Project description:The bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) protein BRD4 is a therapeutic target in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Here, we demonstrate that the AML maintenance function of BRD4 requires its interaction with NSD3, which belongs to a subfamily of H3K36 methyltransferases. Unexpectedly, AML cells were found to only require a short isoform of NSD3 that lacks the methyltransferase domain. We show that NSD3-short is an adaptor protein that sustains leukemia by linking BRD4 to the CHD8 chromatin remodeler, by using a PWWP chromatin reader module, and by employing an acidic transactivation domain. Genetic targeting of NSD3 or CHD8 mimics the phenotypic and transcriptional effects of BRD4 inhibition. Furthermore, BRD4, NSD3, and CHD8 colocalize across the AML genome, and each is released from super-enhancer regions upon chemical inhibition of BET bromodomains. These findings suggest that BET inhibitors exert therapeutic effects in leukemia by evicting BRD4-NSD3-CHD8 complexes from chromatin to suppress transcription. ChIP-Seq for regulatory factors of BRD4, NSD3, CHD8 and histone modification H3K36me2 in MLL-AF9 transformed acute myeloid leukemia cells (RN2)
Project description:The bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) protein BRD4 is a therapeutic target in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Here, we demonstrate that the AML maintenance function of BRD4 requires its interaction with NSD3, which belongs to a subfamily of H3K36 methyltransferases. Unexpectedly, AML cells were found to only require a short isoform of NSD3 that lacks the methyltransferase domain. We show that NSD3-short is an adaptor protein that sustains leukemia by linking BRD4 to the CHD8 chromatin remodeler, by using a PWWP chromatin reader module, and by employing an acidic transactivation domain. Genetic targeting of NSD3 or CHD8 mimics the phenotypic and transcriptional effects of BRD4 inhibition. Furthermore, BRD4, NSD3, and CHD8 colocalize across the AML genome, and each is released from super-enhancer regions upon chemical inhibition of BET bromodomains. These findings suggest that BET inhibitors exert therapeutic effects in leukemia by evicting BRD4-NSD3-CHD8 complexes from chromatin to suppress transcription. PolyA+ (illumine TruSeq)/not-so-random (NSR) primers selected RNA-Seq for shRNA/sgRNA-expressing MLL-AF9 transformed acute myeloid leukemia cells (RN2).
Project description:The bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) protein BRD4 is a therapeutic target in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Here, we demonstrate that the AML maintenance function of BRD4 requires its interaction with NSD3, which belongs to a subfamily of H3K36 methyltransferases. Unexpectedly, AML cells were found to only require a short isoform of NSD3 that lacks the methyltransferase domain. We show that NSD3-short is an adaptor protein that sustains leukemia by linking BRD4 to the CHD8 chromatin remodeler, by using a PWWP chromatin reader module, and by employing an acidic transactivation domain. Genetic targeting of NSD3 or CHD8 mimics the phenotypic and transcriptional effects of BRD4 inhibition. Furthermore, BRD4, NSD3, and CHD8 colocalize across the AML genome, and each is released from super-enhancer regions upon chemical inhibition of BET bromodomains. These findings suggest that BET inhibitors exert therapeutic effects in leukemia by evicting BRD4-NSD3-CHD8 complexes from chromatin to suppress transcription.
Project description:The bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) protein BRD4 is a therapeutic target in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Here, we demonstrate that the AML maintenance function of BRD4 requires its interaction with NSD3, which belongs to a subfamily of H3K36 methyltransferases. Unexpectedly, AML cells were found to only require a short isoform of NSD3 that lacks the methyltransferase domain. We show that NSD3-short is an adaptor protein that sustains leukemia by linking BRD4 to the CHD8 chromatin remodeler, by using a PWWP chromatin reader module, and by employing an acidic transactivation domain. Genetic targeting of NSD3 or CHD8 mimics the phenotypic and transcriptional effects of BRD4 inhibition. Furthermore, BRD4, NSD3, and CHD8 colocalize across the AML genome, and each is released from super-enhancer regions upon chemical inhibition of BET bromodomains. These findings suggest that BET inhibitors exert therapeutic effects in leukemia by evicting BRD4-NSD3-CHD8 complexes from chromatin to suppress transcription.
Project description:Sequencing studies of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) cases have revealed a causal role for mutations to chromatin remodeling genes. Chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 8 (CHD8) encodes a chromatin remodeler with one of the highest de novo mutation rates in sporadic ASD. However, the relationship between CHD8 genomic function and autism-relevant biology remains poorly elucidated. CHD8 binding studies have relied on Chromatin Immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq), but these datasets exhibit significant variation. ChIP-seq has technical limitations in the context of weak or indirect protein-DNA interactions or when high-performance antibodies are unavailable. Thus, complementary approaches are needed to establish CHD8 genomic targets. Here we used Targeted DamID in utero to characterize CHD8 binding activity in the developing embryonic mouse cortex. CHD8 Targeted DamID followed by sequencing (CHD8 TaDa-seq) revealed binding at previously identified genomic targets as well as at genes sensitive to Chd8 haploinsufficiency. CHD8 TaDa-seq showed greater sensitivity for CHD8 binding near a subset of genes specific to brain development and neuron function. These studies establish TaDa-seq as a useful alternative for mapping protein-DNA interactions in vivo and provide insights into the relationship between chromatin remodeling by CHD8 and autism-relevant pathophysiology associated with CHD8 mutations.
Project description:The loss-of-function mutations in the chromatin remodeler CHD8, a high-risk factor in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), lead to severe developmental delay, however, the underlying mechanisms remains elusive. Here, we use transcriptome and genomic occupancy reveal that CHD8 regulates chromatin accessibility and activates neurogenesis-related genes for cortical neurogenesis.
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:Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are ~4-times more common in males than females, and CHD8 (a chromatin remodeler)-related ASD shows a strong male bias (~5:1), although the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Chd8-mutant mice with a C-terminal protein-truncating mutation (N2373X) display male-preponderant behavioral deficits as juveniles and adults, although whether this also applies to other Chd8 mutations remains unknown. Here we report that new Chd8-mutant mice with a stronger N-terminal protein-truncating mutation (S62X) display male-preponderant autistic-like behaviors at juvenile stages, but as adults, both males and females share behavioral deficits. Excitatory synaptic transmission is suppressed and enhanced in male and female juvenile Chd8+/S62X mice, respectively, but similarly enhanced in adults. ASD-like transcriptomic changes occur monophasically in newborn and juvenile (but not adult) males but biphasically in newborn and adult (not juvenile) females. Therefore, a strong CHD8 mutation induces early-onset ASD-like phenotypes in males but late-onset phenotypes in females after juvenile-stage female protection.