Project description:DNA methylation is a heritable epigenetic modification involved in gene silencing, imprinting, and the suppression of retrotransposons. Global DNA demethylation occurs in the early embryo and the germline and may be mediated by Tet (ten-eleven-translocation) enzymes, which convert 5-methylcytosine (mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (hmC). Tet enzymes have been extensively studied in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells, which are generally cultured in the absence of Vitamin C, a potential co-factor for Fe(II) 2-oxoglutarate dioxygenase enzymes like Tets. Here we report that addition of Vitamin C to ES cells promotes Tet activity leading to a rapid and global increase in hmC. This is followed by DNA demethylation of numerous gene promoters and up-regulation of demethylated germline genes. Tet1 binding is enriched near the transcription start site (TSS) of genes affected by Vitamin C treatment. Importantly, Vitamin C, but not other antioxidants, enhances the activity of recombinant human Tet1 in a biochemical assay and the Vitamin C-induced changes in hmC and mC are entirely suppressed in Tet1/2 double knockout (Tet DKO) ES cells. Vitamin C has the strongest effects on regions that gain methylation in cultured ES cells compared to blastocysts and in vivo are methylated only after implantation. In contrast, imprinted regions and intracisternal A-particle (IAP) elements, which are resistant to demethylation in the early embryo, are resistant to Vitamin C-induced DNA demethylation. Collectively, this study establishes that Vitamin C is a direct regulator of Tet activity and DNA methylation fidelity in ES cells. Oct4-GiP mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells were cultured in the presence or absence of Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid 2-phosphate, 200 M-NM-<g/ml) for 72 hours. RNA was harvested from biological triplicates for each condition and hybridized to Affymetrix microarrays. Cells were maintained in N2B27 medium supplemented with LIF (1000 U/ml), MEK inhibitor PD0325901 (1 M-NM-<M), and GSK3M-NM-2 inhibitor CHIR99021 (3 M-NM-<M).

Project description:Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) C1/C2 plays a pivotal role in vitamin D receptor (VDR) signaling by acting as a vitamin D response element (VDRE)-binding protein (VDRE-BP). Transcriptional regulation by active 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) involves occupancy of VDRE by VDRE-BP or 1,25(OH)2D3 bound-VDR. This relationship is disrupted by over-expression of VDRE-BP and can cause a form of human hereditary vitamin D-resistant rickets (HVDRR). DNA array analyses using B-cells from an HVDRR patient and matched control defined a sub-cluster of genes where 1,25(OH)2D3-regulated transcription was abrogated by over-expression of VDRE-BP. Amongst these, the DNA-damage-inducible transcript 4 (DDIT4), an inhibitor of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling, was also induced by 1,25(OH)2D3 in human osteoblasts. Chromatin immunoprecipitation using 1,25(OH)2D3-treated osteoblasts confirmed that liganded VDR and VDRE-BP compete for binding to the proximal promoter of the DDIT4 gene in a similar fashion to other known 1,25(OH)2D3-target genes. Treatment of osteoblasts with 1,25(OH)2D3 induced DDIT4 expression and suppressed phosphorylated S6K1T389 protein (a downstream target of mTOR). The functional importance of this for 1,25(OH)2D3 responses in osteoblasts was underlined by the fact that siRNA knockdown of DDIT4 expression suppressed antiproliferative and cell growth responses to 1,25(OH)2D3. These data confirm that VDRE-BP is required for normal 1,25(OH)2D3-mediated transcription and cell function in osteoblasts. Conversely over-expression of VDRE-BP exerts a dominant-negative effect on transcription of 1,25(OH)2D3-target genes. Characterization of VDRE-BP action in 1,25(OH)2D3-treated osteoblasts highlights an entirely novel role for vitamin D as a regulator of mTOR – a known ‘master regulator’ of cell function. We performed gene expression microarray analysis in HVDRR EBV-transformed B-cells and control cells in the presence or absence of vitamin D.

