We demonstrate quantitatively controlled delivery of DNA, mRNA, and protein into primary cells using nanostraw electroporation.

A fundamental question in biology is how genome-wide changes in gene expression are enacted in response to a finite stimulus. Recent studies have mapped changes in nucleosome localization, determined the binding preferences for individual transcription factors, and shown that the genome adopts a nonrandom structure in vivo. What remains unclear is how global changes in the proteins bound to DNA alter chromatin structure and gene expression. We have addressed this question in the mouse heart, a system in which global gene expression and massive phenotypic changes occur without cardiac cell division, making the mechanisms of chromatin remodeling centrally important. To determine factors controlling genomic plasticity, we used mass spectrometry to measure chromatin-associated proteins. We have characterized the abundance of 305 chromatin-associated proteins in normal cells and measured changes in 108 proteins that accompany the progression of heart disease. These studies were conducted on a high mass accuracy instrument and confirmed in multiple biological replicates, facilitating statistical analysis and allowing us to interrogate the data bioinformatically for modules of proteins involved in similar processes. Our studies reveal general principles for global shifts in chromatin accessibility: altered linker to core histone ratio; differing abundance of chromatin structural proteins; and reprogrammed histone posttranslational modifications. Using small interfering RNAmediated loss-of-function in isolated cells, we demonstrate that the non-histone chromatin structural protein HMGB2 (but not HMGB1) suppresses pathologic cell growth in vivo and controls a gene expression program responsible for hypertrophic cell growth. Our findings reveal the basis for alterations in chromatin structure necessary for genome-wide changes in gene expression. These studies have fundamental implications for understanding how global chromatin remodeling occurs with specificity and accuracy, demonstrating that isoformspecific alterations in chromatin structural proteins can impart these features. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 11: 10.1074/mcp.M111.014258, 1-12, 2012.Transcriptional regulation must be preceded by nonrandom structural reorganization of the genome, such that stimulusspecific transcriptional regulators are recruited to the correct genomic regions and excluded from the wrong ones. During mitosis, eukaryotic chromosomes adapt an ordered and stunningly reproducible three-dimensional structure. During interphase, however, and in cells that do not divide (such as adult cardiomyocytes and neurons), the structure of the genome is much less clear. Chromosome territories have been described (1) that are thought to facilitate co-localization of similarly regulated genes within the nucleus, and recent advances in chromosomal conformation capture techniques have provided exciting new insights into the global structure of the interphase genome suggesting that the structure resembles a fractal globule (2). However, changes in this structu...

All terminally differentiated organs face two challenges, maintaining their cellular identity and restricting organ size. The molecular mechanisms responsible for these decisions are of critical importance to organismal development, and perturbations in their normal balance can lead to disease. A hallmark of heart failure, a condition affecting millions of people worldwide, is hypertrophic growth of cardiomyocytes. The various forms of heart failure in human and animal models share conserved transcriptome remodeling events that lead to expression of genes normally silenced in the healthy adult heart. However, the chromatin remodeling events that maintain cell and organ size are incompletely understood; insights into these mechanisms could provide new targets for heart failure therapy. Using a quantitative proteomics approach to identify muscle-specific chromatin regulators in a mouse model of hypertrophy and heart failure, we identified upregulation of the histone methyltransferase Smyd1 during disease. Inducible loss-of-function studies in vivo demonstrate that Smyd1 is responsible for restricting growth in the adult heart, with its absence leading to cellular hypertrophy, organ remodeling, and fulminate heart failure. Molecular studies reveal Smyd1 to be a muscle-specific regulator of gene expression and indicate that Smyd1 modulates expression of gene isoforms whose expression is associated with cardiac pathology. Importantly, activation of Smyd1 can prevent pathological cell growth. These findings have basic implications for our understanding of cardiac pathologies and open new avenues to the treatment of cardiac hypertrophy and failure by modulating Smyd1.

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be derived from various types of somatic cells by transient overexpression of 4 Yamanaka factors (OCT4, SOX2, C-MYC, and KLF4). Patient-specific iPSC derivatives (e.g., neuronal, cardiac, hepatic, muscular, and endothelial cells [ECs]) hold great promise in drug discovery and regenerative medicine. In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether the cellular origin can affect the differentiation, in vivo behavior, and single-cell gene expression signatures of human iPSC–derived ECs. We derived human iPSCs from 3 types of somatic cells of the same individuals: fibroblasts (FB-iPSCs), ECs (EC-iPSCs), and cardiac progenitor cells (CPC-iPSCs). We then differentiated them into ECs by sequential administration of Activin, BMP4, bFGF, and VEGF. EC-iPSCs at early passage (10 < P < 20) showed higher EC differentiation propensity and gene expression of EC-specific markers (PECAM1 and NOS3) than FB-iPSCs and CPC-iPSCs. In vivo transplanted EC-iPSC–ECs were recovered with a higher percentage of CD31+ population and expressed higher EC-specific gene expression markers (PECAM1, KDR, and ICAM) as revealed by microfluidic single-cell quantitative PCR (qPCR). In vitro EC-iPSC–ECs maintained a higher CD31+ population than FB-iPSC–ECs and CPC-iPSC–ECs with long-term culturing and passaging. These results indicate that cellular origin may influence lineage differentiation propensity of human iPSCs; hence, the somatic memory carried by early passage iPSCs should be carefully considered before clinical translation.

