Polycomb-mediated repression of gene expression is essential for development, with a pivotal role played by trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27me3), which is deposited by Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2). The mechanism by which PRC2 is recruited to target genes has remained largely elusive, particularly in vertebrates. Here we demonstrate that MTF2, one of the three vertebrate homologs of Drosophila melanogaster Polycomblike, is a DNA-binding, methylation-sensitive PRC2 recruiter in mouse embryonic stem cells. MTF2 directly binds to DNA and is essential for recruitment of PRC2 both in vitro and in vivo. Genome-wide recruitment of the PRC2 catalytic subunit EZH2 is abrogated in Mtf2 knockout cells, resulting in greatly reduced H3K27me3 deposition. MTF2 selectively binds regions with a high density of unmethylated CpGs in a context of reduced helix twist, which distinguishes target from non-target CpG islands. These results demonstrate instructive recruitment of PRC2 to genomic targets by MTF2.

Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) is crucial for the coordinated expression of genes during early embryonic development, catalyzing histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation. Two distinct PRC2 complexes, PRC2.1 and PRC2.2, contain respectively MTF2 and JARID2 in embryonic stem cells (ESCs). In this study, we explored their roles in lineage specification and commitment, using single-cell transcriptomics and mouse embryoid bodies derived from Mtf2 and Jarid2 null ESCs. We observe that the loss of Mtf2 results in enhanced and faster differentiation towards cell fates from all germ layers, while the Jarid2 null cells are predominantly directed towards early differentiating precursors, with reduced efficiency towards mesendodermal lineages. These effects are caused by derepression of developmental regulators that are poised for activation in pluripotent cells and gain H3K4me3 at their promoters in the absence of PRC2 repression. Upon lineage commitment, the differentiation trajectories are relatively similar to those of wild-type cells. Together, our results uncover a major role for MTF2-containing PRC2.1 in balancing poised lineage-specific gene activation, whereas the contribution of JARID2-containing PRC2 is more selective in nature compared to MTF2. These data explain how PRC2 imposes thresholds for lineage choice during the exit of pluripotency.

During vertebrate gastrulation, mesoderm is induced in pluripotent cells, concomitant with dorsal-ventral patterning and establishing of the dorsal axis. We applied single-cell chromatin accessibility and transcriptome analyses to explore the emergence of cellular heterogeneity during gastrulation in Xenopus tropicalis. Transcriptionally inactive lineage-restricted genes exhibit relatively open chromatin in animal caps, whereas chromatin accessibility in dorsal marginal zone cells more closely reflects transcriptional activity. We characterized single-cell trajectories and identified head and trunk organizer cell clusters in early gastrulae. By integrating chromatin accessibility and transcriptome data, we inferred the activity of transcription factors in single-cell clusters and tested the activity of organizer-expressed transcription factors in animal caps, alone or in combination. The expression profile induced by a combination of Foxb1 and Eomes most closely resembles that observed in the head organizer. Genes induced by Eomes, Otx2, or the Irx3-Otx2 combination are enriched for maternally regulated H3K4me3 modifications, whereas Lhx8induced genes are marked more frequently by zygotically controlled H3K4me3. Taken together, our results show that transcription factors cooperate in a combinatorial fashion in generally open chromatin to orchestrate zygotic gene expression.

Urinary proteins that leak through the abnormal glomerulus in nephrotic syndrome may affect tubular transport by interacting with membrane transporters on the luminal side of tubular epithelial cells. Patients with nephrotic syndrome can develop nephrocalcinosis, which animal models suggest may develop from impaired transcellular Ca 2+ reabsorption via TRPV5 in the distal convoluted tubule (DCT). In nephrotic-range proteinuria, filtered plasminogen reaches the luminal side of DCT, where it is cleaved into active plasmin by urokinase. In this study, we found that plasmin purified from the urine of patients with nephrotic-range proteinuria inhibits Ca 2+ uptake in TRPV5-expressing human embryonic kidney 293 cells through the activation of protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR-1). Preincubation with a plasmin inhibitor, a PAR-1 antagonist, or a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor abolished the effect of plasmin on TRPV5. In addition, ablation of the PKC phosphorylation site S144 rendered TRPV5 resistant to the action of plasmin. Patchclamp experiments showed that a decreased TRPV5 pore size and a reduced open probability accompany the plasmin-mediated reduction in Ca 2+ uptake. Furthermore, high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy demonstrated specific interactions between calmodulin and residues 133-154 of the N-terminus of TRPV5 for both wild-type and phosphorylated (S144pS) peptides. In summary, PAR-1 activation by plasmin induces PKC-mediated phosphorylation of TRPV5, thereby altering calmodulin-TRPV5 binding, resulting in decreased channel activity. These results indicate that urinary plasmin could contribute to the downstream effects of proteinuria on the tubulointerstitium by negatively modulating TRPV5. 23: 182423: -183423: , 201223: . doi: 10.1681 In the kidney, the fine regulation of Ca 2+ balance occurs through the activity of the epithelial Ca 2+ channel TRPV5. 1 TRPV5 is mostly expressed in the distal convoluted tubule (DCT) and connecting tubule of the nephron, where it constitutes the apical entry mechanism for transcellular Ca 2+ reabsorption. TRPV5 is a constitutively active ion channel that bears unique electrophysiologic characteristics, including calmodulin (CaM) and Ca 2+ -dependent inactivation and high selectivity for Ca 2+ . 2,3 The activity of TRPV5 is tightly controlled at multiple levels by an array of different factors, including parathyroid hormone and the serine protease tissue kallikrein. Both parathyroid hormone and tissue kallikrein initiate the phosphorylation of TRPV5 through the cAMP/protein kinase A (PKA) and phospholipase C (PLC)/ diacylglycerol (DAG)/protein kinase C (PKC) signaling cascades, respectively. 4,5 J Am Soc Nephrol

Normal rat kidney fibroblasts, grown to density arrest in the presence of epidermal growth factor (EGF), can be induced to undergo phenotypic transformation by treatment with transforming growth factor , or retinoic acid. Here we show that bradykinin blocks this growth-stimulus-induced loss of densitydependent growth arrest by a specific receptor-mediated mechanism. The effects of bradykinin are specific, and are not