Signatures épigénétiques du gène suppresseur de tumeur RARb2

Le cancer est une maladie complexe de par son étiologie multiple. Les gènes suppresseurs de tumeurs, véritables gardiens du génome, peuvent être mis sous silence par une répression épigénétique anormale qui présente l'avantage thérapeutique d'être réversible. Afin d'étudier ce phénomène, nous avons focalisé nos études sur le récepteur à l acide rétinoïque beta 2 (RARb2) dont la méthylation du promoteur conduit à sa perte d'expression dans les cancers de la prostate et du sein. L'étude de son profil épigénétique dans plusieurs modèles cellulaires a montré que la méthylation de l'ADN et la répression par les protéines polycomb pouvait co-exister sur ce locus. Pourtant, ces deux mécanismes répressifs sont décrits comme mutuellement exclusifs. Nous avons recherché l'existence d'ARN non codants associés au promoteur de RARb2 et pouvant guider cette répression épigénétique mais de tels ARN n'ont pas été identifiés. Nous avons ensuite mis en place un système d'expression inductible de la protéine polycomb EZH2 dans une lignée prostatique qualifiée de "pré-tumorale". Ce modèle original est destiné à éprouver l'hypothèse du ciblage de l'hyperméthylation par les protéines polycomb sur le gène modèle RARb2 avant d'étendre les analyses à l'échelle génomique. Enfin, nous nous sommes intéressés à un niveau supérieur de régulation de l'expression des gènes, l'organisation nucléaire. Nous avons abordé cette problématique complexe par des études de microscopie et nous montrons que le positionnement de RARb2 dans l'espace nucléaire ne semble pas être corrélé à son état d'expression. De manière intéressante, nous avons identifiés des foyers de protéines polycomb dans les cellules tumoralesToday it has become clear that epigenetic alterations also are critical in the initiation and the progression of the disease. In fact tumor suppressor genes, that prevent tumorigenesis, can be abnormally silenced by epigenetic factors. As epigenetic repression is reversible, the understanding of such deregulation is of great interest and opens new therapeutic perspectives. In order to study this phenomenon, we chose as model the retinoic acid receptor beta 2 (RARb2), a tumor suppressor gene which expression is lost in prostate and breast cancers by DNA methylation. Upon studying several cell models, we actually found that DNA methylation and polycomb repression can co-occur at this locus, although these distinct epigenetic processes are usually described as mutually exclusive. We investigated the existence of non-coding RNA associated to RARb2 promoter that could direct epigenetic silencing. Such RNAs were not identified in our models. Then, we developed an inducible expression system of EZH2, a polycomb protein, in a pre-tumoral prostate cell line. This original model will be useful to test the hypothesis according to which polycomb protein can target DNA hypermethylation. RARb2 will be the model gene before performing genome-wide analysis that will allow to find the genes targeted by polycomb repression in prostate tumorigenesis. Finally, we got interested in how higher order of chromatin architecture influences gene regulation. We addressed nuclear organization by microscopy studies and showed that RARb2 position seems not to be correlated with its transcriptional level. Interestingly, we found polycomb spots in human cancer cellsPARIS-BIUSJ-Biologie recherche (751052107) / SudocSudocFranceF

Role of glutamine synthetases in nitrogen mobilization during leaf senescence

Nom du congrés: Date: 31 October to 04 November 2016 Lieu: Jeju-si, Korea.Role of glutamine synthetases in nitrogen mobilization during leaf senescence. International Symposium on Plant Senescenc

Synergistic chromatin repression of the tumor suppressor gene RARB

DNA methylation and polycomb proteins are well-known mediators of epigenetic silencing in mammalian cells. Usually described as mutually exclusive, this statement is today controversial and recent in vitro studies suggest the co-existence of both repressor systems. We addressed this issue in the study of Retinoic Acid Receptor β (RARβ), a tumor suppressor gene frequently silenced in prostate cancer. We found that the RARβ promoter is hypermethylated in all studied prostate tumors and methylation levels are positively correlated with H3K27me3 enrichments. Thus, by using bisulfite conversion and pyrosequencing of immunoprecipitated H3K27me3 chromatin, we demonstrated that DNA methylation and polycomb repression co-exist in vivo at this locus. We found this repressive association in 6/6 patient tumor samples of different Gleason score, suggesting a strong interplay of DNA methylation and EZH2 to silence RARβ during prostate tumorigenesis

DNA methylation associated with polycomb repression in retinoic acid receptor β silencing