Patient-specific pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) can be generated via nuclear reprogramming by transcription factors (i.e., induced pluripotent stem cells, iPSCs) or by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). However, abnormalities and preclinical application of differentiated cells generated by different reprogramming mechanisms have yet to be evaluated. Here we investigated the molecular and functional features, and drug response of cardiomyocytes (PSC-CMs) and endothelial cells (PSC-ECs) derived from genetically relevant sets of human iPSCs, SCNT-derived embryonic stem cells (nt-ESCs), as well as in vitro fertilization embryo-derived ESCs (IVF-ESCs). We found that differentiated cells derived from isogenic iPSCs and nt-ESCs showed comparable lineage gene expression, cellular heterogeneity, physiological properties, and metabolic functions. Genome-wide transcriptome and DNA methylome analysis indicated that iPSC derivatives (iPSC-CMs and iPSC-ECs) were more similar to isogenic nt-ESC counterparts than those derived from IVF-ESCs. Although iPSCs and nt-ESCs shared the same nuclear DNA and yet carried different sources of mitochondrial DNA, CMs derived from iPSC and nt-ESCs could both recapitulate doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity and exhibited insignificant differences on reactive oxygen species generation in response to stress condition. We conclude that molecular and functional characteristics of differentiated cells from human PSCs are primarily attributed to the genetic compositions rather than the reprogramming mechanisms (SCNT vs. iPSCs). Therefore, human iPSCs can replace nt-ESCs as alternatives for generating patient-specific differentiated cells for disease modeling and preclinical drug testing.

Human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) have become promising tools to repair injured hearts. To achieve optimal outcomes, advanced molecular imaging methods are essential to accurately track these transplanted cells in the heart. In this study, it is demonstrated for the first time that a class of photoacoustic nanoparticles (PANPs) incorporating semiconducting polymers (SPs) as contrast agents can be used in the photoacoustic imaging (PAI) of transplanted hESC-CMs in living mouse hearts. This is achieved by virtue of two benefits of PANPs. First, strong photoacoustic (PA) signals and specific spectral features of SPs allow PAI to sensitively detect and distinguish a small number of PANP-labeled cells (2000) from background tissues. Second, the PANPs show a high efficiency for hESC-CM labeling without adverse effects on cell structure, function, and gene expression. Assisted by ultrasound imaging, the delivery and engraftment of hESC-CMs in living mouse hearts can be assessed by PANP-based PAI with high spatial resolution (≈100 µm). In summary, this study explores and validates a novel application of SPs as a PA contrast agent to track labeled cells with high sensitivity and accuracy in vivo, highlighting the advantages of integrating PAI and PANPs to advance cardiac regenerative therapies.

As host to the genome, the nucleus plays a critical role as modulator of cellular phenotype. To understand the totality of proteins that regulate this organelle, we used proteomics to characterize the components of the cardiac nucleus. Following purification, cardiac nuclei were fractionated into biologically relevant fractions including acid-soluble proteins, chromatin-bound molecules and nucleoplasmic proteins. These distinct subproteomes were characterized by liquid chromatography-tandem MS. We report a cardiac nuclear proteome of 1048 proteins-only 146 of which are shared between the distinct subcompartments of this organelle. Analysis of genomic loci encoding these molecules gives insights into local hotspots for nuclear protein regulation. High mass accuracy and complementary analytical techniques allowed the discrimination of distinct protein isoforms, including 54 total histone variants, 17 of which were distinguished by unique peptide sequences and four of which have never been detected at the protein level. These studies are the first unbiased analysis of cardiac nuclear subcompartments and provide a foundation for exploration of this organelle's proteomes during disease. Molecular & Cellular

Rationale Only a small portion of the known heritability of cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure can be explained based on single gene mutations. Chromatin structure and regulation provide a substrate through which genetic differences in non-coding regions may impact cellular function and response to disease, but the mechanisms are unknown. Objective We conducted genome-wide measurements of DNA methylation in different strains of mice that are susceptible and resistant to isoproterenol-induced dysfunction to test the hypothesis that this epigenetic mark may play a causal role in the development of heart failure. Methods and Results BALB/cJ and BUB/BnJ mice, determined to be susceptible and resistant to isoproterenol-induced heart failure respectively, were administered the drug for 3 weeks via osmotic minipump. Reduced representational bisulfite sequencing was then used to compare the differences between the cardiac DNA methylome in the basal state between strains and then following isoproterenol treatment. Single base resolution DNA methylation measurements were obtained and revealed a bimodal distribution of methylation in the heart, enriched in lone intergenic CpGs and depleted from CpG islands around genes. Isoproterenol induced global decreases in methylation in both strains; however, the basal methylation pattern between strains shows striking differences that may be predictive of disease progression prior to environmental stress. The global correlation between promoter methylation and gene expression (as measured by microarray) was modest and revealed itself only with focused analyses of transcription start site and gene body regions (in contrast to when gene methylation was examined in toto). Modules of co-methylated genes displayed correlation with other protein-based epigenetic marks supporting the hypothesis that chromatin modifications act in a combinatorial manner to specify transcriptional phenotypes in the heart. Conclusions This study provides the first single base-resolution map of the mammalian cardiac DNA methylome and the first case-control analysis of the changes in DNA methylation with heart failure. The findings demonstrate marked genetic differences in DNA methylation that are associated with disease progression.