Project description:Osteoblast differentiation leading to bone formation requires a coordinated transcriptional program. We have recently demonstrated that microtubule actin crosslinking factor 1 (MACF1) promotes osteoblast differentiation, suggesting a key role in regulating early-phase osteoblast differentiation. Here, we showed that the early-phase osteoblast differentiation transcriptome dynamics was regulated by MACF1 and the transcription of TCF7/LEF1, key effectors of Wnt signaling that is important for osteoblast differentiation was suppressed by MACF1 knockdown. Co-IP and Protein mass spectrometry revealed that MACF1 interacted with a known and two previously unknown repressors of TCF7/LEF1, DKK1, CDK12 and MEAF6. ChIP-seq analysis of MACF1-associated promoters further revealed that MACF1 interacted with transcription factors TCF12 and E2F6, which also suppressed the transcription of TCF7/LEF1. Furthermore, all these four MACF-interacted proteins inhibited osteoblast differentiation. By studying the underlying mechanism, we found that cytoplasmic-nuclear localization of MACF1 was dependent on its level and the cytoplasmic-nuclear localization of TCF12 and E2F6 was regulated by MACF1 localization. In addition, MACF1 oppositely regulated the transcription activity of TCF12 and TCF7. Current study, for the first time to our knowledge, suggest that MACF1 acts as a sponge of osteoblast differentiation repressors to promote osteoblast differentiation, and indicate a novel mechanism for regulating the cellular location of transcription factors by a protein associated with microtubule and actin.
Project description:Osteoblast differentiation leading to bone formation requires a coordinated transcriptional program. We have recently demonstrated that microtubule actin crosslinking factor 1 (MACF1) promotes osteoblast differentiation, suggesting a key role in regulating early-phase osteoblast differentiation. Here, we showed that the early-phase osteoblast differentiation transcriptome dynamics was regulated by MACF1 and the transcription of TCF7/LEF1, key effectors of Wnt signaling that is important for osteoblast differentiation was suppressed by MACF1 knockdown. Co-IP and Protein mass spectrometry revealed that MACF1 interacted with a known and two previously unknown repressors of TCF7/LEF1, DKK1, CDK12 and MEAF6. ChIP-seq analysis of MACF1-associated promoters further revealed that MACF1 interacted with transcription factors TCF12 and E2F6, which also suppressed the transcription of TCF7/LEF1. Furthermore, all these four MACF-interacted proteins inhibited osteoblast differentiation. By studying the underlying mechanism, we found that cytoplasmic-nuclear localization of MACF1 was dependent on its level and the cytoplasmic-nuclear localization of TCF12 and E2F6 was regulated by MACF1 localization. In addition, MACF1 oppositely regulated the transcription activity of TCF12 and TCF7. Current study, for the first time to our knowledge, suggest that MACF1 acts as a sponge of osteoblast differentiation repressors to promote osteoblast differentiation, and indicate a novel mechanism for regulating the cellular location of transcription factors by a protein associated with microtubule and actin.
Project description:METTL16 was previously identified as an m6A methyltransferase. In this study, we validated the cytoplasmic location of METTL16 and explored its function in the cytoplasm. We found that METTL16 promoted translation by sequestering eIF4E2, a translation initiation repressor, from the 5' cap structure.
Project description:Human adult mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSC) have the potential to differentiate into chondrogenic, adipogenic or osteogenic lineages, providing a potential source for tissue regeneration. An important issue for efficient bone regeneration is to identify factors that can be targeted to promote the osteogenic potential of hMSCs. Using transcriptomic analysis, we found that integrin alpha5 (ITGA5) expression is upregulated during dexamethasone-induced hMSCs osteoblast differentiation. Gain-of-function studies showed that ITGA5 promotes the expression of osteoblast phenotypic markers as well as in vitro osteogenesis in hMSCs. Downregulation of endogenous ITGA5 using shRNA blunted osteoblast marker expression and osteogenic differentiation. Pharmacological and molecular analyses showed that the enhanced hMSCs osteoblast differentiation induced by ITGA5 was mediated by activation of FAK/ERK1/2-MAPKs and PI3K signaling pathways. Remarkably, activation of ITGA5 using a specific antibody that primes the integrin or a peptide that specifically activates ITGA5 was sufficient to enhance ERK1/2-MAPKs and PI3K signaling and to promote osteoblast differentiation and osteogenic capacity of hMSCs. We also demonstrate that hMSCs engineered to over-express ITGA5 exhibited a marked increase in their osteogenic potential in vivo. These findings not only reveal that ITGA5 is required for osteoblast differentiation of adult human MSCs but also provide a novel targeted strategy using ITGA5 agonists to promote the osteogenic capacity of hMSCs, which may be used for tissue regeneration in bone disorders where the recruitment or capacity of MSCs is compromised. Keywords: Time course of osteogenic differentiation processes
Project description:Glycine 34 to tryptophan (G34W) substitutions in H3.3 arise in ~90% of giant cell tumour of bone (GCT). Here, we show H3.3G34W is necessary for tumour formation. Profiling the epigenome, transcriptome and secreted proteome of patient samples and tumour-derived cells CRISPR/Cas9-edited for H3.3G34W shows that H3.3K36me3 loss on mutant H3.3 induces a shift of the repressive H3K27me3 mark from intergenic to genic regions, beyond areas of H3.3 deposition. This promotes the redistribution of antagonistic chromatin marks and aberrant downregulation of contractile myofibroblast-associated genes altering cell fate in mesenchymal progenitors. Single-cell transcriptomics reveals that H3.3G34W stromal cells recapitulate a neoplastic trajectory from an SPP1+ osteoblast progenitor-like population towards an ACTA2+ myofibroblast population, which secretes extracellular matrix ligands predicted to recruit and activate osteoclasts. Our findings suggest that H3.3G34W leads to GCT by sustaining a transformed state in osteoblast-like progenitors which promotes neoplastic growth, pathological recruitment of giant osteoclasts, and bone destruction.
Project description:Glycine 34 to tryptophan (G34W) substitutions in H3.3 arise in ~90% of giant cell tumour of bone (GCT). Here, we show H3.3G34W is necessary for tumour formation. Profiling the epigenome, transcriptome and secreted proteome of patient samples and tumour-derived cells CRISPR/Cas9-edited for H3.3G34W shows that H3.3K36me3 loss on mutant H3.3 induces a shift of the repressive H3K27me3 mark from intergenic to genic regions, beyond areas of H3.3 deposition. This promotes the redistribution of antagonistic chromatin marks and aberrant downregulation of contractile myofibroblast-associated genes altering cell fate in mesenchymal progenitors. Single-cell transcriptomics reveals that H3.3G34W stromal cells recapitulate a neoplastic trajectory from an SPP1+ osteoblast progenitor-like population towards an ACTA2+ myofibroblast population, which secretes extracellular matrix ligands predicted to recruit and activate osteoclasts. Our findings suggest that H3.3G34W leads to GCT by sustaining a transformed state in osteoblast-like progenitors which promotes neoplastic growth, pathological recruitment of giant osteoclasts, and bone destruction.