Project description:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1 (HIF-1) plays a key role in cellular adaptation to hypoxia. To better understand the determinants of HIF-1 binding and transactivation, we used ChIP-chip and gene expression profiling to define the relationship between the epigenetic landscape, sites of HIF-1 binding, and genes transactivated by hypoxia in two cell lines, HepG2 hepatoma cell line and U87 glioma cell line.
Project description:The RNA polymerase II (POLII) driven transcription cycle is tightly regulated at distinct checkpoints through cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs) and their cognate Cyclins. The molecular events underpinning transcriptional elongation and processivity and CDK-Cyclins involved remain poorly understood. Using CRISPR-CAS9 homology-directed-repair we generated analog-sensitive-kinase variants of CDK12 and CDK13 to probe their individual and shared biological and molecular roles. Single inhibition of CDK12 or CDK13 induced transcriptional responses associated with DNA-damage and cellular growth signaling pathways respectively, with minimal effects on cell viability. In contrast, dual-kinase inhibition potently induced cell death, which was associated with extensive genome-wide transcriptional changes including wide-spread use of alternative 3’ polyadenylation sites. At the molecular level dual-kinase inhibition resulted in the loss of POLII CTD phosphorylation and greatly reduced POLII elongation rates and processivity. These data define significant redundancy between CDK12 and CDK13, and identify both as fundamental regulators of global POLII processivity and transcription elongation.
Project description:Binding of Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) and chromatin composition of the inactive X (Xi) before, during and after X chromosome inactivation reveal that spreading is driven by a combination of Xi-specific strong and moderate Ezh2 sites. Sequence context of these sites shows a moderate enrichment of SINEs and simple repeats. The general pattern of Ezh2 and H3K27me3 distribution over the chromosome reflect a graded concentration originating from strong Ezh2 sites, around which moderate sites are clustered, suggesting a hierarchy of Ezh2 sites govern spreading. ChIP-seq of Ezh2 and H3K27me3 as well as the three active marks H3K4me3, H3K36me3 and RNA-POLII-serine5 phosphorylation (RNA-polII-S5P) in female cell lines: undifferentiated embryonic stem (ES) cells (d0), differentiating ES cells (d7) and a transformed embryonic fibroblast cell line (MEF).