Project description:Mechanosensitive Gene Regulation by Myocardin-Related Transcription Factors is Required for Cardiomyocyte Integrity in Load-Induced Ventricular Hypertrophy
Project description:Background: Cardiac transcription factors are master regulators during heart development. Recently, some were shown to transdifferentiate noncardiac mesoderm cells and cardiac fibroblasts into cardiomyocytes. However, the individual roles of each transcription factors in activating cardiac gene program have not been elucidated. We examined cardiac-specific and genome-wide gene expression in fibroblasts induced with cardiac transcription factors Nkx2.5 (N), Tbx5 (T), Gata4 (G), Myocardin (M) alone or different combinations. Methodology/Principal Findings: We applied different combinations of human Nkx2.5 (N), Tbx5 (T), Gata4 (G) and Myocardin (M) lentiviruses into 10T1/2 fibroblasts. Immunostaining and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) showed that N, T, G or M alone did not induce expression of cardiac marker genes M-NM-1-myosin heavy chain (M-NM-1MHC) and cardiac troponin T (cTnT). Only T+M and T+G+M combinations induced M-NM-1MHC and cTnT expression. Microarray-based gene ontology analysis revealed that T alone inhibited most genes involved in cardiac-related processes and activated genes involved in Wnt receptor signaling pathway and in aberrant processes. M alone inhibited genes involved in Wnt receptor signaling pathway and activated genes involved in cardiac-related processes and in aberrant processes. G alone inhibited genes involved in ectoderm development. T+G+M combination was the most effective activator of genes associated with cardiac-related processes including muscle cell differentiation, sarcomere, striated muscle contraction, regulation of heart contraction, and glucose metabolism and fatty acid oxidation (two significant forms of cardiomyocyte energy metabolism). And unlike T, M, G alone or T+M, T+G+M did not activate genes associated with aberrant processes. Conclusions: Tbx5, Gata4 and Myocardin play different roles in activating cardiac gene program and in avoiding aberrant gene program activation. The combination of T+G+M activated cardiac gene program and avoided aberrant gene program activation. Two weeks after doxycline induction, total RNA was isolated from 10T1/2-tTA cells infected with different combinations of Tbx5, Gata4, and Myocardin lentiviruses. Biological triplicated.
Project description:Myocardin-Related Transcription Factors A and B (MRTF-A and MRTF-B) are highly homologous proteins that function as powerful coactivators of serum response factor (SRF), a ubiquitously expressed transcription factor essential for cardiac development. The SRF/MRTF complex binds to CArG boxes found in the control regions of genes that regulate cytoskeletal dynamics and muscle contraction, among other processes. While SRF is required for heart development and function, the role of MRTFs in the developing or adult heart has not been explored. Through cardiac-specific deletion of MRTF alleles in mice, we show that either MRTF-A or MRTF-B is dispensable for cardiac development and function, whereas deletion of both MRTF-A and MRTF-B causes a spectrum of structural and functional cardiac abnormalities. Defects observed in MRTF-A/B null mice ranged from reduced cardiac contractility and adult onset heart failure to neonatal lethality accompanied by sarcomere disarray. RNA-seq analysis on neonatal hearts identified the most altered pathways in MRTF double knockout hearts as being involved in cytoskeletal organization. Together, these findings demonstrate redundant but essential roles of the MRTFs in maintenance of cardiac structure and function and as indispensible links in cardiac cytoskeletal gene regulatory networks.
