Variational autoencoding of gene landscapes during mouse CNS development uncovers layered roles of Polycomb Repressor Complex 2.

ABSTRACT: A prominent aspect of most, if not all, central nervous systems (CNSs) is that anterior regions (brain) are larger than posterior ones (spinal cord). Studies in Drosophila and mouse have revealed that Polycomb Repressor Complex 2 (PRC2), a protein complex responsible for applying key repressive histone modifications, acts by several mechanisms to promote anterior CNS expansion. However, it is unclear what the full spectrum of PRC2 action is during embryonic CNS development and how PRC2 intersects with the epigenetic landscape. We removed PRC2 function from the developing mouse CNS, by mutating the key gene Eed, and generated spatio-temporal transcriptomic data. To decode the role of PRC2, we developed a method that incorporates standard statistical analyses with probabilistic deep learning

SUBMITTER: Mora A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8860581 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature