Polycomb (PcG) and Trithorax (TrxG) group proteins act antagonistically to establish tissue-specific patterns of gene expression. The PcG protein Ezh2 facilitates repression by catalysing histone H3-Lys27 trimethylation (H3K27me3). For expression, H3K27me3 marks are removed and replaced by TrxG protein catalysed histone H3-Lys4 trimethylation (H3K4me3). Although H3K27 demethylases have been identified, the mechanism by which these enzymes are targeted to specific genomic regions to remove H3K27me3 marks has not been established. Here, we demonstrate a two-step mechanism for UTX-mediated demethylation at muscle-specific genes during myogenesis. Although the transactivator Six4 initially recruits UTX to the regulatory region of muscle genes, the resulting loss of H3K27me3 marks is limited to the region upstream of the transcriptional start site. Removal of the repressive H3K27me3 mark within the coding region then requires RNA Polymerase II (Pol II) elongation. Interestingly, blocking Pol II elongation on transcribed genes leads to increased H3K27me3 within the coding region, and formation of bivalent (H3K27me3/H3K4me3) chromatin domains. Thus, removal of repressive H3K27me3 marks by UTX occurs through targeted recruitment followed by spreading across the gene.
Differential genomic targeting of the transcription factor TAL1 in alternate haematopoietic lineagesExpression of the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor TAL1/SCL is required for erythrocyte differentiation; aberrant expression in lymphoid cells leads to oncogenic transformation. Here, global analysis of TAL1 binding in erythroid and malignant T cells identifies cell type specific functional interaction with the transcription factors RUNX and ETS1.
Alternate splicing contributes extensively to cellular complexity by generating protein isoforms with divergent functions. However, the role of alternate isoforms in development remains poorly understood. Mef2 transcription factors are essential transducers of cell signaling that modulate differentiation of many cell types. Among Mef2 family members, Mef2D is unique, as it undergoes tissue-specific splicing to generate a muscle-specific isoform. Since the ubiquitously expressed (Mef2Da1) and muscle-specific (Mef2Da2) isoforms of Mef2D are both expressed in muscle, we examined the relative contribution of each Mef2D isoform to differentiation. Using both in vitro and in vivo models, we demonstrate that Mef2D isoforms act antagonistically to modulate differentiation. While chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) sequencing analysis shows that the Mef2D isoforms bind an overlapping set of genes, only Mef2Da2 activates late muscle transcription. Mechanistically, the differential ability of Mef2D isoforms to activate transcription depends on their susceptibility to phosphorylation by protein kinase A (PKA). Phosphorylation of Mef2Da1 by PKA provokes its association with corepressors. Conversely, exon switching allows Mef2Da2 to escape this inhibitory phosphorylation, permitting recruitment of Ash2L for transactivation of muscle genes. Thus, our results reveal a novel mechanism in which a tissue-specific alternate splicing event has evolved that permits a ubiquitously expressed transcription factor to escape inhibitory signaling for temporal regulation of gene expression.
Background: A highly sensitive, fast, and simple flow cytometric assay to assess human red blood cell (RBCs) viability and aging is reported. Methods: The assay described in this report is based on the use of acetoxymethyl ester of calcein (calcein-AM), a fluorescein derivative and nonfluorescent vital dye that passively crosses the cell membrane of viable cells and is converted by cytosolic esterases into green fluorescent calcein, which is retained by cells with intact membranes and inactive multidrug resistance protein. The loss of calcein can be easily determined by flow cytometry, and the cytosolic localization of esterases was demonstrated by spectrofluorometric analyses. Results: We found that RBCs incubated with Ca 21 , which induces a rapid and modulated self-death that shares several features with apoptosis (Bratosin et al., Cell Death Differ
T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a heterogeneous group of hematological tumors composed of distinct subtypes that vary in their genetic abnormalities, gene expression signatures, and prognoses. However, it remains unclear whether T-ALL subtypes differ at the functional level, and, as such, T-ALL treatments are uniformly applied across subtypes, leading to variable responses between patients. Here we reveal the existence of a subtypespecific epigenetic vulnerability in T-ALL by which a particular subgroup of T-ALL characterized by expression of the oncogenic transcription factor TAL1 is uniquely sensitive to variations in the dosage and activity of the histone 3 Lys27 (H3K27) demethylase UTX/KDM6A. Specifically, we identify UTX as a coactivator of TAL1 and show that it acts as a major regulator of the TAL1 leukemic gene expression program. Furthermore, we demonstrate that UTX, previously described as a tumor suppressor in T-ALL, is in fact a pro-oncogenic cofactor essential for leukemia maintenance in TAL1-positive (but not TAL1-negative) T-ALL. Exploiting this subtype-specific epigenetic vulnerability, we propose a novel therapeutic approach based on UTX inhibition through in vivo administration of an H3K27 demethylase inhibitor that efficiently kills TAL1-positive primary human leukemia. These findings provide the first opportunity to develop personalized epigenetic therapy for T-ALL patients.
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