Histone methyl transferases and demethylases; can they link metabolism and transcription?

Heritable changes to the transcriptome that are independent to changes in the genome are defined as epigenetics. DNA methylation and posttranslational modifications of histones, such as acetylation/deacetylation and methylation/demethylation of lysine residues, underlie these epigenetic phenomena, which impact on many physiological processes. This perspective focuses on the emerging biology of histone methylation and demethylation, highlighting how these reactions depend on metabolic coenzymes like S-adenosylmethionine, flavin adenine dinucleotide, and α-ketoglutarate. Furthermore, we illustrate that methyltranferases and demethylases affect many metabolic pathways. Despite the preliminary evidence that methyltranferases and demethylases could link metabolic signals to chromatin and alter transcription, further research is indispensable to consolidate these enticing observations.

Epigenetic remodelling of enhancers in response to estrogen deprivation and re-stimulation

Ludovica Vanzan

Estrogen hormones are implicated in a majority of breast cancers and estrogen receptor alpha (ER), the main nuclear factor mediating estrogen signaling, orchestrates a complex molecular circuitry that is not yet fully elucidated. Here, we investigated genome-wide DNA methylation, histone acetylation and transcription after estradiol (E2) deprivation and re-stimulation to better characterize the ability of ER to coordinate gene regulation. We found that E2 deprivation mostly resulted in DNA hypermethylation and histone deacetylation in enhancers. Transcriptome analysis revealed that E2 deprivation leads to a global down-regulation in gene expression, and more specifically of TET2 demethylase that may be involved in the DNA hypermethylation following short-term E2 deprivation. Further enrichment analysis of transcription factor (TF) binding and motif occurrence highlights the importance of ER connection mainly with two partner TF families, AP-1 and FOX. These interactions take place in the proximity of E2 deprivation-mediated differentially methylated and histone acetylated enhancers. Finally, while most deprivation-dependent epigenetic changes were reversed following E2 re-stimulation, DNA hypermethylation and H3K27 deacetylation at certain enhancers were partially retained. Overall, these results show that inactivation of ER mediates rapid and mostly reversible epigenetic changes at enhancers, and bring new insight into early events, which may ultimately lead to endocrine resistance.

OXFORD UNIV PRESS2021

A Tale of Two Tumors: Unraveling the Complexities of Epigenetic Dysregulation in Cancer

Maria Christine Donaldson

Epigenetics plays an important role in cancer development and progression. Cancer cells hijack the epigenome by modifying the histone protein units responsible for packaging DNA, or by modifying the DNA itself, resulting in changes to chromatin topology and transcriptional programming within the cell. In this thesis, I report our investigation to uncover the mechanisms of epigenetic regulation and how epigenetic control of transcriptional programming goes awry in cancer. We investigate these processes in two separate contexts. In our first study, we investigate the mechanisms by which EZH2 oncogenic mutations alter structure and function of topologically associating domains in non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The process of chromatin folding leads to a systematic arrangement of hierarchical structural and regulatory elements found within the nucleus. A topologically associating domain (TAD) is a regulatory unit of self interacting DNA, where the transcription of the genes within a TAD is usually dictated by the presence of active (H3K36me3) or inactive (H3K27me3) histone marks. In cancer, the somatic point mutation in EZH2Y646X leads to a genome wide increase in H3K27me3, associated with transcriptional repression. While this alteration leads to changes in the global epigenetic status of the cell, its impact on chromatin organization and TAD-related function remain unclear. By combining transcriptomics and epigenetics with analyses of chromatin structure, we demonstrate a functional interplay between TADs and the epigenetic and transcriptional program of the genes found within them. This balance is altered by EZH2Y646X, leading to the synergistic silencing of entire domains directly targeting cell differentiation and tumor suppressive programs. A closer look reveals that the silencing of tumor suppressive TADs are coupled with structural modifications and changes in promoter interactions within EZH2Y646X target TAD6.139. Impressively, the TADâs transcriptional and epigenetic programs are restored by pharmacological inhibition of EZH2Y646X. Our results indicate that EZH2Y646X alters the topology and function of chromatin domains to promote synergistic oncogenic programs. In our second study, we dissect the epigenetic, transcriptomic, and metabolic signaling dependencies using a novel model of central nervous system primitive neural ectodermal tumors (CNS-PNETs). Central nervous system (CNS) tumors are the leading cause of cancer-associated death in children. Primitive neural-ectodermal tumors (CNS-PNETs) are a particularly aggressive subtype of embryonal CNS-tumor, with a five-year overall survival rate in less than 50% of patients. Despite sharing a similar cell of origin of other CNS tumors, CNS-PNETs have a different anatomical location, unique genetic and epigenetic features, and significantly worse clinical outcome. In addition, a lack of in vivo models for studying CNS tumors challenges the opportunity to dissect the genetic variables that underlie the origin of these tumors. We developed a novel CNS-PNET mouse model, called CNS-NPCs, using neural progenitor cells derived from human-iPS cells. Through histological, DNA methylation, and RNA sequencing analyses, we find that the CNS-NPC model recapitulates the the morphologic, epigenetic, and transcriptomic features of primary CNS-PNETs. In addition, through in vivo metabolic analyses of CNS-NPCs and the patient derived cell line, PFSK-1, we identified dysregulation in the neurotransmitter...

EPFL2019

Protein phosphatase 1 regulates the histone code for long-term memory

Johannes Gräff

Chromatin remodeling through histone posttranslational modifications (PTMs) and DNA methylation has recently been implicated in cognitive functions, but the mechanisms involved in such epigenetic regulation remain poorly understood. Here, we show that protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) is a critical regulator of chromatin remodeling in the mammalian brain that controls histone PTMs and gene transcription associated with long-term memory. Our data show that PP1 is present at the chromatin in brain cells and interacts with enzymes of the epigenetic machinery including HDAC1 (histone deacetylase 1) and histone demethylase JMJD2A (jumonji domain-containing protein 2A). The selective inhibition of the nuclear pool of PP1 in forebrain neurons in transgenic mice is shown to induce several histone PTMs that include not only phosphorylation but also acetylation and methylation. These PTMs are residue-specific and occur at the promoter of genes important for memory formation like CREB (cAMP response element-binding protein) and NF-kappaB (nuclear factor-kappaB). These histone PTMs further co-occur with selective binding of RNA polymerase II and altered gene transcription, and are associated with improved long-term memory for objects and space. Together, these findings reveal a novel mechanism for the epigenetic control of gene transcription and long-term memory in the adult brain that depends on PP1.

Society for Neuroscience2009

A Tale of Two Tumors: Unraveling the Complexities of Epigenetic Dysregulation in Cancer

Maria Christine Donaldson

EPFL2019