While the Polycomb complex is known to regulate cell identity in ES cells, its role in controlling tissue-specific stem cells is not well understood. Here we show that removal of Ezh1 and Ezh2, key Polycomb subunits, from mouse skin results in a marked change in fate determination in epidermal progenitor cells, leading to an increase in the number of lineage-committed Merkel cells, a specialized subtype of skin cells involved in mechanotransduction. By dissecting the genetic mechanism, we showed that the Polycomb complex restricts differentiation of epidermal progenitor cells by repressing the transcription factor Sox2. Ablation of Sox2 results in a dramatic loss of Merkel cells, indicating that Sox2 is a critical regulator of Merkel cell specification. We show that Sox2 directly activates Atoh1, the obligate regulator of Merkel cell differentiation. Concordantly, ablation of Sox2 attenuated the Ezh1/2-null phenotype, confirming the importance of Polycomb-mediated repression of Sox2 in maintaining the epidermal progenitor cell state. Together, these findings define a novel regulatory network by which the Polycomb complex maintains the progenitor cell state and governs differentiation in vivo.

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Left ventricular mass (LVM) is a highly heritable trait1 and an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality2. To date, genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have not identified the genetic factors underlying LVM variation3 and the regulatory mechanisms for blood pressure (BP)-independent cardiac hypertrophy remain poorly understood4,5. Unbiased systems-genetics approaches in the rat6,7 now provide a powerful complementary tool to GWAS and we applied integrative genomics to dissect a highly replicated, BP-independent LVM locus on rat chromosome 3p. We identified endonuclease G (Endog), previously implicated in apoptosis8 but not hypertrophy, as the gene at the locus and demonstrated loss-of-function mutation in Endog associated with increased LVM and impaired cardiac function. Inhibition of Endog in cultured cardiomyocytes resulted in an increase in cell size and hypertrophic biomarkers in the absence of pro-hypertrophic stimulation. Genome-wide network analysis unexpectedly inferred ENDOG in fundamental mitochondrial processes unrelated to apoptosis. We showed direct regulation of ENDOG by ERRα and PGC1α, master regulators of mitochondrial and cardiac function9,10,11, interaction of ENDOG with the mitochondrial genome and ENDOG-mediated regulation of mitochondrial mass. At baseline, Endog deleted mouse heart had depleted mitochondria, mitochondrial dysfunction and elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS), which was associated with enlarged and steatotic cardiomyocytes. Our studies establish further the link between mitochondrial dysfunction, ROS and heart disease and demonstrate a new role for Endog in maladaptive cardiac hypertrophy.

We present a coupled 3-D atmospheric dynamics and radiative transfer model to predict the disk-integrated thermal emission spectra of transiting exoplanets in edge-on orbits. We calculate spectra at high resolution to examine the extent to which high-resolution emission spectra are influenced by 3-D atmospheric dynamics and planetary rotation, and to determine whether and how we can constrain thermal structures and atmospheric dynamics through highresolution spectroscopy. This study represents the first time that the line-of-sight geometry and resulting Doppler shifts from winds and rotation have been treated self-consistently in an emission spectrum radiative transfer model, which allow us to assess the impact of the velocity field on thermal emission spectra. We apply our model to predict emission spectra as a function of orbital phase for three hot Jupiters, HD 209458b, WASP-43b and HD 189733b. We find net Doppler shifts in modeled spectra due to a combination of winds and rotation at a level of 1-3 km/s. These Doppler signatures vary in a quasi-sinusoidal pattern over the course of the planets' orbits as the hot spots approach and recede from the observer's viewpoint. We predict that WASP-43b produces the largest Doppler shift due to its fast rotation rate. We find that the net Doppler shift in an exoplanet's disk-integrated thermal emission spectrum results from a complex combination of winds, rotation, and thermal structure. However, we offer a simple method that estimates the magnitude of equatorial wind speeds in hot Jupiters through measurements of net Doppler shifts and lower resolution thermal phase curves.

