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CHD8 and ELK1 cooperativity regulate cellular sensitivity to MAPK/ERK pathway

ABSTRACT: The chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein CHD8 is among the most frequently found de-novo mutations in autism. Unlike other autism-risk genes, CHD8 mutations appear to be fully penetrant. Despite this prominent disease involvement, relatively little is known about its molecular function. Based on sequence homology, CHD8 is believed to be a chromatin regulator but mechanisms for its genomic targeting and its function on chromatin are unclear. Here, we developed a human cell model carrying conditional CHD8 loss-of-function alleles. Remarkably, while undifferentiated human embryonic stem (ES) cells required CHD8 for survival, postmitotic neurons survived following CHD8 depletion. Chromatin accessibility revealed that CHD8 is a highly potent and general chromatin activator, enhancing transcription of its direct target genes. We also found that CHD8 genomic binding in human neurons was significantly enriched at ELK1 DNA binding motifs as previously found in other cell types. Given its prominent role as effector molecule of the MAPK/ERK pathway, we decided to further explore its relationship with CHD8. ELK1 motif-containing CHD8 binding sites showed a higher degree of chromatin opening function of CHD8 than other CHD8 binding sites. Moreover, ELK1 was required for CHD8 binding to Elk1-containing sites, but not other sites. Finally, the anti-apoptotic function of CHD8 in human ES cells could be rescued by depletion of ELK1 and the enhancement of neurogenesis by ELK1 was dependent on presence of CHD8. In summary, our results establish a clear role of CHD8 for chromatin opening and transcriptional activation and a molecular and functional interdependence of CHD8 and ELK1. These data imply the involvement of the MAPK/ERK pathway effector ELK1 in the pathogenesis of autism caused by CHD8 mutations.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE141085 | GEO | 2019/11/27

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Truncating mutations of CHD8, encoding a chromodomain helicase, and of many other genes with diverse functions, are strong-effect risk factors for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), suggesting multiple mechanisms of pathogenesis. We explored the transcriptional networks that CHD8 regulates in neural progenitor cells (NPCs) by reducing its expression and then integrating transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) with genome-wide CHD8 binding (ChIP-seq). Suppressing CHD8 to levels comparable with loss of a single allele caused altered expression of 1,756 genes, 64.9% of which were up-regulated. CHD8 showed widespread binding to chromatin, with 7,324 replicated sites that marked 5,658 genes. Integration of these data suggests that a limited array of direct regulatory effects of CHD8 produced a much larger network of secondary expression changes. Genes indirectly down-regulated (i.e., without CHD8 binding sites) reflect pathways involved in brain development, including synapse formation, neuron differentiation, cell adhesion, and axon guidance, whereas CHD8-bound genes are strongly associated with chromatin modification and transcriptional regulation. Genes associated with ASD were strongly enriched among indirectly down-regulated loci (pM-BM- =M-BM- 1.01x10-9) and CHD8-bound genes (p = 4.34x10-3), which align with previously identified co-expression modules during fetal development. We also find an intriguing enrichment of cancer related gene-sets among CHD8-bound genes (p < 1.9x10-11). In vivo suppression of chd8 in zebrafish produced macrocephaly comparable to that of humans with inactivating mutations. These data indicate that heterozygous disruption of CHD8 precipitates a network of gene expression changes involved in neurodevelopmental pathways in which many ASD-associated genes may converge on shared mechanisms of pathogenesis. ChIP-seq for CHD8 using three different antibodies, and the related protein CHD7, in human iPSC-derived NPCs treated with shRNA targeting GFP (which were used as control cells for an shRNA knockdown RNA-seq experiment that was part of the overall study)

Project description:Truncating mutations of CHD8, encoding a chromodomain helicase, and of many other genes with diverse functions, are strong-effect risk factors for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), suggesting multiple mechanisms of pathogenesis. We explored the transcriptional networks that CHD8 regulates in neural progenitor cells (NPCs) by reducing its expression and then integrating transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) with genome-wide CHD8 binding (ChIP-seq). Suppressing CHD8 to levels comparable with loss of a single allele caused altered expression of 1,756 genes, 64.9% of which were up-regulated. CHD8 showed widespread binding to chromatin, with 7,324 replicated sites that marked 5,658 genes. Integration of these data suggests that a limited array of direct regulatory effects of CHD8 produced a much larger network of secondary expression changes. Genes indirectly down-regulated (i.e., without CHD8 binding sites) reflect pathways involved in brain development, including synapse formation, neuron differentiation, cell adhesion, and axon guidance, whereas CHD8-bound genes are strongly associated with chromatin modification and transcriptional regulation. Genes associated with ASD were strongly enriched among indirectly down-regulated loci (p = 1.01x10-9) and CHD8-bound genes (p = 4.34x10-3), which align with previously identified co-expression modules during fetal development. We also find an intriguing enrichment of cancer related gene-sets among CHD8-bound genes (p < 1.9x10-11). In vivo suppression of chd8 in zebrafish produced macrocephaly comparable to that of humans with inactivating mutations. These data indicate that heterozygous disruption of CHD8 precipitates a network of gene expression changes involved in neurodevelopmental pathways in which many ASD-associated genes may converge on shared mechanisms of pathogenesis. RNA-seq in NPCs treated with shRNAs targeting CHD8. For controls, NPCs were treated with shRNAs targeting GFP and LacZ. Infection and sequencing was carried out in two separate batches, with one GFP and one LacZ sample in each batch. All samples were sequenced in two technical replicates.

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CHD8 and ELK1 cooperativity regulate cellular sensitivity to MAPK/ERK pathway

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