During mitosis, transcription of genomic DNA is dramatically reduced, before it is reactivated during nuclear reformation in anaphase/telophase. Many aspects of the underlying principles that mediate transcriptional memory and reactivation in the daughter cells remain unclear. Here, we used ChIP-seq on synchronized cells at different stages after mitosis to generate genome-wide maps of histone modifications. Combined with EU-RNA-seq and Hi-C analyses, we found that during prometaphase, promoters, enhancers, and insulators retain H3K4me3 and H3K4me1, while losing H3K27ac. Enhancers globally retaining mitotic H3K4me1 or locally retaining mitotic H3K27ac are associated with cell type-specific genes and their transcription factors for rapid transcriptional activation. As cells exit mitosis, promoters regain H3K27ac, which correlates with transcriptional reactivation. Insulators also gain H3K27ac and CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) in anaphase/telophase. This increase of H3K27ac in anaphase/telophase is required for posttranscriptional activation and may play a role in the establishment of topologically associating domains (TADs). Together, our results suggest that the genome is reorganized in a sequential order, in which histone methylations occur first in prometaphase, histone acetylation, and CTCF in anaphase/telophase, transcription in cytokinesis, and long-range chromatin interactions in early G1. We thus provide insights into the histone modification landscape that allows faithful reestablishment of the transcriptional program and TADs during cell division.

Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs) have diverse functions during development in vertebrates. We have recently shown that BMP2 signaling promotes venous specific angiogenesis in zebrafish embryos. However, factors that confer a context dependent pro-angiogenic function of BMP2 signaling within endothelial cells need to be identified. Here, we report that Disabled homolog 2 (Dab2), a cargo specific adaptor protein for Clathrin, is essential to mediate the pro-angiogenic function of BMP2 signaling. We find that inhibition of Dab2 attenuates internalization of BMP receptors and abrogates the pro-angiogenic effects of BMP signaling in endothelial cells. Moreover, inhibition of Dab2 decreases phosphorylation of SMAD-1, 5, and 8, indicating that Dab2 plays an essential role in determining the outcome of BMP signaling within endothelial cells, and may provide a molecular basis for a context dependent pro-angiogenic function of BMP2 signaling.

Objective Apelin and its cognate receptor Aplnr/Apj are essential for diverse biological processes. However, the function of Apelin signaling in lymphatic development remains to be identified, despite the preferential expression of Apelin and Aplnr within developing blood (BECs) and lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) in vertebrates. In this report, we aim to delineate the functions of Apelin signaling during lymphatic development. Approaches and Results We investigated the functions of Apelin signaling during lymphatic development using zebrafish embryos, and found that attenuation of Apelin signaling substantially decreased the formation of the parachordal vessel (PaCV) and the number of LECs within the developing thoracic duct, indicating an essential role of Apelin signaling during the early phase of lymphatic development. Mechanistically, we found that abrogation of Apelin signaling selectively attenuates lymphatic endothelial AKT1/2 phosphorylation without affecting the phosphorylation status of ERK1/2. Moreover, lymphatic abnormalities caused by the reduction of Apelin signaling were significantly exacerbated by the concomitant partial inhibition of AKT signaling. Apelin and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-C (VEGF-C) signaling provide a non-redundant activation of AKT during lymphatic development, as over-expression of VEGF-C or apelin was unable to rescue the lymphatic defects caused by the lack of Apelin or VEGF-C, respectively. Conclusions Taken together, our data present compelling evidence suggesting that Apelin signaling regulates lymphatic development by promoting AKT activity in a VEGF-C/VEGFR3 independent manner during zebrafish embryogenesis.