Project description:Endometriosis is characterized by progesterone resistance and is associated with infertility. KrM-CM-<ppel-like Factor 9 (KLF9) is a progesterone receptor (PGR)-interacting protein, and mice null for Klf9 are subfertile. Whether loss of KLF9 contributes to progesterone resistance of eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate KLF9 and PGR co-regulation of human endometrial stromal cell (HESC) transcriptome network. Microarray gene expression analysis was conducted in decidualizing HESC by silencing the expression of KLF9 and PGR, alone or in combination by a siRNA approach, to identify additional KLF9 and PGR co-regulated genes and signaling networks/pathways. HESC also treated with 8-bromo-cAMP, 17M-CM-^_-estradiol, and medroxyprogesterone acetate (cAME) to mimic stromal progression from a proliferative to a differentiated state.
Project description:ChickenM-BM- ovalbumin upstream promoter-transcription factor II (COUP-TFII; NR2F2) is an orphan nuclear receptor involved in cell-fate specification, organogenesis, angiogenesis and metabolism. Ablation of COUP-TFII in the mouse uterus causes infertility due to defects in embryo attachment and impaired uterine stromal cell decidualization. Although the function of COUP-TFII in uterine decidualization has been described in mice, its role in the human uterus remains unknown. To better elucidate the mechanisms with which COUP-TFII regulates target gene transcription, genome-wide COUP-TFII binding sites in human endometrial stromal cells (HESC) treated with deciduogenic hormones were identified using ChIP-seq. A total of 16,298 intervals (binding regions) for COUP-TFII were identified compared with the input in HESC chromatin with a very low false discovery rate (0.17%) using a stringent cutoff of p =1x10-10. Distribution of intervals showed that more than half (58.6%) of the COUP-TFII binding sites are located within 10 kb of gene boundaries. 7.5% of total intervals reside within the 10 kb promoter region. A total of 6,077 unique genes were identified to have COUP-TFII binding sites within 10 kb of their gene boundaries. Examination of NR2F2 binding in pooled primary human endometrial stromal cells from 6 healthy women upon decidualization with a hormone cocktail of cAMP, E2 and medroxyprogesterone acetate.
Project description:GATA factors interact with simple DNA motifs (WGATAR) to regulate critical processes, including hematopoiesis, but very few WGATAR motifs are occupied in genomes. Given the rudimentary knowledge of mechanisms underlying this restriction, and how GATA factors establish genetic networks, we used ChIP-seq to define GATA-1 and GATA-2 occupancy genome-wide in erythroid cells. Coupled with genetic complementation analysis and transcriptional profiling, these studies revealed a rich collection of targets containing a characteristic binding motif of greater complexity than WGATAR. GATA factors occupied loci encoding multiple components of the Scl/TAL1 complex, a master regulator of hematopoiesis and leukemogenic target. Mechanistic analyses provided evidence for cross-regulatory and autoregulatory interactions among components of this complex, including GATA-2 induction of the hematopoietic corepressor ETO-2 and an ETO-2 negative autoregulatory loop. These results establish fundamental principles underlying GATA factor mechanisms in chromatin and illustrate a complex network of considerable importance for the control of hematopoiesis. For data usage terms and conditions, please refer to http://www.genome.gov/27528022 and http://www.genome.gov/Pages/Research/ENCODE/ENCODEDataReleasePolicyFinal2008.pdf Examination of GATA1 and GATA2 occpancy in K562 cells
Project description:To clarify mineralcorticoid receptor and glucocorticoid receptor-dependent gene networks in decidualizing human endometrial stromal cells. Genome-wide microarray analysis was performed on primary cultures established from 4 different patients. Stromal cell cultures were subjected to either GR or MR siRNA knockdown or control non-targeting siRNA then decidualized for four days before harvesting and RNA extraction for microarray analysis.
Project description:The differentiation of Th17 cells is controlled by a complex network of transcription factors (TFs), including FOS and JUN proteins of the AP-1 family. The FOS-like proteins, FOSL1 and FOSL2 have recently been reported to control Th17 responses. The molecular mechanisms dictating their roles, however, are unclear. Moreover, although the functions of AP-1 TFs are largely governed by their protein-protein interactions, these are also poorly characterized in this milieu. Using affinity purification in combination with mass-spectrometry we established the first interactomes of FOSL1 and FOSL2 in human Th17 cells. In addition to their known interactions with JUN proteins, our analysis identified several novel binding partners of FOSL factors. Gene ontology analysis revealed RNA binding was enriched as the major functionality for FOSL1 and FOSL2 associated proteins, thereby suggesting possible mechanistic links that have not been studied before. Intriguingly, 29 interactors were found to be shared between FOSL1 and FOSL2, which included crucial regulators of Th17-fate. These findings, including unique and shared interactions, were validated using parallel reaction monitoring targeted mass-spectrometry (PRM-MS), with additional measurements with other laboratory methods. Overall, this study provides key insights into interaction-based signalling mechanisms of FOSL1 and FOSL2, which potentially control Th17 cell-development and associated pathologies.
