Biology subjects

Cernilogar, F. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Cernilogar, F. M..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms alter neural cell fate specification in EPM1 Epilepsy

The extracellular milieu, including extracellular vesicles (EVs), plays a pivotal role in brain development by regulating neural processes such as proliferation, differentiation, and migration. In this study, we sought to elucidate the pathogenesis of progressive myoclonus epilepsy type 1 (EPM1), a disease caused by mutations in the CSTB gene, using cerebral organoids (COs) derived from EPM1 patient cells. The results demonstrate that EPM1 COs display increased electrophysiological activity and a disrupted excitatory/inhibitory balance. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis of ventral EPM1-Cos revealed an abnormal specification of progenitor fate, with a shift toward dorsal neuron identities at the expense of inhibitory interneurons. In addition, pathological alterations in EV biogenesis and cargo were identified, including aberrant Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) signaling, which may disrupt cortical patterning. These findings suggest that both intrinsic progenitor identity shifts and extrinsic EV-mediated signaling contribute to EPM1 pathology. Our study highlights potential therapeutic strategies mediated by EVs as a novel approach to mitigate disease progression.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

β1 integrin signaling governs necroptosis via the chromatin remodeling factor CHD4

Fibrosis, characterized by sustained activation of myofibroblasts and excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, is known to be associated with chronic inflammation. RIPK3, the central kinase of necroptosis signaling, is upregulated in fibrosis and contributes to the TNF-mediated inflammation. In bile duct ligation-induced liver fibrosis, we found that myofibroblasts are the major cell type expressing RIPK3. Genetic ablation of {beta}1 integrins, the major profibrotic ECM receptors in fibroblasts, not only abolished ECM fibrillogenesis but also blunted RIPK3 expression via an epigenetic mechanism mediated by the chromatin remodeling factor CHD4. While the function of CHD4 has been conventionally linked to NuRD and ChAHP complexes, we found that CHD4 potently repressed a set of genes, including Ripk3, with high locus specificity but independent of either the NuRD or ChAHP complex. Thus, our data uncover that {beta}1 integrin intrinsically links fibrotic signaling to RIPK3-driven inflammation via a novel mode of action of CHD4.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2021

BRG1 defines a genomic subset of inflammatory genes transcriptionally controlled by the glucocorticoid receptor

Glucocorticoids (such as Dexamethasone) are commonly used immunomodulatory drugs with potent anti-inflammatory effects, whose mechanisms of action remain incompletely understood. They bind to the Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR), a nuclear hormone receptor that acts as a transcription factor to directly control the expression of inflammatory genes. To elucidate the complex molecular mechanisms employed by GR during the suppression of innate immune responses, we have performed proteomics, ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, RNA-seq and bioinformatics together with genetic and pharmacological loss of function studies in primary mouse macrophages. We found that GR interacts with the ATP-dependent SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex to regulate a specific subset of target genes. Here we show that the central catalytic subunit BRG1 is required not only for the transcriptional activation of classical GR target genes such as Fkbp5 or Klf9, but also for the transcriptional repression of cytokines and chemokines such as Ccl2, Cxcl10 or Il1a. We demonstrate that loss of BRG1 activity leads to reduced histone deacetylase (HDAC) function, and consequently increased histone acetylation, at these repressive GR binding sites. Altogether, our findings suggest that GR interacts with BRG1 to assemble a functional co-repressor complex at a defined fraction of macrophage cis-regulatory elements. These results may indicate additional non-classical, remodeling-independent functions of the SWI/SNF complex and may have implications for the development of future immunomodulatory therapies. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=50 SRC="FIGDIR/small/472398v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (18K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1d9d238org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1788bb1org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@11b3d4dorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@155b9fc_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG O_FLOATNOGraphical Abstract.C_FLOATNO In macrophages (m{Phi}) responding to bacterial LPS and Dexamethasone, the Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR) activates target genes like Klf9 or Fkbp5 via interaction with the BRG1-containing SWI/SNF complex, chromatin remodeling and Mediator recruitment. At the same time, GR represses the expression of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines such as Ccl2, Cxcl10, Il1a etc. by assembling a BRG1-containing co-repressor complex and de-acetylating surrounding histone tails. Loss of BRG1 activity affects both the transcriptional activation and repression of a subset of myeloid GR target genes via distinct mechanisms. (iTF: inflammatory transcription factor; Ac: histone acetylation) (Created with BioRender.com.) C_FIG

genomics↗

bioRxiv2020

Promoter G-quadruplexes and transcription factors cooperate to shape the cell type-specific transcriptome

