Project description:Aberrant formation of biomolecular condensates has been proposed to play a role in several cancers. The oncogenic fusion protein BRD4-NUT forms condensates and drives changes in gene expression in Nut Carcinoma (NC). Here we sought to understand the molecular elements of BRD4-NUT and its associated histone acetyltransferase (HAT), p300, that promote these activities. We determined that a minimal fragment of NUT (MIN) in fusion with BRD4 is necessary and sufficient to bind p300 and form condensates. Furthermore, a BRD4-p300 fusion protein also forms condensates and drives gene expression similarly to BRD4-NUT(MIN), suggesting the p300 fusion may mimic certain features of BRD4-NUT. The intrinsically disordered regions, transcription factor-binding domains, and HAT activity of p300 all collectively contribute to condensate formation by BRD4-p300, suggesting that these elements might contribute to condensate formation by BRD4-NUT. Conversely, only the HAT activity of BRD4-p300 appears necessary to mimic the transcriptional profile of cells expressing BRD4-NUT. Our results suggest a model for condensate formation by the BRD4-NUT:p300 complex involving a combination of positive feedback and phase separation, and show that multiple overlapping, yet distinct, regions of p300 contribute to condensate formation and transcriptional regulation.
Project description:BRD4-NUT megadomains is an order of magnitude larger than super-enhancer regions and displays a more continuously enriched profile rather than appearing as a cluster of individual peaks. Chip-seq mapping of active chromatin marks in BRD4-NUT and different NMC cells
Project description:NUT, nuclear protein in testis is the universal fusion partner of BRD4 in the highly aggressive NUT Midline Carcinoma (NMC), but its physiological function is unknown. Here we show that Nut is exclusively expressed in post-meiotic spermatogenic cells, at the time of genome-wide histone hyperacetylation. Inactivation of Nut induces a spermatogenesis arrest at the histone-to-protamine replacement stage, leading to male infertility. Subsequent molecular investigations show that Nut sustains global histone H4 hyperacetylation in post-meiotic cells. Additionally, Nut mediates a p300/CBP-dependent gene expression program and, by enhancing acetylation of H4 at both K5 and K8 sites, provides binding sites for the first bromodomain of Brdt, which drives histone removal. Our results bring the first evidence of Nut’s function in spermatogenic cells where it uses the ubiquitous HATs p300/CBP to direct a cell-type specific histone H4 hyperacetylation. The ectopic activity of Nut in NMC recreates a forced p300-induced histone hyperacetylation / bromodomain-binding loop that normally operates in post-meiotic spermatogenic cells.
Project description:Discarded live tumor tissue from a metastatic focus in the patientM-bM-^@M-^Ys lung was collected under institutional review board approval through the NUT midline carcinoma registry (www.NMCRegistry.org). From this tissue the first known NUT-variant cell line, 1221, was established. To determine the putative partner gene to NUT, we performed comprehensive RNA-sequencing on RNA purified from 1221. We identified an in-frame transcript fusing the 5M-bM-^@M-^Y coding sequence of NSD3 (exons 1-7) to exons 2-7 of NUT. Expression of the NSD3-NUT fusion oncoprotein was verified by immunobloting with an antibody to NUT, revealing an approximately 200kDa band that is similar in size to BRD3-NUT, but smaller than BRD4-NUT Identification of a NUT fusion partner using RNA extracted from live cultured 1221 cell line derived from a lung metastasis from the index case of a 13 year old female with NUT-positive NMC.
Project description:Discarded live tumor tissue from a metastatic focus in the patient’s lung was collected under institutional review board approval through the NUT midline carcinoma registry (www.NMCRegistry.org). From this tissue the first known NUT-variant cell line, 1221, was established. To determine the putative partner gene to NUT, we performed comprehensive RNA-sequencing on RNA purified from 1221. We identified an in-frame transcript fusing the 5’ coding sequence of NSD3 (exons 1-7) to exons 2-7 of NUT. Expression of the NSD3-NUT fusion oncoprotein was verified by immunobloting with an antibody to NUT, revealing an approximately 200kDa band that is similar in size to BRD3-NUT, but smaller than BRD4-NUT
Project description:To investigate the mechanism that drives dramatic mistargeting of active chromatin in NUT-midline carcinoma, we have identified protein interactions unique to the BRD4-NUT fusion oncoprotein compared to wild type BRD4. Using crosslinking, affinity purification, and mass spectrometry, we identify the p300 acetyltransferase as ectopically associated with BRD4 through the NUT fusion in both NMC and non-NMC cell types. We also identify ZNF532 among a number of candidates uniquely associated with BRD4-NUT in NMC patient cells but not present in 293T cells. p300 and ZNF532 are both implicated in feed-forward regulatory loops leading to propagation of the oncogenic regulatory complex in BRD4-NUT patient cells. Extending our biochemical findings, we independently identified a novel ZNF532-NUT translocation fusion in a newly diagnosed NMC patient. ChIP-seq of key players: NUT, ZNF532, BRD4, p300, and anti-H3K27ac, reveals the formation of ZNF532-NUT-associated hyperacetylated megadomains, distinctly localized, but otherwise analogous to those found in BRD4-NUT patient cells. Our results support a model in which NMC is caused by a cascade of misregulation that is initiated by ectopic protein-protein interactions on chromatin between NUT and several distinct, but interacting, components of BRD4 regulatory complexes.