GATA-4, a cardiac muscle- and gut-specific transcription factor. Mutation of either the MEF2 or GATA motifs in the MLC3 promoter attenuates its activity in both heart and skeletal muscles, demonstrating that MLC3 expression in these two diverse muscle types is dependent on common regulatory elements.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago Gerardo Medina-Muñoz ◽  
Gopal Kushawah ◽  
Luciana Andrea Castellano ◽  
Michay Diez ◽  
Michelle Lynn DeVore ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The regulation of messenger RNA (mRNA) stability has a profound impact on gene expression dynamics during embryogenesis. For example, in animals, maternally deposited mRNAs are degraded after fertilization to enable new developmental trajectories. Regulatory sequences in 3′ untranslated regions (3′UTRs) have long been considered the central determinants of mRNA stability. However, recent work indicates that the coding sequence also possesses regulatory information. Specifically, translation in cis impacts mRNA stability in a codon-dependent manner. However, the strength of this mechanism during embryogenesis, as well as its relationship with other known regulatory elements, such as microRNA, remains unclear. Results Here, we show that codon composition is a major predictor of mRNA stability in the early embryo. We show that this mechanism works in combination with other cis-regulatory elements to dictate mRNA stability in zebrafish and Xenopus embryos as well as in mouse and human cells. Furthermore, we show that microRNA targeting efficacy can be affected by substantial enrichment of optimal (stabilizing) or non-optimal (destabilizing) codons. Lastly, we find that one microRNA, miR-430, antagonizes the stabilizing effect of optimal codons during early embryogenesis in zebrafish. Conclusions By integrating the contributions of different regulatory mechanisms, our work provides a framework for understanding how combinatorial control of mRNA stability shapes the gene expression landscape.


Blood ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 132 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. SCI-38-SCI-38
Author(s):  
Paola Neri

Abstract The complexity of gene expression regulation is the result of a composite interplay between promoters, enhancers and other cis-acting regulatory elements bound by transcription factors (TFs) that controls the transcriptional activity of genes. Primary tumor cells, in comparison to their healthy counterparts, are known to display altered enhancer repertoires that are associated with tumor-specific transcription. Large groups of transcriptional enhancers cluster together to form super-enhancers (SEs). These elements have been shown to control genes that are important for maintaining cell identity but are also frequently associated with oncogenes as well as translocations that result in aberrant gene expression in cancer. Immunoglobulin (IGH, IGL, IGK) and non-immunoglobulin (PVT1, FAM46C, DUSP22, etc.) enhancers hijacking by variable genes (MYC, MAF, CCND1/2/3, MMSET, IRF4) is a recognized oncogenic driver event in multiple myeloma (MM). However, the identity of the TFs or transcriptional regulatory complexes binding and regulating the activity of these enhancers remains to be fully elucidated and may yield valuable therapeutic targets. In this regard, the bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) inhibitors have emerged as promising molecules for the treatment of hematologic malignancies. BET family proteins are chromatin adaptors, functionally linked to important pathways for cellular viability and cancer signaling. In particular, BRD4 has a direct role in the transcription regulation of different genes involved in the cell cycle progression and cellular viability. The BET inhibitor JQ1 selectively inhibits BRD4 by competitively binding to the acetyl-lysine recognition pocket of BET bromodomains from chromatin leading to the inhibition of MYC transcription in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Thus, BRD4 has been recently described as a therapeutic target for MM, among other hematologic diseases. Constitutive activation of MYC signaling is detected in more than 60% of patient-derived MM cells and can be involved in the pathogenesis of MM through different mechanisms. One of the most common somatic genomic aberrations in early and late-stage MM is rearrangement or translocation of MYC. Regardless of whether MYC rearrangements occur at early or late stages of MM pathogenesis, MYC rearrangements may provide one of several critical events contributing to increased autonomy and a more aggressive phenotype. Moreover promiscuous rearrangements of the MYC locus are known to hijack enhancers and super-enhancers to dysregulate MYC expression in MM and are involved in its pathogenesis. The development of the immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) has contributed significantly to improve the outcomes of MM patients. They possess pleiotropic anti-MM properties and through CRBN binding they induce Ikaros and Aiolos ubiquitylation and proteasomal degradation with an ensuing transcriptional repression of MYC and IRF4, two essential factors for myeloma cells survival. However, is not clear how IKZF1/IKZF3 regulate MYC transcription and how myeloma cells acquire resistance to IMIDs, "beyond CRBN". In addition, acquired resistance to IMIDs and the loss of the transcriptional repression of MYC are nearly universal and occur in spite of sustained IKZF1/3 degradation suggesting that transcriptional rewiring may be sustaining hijacked enhancers activity and transcription of driver oncogenes. In this contest we have recently demonstrated that IMiDs are repressors of IKZF1/3-depedent oncogenic enhancers. Transcriptional plasticity with expression of extra-lineage TFs such as the ETS family member ETV4 sustains oncogenic enhancers in MM overcoming IKAROS and AIOLOS dependency and promoting IMiDs resistance. Therefore defining TFs occupancy and their circuitry at enhancers identifies "non-canonical" (aberrant) myeloma TFs dependency that may be linked to potential therapeutic targets. Disclosures Neri: Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia Madgwick ◽  
Marta Silvia Magri ◽  
Christelle Dantec ◽  
Damien Gailly ◽  
Ulla-Maj Fiuza ◽  
...  

