Project description:Xist orchestrates X chromosome inactivation, a process that entails chromosome-wide silencing and remodeling of the 3-dimensional structure of the X chromosome. Yet, it remains unclear whether these changes in nuclear structure are mediated by Xist and whether they are required for silencing. Here we show that Xist directly interacts with the Lamin B Receptor (LBR), an integral component of the nuclear lamina, and that this interaction is required for Xist-mediated silencing. We show that this interaction recruits the inactive X to the nuclear lamina and by doing so enables Xist to spread to actively transcribed genes across the X. Our results demonstrate that lamina recruitment changes the accessibility of DNA thereby enabling Xist, and its silencing proteins, to spread across the X to silence transcription. We examined the genomic localization of the Xist lncRNA using RNA Antisense Purification (RAP) in male mouse ES cells where the endogenous Xist promoter is replaced by a tet-inducible one (pSM33) containing 1) wild-type Xist (WT), 2) A-repeat deletion Xist (dA), 3) LBR binding site deletion Xist (dLBS), 4) dLBS-Xist rescued with LMNB1 (LMNB1Res), 5) LBR CRISPRi knock down (LBRKD), or 6) SHARP CRISPRi knock down (SHARPKD).
Project description:Xist orchestrates X chromosome inactivation, a process that entails chromosome-wide silencing and remodeling of the 3-dimensional structure of the X chromosome. Yet, it remains unclear whether these changes in nuclear structure are mediated by Xist and whether they are required for silencing. Here we show that Xist directly interacts with the Lamin B Receptor (LBR), an integral component of the nuclear lamina, and that this interaction is required for Xist-mediated silencing. We show that this interaction recruits the inactive X to the nuclear lamina and by doing so enables Xist to spread to actively transcribed genes across the X. Our results demonstrate that lamina recruitment changes the accessibility of DNA thereby enabling Xist, and its silencing proteins, to spread across the X to silence transcription.
Project description:Xist orchestrates X chromosome inactivation, a process that entails chromosome-wide silencing and remodeling of the 3-dimensional structure of the X chromosome. Yet, it remains unclear whether these changes in nuclear structure are mediated by Xist and whether they are required for silencing. Here we show that Xist directly interacts with the Lamin B Receptor (LBR), an integral component of the nuclear lamina, and that this interaction is required for Xist-mediated silencing. We show that this interaction recruits the inactive X to the nuclear lamina and by doing so enables Xist to spread to actively transcribed genes across the X. Our results demonstrate that lamina recruitment changes the accessibility of DNA thereby enabling Xist, and its silencing proteins, to spread across the X to silence transcription.
Project description:During development, transcriptional and chromatin modification changes co-occur but the order and causality of events often remain unclear. We explore the interrelationship of these processes using the paradigm of X-chromosome inactivation (XCI). We initiate XCI in female, mouse embryonic stem cells by inducing Xist expression and monitor changes in transcription and chromatin by allele-specific TT-seq and ChIP-seq respectively. An unprecedented temporal resolution enabled identification of the earliest chromatin alterations during XCI. We demonstrate that HDAC3 interacts with both NCOR1 and NCOR2 and is pre-bound on the X chromosome where it deacetylates histones to promote efficient gene silencing. We also reveal the choreography of polycomb accumulation following Xist RNA coating, with PRC1-associated H2AK119Ub preceding PRC2-associated H3K27me3. Furthermore, polycomb-associated marks accumulate initially at large, intergenic domains and then spreads into genes but only in the context of gene silencing. Our results provide the hierarchy of chromatin events during XCI and demonstrate that some chromatin changes play key roles in mediating transcriptional silencing.
Project description:To initiate X-chromosome inactivation (XCI), the long non-coding RNA Xist mediates chromosome-wide gene silencing of one X chromosome in female mammals to equalize gene dosage between the sexes. The efficiency of gene silencing, however is highly variable across genes, with some genes even escaping XCI in somatic cells. A gene’s susceptibility to Xist-mediated silencing appears to be determined by a complex interplay of epigenetic and genomic features; however, the underlying rules remain poorly understood. We have quantified chromosome-wide gene silencing kinetics at the level of the nascent transcriptome using allele-specific Precision nuclear Run-On sequencing (PRO-seq). We have developed a Random Forest machine learning model that can predict the measured silencing dynamics based on a large set of epigenetic and genomic features and tested its predictive power experimentally. While the genomic distance to the Xist locus is the prime determinant of the speed of gene silencing, we find that also pre-marking of gene promoters with polycomb complexes is associated with fast silencing. Moreover, a series of features associated with active transcription and the O-GlcNAc transferase Ogt are enriched at rapidly silenced genes. Our machine learning approach can thus uncover the complex combinatorial rules underlying gene silencing during X inactivation.
