Project description:Cancer cells exhibit rewired transcriptional regulatory networks that promote tumor growth and survival. However, the processes that configure these pathological networks remain poorly understood. Through a pan-cancer epigenomic analysis, we found that primate-specific endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are an abundant source of enhancers that mediate transcriptional dysregulation in cancer. In colorectal cancer and other epithelial tumors, AP1 signaling drives aberrant activation of enhancers derived from the primate-specific ERV family LTR10. CRISPR studies revealed that LTR10 elements control colorectal cancer-specific gene expression at multiple loci associated with tumorigenesis. Within the human population, individual LTR10 elements show extensive structural variation due to repeat instability of an internal variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) region that affects AP1 binding. Our findings reveal that ERV-derived enhancers link oncogenic signaling to transcriptional dysregulation and shape the evolution of cancer-specific regulatory networks.
Project description:Cancer cells exhibit rewired transcriptional regulatory networks that promote tumor growth and survival. However, the processes that configure these pathological networks remain poorly understood. Through a pan-cancer epigenomic analysis, we found that primate-specific endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are an abundant source of enhancers that mediate transcriptional dysregulation in cancer. In colorectal cancer and other epithelial tumors, AP1 signaling drives aberrant activation of enhancers derived from the primate-specific ERV family LTR10. CRISPR studies revealed that LTR10 elements control colorectal cancer-specific gene expression at multiple loci associated with tumorigenesis. Within the human population, individual LTR10 elements show extensive structural variation due to repeat instability of an internal variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) region that affects AP1 binding. Our findings reveal that ERV-derived enhancers link oncogenic signaling to transcriptional dysregulation and shape the evolution of cancer-specific regulatory networks.
Project description:Although continual expansion of the brain during primate evolution accounts for our enhanced cognitive capabilities, the drivers of brain evolution have scarcely been explored. Tree shrews are closely related to primates that comparing their brains to primate brains at the single-cell level will provide new insights into the evolution of the primate brain.
Project description:In humans, a primate-specific variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) polymorphism (4 or 5 repeats 54 nt in length) in the circadian gene PER3 is associated with differences in sleep timing and homeostatic responses to sleep loss. We investigated the effects of this polymorphism on circadian rhythmicity and sleep homeostasis by introducing the polymorphism into mice and assessing circadian and sleep parameters at baseline and during and after 12 h of sleep deprivation (SD). Microarray analysis was used to measure hypothalamic and cortical gene expression. Circadian behavior and sleep were normal at baseline. The response to SD of 2 electrophysiological markers of sleep homeostasis, electroencephalography (EEG) M-NM-8 power during wakefulness and M-NM-4 power during sleep, were greater in the Per35/5 mice. During recovery, the Per35/5 mice fully compensated for the SD-induced deficit in M-NM-4 power, but the Per34/4 and wild-type mice did not. Sleep homeostasis-related transcripts (e.g., Homer1, Ptgs2, and Kcna2) were differentially expressed between the humanized mice, but circadian clock genes were not. These data are in accordance with the hypothesis derived from human data that the PER3 VNTR polymorphism modifies the sleep homeostatic response without significantly influencing circadian parameters.-Hasan, S., van der Veen, D. R., Winsky-Sommerer, R., Hogben, A., Laing, E. E., Koentgen, F., Dijk, D.-J., Archer, S. N. A human sleep homeostasis phenotype in mice expressing a primate-specific PER3 variable-number tandem-repeat coding-region polymorphism. Mice recievied 12 hours of sleep restriction during the 12 hours of light in the light-dark cycle Boxhill represents Per35/5 mice and Coach represents Per34/4 mice. A total of 48 samples comprising 24 mice
Project description:In humans, a primate-specific variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) polymorphism (4 or 5 repeats 54 nt in length) in the circadian gene PER3 is associated with differences in sleep timing and homeostatic responses to sleep loss. We investigated the effects of this polymorphism on circadian rhythmicity and sleep homeostasis by introducing the polymorphism into mice and assessing circadian and sleep parameters at baseline and during and after 12 h of sleep deprivation (SD). Microarray analysis was used to measure hypothalamic and cortical gene expression. Circadian behavior and sleep were normal at baseline. The response to SD of 2 electrophysiological markers of sleep homeostasis, electroencephalography (EEG) M-NM-8 power during wakefulness and M-NM-4 power during sleep, were greater in the Per35/5 mice. During recovery, the Per35/5 mice fully compensated for the SD-induced deficit in M-NM-4 power, but the Per34/4 and wild-type mice did not. Sleep homeostasis-related transcripts (e.g., Homer1, Ptgs2, and Kcna2) were differentially expressed between the humanized mice, but circadian clock genes were not. These data are in accordance with the hypothesis derived from human data that the PER3 VNTR polymorphism modifies the sleep homeostatic response without significantly influencing circadian parameters.-Hasan, S., van der Veen, D. R., Winsky-Sommerer, R., Hogben, A., Laing, E. E., Koentgen, F., Dijk, D.-J., Archer, S. N. A human sleep homeostasis phenotype in mice expressing a primate-specific PER3 variable-number tandem-repeat coding-region polymorphism. Mice were kept under 3.5h light- 3.5 hours dark cycles and samples were collected in the 17th light cycle Boxhill represents Per35/5 mice and Coach represents Per34/4 mice. A total of 30 samples comprizing 30 mice
Project description:The cerebral cortex underwent a rapid expansion and complexification during recent primate evolution, but the underlying developmental mechanisms remain essentially unknown. In order to uncover genetic networks underlying the development of the human cerebral cortex, we profiled the transcriptome of human fetal cortical domains containing language areas of Broca and Wernicke, as well as associative areas. We thus identified hundreds of genes displaying differential expression between the two areas or between distinct temporal stages. A subset of these genes was further validated by qRTPCR and in situ hybridization, revealing novel patterns of area and layer-specific expression throughout the developing cortex at midgestation, a critical period of cortical patterning. Computational genomic analyses revealed that the proportion of genes located close to evolutionarily accelerated regions was far more abundant among the genes differentially expressed between the two cortical areas examined, but not among those differentially expressed between different stages of development. In silico screening enabled to identify accelerated regions displaying increased turnover of change in transcription factor binding sites, which were enriched among those closer to genes differentially expressed between cortical areas. Overall our work points to the identification of cortical genes that display a unique combination of patterns of evolution and expression, which may constitute an important part of the genetic framework underlying human-specific neural traits and diseases. We determined gene expression patterns in cortical domains that contain areas thought to have undergone significant divergence during primate evolution, including language areas of Broca and Wernicke, as well as association areas of the frontal and parieto-temporal cortex in the right and left sides of human fetal brains at 17 and 19 gestional weeks.
