Project description:Cancer results from the accumulation of critical genetic mutations and the loss of genomic stability. Upon genotoxic insult, cells rapidly activate p53-dependent programs that pause the cell cycle and direct either DNA repair or apoptosis. The long-term transcriptional programs that direct either cell recovery or removal are less well understood. We used RNA interference to investigate the potential of upstream stimulatory factor (USF) 1 and 2 stress-response transcription factors to drive long-term DNA damage responses in the p53-deficient mouse B lymphocyte cell line, M12. Microarray analysis revealed that simultaneously depleting cells of both USF1 and USF2 altered the expression of 755 genes (>1.50-fold change, <0.05 FDR), relative to cells expressing a scrambled shRNA. Ionizing radiation induced widespread and distinct changes in gene expression in control and USF knockdown cells. Seven days after irradiation, 3225 and 2798 genes were differentially expressed in control and USF-depleted cells, respectively, roughly half of which were not shared between the two cell types. Microarray findings were confirmed for a panel of genes responsive to USF knockdown and/or irradiation by RT-qPCR. USF depletion led to the widespread differential expression of genes critical for immune development and function, while impairing the ability to mount a long-term transcriptional response to IR-induced DNA damage. These findings shed further light on transcriptional responses to ionizing radiation that manifest over several days, and provide the first evidence that USF1 and USF2 play overlapping roles in shaping this poorly understood aspect of the DNA damage response.
Project description:The upstream stimulating factors (USFs) USF1 and USF2 are ubiquitously expressed transcription factors characterized by a conserved basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper DNA-binding domain. They form homo- or heterodimers and recognize E-box motifs to modulate gene expression. They are known to regulate diverse cellular functions including the cell cycle, immune response and glucose-lipid metabolism, but their roles in neuronal cells remain to be clarified. Here, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation of USF1 from mouse brain cortex preparations. Subsequent promoter array analysis (ChIP-chip) indicated that USF1 exclusively bound to the CACGTG E-box motifs in the proximal promoter regions. Importantly, functional annotation of the USF1-binding targets revealed an enrichment of genes related to lysosomal functions. Gene expression arrays using a neuronal cell line subsequently revealed that knockdown of USFs deregulated lysosomal gene expression. Altered expression was validated by quantitative RT-PCR, supporting the conclusion that USFs regulate lysosomal gene expression. Furthermore, USFs knockdown slightly increased LysoTracker staining, implying a role for USFs in modulating lysosomal homeostasis. Together, our comprehensive, genome-scale analyses identified lysosomal genes as targets of USFs in neuronal cells, suggesting a potential additional pathway of lysosomal regulation. ChIP-chip analysis of USF1 and NF-Y in mouse brain cortex. To identify downstream targets of USF1 and NF-Y in neuronal cells, they were chromatin-immunoprecipitated from mouse brain cortical lysates. The obtained chromatin DNAs were labeled with biotin and hybridized on Affymetrix Mouse Promoter 1.0R Array.
Project description:To investigate the cooperative function USF factors for the regulation of T cell transcriptom, we established Jurkat mHIV-Luciferase cells in which USF1 or USF2 was knocked out by CRISPR-Cas9. We then performed gene expression profiling analysis using data obtained from RNA-seq of cell lines either left untreated or stimulated by PMA and Ionomycin co-treatment.
Project description:Introgressed variants from other species can be an important source of genetic variation because they may arise rapidly, can include multiple mutations on a single haplotype, and have often been pretested by selection in the species of origin. Although introgressed alleles are generally deleterious, several studies have reported introgression as the source of adaptive alleles-including the rodenticide-resistant variant of Vkorc1 that introgressed from Mus spretus into European populations of Mus musculus domesticus. Here, we conducted bidirectional genome scans to characterize introgressed regions into one wild population of M. spretus from Spain and three wild populations of M. m. domesticus from France, Germany, and Iran. Despite the fact that these species show considerable intrinsic postzygotic reproductive isolation, introgression was observed in all individuals, including in the M. musculus reference genome (GRCm38). Mus spretus individuals had a greater proportion of introgression compared with M. m. domesticus, and within M. m. domesticus, the proportion of introgression decreased with geographic distance from the area of sympatry. Introgression was observed on all autosomes for both species, but not on the X-chromosome in M. m. domesticus, consistent with known X-linked hybrid sterility and inviability genes that have been mapped to the M. spretus X-chromosome. Tract lengths were generally short with a few outliers of up to 2.7 Mb. Interestingly, the longest introgressed tracts were in olfactory receptor regions, and introgressed tracts were significantly enriched for olfactory receptor genes in both species, suggesting that introgression may be a source of functional novelty even between species with high barriers to gene flow.
Project description:The upstream stimulating factors (USFs) USF1 and USF2 are ubiquitously expressed transcription factors characterized by a conserved basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper DNA-binding domain. They form homo- or heterodimers and recognize E-box motifs to modulate gene expression. They are known to regulate diverse cellular functions including the cell cycle, immune response and glucose-lipid metabolism, but their roles in neuronal cells remain to be clarified. Here, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation of USF1 from mouse brain cortex preparations. Subsequent promoter array analysis (ChIP-chip) indicated that USF1 exclusively bound to the CACGTG E-box motifs in the proximal promoter regions. Importantly, functional annotation of the USF1-binding targets revealed an enrichment of genes related to lysosomal functions. Gene expression arrays using a neuronal cell line subsequently revealed that knockdown of USFs deregulated lysosomal gene expression. Altered expression was validated by quantitative RT-PCR, supporting the conclusion that USFs regulate lysosomal gene expression. Furthermore, USFs knockdown slightly increased LysoTracker staining, implying a role for USFs in modulating lysosomal homeostasis. Together, our comprehensive, genome-scale analyses identified lysosomal genes as targets of USFs in neuronal cells, suggesting a potential additional pathway of lysosomal regulation. ChIP-chip analysis of USF1 and NF-Y in mouse brain cortex.
Project description:Analysis of differentially expressed genes in wild type A4573 Ewing Sarcoma cells when compared to A4573 Ewing Sarcoma cells that received six 4 Gy fractions (cumulative dose of 24 Gy) of ionizing radiation (radiation-adapted cell line). The hypothesis tested being that repeated ionizing radiation exposure of modifies radiation therapy response in Ewing Sarcoma.
Project description:Analysis of differentially expressed genes in wild type SK-ES1 Ewing Sarcoma cells when compared to SK-ES1 Ewing Sarcoma cells that received six 4 Gy fractions (cumulative dose of 24 Gy) of ionizing radiation (radiation-adapted cell line). The hypothesis tested being that repeated ionizing radiation exposure of modifies radiation therapy response in Ewing Sarcoma.