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1.
iScience ; 27(4): 109534, 2024 Apr 19.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38600976

ABSTRACT

To investigate the phosphorylation-based signaling and protein changes occurring early in epileptogenesis, the hippocampi of mice treated with pilocarpine were examined by quantitative mass spectrometry at 4 and 24 h post-status epilepticus at vast depth. Hundreds of posttranscriptional regulatory proteins were the major early targets of increased phosphorylation. At 24 h, many protein level changes were detected and the phosphoproteome continued to be perturbed. The major targets of decreased phosphorylation at 4 and 24 h were a subset of postsynaptic density scaffold proteins, ion channels, and neurotransmitter receptors. Many proteins targeted by dephosphorylation at 4 h also had decreased protein abundance at 24 h, indicating a phosphatase-mediated weakening of synapses. Increased translation was indicated by protein changes at 24 h. These observations, and many additional indicators within this multiomic resource, suggest that early epileptogenesis is characterized by signaling that stimulates both growth and a homeostatic response that weakens excitability.

2.
Proteomics ; 24(7): e2300276, 2024 Apr.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38115172

ABSTRACT

Understanding the molecular changes associated with the aged brain forms the basis for developing potential strategies for slowing cognitive decline associated with normal aging. Focusing on the hippocampus, a critical brain region involved in learning and memory, we employed tandem mass tag methodology to investigate global proteomic changes that occur in advanced-aged (20-month) versus young (3-month) C57BL/6 male mice. Our analysis revealed the upregulation of 236 proteins in the old hippocampal proteome, including those enriched within several age-related processes, such as the adaptive immune response and molecular metabolic pathways, whereas downregulated proteins (88 in total) are mainly involved in axonogenesis and growth cone-related processes. Categorizing proteins by cell-type enrichment in the brain identified a general upregulation of proteins preferentially expressed in microglia, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. In contrast, proteins with neuron-specific expression displayed an overall age-related downregulation. By integrating our proteomic with our previously published transcriptomic data, we discovered a mild but significant positive correlation between mRNA and protein expression changes in the aged hippocampus. Therefore, this proteomic data is a valuable additional resource for further understanding age-related molecular mechanisms.


Subject(s)
Brain , Proteomics , Mice , Animals , Male , Proteomics/methods , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Brain/metabolism , Microglia , Hippocampus/metabolism , Proteome/metabolism
3.
Sci Rep ; 13(1): 22187, 2023 12 14.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38092829

ABSTRACT

Transient brain insults including status epilepticus (SE) can initiate a process termed 'epileptogenesis' that results in chronic temporal lobe epilepsy. As a consequence, the entire tri-synaptic circuit of the hippocampus is fundamentally impaired. A key role in epileptogenesis has been attributed to the CA1 region as the last relay station in the hippocampal circuit and as site of aberrant plasticity, e.g. mediated by acquired channelopathies. The transcriptional profiles of the distinct hippocampal neurons are highly dynamic during epileptogenesis. Here, we aimed to elucidate the early SE-elicited mRNA signature changes and the respective upstream regulatory cascades in CA1. RNA sequencing of CA1 was performed in the mouse pilocarpine-induced SE model at multiple time points ranging from 6 to 72 h after the initial insult. Bioinformatics was used to decipher altered gene expression, signalling cascades and their corresponding cell type profiles. Robust transcriptomic changes were detected at 6 h after SE and at subsequent time points during early epileptogenesis. Major differentially expressed mRNAs encoded primarily immediate early and excitability-related gene products, as well as genes encoding immune signalling factors. Binding sites for the transcription factors Nfkb1, Spi1, Irf8, and two Runx family members, were enriched within promoters of differentially expressed genes related to major inflammatory processes, whereas the transcriptional repressors Suz12, Nfe2l2 and Rest were associated with hyperexcitability and GABA / glutamate receptor activity. CA1 quickly responds to SE by inducing transcription of genes linked to inflammation and excitation stress. Transcription factors mediating this transcriptomic switch represent targets for new highly selected, cell type and time window-specific anti-epileptogenic strategies.


