Project description:Heterochromatin plays essential roles in repressing retrotransposons, e.g. endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) during mammalian development, but the contribution of retrotransposition to lethality observed in embryonic cells deficient for heterochromatin-mediated ERV repression is poorly understood. Here we report that selective degradation of the TRIM28 heterochromatin adapter protein leads to reduced association of transcriptional condensates with loci encoding super-enhancer -driven pluripotency genes in embryonic stem cells, a collapse of the pluripotency transcriptional circuit, and a pre-lethal restriction of pluripotent lineages in mouse embryos. De-repressed ERVs recruit transcriptional condensates in the absence of TRIM28, and ERV RNA facilitates condensation of RNA Polymerase II in vitro. We propose that retrotransposons contribute to the genomic distribution of nuclear condensates, and that RNA species may facilitate “hijacking” of transcriptional condensates in various developmental and disease contexts.
Project description:Most endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) in mammals are incapable of retrotransposition; therefore, why ERV de-repression is associated with lethality during early development has been a mystery. Here we report that rapid and selective degradation of the TRIM28 heterochromatin adapter protein triggers dissociation of transcriptional condensates from loci encoding super-enhancer -driven pluripotency genes, and their association with transcribed ERV loci in murine embryonic stem cells. Knockdown of ERV RNAs or forced expression of super-enhancer -enriched transcription factors rescued condensate localization at super-enhancers in TRIM28-degraded cells. In a biochemical reconstitution system, ERV RNA facilitated partitioning of RNA Polymerase II, and the Mediator co- activator into phase-separated droplets. In TRIM28 knockout mouse embryos, single-cell RNA-Seq analysis revealed specific depletion of pluripotent lineages. We propose that coding and non-coding nascent RNAs, including those produced by retrotransposons, may facilitate “hijacking” of transcriptional condensates in various developmental and disease contexts.
Project description:Here we show that in neural progenitor cells (NPCs) TRIM28 silences transcription of two groups of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs): IAP1 and MMERVK10C. Derepression of ERVs in Trim28-deficient NPCs was associated with a loss of H3K9me3 and resulted in transcriptional upregulation and reverse transcription. These findings demonstrate a unique dynamic transcriptional regulation of ERVs in NPCs. Analysis of upregulation of ERVs in Trim28-deficient NPCs
Project description:Here we show that in neural progenitor cells (NPCs) TRIM28 silences transcription of two groups of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs): IAP1 and MMERVK10C. Derepression of ERVs in Trim28-deficient NPCs was associated with a loss of H3K9me3 and resulted in transcriptional upregulation and reverse transcription. These findings demonstrate a unique dynamic transcriptional regulation of ERVs in NPCs.
Project description:Prion-like spreading of protein misfolding is characteristic for neurodegenerative diseases, but the exact mechanisms of intercellular protein aggregate dissemination remain unresolved. Evidence accumulates that endogenous retroviruses, remnants of viral germline infections that are normally epigenetically silenced, become upregulated in neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and tauopathies. Here we uncover that activation of endogenous retroviruses affects prion-like spreading of proteopathic seeds. To identify changes in the proteome of donor cells that might contribute to protein aggregate spreading, we performed mass spectrometry analyses of total cell lysates and donor EV fractions using N2a cells expressing HA epitope-tagged Sup35 NM prion protein at early (P07) and late passages (P16) post cryopreservation. Among the proteins increased in donor cells and EVs upon prolonged culture, we identified mouse endogenous MLV retrovirus proteins to be highly increased.
Project description:Phase separation inside mammalian cells regulates the formation of biomolecular condensates that are related to gene expression, signalling, development, and diseases. However, a large population of endogenous condensates and their candidate phase separating proteins have yet to be discovered in a quantitative and high-throughput manner. Here, we demonstrate that endogenously-expressed biomolecular condensates can be identified across a cell's proteome by sorting proteins across varying oligomeric states. We employ volumetric compression to modulate the concentrations of intracellular proteins and the degree of crowdedness, which are physical regulators of cellular biomolecular condensates. The changes in degree of the partition of proteins into condensates or phase separation lead to varying oligomeric states of the proteins, which can be detected by coupling density gradient ultracentrifugation and quantitative mass spectrometry. In total, we identified 1,518 endogenous-expression condensate proteins, of which 538 have not been reported before. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our strategy can identify condensate proteins that respond to specific biological processes.