Project description:The bifunctional DNA glycosylases / AP lyases NEIL1 and NEIL2 excise oxidative base damages, but can also enhance the steady-state turnover of thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG) during oxidative DNA demethylation (Schomacher et al. 2016; doi:10.1038/nsmb.3151). The dual role of NEILs in antagonizing base damages and promoting epigenetic gene reactivation prompted us to investigate the consequences of NEIL deficiency during embryonic stem cell differentiation. To account for any possible functional redundancy in the NEIL family, all three paralogs NEIL1, NEIL2 and NEIL3 were inactivated using CRISPR/Cas9 in mouse embryonic stem cells.
Project description:NEIL 1-3 DNA glycosylases initiate the base excision repair pathway by removing oxidized bases from the DNA. NEIL1 and NEIL3 have been shown to protect the brain from ischemic stroke-induced injury in adult and perinatal mice, respectively. To assess the role of NEIL1 and NEIL2 in newborn mice, we used the Levine model of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), modified for use in perinatal mice. We found that NEIL1 deficiency increased sensitivity to cerebral ischemia in newborn mice. In contrast, NEIL2 deficiency rendered the mice more resistant to hypoxia-ischemia. Importantly, no effect was seen in mice expressing base excision activity-deficient NEIL proteins and the global levels of the oxidative DNA lesion 5-hydroxycytosine, which is a substrate for the NEIL enzymes, did not differ significantly between the genotypes. Transcriptome analysis of NEIL1- and NEIL2-deficient hippocampus revealed changes in Neil2-deficient hippocampus that favour cell survival and limit brain injury after HI. Our data suggest a role of NEIL2 in regulating the early transcriptional stress response, critical for neuronal cell death, after brain injury. This function seems to be independent of the base excision activity of the proteins. The protective effect of NEIL2 deficiency makes NEIL2 a potential therapeutic target in treatment of perinatal HIE.
Project description:We performed high-throughput RNA sequencing to characterize possible differences in the transcriptome of murine aortic Vascular Smooth Muscle cells from both 26 weeks-old ApoE knockout and ApoE/Neil3 double knockout mice fed a regular diet.
Project description:We report the bisulfite sequencing and RNA-seq in hippocampus of Neil deficient adult mice. By genome-wide bisulphite sequencing (GWBS) analysis, NEIL depletion mice (including Neil1-/-, Neil2-/- and Neil1-/- Neil2-/-) consistently displayed global hypo-methylation of 5mC in base resolution in CG context, as well as in gene feature regions including transcription start sites (TSS) in CHG and CHH context by compared to wild type. RNA-seq reveals differentially expressed genes are mainly overlapped with differential methylation. A subset of overlap genes is enriched in synaptic function. Together, NEIL1 and NEIL2 functionally promote DNA methylation and impact gene expression.
Project description:expression analysis of teratoma, grown from mouse embryonic stem cells that are Evi/Wls knockout cells and comparison with wildtype (control) tumors
Project description:CA1-specific brain tissue from the hippocampal formation was isolated at baseline (homecage condition) in wildtype and NEIL1, NEIL2 or NEIL1&2-deficient mice. NEILs are DNA glycosylases potentially involved in transcription regulation. RNA was extracted and sequenced.
Project description:Snai1 is a master factor of epithelial to mesenchymal transitioin (EMT), however, its role in embryonic stem cell (ESC) differentiation and lineage commitment remains undefined. We used microarrays to compare the global programme of gene expression between control and Snai1 knockout ESCs-derived EB and teratoma. For EBs, control and Snai1 knockout ESCs were cultured as embryoid bodies in spotaneous differentiation media, RNA of 5 days EBs were collected for Affymetrix microarrays. For teratomas, control and Snai1 knockout ESCs were injected into nude mice to form teratomas. RNA of 6 weeks were collected for Affymetrix microarrays.
Project description:Snai1 is a master factor of epithelial to mesenchymal transitioin (EMT), however, its role in embryonic stem cell (ESC) differentiation and lineage commitment remains undefined. We used microarrays to compare the global programme of gene expression between control and Snai1 knockout ESCs-derived EB and teratoma.
Project description:The NEIL3 DNA glycosylase is a base excision repair enzyme that excises bulky base lesions from DNA. Although NEIL3 has been shown to unhook interstrand crosslinks (ICL) in Xenopus extracts, how NEIL3 participants in ICL repair in human cells and its corporation with the canonical Fanconi anemia (FA)/BRCA pathway remain unclear. Here we show that the NEIL3 and the FA/BRCA pathways are non-epistatic in psoralen-ICL repair. The NEIL3 pathway is the major pathway for repairing psoralen-ICL, and the FA/BRCA pathway is only activated when NEIL3 is not present. Mechanistically, NEIL3 is recruited to psoralen-ICL in a rapid, PARP-dependent manner. Importantly, the NEIL3 pathway repairs psoralen-ICLs without generating double-strand breaks (DSBs), unlike the FA/BRCA pathway. In addition, we found that the RUVBL1/2 complex physically interact with NEIL3 and function within the NEIL3 pathway in psoralen-ICL repair. Moreover, TRAIP is important for the recruitment of NEIL3 but not FANCD2, and knockdown of TRAIP promotes FA/BRCA pathway activation. Interestingly, TRAIP is non-epistatic with both NEIL3 and FA pathways in psoralen-ICL repair, suggesting that TRAIP may function upstream of the two pathways. Taken together, the NEIL3 pathway is the major pathway to repair psoralen-ICL through a unique DSB-free mechanism in human cells.
Project description:We performed high-throughput RNA sequencing to characterize possible differences in the transcriptome of primary human aortic Vascular Smooth Muscle cells abrogated of NEIL3 mRNA via antisense oligonucleotides targeting NEIL3 exon 4, compared with control cells treated with a scramble version of the same antisense oligonucleotide