Subject(s)
Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe , Status Epilepticus , Mice , Animals , Hippocampus/metabolism , Status Epilepticus/chemically induced , Status Epilepticus/genetics , Status Epilepticus/metabolism , Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe/chemically induced , Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe/genetics , Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe/metabolism , Neurons/metabolism , Pilocarpine/toxicity , Transcription Factors/metabolism , Disease Models, Animal
4.
Nat Commun ; 14(1): 7277, 2023 11 10.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37949856

ABSTRACT

Neuronal communication relies on the release of neurotransmitters from various populations of synaptic vesicles. Despite displaying vastly different release probabilities and mobilities, the reserve and recycling pool of vesicles co-exist within a single cluster suggesting that small synaptic biomolecular condensates could regulate their nanoscale distribution. Here, we performed a large-scale activity-dependent phosphoproteome analysis of hippocampal neurons in vitro and identified Tau as a highly phosphorylated and disordered candidate protein. Single-molecule super-resolution microscopy revealed that Tau undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation to generate presynaptic nanoclusters whose density and number are regulated by activity. This activity-dependent diffusion process allows Tau to translocate into the presynapse where it forms biomolecular condensates, to selectively control the mobility of recycling vesicles. Tau, therefore, forms presynaptic nano-biomolecular condensates that regulate the nanoscale organization of synaptic vesicles in an activity-dependent manner.


Subject(s)
Biomolecular Condensates , Synaptic Vesicles , Synaptic Vesicles/metabolism , Presynaptic Terminals/metabolism , Synapses/physiology , Neurons/metabolism
5.
bioRxiv ; 2023 May 22.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37292777

ABSTRACT

Chronic infection with O. viverrini has been linked to the development of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), which is a major public health burden in the Lower Mekong River Basin countries, including Thailand, Lao PDR, Vietnam and Cambodia. Despite its importance, the exact mechanisms by which O. viverrini promotes CCA are largely unknown. In this study, we characterized different extracellular vesicle populations released by O. viverrini (OvEVs) using proteomic and transcriptomic analyses and investigated their potential role in host-parasite interactions. While 120k OvEVs promoted cell proliferation in H69 cells at different concentrations, 15k OvEVs did not produce any effect compared to controls. The proteomic analysis of both populations showed differences in their composition that could contribute to this differential effect. Furthermore, the miRNAs present in 120k EVs were analysed and their potential interactions with human host genes was explored by computational target prediction. Different pathways involved in inflammation, immune response and apoptosis were identified as potentially targeted by the miRNAs present in this population of EVs. This is the first study showing specific roles for different EV populations in the pathogenesis of a parasitic helminth, and more importantly, an important advance towards deciphering the mechanisms used in establishment of opisthorchiasis and liver fluke infection-associated malignancy.

6.
Glia ; 71(9): 2210-2233, 2023 09.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37226895

ABSTRACT

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) generate oligodendrocytes, a process that may be tuned by neuronal activity, possibly via synaptic connections to OPCs. However, a developmental role of synaptic signaling to OPCs has so far not been shown unequivocally. To address this question, we comparatively analyzed functional and molecular characteristics of highly proliferative and migratory OPCs in the embryonic brain. Embryonic OPCs in mice (E18.5) shared the expression of voltage-gated ion channels and their dendritic morphology with postnatal OPCs, but almost completely lacked functional synaptic currents. Transcriptomic profiling of PDGFRα+ OPCs revealed a limited abundance of genes coding for postsynaptic signaling and synaptogenic cell adhesion molecules in the embryonic versus the postnatal period. RNA sequencing of single OPCs showed that embryonic synapse-lacking OPCs are found in clusters distinct from postnatal OPCs and with similarities to early progenitors. Furthermore, single-cell transcriptomics demonstrated that synaptic genes are transiently expressed only by postnatal OPCs until they start to differentiate. Taken together, our results indicate that embryonic OPCs represent a unique developmental stage biologically resembling postnatal OPCs but without synaptic input and a transcriptional signature in the continuum between OPCs and neural precursors.


