Biology subjects

Jimenez-Gancedo, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Jimenez-Gancedo, S..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

Rewiring of the epigenome and chromatin architecture by retinoic acid signaling during zebrafish embryonic development

BackgroundRetinoic acid (RA) functions as a ligand for the nuclear RA receptors (RARs), which regulate the expression of target genes by binding to RA response elements. RA signaling is required for multiple processes during chordate embryonic development, such as body axis extension, hindbrain antero-posterior patterning and forelimb bud initiation. Although some RA target genes have been identified, little is known about the genome-wide effects of RA signaling during in vivo embryonic development. ResultsHere we stimulate the RA pathway during development by treating zebrafish embryos with all-trans-RA (atRA), the most abundant form of RA, and use a combination of RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, ChIP-seq and HiChIP to gain insight into the molecular mechanisms by which RA signaling control target gene expression. We find that RA signaling is involved in anterior/posterior patterning and development of the central nervous system, participating in the transition from pluripotency to differentiation. atRA treatment also induces alterations in chromatin accessibility during early development and promotes chromatin binding of RARa and the RA targets Hoxb1b, Meis2b and Sox3, which cooperate in central nervous system development. Finally, we show that RA induces a rewiring of chromatin architecture, with alterations in chromatin 3D interactions that are consistent with target gene expression. This is illustrated by the specific induction of anterior HoxB genes by RARs, among other examples. ConclusionsAltogether, our findings identify genome-wide targets of RA signaling during embryonic development and provide a molecular mechanism by which developmental signaling pathways regulate the expression of target genes by altering chromatin topology.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Gain of gene regulatory network interconnectivity at the origin of vertebrates

Signaling pathways control a large number of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) during animal development, acting as major tools for body plan formation1. Remarkably, in contrast to the large number of transcription factors present in animal genomes, only a few of these pathways operate during development2. Moreover, most of them are largely conserved along metazoan evolution3. How evolution has generated a vast diversity of animal morphologies with such a limited number of tools is still largely unknown. Here we show that gain of interconnectivity between signaling pathways, and the GRNs they control, may have played a critical contribution to the origin of vertebrates. We perturbed the retinoic acid, Wnt, FGF and Nodal signaling pathways during gastrulation in amphioxus and zebrafish and comparatively examined its effects in gene expression and cis-regulatory elements (CREs). We found that multiple developmental genes gain response to these pathways through novel CREs in the vertebrate lineage. Moreover, in contrast to amphioxus, many of these CREs are highly interconnected and respond to multiple pathways in zebrafish. Furthermore, we found that vertebrate-specific cell types are more enriched in highly interconnected genes than those tissues with more ancestral origin. Thus, the increase of CREs in vertebrates integrating inputs from different signaling pathways probably contributed to gene expression complexity and the formation of new cell types and morphological novelties in this lineage.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2019

The epigenomic landscape regulating organogenesis in human embryos linked to developmental disorders

How the genome activates or silences transcriptional programmes governs organ formation. Little is known in human embryos undermining our ability to benchmark the fidelity of in vitro stem cell differentiation or cell programming, or interpret the pathogenicity of noncoding variation. Here, we studied histone modifications across thirteen tissues during human organogenesis. We integrated the data with transcription to build the first overview of how the human genome differentially regulates alternative organ fates including by repression. Promoters from nearly 20,000 genes partitioned into discrete states without showing bivalency. Key developmental gene sets were actively repressed outside of the appropriate organ. Candidate enhancers, functional in zebrafish, allowed imputation of tissue-specific and shared patterns of transcription factor binding. Overlaying more than 700 noncoding mutations from patients with developmental disorders allowed correlation to unanticipated target genes. Taken together, the data provide a new, comprehensive genomic framework for investigating normal and abnormal human development.

genomics↗