Global reorganisation of cis-regulatory units upon lineage commitment of human embryonic stem cells
Abstract
Long-range cis-regulatory elements such as enhancers coordinate cell-specific transcriptional programmes by engaging in DNA looping interactions with target promoters. Deciphering the interplay between the promoter connectivity and activity of cis-regulatory elements during lineage commitment is crucial for understanding developmental transcriptional control. Here, we use Promoter Capture Hi-C to generate a high-resolution atlas of chromosomal interactions involving ~22,000 gene promoters in human pluripotent and lineage-committed cells, identifying putative target genes for known and predicted enhancer elements. We reveal extensive dynamics of cis-regulatory contacts upon lineage commitment, including the acquisition and loss of promoter interactions. This spatial rewiring occurs preferentially with predicted changes in the activity of cis-regulatory elements, and is associated with changes in target gene expression. Our results provide a global and integrated view of promoter interactome dynamics during lineage commitment of human pluripotent cells.
Data availability
-
Global rewiring of cis-regulatory units upon lineage commitment of human embryonic stem cellsPublicly available at the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (accession no: GSE76626).
-
Global rewiring of cis-regulatory units upon lineage commitment of human embryonic stem cellsPublicly available via the Open Science Framework.
-
A unique chromatin signature uncovers early developmental enhancers in humansPublicly available at the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (accession no: GSE24447).
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
Wellcome (WT093736)
- Peter J Rugg-Gunn
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/J004480/1)
- Paula Freire-Pritchett
- Stefan Schoenfelder
- Csilla Várnai
- Steven W Wingett
- Jonathan Cairns
- Mayra Furlan-Magaril
- Peter J Fraser
- Mikhail Spivakov
Medical Research Council (MR/J003808/1)
- Amanda J Collier
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2017, Freire-Pritchett et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
Metrics
-
- 6,332
- views
-
- 1,464
- downloads
-
- 133
- citations
Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.
Download links
Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)
Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)
Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)
Further reading
-
- Cancer Biology
- Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
Despite advances in therapeutic approaches, lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. To understand the molecular programs underlying lung cancer initiation and maintenance, we focused on stem cell programs that are normally extinguished with differentiation but can be reactivated during oncogenesis. Here, we have used extensive genetic modeling and patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) to identify a dual role for Msi2: as a signal that acts initially to sensitize cells to transformation, and subsequently to drive tumor propagation. Using Msi reporter mice, we found that Msi2-expressing cells were marked by a pro-oncogenic landscape and a preferential ability to respond to Ras and p53 mutations. Consistent with this, genetic deletion of Msi2 in an autochthonous Ras/p53-driven lung cancer model resulted in a marked reduction of tumor burden, delayed progression, and a doubling of median survival. Additionally, this dependency was conserved in human disease as inhibition of Msi2 impaired tumor growth in PDXs. Mechanistically, Msi2 triggered a broad range of pathways critical for tumor growth, including several novel effectors of lung adenocarcinoma. Collectively, these findings reveal a critical role for Msi2 in aggressive lung adenocarcinoma, lend new insight into the biology of this disease, and identify potential new therapeutic targets.
-
- Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
Tissue necrosis is a devastating complication for many human diseases and injuries. Unfortunately, our understanding of necrosis and how it impacts surrounding healthy tissue – an essential consideration when developing effective methods to treat such injuries – has been limited by a lack of robust genetically tractable models. Our lab previously established a method to study necrosis-induced regeneration in the Drosophila wing imaginal disc, which revealed a unique phenomenon whereby cells at a distance from the injury upregulate caspase activity in a process called Necrosis-induced Apoptosis (NiA) that is vital for regeneration. Here, we have further investigated this phenomenon, showing that NiA is predominantly associated with the highly regenerative pouch region of the disc, shaped by genetic factors present in the presumptive hinge. Furthermore, we find that a proportion of NiA fail to undergo apoptosis, instead surviving effector caspase activation to persist within the tissue and stimulate reparative proliferation late in regeneration. This proliferation relies on the initiator caspase Dronc, and occurs independent of JNK, ROS or mitogens associated with the previously characterized Apoptosis-induced Proliferation (AiP) mechanism. These data reveal a new means by which non-apoptotic Dronc signaling promotes regenerative proliferation in response to necrotic damage.