Subject(s)
Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells , Mice , Animals , Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells/metabolism , Mice, Transgenic , Oligodendroglia/metabolism , Neurons/physiology , Neurogenesis/physiology , Cell Differentiation/physiology
7.
Cell Rep ; 39(3): 110696, 2022 04 19.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35443170

ABSTRACT

Stable function of networks requires that synapses adapt their strength to levels of neuronal activity, and failure to do so results in cognitive disorders. How such homeostatic regulation may be implemented in mammalian synapses remains poorly understood. Here we show that the phosphorylation status of several positions of the active-zone (AZ) protein RIM1 are relevant for synaptic glutamate release. Position RIMS1045 is necessary and sufficient for expression of silencing-induced homeostatic plasticity and is kept phosphorylated by serine arginine protein kinase 2 (SRPK2). SRPK2-induced upscaling of synaptic release leads to additional RIM1 nanoclusters and docked vesicles at the AZ and is not observed in the absence of RIM1 and occluded by RIMS1045E. Our data suggest that SRPK2 and RIM1 represent a presynaptic phosphosignaling hub that is involved in the homeostatic balance of synaptic coupling of neuronal networks.


Subject(s)
Synaptic Transmission , Synaptic Vesicles , Animals , GTP-Binding Proteins/metabolism , Homeostasis/physiology , Mammals/metabolism , Neuronal Plasticity/physiology , Presynaptic Terminals/metabolism , Synapses/metabolism , Synaptic Transmission/physiology , Synaptic Vesicles/metabolism
8.
Transl Res ; 232: 88-102, 2021 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33676036

ABSTRACT

The symbiotic relationships shared between humans and their gastrointestinal parasites present opportunities to discover novel therapies for inflammatory diseases. A prime example of this phenomenon is the interaction of humans and roundworms such as the hookworm, Necator americanus. Epidemiological observations, animal studies and clinical trials using experimental human hookworm infection show that hookworms can suppress inflammation in a safe and well-tolerated way, and that the key to their immunomodulatory properties lies within their secreted proteome. Herein we describe the identification of 2 netrin domain-containing proteins from the N. americanus secretome, and explore their potential in treating intestinal inflammation in mouse models of ulcerative colitis. One of these proteins, subsequently named Na-AIP-1, was effective at suppressing disease when administered prophylactically in the acute TNBS-induced model of colitis. This protective effect was validated in the more robust CD4 T cell transfer model of chronic colitis, where prophylactic Na-AIP-1 reduced T-cell-dependent type-1 cytokine responses in the intestine and the associated intestinal pathology. Mechanistic studies revealed that depletion of CD11c+ cells abrogated the protective anticolitic effect of Na-AIP-1. Next generation sequencing of colon tissue in the T-cell transfer model of colitis revealed that Na-AIP-1 induced a transcriptomic profile associated with the downregulation of metabolic and signaling pathways involved in type-1 inflammation, notably TNF. Finally, co-culture of Na-AIP-1 with a human monocyte-derived M1 macrophage cell line resulted in significantly reduced secretion of TNF. Na-AIP-1 is now a candidate for clinical development as a novel therapeutic for the treatment of human inflammatory bowel diseases.


