Project description:Zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox 2 (ZEB2, also known as SMAD interacting protein 1 or Zfhx1b) protein is a transcription factor involved in the transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) and bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) signaling pathways. ZEB2 is a two-handed zinc-finger closely related to ZEB1 (ZFHX1a/δEF1) and it is present in many tissues including cardiac and skeletal muscles. Skeletal muscle development and adult myogenesis are regulated by helix-loop-helix proteins, including MyoD, Myf5, myogenin and MRF-4. It has been shown that ZEB1 (ZFHX1a/δEF1) competes with the myogenic regulatory factors for their consensus sequences on some target genes during muscle differentiation, however the role of ZEB2 in myogenesis is still unknown. In the present study, we evaluated the myogenic potential of Zeb2-null and R26_Zeb2 mouse embryonic stem cells by single-cell RNA-sequencing and tested muscle engraftment capability of the respective myogenic progenitors. Our results support the implication of Zeb2 in promoting myogenesis in pluripotent stem cells and myogenic progenitors by modulating specific genes encoding components of the TGFβ/BMP signaling system.
Project description:Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a frequent non-epithelial tumor of soft tissue that originates from a myogenic differentiation defect. Expression of SNAIL transcription factor is elevated in the alveolar subtype of RMS, characterized by a low myogenic differentiation status and high aggressiveness. SNAIL affects RMS metastasis by reorganization of actin cytoskeleton, regulation of ezrin expression and chemotaxis to HGF and SDF-1. The differentiation of human RMS diminishes SNAIL level. SNAIL silencing completely abolishes the growth of human RMS xenotransplants. SNAIL inhibits myogenic differentiation of RMS by binding to the MYF5 promoter, suppressing its expression, displacing MYOD from canonical to alternative E-box sequences and regulating myomiRs expression. SNAIL silencing allows the re-expression of MYF5 and canonical MYOD binding, promoting RMS cell myogenic differentiation. These novel results open potential avenues for the development of innovative therapeutic strategies based on SNAIL silencing.
Project description:T-bet is critical for cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) differentiation, but it is unclear how it operates in a graded manner in the formation of both terminal effector and memory precursor cells during infection. We find that at high concentrations T-bet induced expression of Zeb2 mRNA, which then triggered CTLs to adopt terminally differentiated states. ZEB2 and T-bet cooperate to switch on a terminal CTL differentiation program, while simultaneously repressing genes necessary for central memory CTL development. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) showed that a large proportion of these genes were bound by T-bet, and this binding was altered by ZEB2 deficiency. Furthermore, T-bet overexpression could not fully bypass ZEB2 function. Thus, the coordinated actions of T-bet and ZEB2 outline a novel genetic pathway that forces commitment of CTLs to terminal differentiation, thereby restricting their memory cell potential. Splenocyte derived CD8+ T cells from C57BL/6 mice with either a wildtype (WT) (GzmB-Cre Zeb2+/+) or GzmB-Cre Zeb2-fl/fl (Zeb2-/-) backgrounds, following 8 days post infection with LCMV-Armstrong, were subsetted into KLRG1-hi/IL-7R-lo populations (terminal effectors, TE) or KLRG1-lo/IL-7R-hi (memory precursors, MP) populations. Four experimental groups, each with 3 samples, comprised of TE+WT, MP+WT, TE+ZEB2-/-, and MP+ZEB2-/-, were profiled for gene expression utilizing a polyA RNA prep and hybridized to the Illumina microarray platform IlluminaWG-v2.0.
Project description:Analysis of the transcriptome of zebrafish mononuclear myogenic cells (zMNCs) during myogenic differentiation. The main goal is to identify the similarities of zMNC myogenic differentiation with that of mammalian myoblast differentiation. Critical time points were used to identify a switch from the activity of cell proliferation genes to myogenic structural genes. 15-20 adult zebrafish dorsal skeletal muscles were isolated at each of 6 distinct time points (day 0, day 1, day 4, day 7, day 10, day 14) in replicates.
Project description:To capture the Zeb2-dependent transcriptional changes in early cell state/fate decisions we performed RNA-seq on Zeb2 control and Zeb2 knockout cells. We chose three stages, which correspond in control ESCs to the naive pluripotent state (d0; very low amounts of Zeb2 mRNA), multipotent progenitors (d4, low Zeb2 mRNA/protein) and early neural progenitors (d6, high Zeb2 mRNA/protein), respectively.
Project description:The multi-domain transcription factor ZEB2 controls embryonic and adult cell fate decisions and maturation in many stem/progenitor cell types. Defects in these processes in specific cell types underlie Mowat-Wilson syndrome (MOWS), which is caused by ZEB2 haplo-insufficiency. Human ZEB2, like mouse Zeb2, is located on chromosome 2 downstream of an approximately 3.5 Mb-long gene-desert, lacking any protein-coding gene sequence. Using temporal high-resolution Targeted Chromatin Capture (T2C), we show major chromatin structural changes based on mapping in-cis proximities between the ZEB2 gene promoter and this gene desert during neural differentiation of induced pluripotent cells (iPSCs), including at early neuroprogenitor cell (NPC)/rosette state, where ZEB2 mRNA levels increase significantly. Combining T2C with histone-3 acetylation mapping, we identified three novel candidate enhancers about 500 kb upstream of the ZEB2 transcription start site (TSS). Functional luciferase-based assays in heterologous cells and NPCs reveal co-operation between these three enhancers. This study is the first to document in-cis regulatory elements (REs) located in ZEB2’s gene desert. The results further show the usability of T2C for future studies of ZEB2 REs in differentiation and maturation of relevant cell types, and the molecular characterization of identified MOWS patients that lack mutations in ZEB2 protein-coding exons.
Project description:Analysis of the transcriptome of zebrafish mononuclear myogenic cells (zMNCs) during myogenic differentiation. The main goal is to identify the similarities of zMNC myogenic differentiation with that of mammalian myoblast differentiation. Critical time points were used to identify a switch from the activity of cell proliferation genes to myogenic structural genes.