Project description:In humans, a primate-specific variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) polymorphism (4 or 5 repeats 54 nt in length) in the circadian gene PER3 is associated with differences in sleep timing and homeostatic responses to sleep loss. We investigated the effects of this polymorphism on circadian rhythmicity and sleep homeostasis by introducing the polymorphism into mice and assessing circadian and sleep parameters at baseline and during and after 12 h of sleep deprivation (SD). Microarray analysis was used to measure hypothalamic and cortical gene expression. Circadian behavior and sleep were normal at baseline. The response to SD of 2 electrophysiological markers of sleep homeostasis, electroencephalography (EEG) θ power during wakefulness and δ power during sleep, were greater in the Per35/5 mice. During recovery, the Per35/5 mice fully compensated for the SD-induced deficit in δ power, but the Per34/4 and wild-type mice did not. Sleep homeostasis-related transcripts (e.g., Homer1, Ptgs2, and Kcna2) were differentially expressed between the humanized mice, but circadian clock genes were not. These data are in accordance with the hypothesis derived from human data that the PER3 VNTR polymorphism modifies the sleep homeostatic response without significantly influencing circadian parameters.-Hasan, S., van der Veen, D. R., Winsky-Sommerer, R., Hogben, A., Laing, E. E., Koentgen, F., Dijk, D.-J., Archer, S. N. A human sleep homeostasis phenotype in mice expressing a primate-specific PER3 variable-number tandem-repeat coding-region polymorphism.
Project description:In humans, a primate-specific variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) polymorphism (4 or 5 repeats 54 nt in length) in the circadian gene PER3 is associated with differences in sleep timing and homeostatic responses to sleep loss. We investigated the effects of this polymorphism on circadian rhythmicity and sleep homeostasis by introducing the polymorphism into mice and assessing circadian and sleep parameters at baseline and during and after 12 h of sleep deprivation (SD). Microarray analysis was used to measure hypothalamic and cortical gene expression. Circadian behavior and sleep were normal at baseline. The response to SD of 2 electrophysiological markers of sleep homeostasis, electroencephalography (EEG) θ power during wakefulness and δ power during sleep, were greater in the Per35/5 mice. During recovery, the Per35/5 mice fully compensated for the SD-induced deficit in δ power, but the Per34/4 and wild-type mice did not. Sleep homeostasis-related transcripts (e.g., Homer1, Ptgs2, and Kcna2) were differentially expressed between the humanized mice, but circadian clock genes were not. These data are in accordance with the hypothesis derived from human data that the PER3 VNTR polymorphism modifies the sleep homeostatic response without significantly influencing circadian parameters.-Hasan, S., van der Veen, D. R., Winsky-Sommerer, R., Hogben, A., Laing, E. E., Koentgen, F., Dijk, D.-J., Archer, S. N. A human sleep homeostasis phenotype in mice expressing a primate-specific PER3 variable-number tandem-repeat coding-region polymorphism.
Project description:Regulation and functionality of species-specific alternative splicing has remained enigmatic for many years. Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IIβ (CaMKIIβ) is expressed in several splice variants and plays a key role in learning and memory. Here, we identify and characterize several primate-specific CAMK2B splice isoforms, which show altered kinetic properties and changes in substrate specificity. Furthermore, we demonstrate that primate-specific Camk2β alternative splicing is achieved through branch point weakening during evolution. We show that reducing branch point and splice site strength during evolution globally renders constitutive exons alternative, thus providing a paradigm for cis-directed species-specific alternative splicing regulation. Using CRISPR/Cas9 we introduced the weaker human branch point into the mouse genome, resulting in human-like CAMK2B splicing in the brain of mutant mice. We observe a strong impairment of long-term potentiation in CA3-CA1 synapses of mutant mice, thus connecting branch point-controlled, species-specific alternative splicing with a fundamental function in learning and memory.
2022-12-19 | PXD035346 | Pride
Project description:A human sleep homeostasis phenotype in mice expressing a primate-specific PER3 variable-number tandem-repeat coding-region polymorphism