Global reorganisation of cis-regulatory units upon lineage commitment of human embryonic stem cells
- The Babraham Institute, United Kingdom
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico
- King's College London School of Medicine, United Kingdom
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
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Global rewiring of cis-regulatory units upon lineage commitment of human embryonic stem cellsPublicly available at the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (accession no: GSE76626).
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Global rewiring of cis-regulatory units upon lineage commitment of human embryonic stem cellsPublicly available via the Open Science Framework.
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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.
Reviewing Editor
- Job Dekker, University of Massachusetts Medical School, United States
Publication history
- Received: September 28, 2016
- Accepted: March 22, 2017
- Accepted Manuscript published: March 23, 2017 (version 1)
- Version of Record published: April 27, 2017 (version 2)
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.
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Global reorganisation of cis-regulatory units upon lineage commitment of human embryonic stem cells
eLife 6:e21926.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21926
Further reading
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- Cell Biology
- Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
Following acute injury, the capillary vascular bed in the lung must be repaired to reestablish gas exchange with the external environment. Little is known about the transcriptional and signaling factors that drive pulmonary endothelial cell (EC) proliferation and subsequent regeneration of pulmonary capillaries, as well as their response to stress. Here, we show that the transcription factor Atf3 is essential for the regenerative response of the mouse pulmonary endothelium after influenza infection. Atf3 expression defines a subpopulation of capillary ECs enriched in genes involved in endothelial development, differentiation, and migration. During lung alveolar regeneration, this EC population expands and increases the expression of genes involved in angiogenesis, blood vessel development, and cellular response to stress. Importantly, endothelial cell-specific loss of Atf3 results in defective alveolar regeneration, in part through increased apoptosis and decreased proliferation in the endothelium. This leads to the general loss of alveolar endothelium and persistent morphological changes to the alveolar niche, including an emphysema-like phenotype with enlarged alveolar airspaces lined with regions that lack vascular investment. Taken together, these data implicate Atf3 as an essential component of the vascular response to acute lung injury that is required for successful lung alveolar regeneration.
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- Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) consists of fibrotic alveolar remodeling and progressive loss of pulmonary function. Genetic and experimental evidence indicates that chronic alveolar injury and failure to properly repair the respiratory epithelium are intrinsic to IPF pathogenesis. Loss of alveolar type 2 (AT2) stem cells or mutations that either impair their self-renewal and/or impair their differentiation into AT1 cells can serve as a trigger of pulmonary fibrosis. Recent reports indicate increased YAP activity in respiratory epithelial cells in IPF lungs. Individual IPF epithelial cells with aberrant YAP activation in bronchiolized regions frequently co-express AT1, AT2, conducting airway selective markers and even mesenchymal or EMT markers, demonstrating ‘indeterminate’ states of differentiation and suggesting that aberrant YAP signaling might promote pulmonary fibrosis. Yet, Yap and Taz have recently also been shown to be important for AT1 cell maintenance and alveolar epithelial regeneration after Streptococcus pneumoniae-induced injury. To investigate how epithelial Yap/Taz might promote pulmonary fibrosis or drive alveolar epithelial regeneration, we inactivated the Hippo pathway in AT2 stem cells resulting in increased nuclear Yap/Taz, and found that this promotes their alveolar regenerative capacity and reduces pulmonary fibrosis following bleomycin injury by pushing them along the AT1 cell lineage. Vice versa, inactivation of both Yap1 and Wwtr1 (encoding Taz) or Wwtr1 alone in AT2 cell stem cells impaired alveolar epithelial regeneration and resulted in increased pulmonary fibrosis upon bleomycin injury. Interestingly, the inactivation of only Yap1 in AT2 stem cells promoted alveolar epithelial regeneration and reduced pulmonary fibrosis. Together, these data suggest that epithelial Yap promotes, and epithelial Taz reduces pulmonary fibrosis suggesting that targeting Yap but not Taz-mediated transcription might help promote AT1 cell regeneration and treat pulmonary fibrosis.