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Differentiated cardiomyocytes are resistant to caspase-dependent cell death; however, the mechanisms involved are still uncertain. We previously reported that low Apaf1 expression partially accounts for cardiomyocyte resistance to apoptosis. Here, we extend the knowledge on the molecular basis of cardiac resistance to caspase activation by showing that the whole caspase-dependent pathway is silenced during heart development. Experimental ischemia triggers caspase activation in embryonic cardiomyocytes and proliferating fibroblasts, but not in neonatal and adult cardiomyocytes. Ischemia induces the release of the proapoptotic factors cytochrome c, truncated-AIF, and EndoG from mitochondria in postnatal cardiomyocytes in the absence of caspase activation. On the one hand, lentiviral-driven knockdown of EndoG shows that this gene is essential for ischemia-induced DNA degradation in neonatal cardiomyocytes, but not in proliferating fibroblasts; on the other hand, the AIF gene is essential for high molecular DNA cleavage in fibroblasts, but not in postmitotic cardiomyocytes, where it plays a prosurvival role during reoxygenation. These results show the switch from caspase-dependent to caspase-independent death pathways after cardiac cell differentiation, and disclose the relevance of EndoG in the caspase-independent DNA processing of differentiated cardiomyocytes.

Background/Aims: Disrupted mitochondrial dynamics, including excessive mitochondrial fission and mitophagy arrest, has been identified as a pathogenic factor in diabetic nephropathy (DN), although the upstream regulatory signal for mitochondrial fission activation and mitophagy arrest in the setting of DN remains unknown. Methods: Wild-type (WT) mice and NR4A1 knockout (NR4A1-KO) mice were used to establish a DN model. Mitochondrial fission and mitophagy were evaluated by western blotting and immunofluorescence. Mitochondrial function was assessed by JC-1 staining, the mPTP opening assay, immunofluorescence and western blotting. Renal histopathology and morphometric analyses were conducted via H&E, Masson and PASM staining. Kidney function was evaluated via ELISA, western blotting and qPCR. Results: In the present study, we found that nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A member 1 (NR4A1) was actually activated by a chronic hyperglycemic stimulus. Higher NR4A1 expression was associated with glucose metabolism disorder, renal dysfunction, kidney hypertrophy, renal fibrosis, and glomerular apoptosis. At the molecular level, increased NR4A1 expression activated p53, and the latter selectively stimulated mitochondrial fission and inhibited mitophagy by modulating Mff and Parkin transcription. Excessive Mff-related mitochondrial fission caused mitochondrial oxidative stress, promoted mPTP opening, exacerbated proapoptotic protein leakage into the cytoplasm, and finally initiated mitochondria-dependent cellular apoptosis in the setting of diabetes. In addition, defective Parkin-mediated mitophagy repressed cellular ATP production and failed to correct the uncontrolled mitochondrial fission. However, NR4A1 knockdown interrupted the Mff-related mitochondrial fission and recused Parkin-mediated mitophagy, reducing the hyperglycemia-mediated mitochondrial damage and thus improving renal function. Conclusion: Overall, we have shown that NR4A1 functions as a novel malefactor in diabetic renal damage and operates by synchronously enhancing Mff-related mitochondrial fission and repressing Parkin-mediated mitophagy. Thus, finding strategies to regulate the balance of the NR4A1-p53 signaling pathway and mitochondrial homeostasis may be a therapeutic option for treating diabetic nephropathy in clinical practice.

Altered epidermal differentiation characterizes numerous skin diseases affecting >25% of the human population. Here we identified Fra-2/AP-1 as a key regulator of terminal epidermal differentiation. Epithelial-restricted, ectopic expression of Fra-2 induced expression of epidermal differentiation genes located within the epidermal differentiation complex (EDC). Moreover, in a papilloma-prone background, a reduced tumor burden was observed due to precocious keratinocyte differentiation by Fra-2 expression. Importantly, loss of Fra-2 in suprabasal keratinocytes is sufficient to cause skin barrier defects due to reduced expression of differentiation genes. Mechanistically, Fra-2 binds and transcriptionally regulates EDC gene promoters, which are co-occupied by the transcriptional repressor Ezh2. Fra-2 remains transcriptionally inactive in nondifferentiated keratinocytes, where it was found monomethylated and dimethylated on Lys104 and interacted with Ezh2. Upon keratinocyte differentiation, Fra-2 is C-terminally phosphorylated on Ser320 and Thr322 by ERK1/2, leading to transcriptional activation. Thus, the induction of epidermal differentiation by Fra-2 is controlled by a dual mechanism involving Ezh2-dependent methylation and activation by ERK1/2-dependent phosphorylation.