A fine balance:epigenetic control of cellular quiescence by the tumor suppressor PRDM2/RIZ at a bivalent domain in the cyclin a gene

Adult stem cell quiescence is critical to ensure regeneration while minimizing tumorigenesis. Epigenetic regulation contributes to cell cycle control and differentiation, but few regulators of the chromatin state in quiescent cells are known. Here we report that the tumor suppressor PRDM2/RIZ, an H3K9 methyltransferase, is enriched in quiescent muscle stem cells in vivo and controls reversible quiescence in cultured myoblasts. We find that PRDM2 associates with &gt;4400 promoters in G0 myoblasts, 55% of which are also marked with H3K9me2 and enriched for myogenic, cell cycle and developmental regulators. Knockdown of PRDM2 alters histone methylation at key promoters such as Myogenin and CyclinA2 (CCNA2), and subverts the quiescence program via global de-repression of myogenesis, and hyper-repression of the cell cycle. Further, PRDM2 acts upstream of the repressive PRC2 complex in G0. We identify a novel G0-specific bivalent chromatin domain in the CCNA2 locus. PRDM2 protein interacts with the PRC2 protein EZH2 and regulates its association with the bivalent domain in the CCNA2 gene. Our results suggest that induction of PRDM2 in G0 ensures that two antagonistic programs-myogenesis and the cell cycle-while stalled, are poised for reactivation. Together, these results indicate that epigenetic regulation by PRDM2 preserves key functions of the quiescent state, with implications for stem cell self-renewal.</p

The cell-wide web coordinates cellular processes by directing site-specific Ca²⁺ flux across cytoplasmic nanocourses

Ca2+ coordinates diverse cellular processes, yet how function-specific signals arise is enigmatic. We describe a cell-wide network of distinct cytoplasmic nanocourses with the nucleus at its centre, demarcated by sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) junctions (≤400 nm across) that restrict Ca2+ diffusion and by nanocourse-specific Ca2+-pumps that facilitate signal segregation. Ryanodine receptor subtype 1 (RyR1) supports relaxation of arterial myocytes by unloading Ca2+ into peripheral nanocourses delimited by plasmalemma-SR junctions, fed by sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase 2b (SERCA2b). Conversely, stimulus-specified increases in Ca2+ flux through RyR2/3 clusters selects for rapid propagation of Ca2+ signals throughout deeper extraperinuclear nanocourses and thus myocyte contraction. Nuclear envelope invaginations incorporating SERCA1 in their outer nuclear membranes demarcate further diverse networks of cytoplasmic nanocourses that receive Ca2+ signals through discrete RyR1 clusters, impacting gene expression through epigenetic marks segregated by their associated invaginations. Critically, this circuit is not hardwired and remodels for different outputs during cell proliferation.British Heart FoundationChina Scholarship CouncilWellcome CentreSección Deptal. de Fisiología (Farmacia)Fac. de FarmaciaTRUEpu

Pioneering function of Isl1 in the epigenetic control of cardiomyocyte cell fate

Generation of widely differing and specialized cell types from a single totipotent zygote involves large-scale transcriptional changes and chromatin reorganization. Pioneer transcription factors play key roles in programming the epigenome and facilitating recruitment of additional regulatory factors during successive cell lineage specification and differentiation steps. Here we show that Isl1 acts as a pioneer factor driving cardiomyocyte lineage commitment by shaping the chromatin landscape of cardiac progenitor cells. Using an Isl1 hypomorphic mouse line which shows congenital heart defects, genome-wide profiling of Isl1 binding together with RNA- and ATAC-sequencing of cardiac progenitor cells and their derivatives, we uncover a regulatory network downstream of Isl1 that orchestrates cardiogenesis. Mechanistically, we show that Isl1 binds to compacted chromatin and works in concert with the Brg1-Baf60c-based SWI/SNF complex to promote permissive cardiac lineage-specific alterations in the chromatin landscape not only of genes with critical functions in cardiac progenitor cells, but also of cardiomyocyte structural genes that are highly expressed when Isl1 itself is no longer present. Thus, the Isl1/Brg1-Baf60c complex plays a crucial role in orchestrating proper cardiogenesis and in establishing epigenetic memory of cardiomyocyte fate commitment

Gene-Specific Assessment of Guanine Oxidation as an Epigenetic Modulator for Cardiac Specification of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Epigenetics have essential roles in development and human diseases. Compared to the complex histone modifications, epigenetic changes on mammalian DNA are as simple as methylation on cytosine. Guanine, however, can be oxidized as an epigenetic change which can undergo base-pair transversion, causing a genetic difference. Accumulating evidence indicates that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are important signaling molecules for embryonic stem cell (ESC) differentiation, possibly through transient changes on genomic DNA such as 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG). Technical limitations on detecting such DNA modifications, however, restrict the investigation of the role of 8-oxoG in ESC differentiation. Here, we developed a Hoogsteen base pairing-mediated PCR-sequencing assay to detect 8-oxoG lesions that can subsequently cause G to T transversions during PCR. We then used this assay to assess the epigenetic and transient 8-oxoG formation in the Tbx5 gene of R1 mouse ESCs subjected to oxidative stress by removing 2-mercaptoethanol (2ME) from the culture media. To our surprise, significantly higher numbers of 8-oxoG-mediated G∙C to C∙G transversion, not G∙C to T∙A, were detected at 7th and 9th base position from the transcription start site of exon 1 of Tbx5 in ESCs in the (-)2ME than (+)2ME group (p < 0.05). This was consistent with the decrease in the amount of amplifiable of DNA harboring the 8-oxoG lesions at the Tbx5 promoter region in the oxidative stressed ESCs. The ESCs responded to oxidative stress, possibly through the epigenetic effects of guanine oxidation with decreased proliferation (p < 0.05) and increased formation of beating embryoid bodies (EBs; p < 0.001). Additionally, the epigenetic changes of guanine induced up-regulation of Ogg1 and PolB, two base excision repairing genes for 8-oxoG, in ESCs treated with (-)2ME (p < 0.01). Together, we developed a gene-specific and direct quantification assay for guanine oxidation. Using oxidative stressed mouse ESCs, we validated this assay and assessed the epigenetic effects of 8-oxoG by studying expression of DNA repair genes, ESC proliferation, and EB formation