Subject(s)
Anti-Inflammatory Agents/administration & dosage , CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology , Colitis, Ulcerative/prevention & control , Helminth Proteins/administration & dosage , Necator americanus/chemistry , Netrins/administration & dosage , Animals , CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/transplantation , Colitis, Ulcerative/drug therapy , Colitis, Ulcerative/immunology , Disease Models, Animal , Female , Helminth Proteins/chemistry , Helminth Proteins/genetics , Hookworm Infections/metabolism , Humans , Male , Matrix Metalloproteinase Inhibitors/chemistry , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mice, Knockout , Netrins/analysis , Recombinant Proteins/administration & dosage
9.
Int J Parasitol ; 50(9): 685-696, 2020 08.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32598872

ABSTRACT

The ability of the parasitic blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni and other parasitic helminths to manipulate host biology is well recognised, but the mechanisms that underpin these phenomena are not well understood. An emerging paradigm is that helminths transfer their biological cargo to host cells by secretion of extracellular vesicles (EVs). Herein, we show that two populations of S. mansoni secreted EVs - exosome-like vesicles (ELVs) and microvesicles (MVs) - are actively internalised in two distinct human cell lines that reflect the resident cell types encountered by the parasite in vivo: human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and THP-1 monocytes. RNA-sequencing of HUVECs co-cultured with S. mansoni ELVs compared with untreated HUVECs revealed differential expression of genes associated with intravascular parasitism, including vascular endothelial contraction, coagulation, arachidonic acid metabolism and immune cell trafficking and signalling. Finally, we show that antibodies raised against recombinant tetraspanin (TSP) proteins from the surface of S. mansoni EVs significantly blocked EV uptake by both HUVECs and THP-1 monocytes whereas pre-immunisation antibodies did not. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence demonstrating the internalisation of secreted EVs from any helminth into vascular endothelial cells, providing novel insight into the potential mechanisms underlying host-schistosome interactions. The ability of anti-TSP antibodies to block vesicle uptake by host target cells further supports the potential of TSPs as promising antigens for an anti-fluke vaccine. It also suggests a potential mechanism whereby the current candidate human schistosomiasis vaccine, Sm-TSP-2, exerts its protective effect in animal models.


Subject(s)
Extracellular Vesicles/immunology , Gene Expression/immunology , Helminth Proteins/immunology , Proteome/immunology , Schistosoma mansoni , Schistosomiasis mansoni/immunology , Animals , Host-Parasite Interactions/immunology , Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells , Humans , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Schistosoma mansoni/immunology , Schistosoma mansoni/metabolism , THP-1 Cells
10.
Front Immunol ; 11: 402, 2020.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32265908

ABSTRACT

Reliable extraction and sensitive detection of RNA from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) is critical for a broad spectrum of immunology research and clinical diagnostics. RNA analysis platforms are dependent upon high-quality and high-quantity RNA; however, sensitive detection of specific responses associated with high-quality RNA extractions from human samples with limited PBMCs can be challenging. Furthermore, the comparative sensitivity between RNA quantification and best-practice protein quantification is poorly defined. Therefore, we provide herein a critical evaluation of the wide variety of current generation of RNA-based kits for PBMCs, representative of several strategies designed to maximize sensitivity. We assess these kits with a reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) assay optimized for both analytically and diagnostically sensitive cell-based RNA-based applications. Specifically, three RNA extraction kits, one post-extraction RNA purification/concentration kit, four SYBR master-mix kits, and four reverse transcription kits were tested. RNA extraction and RT-qPCR reaction efficiency were evaluated with commonly used reference and cytokine genes. Significant variation in RNA expression of reference genes was apparent, and absolute quantification based on cell number was established as an effective RT-qPCR normalization strategy. We defined an optimized RNA extraction and RT-qPCR protocol with an analytical sensitivity capable of single cell RNA detection. The diagnostic sensitivity of this assay was sufficient to show a CD8+ T cell peptide epitope hierarchy with as few as 1 × 104 cells. Finally, we compared our optimized RNA extraction and RT-qPCR protocol with current best-practice immune assays and demonstrated that our assay is a sensitive alternative to protein-based assays for peptide-specific responses, especially with limited PBMCs number. This protocol with high analytical and diagnostic sensitivity has broad applicability for both primary research and clinical practice.