Cell identity is maintained by activation of cell-specific gene programs, regulated by epigenetic marks, transcription factors and chromatin organization1-3. DNA G-quadruplex (G4)-folded regions in cells were reported to be associated with either increased or decreased transcriptional activity4,5. By G4 ChIP-seq/RNA-seq analysis on liposarcoma cells we confirmed that G4s in promoters are invariably associated with high transcription levels in open chromatin. Comparing G4 presence, location and transcript levels in liposarcoma cells to available data on keratinocytes, we showed that the same promoter sequences of the same genes in the two cell lines had different G4-folding state: high transcript levels consistently associated with high G4-folding. Transcription factors AP-1 and SP1, whose binding sites were the most significantly represented in G4-folded sequences, coimmunoprecipitated with their G4-folded promoters. Thus G4s and their associated transcription factors cooperate to determine cell-specific transcriptional programs, making G4s strongly emerge as new epigenetic regulators of the transcription machinery.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2019

Pre-marked chromatin and transcription factor co-binding shape the pioneering activity of Foxa2.

Pioneer transcription factors (PTF) can recognize their binding sites on nucleosomal DNA and trigger chromatin opening for recruitment of other non-pioneer transcription factors. However, critical properties of PTFs are still poorly understood, such as how these transcription factors selectively recognize cell type-specific binding sites and under which conditions can they can initiate chromatin remodelling. Here we show that early endoderm binding sites of the paradigm PTF Foxa2 are epigenetically primed by low levels of active chromatin modifications in embryonic stem cells (ESC). Priming of these binding sites is supported by preferential recruitment of Foxa2 to endoderm binding sites compared to lineage-inappropriate binding sites, when ectopically expressed in ESCs. We further show that binding of Foxa2 is required for chromatin opening during endoderm differentiation. However, increased chromatin accessibility was only detected on binding sites which are synergistically bound with other endoderm transcription factors. Thus, our data suggest that binding site selection of PTFs is directed by the chromatin environment and that chromatin opening requires collaboration of PTFs with additional transcription factors.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2019

Epstein-Barr virus inactivates the transcriptome and disrupts the chromatin architecture of its host cell in the first phase of lytic reactivation

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a herpes virus also termed HHV 4 and the first identified human tumor virus, establishes a stable long-term latent infection in human B cells, its preferred host. Upon induction of EBVs lytic phase the latently infected cells turn into a virus factory, a process, that is governed by EBV. In the lytic, productive phase all herpesviruses ensure the efficient induction of all lytic viral genes to produce progeny, but certain of these genes also repress the ensuing antiviral responses of the virally infected host cells, regulate their apoptotic death or control the cellular transcriptome. We now find that EBV causes previously unknown massive and global alterations in the chromatin of its host cell upon induction of the viral lytic phase and prior to the onset of viral DNA replication. The viral initiator protein of the lytic cycle, BZLF1, binds to >105 binding sites with different sequence motifs in cellular chromatin and in a concentration dependent manner. Concomitant with DNA binding, silent chromatin opens locally as shown by ATAC-seq experiments, while previously wide-open cellular chromatin becomes inaccessible on a global scale within hours. While viral transcripts increase drastically, the induction of the lytic phase results in a massive reduction of cellular transcripts and a loss of chromatin-chromatin interactions of cellular promoters with their distal regulatory elements as shown in Capture-C experiments. Our data document that EBVs lytic cycle induces discrete early processes that disrupt the architecture of host cellular chromatin and repress the cellular epigenome and transcriptome likely supporting the efficient de novo synthesis of this herpesvirus.

cell biology↗