Characteristic bimodal profiles of RNA polymerase II at thousands of active mammalian promoters

Background: In mammals, ChIP-seq studies of RNA polymerase II (PolII) occupancy have been performed to reveal how recruitment, initiation and pausing of PolII may control transcription rates, but the focus is rarely on obtaining finely resolved profiles that can portray the progression of PolII through sequential promoter states. Results: Here, we analyze PolII binding profiles from high-coverage ChIP-seq on promoters of actively transcribed genes in mouse and humans. We show that the enrichment of PolII near transcription start sites exhibits a stereotypical bimodal structure, with one peak near active transcription start sites and a second peak 110 base pairs downstream from the first. Using an empirical model that reliably quantifies the spatial PolII signal, gene by gene, we show that the first PolII peak allows for refined positioning of transcription start sites, which is corroborated by mRNA sequencing. This bimodal signature is found both in mouse and humans. Analysis of the pausing-related factors NELF and DSIF suggests that the downstream peak reflects widespread pausing at the +1 nucleosome barrier. Several features of the bimodal pattern are correlated with sequence features such as CpG content and TATA boxes, as well as the histone mark H3K4me3. Conclusions: We thus show how high coverage DNA sequencing experiments can reveal as-yet unnoticed bimodal spatial features of PolII accumulation that are frequent at individual mammalian genes and reminiscent of transcription initiation and pausing. The initiation-pausing hypothesis is corroborated by evidence from run-on sequencing and immunoprecipitation in other cell types and species.

Computational identification and experimental characterization of preferred downstream positions in human core promoters

Philipp Bucher, René Dreos

Author summary Transcription of genes by the RNA polymerase II enzyme initiates at a genomic region termed the core promoter. The core promoter is a regulatory region that may contain diverse short DNA sequence motifs/elements that confer specific properties to it. Interestingly, core promoter motifs can be located both upstream and downstream of the transcription start site. Variable compositions of core promoter elements were identified. The initiator (Inr) motif and the downstream core promoter element (DPE) is a combination of elements that has been identified and extensively characterized in fruit flies. Although a few Inr+DPE -containing human promoters were identified, the presence of transcriptionally important downstream core promoter positions within human promoters has been a matter of controversy in the literature. Here, using a newly-designed motif discovery strategy, we discovered preferred downstream positions in human promoters that resemble fruit fly DPE. Clustering of the corresponding sequence motifs in eight additional species indicated that such promoters could be common to multicellular non-plant organisms. Importantly, functional characterization of the newly discovered preferred downstream positions supports the existence of Inr+DPE-containing promoters in human genes. Metazoan core promoters, which direct the initiation of transcription by RNA polymerase II (Pol II), may contain short sequence motifs termed core promoter elements/motifs (e.g. the TATA box, initiator (Inr) and downstream core promoter element (DPE)), which recruit Pol II via the general transcription machinery. The DPE was discovered and extensively characterized in Drosophila, where it is strictly dependent on both the presence of an Inr and the precise spacing from it. Since the Drosophila DPE is recognized by the human transcription machinery, it is most likely that some human promoters contain a downstream element that is similar, though not necessarily identical, to the Drosophila DPE. However, only a couple of human promoters were shown to contain a functional DPE, and attempts to computationally detect human DPE-containing promoters have mostly been unsuccessful. Using a newly-designed motif discovery strategy based on Expectation-Maximization probabilistic partitioning algorithms, we discovered preferred downstream positions (PDP) in human promoters that resemble the Drosophila DPE. Available chromatin accessibility footprints revealed that Drosophila and human Inr+DPE promoter classes are not only highly structured, but also similar to each other, particularly in the proximal downstream region. Clustering of the corresponding sequence motifs using a neighbor-joining algorithm strongly suggests that canonical Inr+DPE promoters could be common to metazoan species. Using reporter assays we demonstrate the contribution of the identified downstream positions to the function of multiple human promoters. Furthermore, we show that alteration of the spacing between the Inr and PDP by two nucleotides results in reduced promoter activity, suggesting a spacing dependency of the newly discovered human PDP on the Inr. Taken together, our strategy identified novel functional downstream positions within human core promoters, supporting the existence of DPE-like motifs in human promoters.

PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE2021

Genomic targets and molecular partners of the chromatin regulator KAP1

Annamaria Kauzlaric

KAP1 is an enigmatic regulatory protein, first described some twenty years ago, shown to be involved in multiple and diverse cellular functions. Specifically, it mediates tasks critical to cell growth and differentiation, pluripotency, apoptosis, gene silencing, DNA repair and genomic integrity maintenance. In line with these findings, Kap1 deletion results in embryonic lethality, and its conditional ablation impairs crucial processes such as erythropoiesis, hepatic metabolism homeostasis and stress response. Initially named also TIF1ðœ, transcriptional intermediary factor 1ðœ, KAP1 was thought to mediate mostly chromatin-related functions. Accordingly, global maps of genomic recruitment of KAP1, generated with the advent of high-throughput technologies, display binding of this protein to thousands of loci in a multiplicity of cell types. Coupling such maps with data of transcriptional perturbations detected upon Kap1 depletion, and with the protein complexes associated with KAP1, proved to be a highly efficient approach to elucidate the molecular functions of KAP1. In particular, such studies unveiled the mechanisms of KAP1-mediated repression of different classes of transposable elements (TEs), and led to important evolutionary considerations on the strategies evolved by higher organisms to restrict the activity of these entities. Through its multiple functional domains, KAP1 interacts with a broad range of proteins, and our first goal was to establish the complete set of such potential cofactors. We found marked enrichment of KAP1 in the chromatin fraction of the nucleus, and accordingly, among its associated proteins, a strong preponderance of nucleic-acid contacting proteins. We revealed that KAP1 is part of a variety of relatively low molecular weight complexes, co-existing at comparable abundances. Study of the molecular functions of the hits suggested that KAP1 could partake in processes thus far unexplored in this context, such as DNA replication and active transcription. We then pursued with the thorough characterization of genome-wide KAP1 binding sites, and found significant fractions of RNA polymerase II (PolII)-dependent promoters and RNA polymerase III (PolIII)-transcribed elements, for the majority enriched with euchromatic marks, to be targeted by KAP1. Using high-throughput techniques, we uncovered that KAP1 variably affected the PolII pausing index of defined sets of genes, and downregulated transcription of tRNA genes. Our analyses of KAP1 genomic recruitments further led us to the discovery of novel genetic entities in the mouse genome, highly related to KRAB zinc finger protein (KZFP) genes. We described possible mechanisms underlying the evolution and amplification of these sequences and more broadly of the KZFP genes family. Furthermore, our data supported the existence of a KAP1-dependent regulatory circuit taming TE-contained enhancers located in the vicinity of these genetic units, thereby regulating their expression. We explored the proposed models of KAP1 functions in euchromatic regions of the genome, and with our results we provided the most complete analysis of the interactome of KAP1 thus far reported. Moreover, we annotated new potentially protein-coding transcripts belonging to the biggest single family of transcription factors encoded in the murine and human genomes. In sum, this work brings novel pieces of information that complement the current knowledge in the field, opening the way to further molecular studies clarifying the physiological roles of KAP1 in higher vertebrates.

EPFL2017

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