Ascidian species of the Phallusia and Ciona genera are distantly related, their last common ancestor dating several hundred million years ago. Although their genome sequences have extensively diverged since this radiation, Phallusia and Ciona species share almost identical early morphogenesis and stereotyped cell lineages. Here, we explored the evolution of transcriptional control between P. mammillata and C. robusta. We combined genome-wide mapping of open chromatin regions in both species with a comparative analysis of the regulatory sequences of a test set of 10 pairs of orthologous early regulatory genes with conserved expression patterns. We find that ascidian chromatin accessibility landscapes obey similar rules as in other metazoa. Open-chromatin regions are short, highly conserved within each genus and cluster around regulatory genes. The dynamics of chromatin accessibility and closest-gene expression are strongly correlated during early embryogenesis. Open-chromatin regions are highly enriched in cis-regulatory elements: 73% of 49 open chromatin regions around our test genes behaved as either distal enhancers or proximal enhancer/promoters following electroporation in Phallusia eggs. Analysis of this datasets suggests a pervasive use in ascidians of shadow enhancers with partially overlapping activities. Cross-species electroporations point to a deep conservation of both the trans-regulatory logic between these distantly-related ascidians and the cis-regulatory activities of individual enhancers. Finally, we found that the relative order and approximate distance to the transcription start site of open chromatin regions can be conserved between Ciona and Phallusia species despite extensive sequence divergence, a property that can be used to identify orthologous enhancers, whose regulatory activity can partially diverge.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flavia Marzetta ◽  
Laia Simó-Riudalbas ◽  
Julien Duc ◽  
Evarist Planet ◽  
Sonia Verp ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTTransposable elements-embedded regulatory sequences (TEeRS) are subjected to early embryonic repression through sequence-specific recruitment of KRAB zinc finger proteins (KZFPs), their cofactor KAP1/TRIM28 and associated chromatin modifiers. This modulates the TEeRS-mediated regulation of gene expression in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and leads to DNA methylation-induced silencing. However, KZFPs are broadly expressed in adult tissues, suggesting that they control TEeRS throughout life. Confirming this hypothesis, we reveal here that the KZFP/KAP1 system exerts a highly dynamic control of TEeRS in adult human CD4+ T lymphocytes. First, we observed that in these cells many TEs are still bound by KAP1, the recruitment of which is dynamically regulated upon T cell receptor stimulation. Second, we found that KAP1 depletion induces broad transcriptional alterations in T cells, with de-repression of TE-based regulatory elements leading to the illegitimate activation of nearby genes. Finally, we show that the tissue-restricted expression of KZFPs correlates with KAP1-mediated lineage-specific chromatin signatures and transcriptional repression. These data support a model where TE-targeting KZFPs and KAP1 are important regulators of gene expression in adult human cells.


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