Project description:The nuclear steroid hormone receptor Progesterone Receptor (PGR) is expressed in granulosa cells in the ovarian follicle in a tightly regulated pattern in response to the surge of Luteinizing Hormone (LH) that stimulates ovulation. PGR plays a critical role in mediating ovulation in response to LH, however the mechanism for this is still unknown. Using the KGN human granulosa cell line expressing the primary PGR isoforms PGR-A or PGR-B, we performed immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry to identify novel interacting proteins that regulate PGR function in these ovary-specific target cells. Proteomic analysis revealed protein interactions with both PGR isoforms that were gained (e.g. transcriptional coactivators) or lost (e.g. chaperone proteins) in response to the PGR agonist R5020. Additionally, isoform-specific interactions, including different families of transcriptional regulators, were identified. Comparison with published datasets of PGR interacting proteins in human breast cancer cell lines and decidualised endometrial stromal cells demonstrated a remarkable number of tissue-specific interactions, shedding light on how PGR can maintain diverse functions in different tissues. In conclusion, our dataset provides new insights into ovary-specific PGR transcriptional mechanisms.
Project description:Implantation of an embryo in the uterus is a multistep process tightly controlled by an intricate regulatory network of interconnected ovarian, uterine, and embryonic factors. Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) ligands and receptors are expressed in the pregnant uterus, and BMP2 has been shown to be a key regulator of implantation. In this study, we investigated the roles of the BMP type 1 receptor, activin-like kinase 2 (ALK2), during mouse pregnancy by producing uterine-specific Alk2 conditional knockout (cKO) mice. In the absence of ALK2, embryos can invade the uterine epithelium and stroma, but stromal cells cannot undergo uterine decidualization, resulting in sterility. Mechanistically, microarray analysis revealed that CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β (Cebpb) expression is suppressed during decidualization in Alk2 cKO females. These findings and the similar phenotypes of Cebpb cKO and Alk2 cKO mice lead to the hypothesis that BMPs act upstream of C/EBPβ to regulate decidualization. To test this hypothesis, we knocked down ALK2 in human uterine stromal cells (HESC) and discovered that ablation of ALK2 alters HESC decidualization and suppresses CEBPB mRNA and protein levels. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis of decidualizing HESC confirmed that BMP signaling protein, SMAD1, directly regulates expression of CEBPB by binding a distinct regulatory sequence in the CEBPB promoter; C/EBPβ, in turn, regulates the expression of progesterone receptor (PGR). Our work clarifies the conserved mechanisms through which BMPs regulate embryo implantation in rodents and primates and, for the first time, uncovers a linear pathwayof BMP signaling through ALK2 to regulate CEBPB and, subsequently, PGR during decidualization. gene expression profiling of two groups: control mice and Alk2 cKO mice
Project description:We report the genome-wide binding sites of PGR-A and PGR-B at 2h of in vitro differentiation of human endometrial stromal cells that express either PGR-A or PGR-B. Progesterone, acting through the progesterone receptors (PGRs), is one of the most critical regulators of endometrial differentiation, known as decidualization, which is a key step toward the establishment of pregnancy. Yet a long-standing unresolved issue in uterine biology is the precise roles played by the major PGR isoforms, PGR-A and PGR-B, during decidualization in the human. Our approach, expressing PGR-A and PGR-B individually after silencing endogenous PGRs in human endometrial stromal cells (HESC), enabled the analysis of the roles of these isoforms separately as well as jointly by ChIP-seq and gene-expression analysis. In order to study the cistromes of PGR-A and PGR-B at 2h of in vitro differentiation of human endometrial stromal cells, we generated primary cultures of human endometrial stromal cells expressing flag tagged PGR-A and PGR-B individually after silencing endogenous PGRs. Input DNA was used as the reference sample.
Project description:17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-13 (17β-HSD13) is a liver-rich lipid droplet associated protein, encoding by gene HSD17B13, that acted as an important regulator of hepatic lipid metabolism. Increased expression of 17β-HSD13 promotes hepatic lipid accumulation in rodents, and a common loss-of-function variant of HSD17B13 (rs72613567: TA) is related to better outcome in patients with various chronic liver diseases. To understand the role of 17β-HSD13 in liver lipid metabolism under normal and high-fat feeding conditions, we characterized the effect of protein phosphorylation of 17β-HSD13 on hepatic lipid homeostasis. We identify Ser33 as an important protein kinase A (PKA)-mediated phosphorylation site of 17β-HSD13 that physically interact with ATGL and facilitates its translocation to lipid droplets to enhance lipolysis. Mutation of Ser33 to Ala (S33A) in 17β-HSD13 reduces ATGL-dependent lipolysis and increases lipid droplet size in cultured hepatocytes by reducing CGI-58-mediated ATGL activation. Consistently, a transgenic knock-in mouse strain carrying HSD17B13 S33A mutation (HSD17B1333A/A) spontaneously develops liver steatosis with reduced lipolysis. Moreover, HSD17B1333A/A mice are more prone to high fat-induced hepatic steatosis and inflammation. Finally, we found Reproterol, a potential HSD17B13 modulator and FDA-approved drug, confers a protection against liver steatosis possibly through phosphorylation of 17β-HSD13 at Ser33 in a PKA-dependent manner. In summary, we demonstrate a critical role and the underlying mechanism of hepatic 17β-HSD13 phosphorylation in the pathogenesis of NAFLD. Our findings highlight the potential of targeting 17β-HSD13 phosphorylation as a novel therapeutic approach for NAFLD.