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The control of transcriptional memory by stable mitotic bookmarking

ABSTRACT: To maintain cellular identities during development, gene expression profiles must be faithfully propagated through cell generations. The reestablishment of gene expression patterns upon mitotic exit is thought to be mediated, in part, by mitotic bookmarking by transcription factors (TF). However, the mechanisms and functions of TF mitotic bookmarking during early embryogenesis remain poorly understood. In this study, taking advantage of the naturally synchronized mitoses of Drosophila early embryos, we provide evidence that the pioneer-like transcription factor GAF acts as stable mitotic bookmarker during zygotic genome activation. We report that GAF remains associated to a large fraction of its interphase targets (37%). Mitotically-bound loci include cis-regulatory sequences of key developmental genes, with both active and repressive chromatin signatures. GAF mitotic targets are globally accessible during mitosis and a subset is also mitotically bookmarked via histone acetylation (H4K8ac). By monitoring the kinetics of transcriptional activation in living embryos, we provide evidence that GAF binding establishes competence for rapid activation upon mitotic exit.

ORGANISM(S): Drosophila melanogaster

PROVIDER: GSE180812 | GEO | 2022/02/25

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:During mitosis, RNA polymerase and most transcription factors are excluded from the chromosomes and transcription ceases. The transcriptional re-activation of the genome, following mitosis, requires the re-setting of cell-type specific programs that were initially established during development. However, only about one-fifth of transcription factors are retained on chromosomes throughout mitosis and a subset of these have been shown to facilitate target gene reactivation during mitotic exit. How such “bookmarking” factors bind to chromatin in mitosis and re-activate transcription is central to the stability of transcriptional programs across multiple cell cycles. We compared a diverse set of transcription factors involved in liver differentiation and found different modes of mitotic chromosome binding. The pioneer transcription factor FoxA1, which is among the first to bind liver genes in development, exhibits virtually complete mitotic chromosome binding, whereas other liver factors bind with a range of efficiencies. Yet genome-wide analysis shows that only about 15% of the FoxA1 interphase target sites are bound in mitosis; the latter include sites at genes for maintaining cell differentiation. FoxA1 mutants that perturb specific and nonspecific DNA binding reveal a significant contribution of nonspecific binding events in mitotic chromatin. Such nonspecific binding appears to spread from interphase FoxA1 targets and may serve as storage sites. The hierarchy of specific binding, nonspecific binding, partial chromatin binding, and failure to bind mitotic chromosomes reflects the temporal sequence of the factors’ developmental roles in gene activation. Gene expression was assessed in asynchronously cycling cells in order to determine whether FoxA1 is disposed to bind to high- or low-expressed genes during mitosis. Heatmap analysis shows that FoxA1's mitotic targets are among the highest-expressed genes in asynchronous cells. Total RNA was collected from three different plates with asynchronous HUH7 cells using the RNeasy mini kit (Qiagen Valencia CA). Expression microarrays were performed with a Human Gene 1.OST array (Affymetrix) at the UPenn Microarray Core Facility and assessed using Partek.

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The control of transcriptional memory by stable mitotic bookmarking

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