The PRC2 associated factor Epop is required for Hox genes regulation during axial development in mice
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
PROVIDER: PRJNA1074094 | ENA |
REPOSITORIES: ENA
Similar Datasets
Project description:The Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) is an essential modulator of gene repression. We previously reported that in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs), PRC2 associates with ElonginB/C through EPOP, allowing for low-level expression of target genes. Here we investigate the role of Epop in vivo by generating a mouse knockout model: we show that Epop null mice are viable and fertile, but display highly penetrant posterior homeotic transformations of the axial skeleton. Consistently, Epop depleted embryos present a shift of the anterior boundary of expression of certain Hox genes. Tissue-specific RNA-seq in embryos suggest that the defect in Hox activation originates already at the level of the presomitic mesoderm (PSM). Overall, our findings indicate that Epop is specifically required for correct body patterning along the antero-posterior axis, by preventing premature activation of the Hox genes.
2025-08-19 | GSE255167 | GEO
Project description:The Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) establishes transcriptionally silent chromatin by catalyzing histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3). Although cofactors such as MTF2 and JARID2 are known to direct PRC2 to nucleation sites and stimulate its catalytic activity, the role of the PRC2-associated factor EPOP has remained unclear and even controversial. Here, we combine biochemical reconstitution and a cellular EED-rescue system to define EPOP’s contribution to initial PRC2 recruitment and de novo H3K27me3 deposition. We show that EPOP, like MTF2, directly stimulates PRC2 histone methyltransferase activity in vitro. In vivo, EPOP is dispensable for initial PRC2 recruitment but promotes de novo H3K27me3 deposition in cooperation with MTF2 and JARID2. Mechanistically, electrophoretic mobility shift assays and reconstituted chromatin substrates reveal that EPOP and MTF2 enhance PRC2–nucleosome binding in a sequence- and chromatin-dependent manner: EPOP preferentially potentiates activity on GA-rich dinucleosomes, whereas MTF2 favors GCN-rich substrates. Together, these findings position EPOP as a positive regulator of PRC2 function during the establishment of H3K27me3 domains, and reveal a paradigm in which distinct cofactors confer DNA-sequence-specific control of de novo H3K27me3 deposition.
2026-01-09 | GSE306783 | GEO
Project description:Hox and Cdx transcription factors regulate embryonic positional identities. Cdx mutant mice display posterior body truncations of the axial skeleton, neuraxis, and caudal uro-rectal structures. We show that trunk Hox genes stimulate axial extension as they can largely rescue these Cdx mutant phenotypes. Conversely, posterior (paralog group 13) Hox genes can prematurely arrest posterior axial growth when precociously expressed. Our data suggest that the transition from trunk to tail Hox gene expression successively regulates construction and termination of axial structures in the mouse embryo. Thus, Hox genes seem to differentially orchestrate posterior expansion of embryonic tissues during axial morphogenesis as an integral part of their function in specifying head-to-tail identity. In addition, we present evidence that Cdx and Hox transcription factors exert these effects by controlling Wnt signaling. Concomitant regulation of Cyp26a1 expression, restraining retinoic acid signaling in the posterior growth zone, may likewise play a role in timing the trunk-tail transition.
2009-10-19 | GSE17660 | GEO
Project description:Hox and Cdx transcription factors regulate embryonic positional identities. Cdx mutant mice display posterior body truncations of the axial skeleton, neuraxis, and caudal uro-rectal structures. We show that trunk Hox genes stimulate axial extension as they can largely rescue these Cdx mutant phenotypes. Conversely, posterior (paralog group 13) Hox genes can prematurely arrest posterior axial growth when precociously expressed. Our data suggest that the transition from trunk to tail Hox gene expression successively regulates construction and termination of axial structures in the mouse embryo. Thus, Hox genes seem to differentially orchestrate posterior expansion of embryonic tissues during axial morphogenesis as an integral part of their function in specifying head-to-tail identity. In addition, we present evidence that Cdx and Hox transcription factors exert these effects by controlling Wnt signaling. Concomitant regulation of Cyp26a1 expression, restraining retinoic acid signaling in the posterior growth zone, may likewise play a role in timing the trunk-tail transition.
2009-10-19 | GSE17658 | GEO
Project description:Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) mediates developmental gene repression as two classes of holocomplexes, PRC2.1 and PRC2.2. EPOP is an accessory subunit specific to PRC2.1, which also contains PCL proteins. Unlike other accessory subunits that collectively facilitate PRC2 targeting, EPOP was implicated in an enigmatic inhibitory role, together with its interactor Elongin BC. We report an unusual molecular mechanism whereby EPOP regulates PRC2.1 by directly modulating its oligomerization state. EPOP disrupts the PRC2.1 dimer and weakens its chromatin association, likely by disabling the avidity effect conferred by the dimeric complex. Congruently, an EPOP mutant specifically defective in PRC2 binding enhances genome-wide enrichments of MTF2 in mouse epiblast-like cells. Elongin BC is largely dispensable for the EPOP-mediated inhibition of PRC2.1. EPOP defines a distinct subclass of PRC2.1, which may uniquely maintain an epigenetic program by preventing the over-repression of key gene regulators along the continuum of early differentiation.
