Condensin I subunit Cap-G is essential for proper gene expression during the maturation of post-mitotic neurons

  1. Amira Hassan
  2. Pablo Araguas Rodriguez
  3. Stefan K Heidmann
  4. Emma L Walmsley
  5. Gabriel N Aughey  Is a corresponding author
  6. Tony D Southall  Is a corresponding author
  1. Imperial College London, United Kingdom
  2. University of Bayreuth, Germany

Abstract

Condensin complexes are essential for mitotic chromosome assembly and segregation during cell divisions, however, little is known about their functions in post-mitotic cells. Here we report a role for the condensin I subunit Cap-G in Drosophila neurons. We show that, despite not requiring condensin for mitotic chromosome compaction, post-mitotic neurons express Cap-G. Knockdown of Cap-G specifically in neurons (from their birth onwards) results in developmental arrest, behavioural defects, and dramatic gene expression changes, including reduced expression of a subset of neuronal genes and aberrant expression of genes that are not normally expressed in the developing brain. Knockdown of Cap-G in mature neurons results in similar phenotypes but to a lesser degree. Furthermore, we see dynamic binding of Cap-G at distinct loci in progenitor cells and differentiated neurons. Therefore, Cap-G is essential for proper gene expression in neurons and plays an important role during the early stages of neuronal development.

Data availability

All raw sequence files and processed files have been deposited in the National Center for Biotechnology Information Gene Expression Omnibus (accession number GSE142112).

The following data sets were generated
The following previously published data sets were used

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Amira Hassan

    Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  2. Pablo Araguas Rodriguez

    Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Stefan K Heidmann

    Lehrstuhl für Genetik, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  4. Emma L Walmsley

    Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-3785-075X
  5. Gabriel N Aughey

    Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
    For correspondence
    g.aughey@imperial.ac.uk
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-5610-9345
  6. Tony D Southall

    Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
    For correspondence
    t.southall@imperial.ac.uk
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-8645-4198

Funding

Wellcome (104567/Z/14/Z)

  • Tony D Southall

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/P017924/1)

  • Gabriel N Aughey
  • Tony D Southall

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/M011178/1)

  • Amira Hassan

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (HE2354/23-2)

  • Stefan K Heidmann

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (HE2354/4-1)

  • Stefan K Heidmann

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Reviewing Editor

  1. Anne E West, Duke University School of Medicine, United States

Version history

  1. Received: January 14, 2020
  2. Accepted: April 6, 2020
  3. Accepted Manuscript published: April 7, 2020 (version 1)
  4. Version of Record published: April 20, 2020 (version 2)

Copyright

© 2020, Hassan 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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  1. Amira Hassan
  2. Pablo Araguas Rodriguez
  3. Stefan K Heidmann
  4. Emma L Walmsley
  5. Gabriel N Aughey
  6. Tony D Southall
(2020)
Condensin I subunit Cap-G is essential for proper gene expression during the maturation of post-mitotic neurons
eLife 9:e55159.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.55159

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.55159

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