Subject(s)
Leukocytes, Mononuclear/chemistry , RNA/isolation & purification , Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , Amino Acid Sequence , Antigens, Viral/immunology , Epitopes/immunology , Histocompatibility Testing , Humans , Immunoassay , Lymphocyte Activation , Microspheres , Peptide Fragments/immunology , RNA/genetics , Reagent Kits, Diagnostic , Sensitivity and Specificity , Single-Cell Analysis
11.
Sci Adv ; 6(10): eaaz1767, 2020 03.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32181361

ABSTRACT

Tuberculosis (TB) is the deadliest infectious disease worldwide. Bacille-Calmette-Guérin (BCG), the only licensed TB vaccine, affords variable protection against TB but remains the gold standard. BCG improvement is focused around three strategies: recombinant BCG strains, heterologous routes of administration, and booster vaccination. It is currently unknown whether combining these strategies is beneficial. The preclinical evaluation for new TB vaccines is heavily skewed toward immunogenicity and efficacy; however, safety and efficacy are the dominant considerations in human use. To facilitate stage gating of TB vaccines, we developed a simple empirical model to systematically rank vaccination strategies by integrating multiple measurements of safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy. We assessed 24 vaccination regimens, composed of three BCG strains and eight combinations of delivery. The model presented here highlights that mucosal booster vaccination may cause adverse outcomes and provides a much needed strategy to evaluate and rank data obtained from TB vaccine studies using different routes, strains, or animal models.


Subject(s)
BCG Vaccine/administration & dosage , Immunization, Secondary/methods , Immunogenicity, Vaccine , Mycobacterium tuberculosis/drug effects , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/prevention & control , Vaccination/methods , Animals , Female , Humans , Immunization Schedule , Injections, Spinal , Injections, Subcutaneous , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mycobacterium tuberculosis/immunology , Mycobacterium tuberculosis/pathogenicity , Patient Safety , Research Design , Treatment Outcome , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/immunology , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/microbiology , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/pathology , Vaccines, Synthetic
12.
Mol Cell Biol ; 40(11)2020 05 14.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32179550

ABSTRACT

The extensive array of basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors and their combinations as dimers underpin the diversity of molecular function required for cell type specification during embryogenesis. The bHLH factor TWIST1 plays pleiotropic roles during development. However, which combinations of TWIST1 dimers are involved and what impact each dimer imposes on the gene regulation network controlled by TWIST1 remain elusive. In this work, proteomic profiling of human TWIST1-expressing cell lines and transcriptome analysis of mouse cranial mesenchyme have revealed that TWIST1 homodimers and heterodimers with TCF3, TCF4, and TCF12 E-proteins are the predominant dimer combinations. Disease-causing mutations in TWIST1 can impact dimer formation or shift the balance of different types of TWIST1 dimers in the cell, which may underpin the defective differentiation of the craniofacial mesenchyme. Functional analyses of the loss and gain of TWIST1-E-protein dimer activity have revealed previously unappreciated roles in guiding lineage differentiation of embryonic stem cells: TWIST1-E-protein heterodimers activate the differentiation of mesoderm and neural crest cells, which is accompanied by the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. At the same time, TWIST1 homodimers maintain the stem cells in a progenitor state and block entry to the endoderm lineage.


Subject(s)
Cell Differentiation , Nuclear Proteins/metabolism , Protein Multimerization , Twist-Related Protein 1/metabolism , Animals , Cell Line , Dogs , Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition , Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental , Humans , Madin Darby Canine Kidney Cells , Mesoderm/cytology , Mesoderm/metabolism , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mutation , Neural Crest/cytology , Neural Crest/metabolism , Nuclear Proteins/chemistry , Nuclear Proteins/genetics , Transcriptome , Twist-Related Protein 1/chemistry , Twist-Related Protein 1/genetics
13.
PeerJ ; 7: e8206, 2019.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31844586