2025-12-20 | PXD072233 | Pride
Project description:Rostro-caudal patterning of vertebrates depends on the temporally progressive activation of HOX genes within axial stem cells that fuel axial embryo elongation. Whether HOX genes sequential activation, the “HOX clock”, is paced by intrinsic chromatin-based timing mechanisms or by temporal changes in extrinsic cues remains unclear. Here, we studied HOX clock pacing in human pluripotent stem cells differentiating into spinal cord motor neuron subtypes which are progenies of axial progenitors. We show that the progressive activation of caudal HOX genes is controlled by a dynamic increase in FGF signaling. Blocking FGF pathway stalled induction of HOX genes, while precocious increase in FGF alone, or with GDF11 ligand, accelerated the HOX clock. Cells differentiated under accelerated HOX induction generated appropriate posterior motor neuron subtypes found along the human embryonic spinal cord. The HOX clock is thus dynamically paced by exposure parameters to secreted cues. Its manipulation by extrinsic factors alleviates temporal requirements to provide unprecedented synchronized access to human cells of multiple, defined, rostro-caudal identities for basic and translational applications.
2021-03-02 | GSE153519 | GEO
Project description:Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) mediates developmental gene repression as two classes of holocomplexes, PRC2.1 and PRC2.2. EPOP is an accessory subunit specific to PRC2.1, which also contains PCL proteins. Unlike other accessory subunits that collectively facilitate PRC2 targeting, EPOP was implicated in an enigmatic inhibitory role, together with its interactor Elongin BC. We report an unusual molecular mechanism whereby EPOP regulates PRC2.1 by directly modulating its oligomerization state. EPOP disrupts the PRC2.1 dimer and weakens its chromatin association, likely by disabling the avidity effect conferred by the dimeric complex. Congruently, an EPOP mutant specifically defective in PRC2 binding enhances genome-wide enrichments of MTF2 and H3K27me3 in mouse epiblast-like cells (EpiLCs). Elongin BC is largely dispensable for the EPOP-mediated inhibition of PRC2.1. EPOP defines a distinct subclass of PRC2.1, which uniquely maintains an epigenetic program by preventing the over-repression of key gene regulators in the continuum of pluripotency and differentiation.
2025-12-12 | GSE264673 | GEO
Project description:Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) mediates developmental gene repression as two classes of holocomplexes, PRC2.1 and PRC2.2. EPOP is an accessory subunit specific to PRC2.1, which also contains PCL proteins. Unlike other accessory subunits that collectively facilitate PRC2 targeting, EPOP was implicated in an enigmatic inhibitory role, together with its interactor Elongin BC. We report an unusual molecular mechanism whereby EPOP regulates PRC2.1 by directly modulating its oligomerization state. EPOP disrupts the PRC2.1 dimer and weakens its chromatin association, likely by disabling the avidity effect conferred by the dimeric complex. Congruently, an EPOP mutant specifically defective in PRC2 binding enhances genome-wide enrichments of MTF2 and H3K27me3 in mouse epiblast-like cells (EpiLCs). Elongin BC is largely dispensable for the EPOP-mediated inhibition of PRC2.1. EPOP defines a distinct subclass of PRC2.1, which uniquely maintains an epigenetic program by preventing the over-repression of key gene regulators in the continuum of pluripotency and differentiation.
2025-12-12 | GSE264672 | GEO
Project description:The cellular plasticity of pluripotent stem cells is thought to be sustained by genomic regions that display both active and repressive chromatin properties. These regions exhibit low levels of gene expression, yet the mechanisms controlling these levels remain unknown. Here, we describe Elongin BC as a binding factor at the promoters of bivalent sites. Biochemical and genome-wide analysis shows that Elongin BC is associated with Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) in pluripotent stem cells. Elongin BC is recruited to chromatin by the PRC2-associated factor EPOP (Elongin- and POlycomb-associated Protein, also termed C17orf96, esPRC2p48, E130012A19Rik), a protein expressed in the inner cell mass of the mouse blastocyst. Both EPOP and Elongin BC are required to maintain low levels of expression at PRC2 genomic targets. Our results indicate that keeping the balance between activating and repressive cues is a more general feature of chromatin in pluripotent stem cells than previously appreciated.
2016-11-21 | GSE79606 | GEO
Project description:Gene regulatory networks are pivotal for many biological processes. In mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) the transcriptional network can be divided into three functionally distinct modules: Polycomb, Core and Myc. The Polycomb module represses developmental genes, while the Myc module is associated with proliferative functions and its mis-regulation is linked to cancer development. Here, we show that in mESCs the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) associated protein EPOP (a.k.a C17orf96, esPRC2p48, E130012A19Rik) co-localizes at chromatin with members of the Myc and Polycomb module. EPOP interacts with the transcription elongation factor Elongin BC and the H2B deubiquitinase USP7 to modulate transcriptional processes in mESCs similar to MYC. EPOP is commonly up-regulated in human cancer and we demonstrate that its loss impairs the proliferation of several human cancer cell lines. Our findings establish EPOP as a unique modulator of transcriptional processes, impacting both Polycomb and active gene transcription in mammalian cells.
2016-11-17 | GSE76536 | GEO