Project description:Background: Cardiac transcription factors are master regulators during heart development. Recently, some were shown to transdifferentiate noncardiac mesoderm cells and cardiac fibroblasts into cardiomyocytes. However, the individual roles of each transcription factors in activating cardiac gene program have not been elucidated. We examined cardiac-specific and genome-wide gene expression in fibroblasts induced with cardiac transcription factors Nkx2.5 (N), Tbx5 (T), Gata4 (G), Myocardin (M) alone or different combinations. Methodology/Principal Findings: We applied different combinations of human Nkx2.5 (N), Tbx5 (T), Gata4 (G) and Myocardin (M) lentiviruses into 10T1/2 fibroblasts. Immunostaining and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) showed that N, T, G or M alone did not induce expression of cardiac marker genes α-myosin heavy chain (αMHC) and cardiac troponin T (cTnT). Only T+M and T+G+M combinations induced αMHC and cTnT expression. Microarray-based gene ontology analysis revealed that T alone inhibited most genes involved in cardiac-related processes and activated genes involved in Wnt receptor signaling pathway and in aberrant processes. M alone inhibited genes involved in Wnt receptor signaling pathway and activated genes involved in cardiac-related processes and in aberrant processes. G alone inhibited genes involved in ectoderm development. T+G+M combination was the most effective activator of genes associated with cardiac-related processes including muscle cell differentiation, sarcomere, striated muscle contraction, regulation of heart contraction, and glucose metabolism and fatty acid oxidation (two significant forms of cardiomyocyte energy metabolism). And unlike T, M, G alone or T+M, T+G+M did not activate genes associated with aberrant processes. Conclusions: Tbx5, Gata4 and Myocardin play different roles in activating cardiac gene program and in avoiding aberrant gene program activation. The combination of T+G+M activated cardiac gene program and avoided aberrant gene program activation.
Project description:Cellular binary fate decisions require the progeny to silence genes associated with the alternative fate. The major subsets of alpha:beta T cells have been extensively studied as a model system for fate decisions. While the transcription factor RUNX3 is required for the initiation of Cd4 silencing in CD8 T cell progenitors, it is not required to maintain the silencing of Cd4 and other helper T lineage genes. The other runt domain containing protein, RUNX1, silences Cd4 in an earlier T cell progenitor, but this silencing is reversed whereas the gene silencing after RUNX3 expression is not reverse. Therefore, we hypothesized that RUNX3 and not RUNX1 recruits other factors that maintains the silencing of helper T lineage genes in CD8 T cells. To this end, we performed a proteomics screen of RUNX1 and RUNX3 to determine candidate silencing factors.
Project description:Cardiac-restricted deletion of myocardin-related transcription factors (MRTFs) in adult mice leads to partially penetrant lethality and rapid deterioration in cardiac physiology in response to trans-aortic constriction (TAC). The goals of the RNA-seq are to define the gene programs altered in MRTF-depleted cardiomyocytes compared to control cardiomyocytes 7 days after TAC surgery.
Project description:PURPOSE: To provide a detailed gene expression profile of the normal postnatal mouse cornea. METHODS: Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) was performed on postnatal day (PN)9 and adult mouse (6 week) total corneas. The expression of selected genes was analyzed by in situ hybridization. RESULTS: A total of 64,272 PN9 and 62,206 adult tags were sequenced. Mouse corneal transcriptomes are composed of at least 19,544 and 18,509 unique mRNAs, respectively. One third of the unique tags were expressed at both stages, whereas a third was identified exclusively in PN9 or adult corneas. Three hundred thirty-four PN9 and 339 adult tags were enriched more than fivefold over other published nonocular libraries. Abundant transcripts were associated with metabolic functions, redox activities, and barrier integrity. Three members of the Ly-6/uPAR family whose functions are unknown in the cornea constitute more than 1% of the total mRNA. Aquaporin 5, epithelial membrane protein and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) omega-1, and GST alpha-4 mRNAs were preferentially expressed in distinct corneal epithelial layers, providing new markers for stratification. More than 200 tags were differentially expressed, of which 25 mediate transcription. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to providing a detailed profile of expressed genes in the PN9 and mature mouse cornea, the present SAGE data demonstrate dynamic changes in gene expression after eye opening and provide new probes for exploring corneal epithelial cell stratification, development, and function and for exploring the intricate relationship between programmed and environmentally induced gene expression in the cornea. Keywords: other