ABSTRACT

Extensive evaluation of RNA-seq methods have demonstrated that no single algorithm consistently outperforms all others. Removal of unwanted variation (RUV) has also been proposed as a method for stabilizing differential expression (DE) results. Despite this, it remains a challenge to run multiple RNA-seq algorithms to identify significant differences common to multiple algorithms, whilst also integrating and assessing the impact of RUV into all algorithms. consensusDE was developed to automate the process of identifying significant DE by combining the results from multiple algorithms with minimal user input and with the option to automatically integrate RUV. consensusDE only requires a table describing the sample groups, a directory containing BAM files or preprocessed count tables and an optional transcript database for annotation. It supports merging of technical replicates, paired analyses and outputs a compendium of plots to guide the user in subsequent analyses. Herein, we assess the ability of RUV to improve DE stability when combined with multiple algorithms and between algorithms, through application to real and simulated data. We find that, although RUV increased fold change stability between algorithms, it demonstrated improved FDR in a setting of low replication for the intersect, the effect was algorithm specific and diminished with increased replication, reinforcing increased replication for recovery of true DE genes. We finish by offering some rules and considerations for the application of RUV in a consensus-based setting. consensusDE is freely available, implemented in R and available as a Bioconductor package, under the GPL-3 license, along with a comprehensive vignette describing functionality: http://bioconductor.org/packages/consensusDE/.

14.
PLoS Biol ; 17(3): e3000170, 2019 03.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30822303

ABSTRACT

Depolarization of presynaptic terminals stimulates calcium influx, which evokes neurotransmitter release and activates phosphorylation-based signalling. Here, we present the first global temporal profile of presynaptic activity-dependent phospho-signalling, which includes two KCl stimulation levels and analysis of the poststimulus period. We profiled 1,917 regulated phosphopeptides and bioinformatically identified six temporal patterns of co-regulated proteins. The presynaptic proteins with large changes in phospho-status were again prominently regulated in the analysis of 7,070 activity-dependent phosphopeptides from KCl-stimulated cultured hippocampal neurons. Active zone scaffold proteins showed a high level of activity-dependent phospho-regulation that far exceeded the response from postsynaptic density scaffold proteins. Accordingly, bassoon was identified as the major target of neuronal phospho-signalling. We developed a probabilistic computational method, KinSwing, which matched protein kinase substrate motifs to regulated phosphorylation sites to reveal underlying protein kinase activity. This approach allowed us to link protein kinases to profiles of co-regulated presynaptic protein networks. Ca2+- and calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IIα (CaMKIIα) responded rapidly, scaled with stimulus strength, and had long-lasting activity. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) was the main protein kinase predicted to control a distinct and significant pattern of poststimulus up-regulation of phosphorylation. This work provides a unique resource of activity-dependent phosphorylation sites of synaptosomes and neurons, the vast majority of which have not been investigated with regard to their functional impact. This resource will enable detailed characterization of the phospho-regulated mechanisms impacting the plasticity of neurotransmitter release.


Subject(s)
Presynaptic Terminals/metabolism , Synaptosomes/metabolism , Animals , Calcium/metabolism , Calmodulin/metabolism , Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5/metabolism , Male , Mass Spectrometry , Phosphoproteins/metabolism , Phosphorylation , Potassium Chloride/pharmacology , Presynaptic Terminals/physiology , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Signal Transduction/physiology , Synaptosomes/physiology
15.
Methods Mol Biol ; 1599: 229-244, 2017.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28477123

ABSTRACT

Ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) is a serine/threonine protein kinase, which when perturbed is associated with modified protein signaling that ultimately leads to a range of neurological and DNA repair defects. Recent advances in phospho-proteomics coupled with high-resolution mass-spectrometry provide new opportunities to dissect signaling pathways that ATM utilize under a number of conditions. This chapter begins by providing a brief overview of ATM function, its various regulatory roles and then leads into a workflow focused on the use of the statistical programming language R, together with code, for the identification of ATM-dependent substrates in the cytoplasm. This chapter cannot cover statistical properties in depth nor the range of possible methods in great detail, but instead aims to equip researchers with a set of tools to perform analysis between two conditions through examples with R functions.