International audienceRetinoic acid receptor β 2 (RARβ2) is a tumor suppressor gene whose loss of expression is recurrent in prostate cancers. Here we studied the epigenetic mechanisms leading to its stable silencing. First, we characterized all RARβ isoforms in 6 human tumor cell lines (prostate DU145, LNCaP, PC3, lung A549, breast Hs578T, and colon HCT116) by RT-PCR and Western blot. We excluded loss of heterozygosity (2D-FISH) and loss of RARa expression, an upstream regulator, as origin of RARβ2 silencing. All data concluded to an epigenetic silencing. In agreement, a DNA methylation inhibitor restored its expression. Second RARβ2 loss of expression was found associated with different epigenetic profiles in LNCaP and DU145 cells. According to bisulfite sequencing and ChIP analysis, we observed heavy methylation (97%) of the RARβ2 promoter with repressive histone mark H3K9me3 in LNCaP. While DNA methylation and polycomb repression are described to be mutually exclusive at CpG-rich promoters, we observed that in DU145, moderate DNA methylation (36%) and H3K9me3 mark were present concomitantly with H3K27me3, a signature of polycomb repression. In summary, we provide new insights on how the RARβ2 promoter is silenced, reveal the existence of two distinct repressive chromatin profiles at the same locus, and support a polycomb-mediated epigenetic repression process in prostate cancer

The Arabidopsis lnc RNA ASCO modulates the transcriptome through interaction with splicing factors

International audienceAlternative splicing (AS) is a major source of transcriptome diversity. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as regulators of AS through different molecular mechanisms. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the AS regulators NSRs interact with the ALTERNATIVE SPLICING COMPETITOR (ASCO) lncRNA. Here, we analyze the effect of the knock-down and overexpression of ASCO at the genome-wide level and find a large number of deregulated and differentially spliced genes related to flagellin responses and biotic stress. In agreement, ASCO-silenced plants are more sensitive to flagellin. However, only a minor subset of deregulated genes overlaps with the AS defects of the nsra/b double mutant, suggesting an alternative way of action for ASCO. Using biotin-labeled oligonucleotides for RNA-mediated ribonucleoprotein purification, we show that ASCO binds to the highly conserved spliceosome component PRP8a. ASCO overaccumulation impairs the recognition of specific flagellin-related transcripts by PRP8a. We further show that ASCO also binds to another spliceosome component, SmD1b, indicating that it interacts with multiple splicing factors. Hence, lncRNAs may integrate a dynamic network including spliceosome core proteins, to modulate transcriptome reprogramming in eukaryotes

E4F1 Is a Master Regulator of CHK1-Mediated Functions

It has been previously shown that the polycomb protein BMI1 and E4F1 interact physically and genetically in the hematopoietic system. Here, we report that E4f1 is essential for hematopoietic cell function and survival. E4f1 deletion induces acute bone marrow failure characterized by apoptosis of progenitors while stem cells are preserved. E4f1-deficient cells accumulate DNA damage and show defects in progression through S phase and mitosis, revealing a role for E4F1 in cell-cycle progression and genome integrity. Importantly, we showed that E4F1 interacts with and protects the checkpoint kinase 1 (CHK1) protein from degradation. Finally, defects observed in E4f1-deficient cells were fully reversed by ectopic expression of Chek1. Altogether, our results classify E4F1 as a master regulator of CHK1 activity that ensures high fidelity of DNA replication, thus safeguarding genome stability

Three cytosolic glutamine synthetase isoforms localized in different-order veins act together for N remobilization and seed filling in Arabidopsis

International audienceGlutamine synthetase (GS) is central for ammonium assimilation and consists of cytosolic (GS1) and chloroplastic (GS2) isoenzymes. During plant ageing, GS2 protein decreases due to chloroplast degradation, and GS1 activity increases to support glutamine biosynthesis and N remobilization from senescing leaves. The role of the different Arabidopsis GS1 isoforms in nitrogen remobilization was examined using 15N tracing experiments. Only the gln1;1-gln1; 2-gln1; 3 triple-mutation affecting the three GLN1;1, GLN1;2, and GLN1; 3 genes significantly reduced N remobilization, total seed yield, individual seed weight, harvest index, and vegetative biomass. The triple-mutant accumulated a large amount of ammonium that could not be assimilated by GS1. Alternative ammonium assimilation through asparagine biosynthesis was increased and was related to higher ASN2 asparagine synthetase transcript levels. The GS2 transcript, protein, and activity levels were also increased to compensate for the lack of GS1-related glutamine biosynthesis. Localization of the different GLN1 genes showed that they were all expressed in the phloem companion cells but in veins of different order. Our results demonstrate that glutamine biosynthesis for N-remobilization occurs in veins of all orders (major and minor) in leaves, it is mainly catalysed by the three major GS1 isoforms (GLN1; 1, GLN1; 2, and GLN1; 3), and it is alternatively supported by AS2 in the veins and GS2 in the mesophyll cells