Project description:Vitamin A (retinol) is an essential precursor for the production of retinoic acid (RA), which in turn is a major regulator of gene expression, affecting cell differentiation throughout the body. Understanding how vitamin A nutritional status, as well as therapeutic retinoid treatment, regulates the expression of retinoid homeostatic genes is important for improving dietary recommendations and therapeutic strategies using retinoids. This study investigated genes central to processes of retinoid uptake and storage, release to plasma, and oxidation in the liver of rats under steady-state conditions after different exposures to dietary vitamin A (deficient, marginal, adequate and supplemented), and acutely after administration of a therapeutic dose of all-trans-RA. Over a very wide range of dietary vitamin A, lecithin:retinol acyltransferase (LRAT) as well as multiple cytochrome P450s (CYP26A1, CYP26B1, and CYP2C22) differed by diet and were highly correlated with one another and with vitamin A status assessed by liver retinol concentration (all correlations, P<0.05). After acute treatment with RA, the same genes were rapidly and concomitantly induced, preceding RARß, a classical direct target of RA. CYP26A1 mRNA exhibited the greatest dynamic range (change of log26 in 3 h). Moreover, CYP26A1 increased more rapidly in the liver of RA-primed rats than naïve rats. By in situ hybridization, CYP26A1 mRNA was strongly regulated within hepatocytes, closely resembling RBP4 in location. Overall, whether RA is produced endogenously from retinol or administered exogenously, changes in retinoid homeostatic gene expression simultaneously favor both retinol esterification and RA oxidation, with CYP26A1 exhibiting the greatest dynamic change. All rats were housed in a room maintained at 22°C with a 12-h dark:light cycle, and food and water were freely available. For the Steady-State Vitamin A Study (experiment 1) and the Retinoic Acid 16-hour Kinetic Study (experiment 2), lactating female Sprague-Dawley rats with 12 female pups (purchased from Charles River Laboratories, Willmington, MA) were fed a vitamin A-deficient purified diet [AIN-93G diet, prepared by Research Diets, New Brunswick, NJ] to reduce the transfer of vitamin A in milk from mother to pups prior to the start of the study. For experiment 1, from weaning, the offspring were fed the same diet modified to contain vitamin A at one of four levels: 0 (vitamin A deficient), 0.4 mg retinol/kg diet (vitamin A marginal), 4 mg retinol/kg diet (vitamin A adequate control), or 100 mg retinol/kg diet (vitamin A supplemented). All rats were studied at 8 weeks of age. Rats were euthanized by carbon dioxide asphyxiation and blood and liver were collected rapidly and frozen in liquid nitrogen for storage at -80°C before analysis. In experiment 2, at 8 weeks of age female vitamin A-deficient rats were treated with ~100 ug of All-trans-Retinoic acid (at-RA) for 0 (vehicle only), 3, 6, 10 or 16 h (n=3-4/group). Tissues were collected and RNA was prepared in the same manner as in experiment 1. In the 90-minute "first pass" kinetic study (experiment 3), female rats were purchased at 6 weeks of age and fed a stock rodent diet. When the rats were 8 weeks old they were assigned to a control (naïve) group. Rats in the naive group received an equal amount of vehicle only (vegetable oil/5% ethanol). Food was removed immediately. Sixteen hours after priming, each rat was lightly anesthetized by isoflurane-oxygen inhalation and treated with ~25 ug all-trans-RA bound to albumin [10 ug RA per 100 g bo dy weight], injected into the exposed left common iliac vein. The incision was closed with a surgical staple. The rats were allowed to recover from the anesthesia. Rats were killed at 0 minute (vehicle injection), and 30, 60, and 90 min (n = 3/group) after injection of the RA test dose. Rats were euthanized by carbon dioxide asphyxiation and blood and liver were collected rapidly and frozen in liquid nitrogen for storage at -80°C before analysis. For experiment 1, five biological repeats were Vitamin A deficient, seven biological repeats were Vitamin A marginal, six biological repeats were Vitamin A adequate, and two biological repeats were Vitamin A supplemented. In experiment 2, three biological repeats were performed for each of the following treatments: untreated, at-RA for 3 hours, at-RA for 6 hours and at-RA for 16 hours. Four biological repeats were treated with at-RA for 10 hours. For experiment 3, two biological repeats were untreated and three biological repeats were performed for each of the following at-RA treatment times: 30, 60 and 90 minutes. A total of 47 samples were analyzed.

Project description:DNA methylation is a heritable epigenetic modification involved in gene silencing, imprinting, and the suppression of retrotransposons. Global DNA demethylation occurs in the early embryo and the germline and may be mediated by Tet (ten-eleven-translocation) enzymes, which convert 5-methylcytosine (mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (hmC). Tet enzymes have been extensively studied in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells, which are generally cultured in the absence of Vitamin C, a potential co-factor for Fe(II) 2-oxoglutarate dioxygenase enzymes like Tets. Here we report that addition of Vitamin C to ES cells promotes Tet activity leading to a rapid and global increase in hmC. This is followed by DNA demethylation of numerous gene promoters and up-regulation of demethylated germline genes. Tet1 binding is enriched near the transcription start site (TSS) of genes affected by Vitamin C treatment. Importantly, Vitamin C, but not other antioxidants, enhances the activity of recombinant human Tet1 in a biochemical assay and the Vitamin C-induced changes in hmC and mC are entirely suppressed in Tet1/2 double knockout (Tet DKO) ES cells. Vitamin C has the strongest effects on regions that gain methylation in cultured ES cells compared to blastocysts and in vivo are methylated only after implantation. In contrast, imprinted regions and intracisternal A-particle (IAP) elements, which are resistant to demethylation in the early embryo, are resistant to Vitamin C-induced DNA demethylation. Collectively, this study establishes that Vitamin C is a direct regulator of Tet activity and DNA methylation fidelity in ES cells. Oct4-GiP mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells were cultured in the presence or absence of Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid 2-phosphate, 100 M-NM-<g/ml) for 12 or 72 hours. Cells were maintained in N2B27 medium supplemented with LIF (1000 U/ml), MEK inhibitor PD0325901 (1 M-NM-<M), and GSK3M-NM-2 inhibitor CHIR99021 (3 M-NM-<M). Genomic DNA was used for DNA immunoprecipitation with antibodies against 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (hmC) or 5-methylcytosine (mC). Immunoprecipitated DNA was adaptor-ligated for paired-end sequencing on an Illumina HiSeq and sequence reads were aligned to the mm9 mouse reference genome for analysis.

Dataset Information

Oct4 and jhdm1b infected MEF with or without vitamin C treatment

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