Subject(s)
Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins/metabolism , Phosphoproteins/metabolism , Proteomics/methods , Computational Biology , Humans , Phosphorylation , Signal Transduction/genetics , Signal Transduction/physiology
16.
Genomics ; 109(2): 75-82, 2017 03.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28189763

ABSTRACT

DNA adenine methyltransferase identification (DamID) is an enzymatic technology for detecting DNA regions targeted by chromatin-associated proteins. Proteins are fused to bacterial DNA adenine methyltransferase (Dam) and expressed in cultured cells or whole organisms. Here, we used DamID to detect DNA regions bound by the cardiac-restricted transcription factors (TFs) NKX2-5 and SRF, and ubiquitously-expressed co-factors ELK1 and ELK4. We compared targets bound by these TFs as N- and C-terminal fusions with Dam, for both wild type (WT) NKX2-5 and mutant proteins mimicking those found in congenital heart disease. Overall, DamID is highly robust: while the orientation of WT Dam fusions can affect the size of the target sets, their signatures remained largely reproducible. Furthermore, a severe NKX2-5 mutant lacking the homeodomain showed strong steric effects negatively impacting target discovery. The extent of steric effect is likely to be dependent on the protein in question and the orientation of Dam fusion.


Subject(s)
Chromatin/metabolism , Gene Expression Regulation , Genetic Techniques , Heart Defects, Congenital/metabolism , Site-Specific DNA-Methyltransferase (Adenine-Specific) , Animals , DNA/metabolism , Heart Defects, Congenital/genetics , Homeobox Protein Nkx-2.5/metabolism , Humans , Mice , Serum Response Factor/metabolism , ets-Domain Protein Elk-1/metabolism , ets-Domain Protein Elk-4/metabolism
17.
BMC Syst Biol ; 11(1): 29, 2017 02 24.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28235404

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: We contrast the pectoralis muscle transcriptomes of broilers selected from within a single genetic line expressing divergent feed efficiency (FE) in an effort to improve our understanding of the mechanistic basis of FE. RESULTS: Application of a virtual muscle model to gene expression data pointed to a coordinated reduction in slow twitch muscle isoforms of the contractile apparatus (MYH15, TPM3, MYOZ2, TNNI1, MYL2, MYOM3, CSRP3, TNNT2), consistent with diminishment in associated slow machinery (myoglobin and phospholamban) in the high FE animals. These data are in line with the repeated transition from red slow to white fast muscle fibres observed in agricultural species selected on mass and FE. Surprisingly, we found that the expression of 699 genes encoding the broiler mitoproteome is modestly-but significantly-biased towards the high FE group, suggesting a slightly elevated mitochondrial content. This is contrary to expectation based on the slow muscle isoform data and theoretical physiological capacity arguments. Reassuringly, the extreme 40 most DE genes can successfully cluster the 12 individuals into the appropriate FE treatment group. Functional groups contained in this DE gene list include metabolic proteins (including opposing patterns of CA3 and CA4), mitochondrial proteins (CKMT1A), oxidative status (SEPP1, HIG2A) and cholesterol homeostasis (APOA1, INSIG1). We applied a differential network method (Regulatory Impact Factors) whose aim is to use patterns of differential co-expression to detect regulatory molecules transcriptionally rewired between the groups. This analysis clearly points to alterations in progesterone signalling (via the receptor PGR) as the major driver. We show the progesterone receptor localises to the mitochondria in a quail muscle cell line. CONCLUSIONS: Progesterone is sometimes used in the cattle industry in exogenous hormone mixes that lead to a ~20% increase in FE. Because the progesterone receptor can localise to avian mitochondria, our data continue to point to muscle mitochondrial metabolism as an important component of the phenotypic expression of variation in broiler FE.