Project description:At initiation of X chromosome inactivation (XCI), Xist is monoallelically upregulated from the future inactive X (Xi) chromosome, overcoming repression by its antisense transcript Tsix. Xist recruits various chromatin remodelers, amongst them SPEN, which are involved in silencing of X-linked genes in cis and establishment of the Xi. Here, we show that SPEN plays an important role in the initiation of XCI. Spen null female mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are defective in Xist upregulation upon differentiation. We find that Xist-mediated SPEN recruitment to the Xi chromosome happens very early in XCI, and that SPEN-mediated silencing of the Tsix promoter is required for Xist upregulation. Accordingly, failed Xist upregulation in Spen-/- ESCs can be rescued by concomitant removal of Tsix. These findings indicate that SPEN is not only required for the establishment of the Xi, but is also crucial in the initiation of the XCI process.
Project description:At initiation of X chromosome inactivation (XCI), Xist is monoallelically upregulated from the future inactive X (Xi) chromosome, overcoming repression by its antisense transcript Tsix. Xist recruits various chromatin remodelers, amongst them SPEN, which are involved in silencing of X-linked genes in cis and establishment of the Xi. Here, we show that SPEN plays an important role in the initiation of XCI. Spen null female mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are defective in Xist upregulation upon differentiation. We find that Xist-mediated SPEN recruitment to the Xi chromosome happens very early in XCI, and that SPEN-mediated silencing of the Tsix promoter is required for Xist upregulation. Accordingly, failed Xist upregulation in Spen-/- ESCs can be rescued by concomitant removal of Tsix. These findings indicate that SPEN is not only required for the establishment of the Xi, but is also crucial in the initiation of the XCI process.
Project description:The inactive X chromosome (Xi) serves as a model to understand gene silencing on a global scale. Here, we perform identification of direct RNA interacting proteins? (iDRiP) to isolate a comprehensive protein interactome for Xist, an RNA required for Xi silencing. We discover multiple classes of interactors, including cohesins, condensins, topoisomerases, RNA helicases, chromatin remodelers and modifiers, which synergistically repress Xi transcription. Inhibiting two or three interactors destabilizes silencing. While Xist attracts some interactors, it repels architectural factors. Xist evicts cohesins from the Xi and directs an Xi-specific chromosome conformation. Upon deleting Xist, the Xi acquires the cohesin-binding and chromosomal architecture of the active X. Our study unveils many layers of Xi repression and demonstrates a central role for RNA in the topological organization of mammalian chromosomes. The RNA-seq data sets generated in this study provide a resource for examining the effects of knockdowns of various Xist-interacting proteins on gene expression. The ChIP-seq data sets provide a comprehensive set of data examining CTCF and cohesion binding the X-chromosome, and the effects of deleting Xist on CTCF and cohesion binding. The Hi-C data is an allele-specific contact map of the X-chromosome higher-order chromatin structure in mouse. RNA-seq in 3 control and 10 knockdown cell lines. ChIP-seq for CTCF, Rad21 and Smc1a in wild-type fibroblasts and Xist-deletion fibroblasts. Hi-C in wild-type and Xist-deletion fibroblasts.
Project description:The Xist long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) is essential for X-chromosome inactivation (XCI), the process by which mammals compensate for unequal numbers of sex chromosomes. During XCI, Xist coats the future inactive X (Xi) and recruits Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) to the X-inactivation center (Xic). Currently unclear is how Xist spreads silencing on a 150 Mb scale. Here we generate high-resolution maps of Xist binding across a developmental time course using CHART-seq. In female cells undergoing XCI de novo, Xist follows a two-step mechanism in which it initially targets gene-rich islands before spreading to intervening gene-poor domains. Xist is depleted from genes that escape XCI but frequently concentrates near escapee boundaries. Xist binding was linearly proportional to PRC2 density and H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3), suggesting co-migration of Xist and PRC2. Interestingly, when the Xi is acutely stripped of Xist in post-XCI cells, Xist recovers quickly within both gene-rich and -poor domains on a time scale of hours instead of days, suggesting a previously primed Xi chromatin state. We conclude that Xist spreading takes on distinct stage-specific forms: During initial establishment, Xist follows a two-step mechanism, but during maintenance, Xist spreads rapidly to both gene-rich and -poor regions. Capture hybridization analysis of RNA targets (CHART) and input samples of (differentiating) mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells and immortalized mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) using paired-end 75 nt reads on Illumina HiSeq2500, with 2 replicates per sample (# of samples). RNA-seq of the same cell lines with 50 nt reads on Illumina HiSeq2000, with 2 replicates per sample (2 samples, 4 datasets total). CHIP-seq: Data from GSE36905 was aligned and processed as CHART-seq samples. Resulting coverage tracks (EZH2/K27me3) are linked directly to GSE48649 (bedGraphs linked below).