Subject(s)
Animal Feed , Models, Biological , Muscle, Skeletal/cytology , Muscle, Skeletal/metabolism , Progesterone/metabolism , Signal Transduction , Animals , Chickens , Gene Expression Regulation , Male , Mitochondria/metabolism , Phenotype , Proteomics , Receptors, Progesterone/metabolism
18.
Open Biol ; 6(9)2016 Sep.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27683156

ABSTRACT

The ability to accurately predict the DNA targets and interacting cofactors of transcriptional regulators from genome-wide data can significantly advance our understanding of gene regulatory networks. NKX2-5 is a homeodomain transcription factor that sits high in the cardiac gene regulatory network and is essential for normal heart development. We previously identified genomic targets for NKX2-5 in mouse HL-1 atrial cardiomyocytes using DNA-adenine methyltransferase identification (DamID). Here, we apply machine learning algorithms and propose a knowledge-based feature selection method for predicting NKX2-5 protein : protein interactions based on motif grammar in genome-wide DNA-binding data. We assessed model performance using leave-one-out cross-validation and a completely independent DamID experiment performed with replicates. In addition to identifying previously described NKX2-5-interacting proteins, including GATA, HAND and TBX family members, a number of novel interactors were identified, with direct protein : protein interactions between NKX2-5 and retinoid X receptor (RXR), paired-related homeobox (PRRX) and Ikaros zinc fingers (IKZF) validated using the yeast two-hybrid assay. We also found that the interaction of RXRα with NKX2-5 mutations found in congenital heart disease (Q187H, R189G and R190H) was altered. These findings highlight an intuitive approach to accessing protein-protein interaction information of transcription factors in DNA-binding experiments.

20.
Mol Cell Proteomics ; 15(3): 1032-47, 2016 Mar.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26699800

ABSTRACT

Ataxia-telangiectasia, mutated (ATM) protein plays a central role in phosphorylating a network of proteins in response to DNA damage. These proteins function in signaling pathways designed to maintain the stability of the genome and minimize the risk of disease by controlling cell cycle checkpoints, initiating DNA repair, and regulating gene expression. ATM kinase can be activated by a variety of stimuli, including oxidative stress. Here, we confirmed activation of cytoplasmic ATM by autophosphorylation at multiple sites. Then we employed a global quantitative phosphoproteomics approach to identify cytoplasmic proteins altered in their phosphorylation state in control and ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) cells in response to oxidative damage. We demonstrated that ATM was activated by oxidative damage in the cytoplasm as well as in the nucleus and identified a total of 9,833 phosphorylation sites, including 6,686 high-confidence sites mapping to 2,536 unique proteins. A total of 62 differentially phosphorylated peptides were identified; of these, 43 were phosphorylated in control but not in A-T cells, and 19 varied in their level of phosphorylation. Motif enrichment analysis of phosphopeptides revealed that consensus ATM serine glutamine sites were overrepresented. When considering phosphorylation events, only observed in control cells (not observed in A-T cells), with predicted ATM sites phosphoSerine/phosphoThreonine glutamine, we narrowed this list to 11 candidate ATM-dependent cytoplasmic proteins. Two of these 11 were previously described as ATM substrates (HMGA1 and UIMCI/RAP80), another five were identified in a whole cell extract phosphoproteomic screens, and the remaining four proteins had not been identified previously in DNA damage response screens. We validated the phosphorylation of three of these proteins (oxidative stress responsive 1 (OSR1), HDGF, and ccdc82) as ATM dependent after H2O2 exposure, and another protein (S100A11) demonstrated ATM-dependence for translocation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. These data provide new insights into the activation of ATM by oxidative stress through identification of novel substrates for ATM in the cytoplasm.


Subject(s)
Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins/metabolism , Ataxia Telangiectasia/metabolism , Cytoplasm/metabolism , Proteomics/methods , Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism , Cell Nucleus/metabolism , Cells, Cultured , Gene Expression Regulation , Glutamine/metabolism , Humans , Hydrogen Peroxide/pharmacology , Oxidative Stress , Phosphorylation , Proteome/metabolism
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