Review
Plant Sciences
Ruth Y. Akinmusola, Catherine-Axa Wilkins, James Doughty
Summary: Epigenetic modifications, especially DNA methylation, are critical for gene regulation and TE silencing. DDM1 is a chromatin remodeler that plays a central role in histone modifications and DNA methylation. It not only maintains the epigenome, but also regulates important plant traits such as flowering time and heterosis. DDM1's TE silencing mechanism is distinct and independent of other pathways, and is strongly associated with histone H1 and histone variant H2A.W. The DDM1-H2A.W strategy effectively silences mobile TEs and preserves genome stability.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Margaux Olivier, Amy Hesketh, Marie-Noelle Pouch-Pelissier, Thierry Pelissier, Ying Huang, David Latrasse, Moussa Benhamed, Olivier Mathieu
Summary: Transcriptional silencing is a crucial mechanism for gene expression control, and it is regulated by specific epigenetic marks on chromatin. This study demonstrates that the DNA helicase RTEL1 has an important role in transcriptional silencing. RTEL1 deficiency leads to upregulation of genes enriched in H3K27me3 mark, decreased DNA methylation, and hypermethylation and increased H3K27me3 in heterochromatin. Additionally, RTEL1 is involved in stabilizing DNA methylation and H3K27me3 patterns. These findings highlight the previously unappreciated roles of RTEL1 in transcriptional silencing.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Isabelle Loiodice, Mickael Garnier, Ivaylo Nikolov, Angela Taddei
Summary: Silent chromatin in eukaryotic cells is mainly located at the nuclear periphery, and the establishment of silencing is a stepwise process occurring over several cell cycles. Studying a budding yeast model, researchers have identified mechanisms and protein recruitment relationships during the process of establishing silencing at an ectopic locus.
Article
Cell Biology
Kyle Brown, Pin Yu Chew, Steven Ingersoll, Jorge R. Espinosa, Anne Aguirre, Axel Espinoza, Joey Wen, Kalkidan Astatike, Tatiana G. Kutateladze, Rosana Collepardo-Guevara, Xiaojun Ren
Summary: This study reveals the assembly and regulation mechanism of Polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1). The findings demonstrate that the formation and dynamic properties of PRC1 condensates are sensitively regulated by their composition and stoichiometry.
Article
Biology
Stephanie R. Sloat, Suzanne Hoppins
Summary: This study investigates a variant of mitofusin found in CMT2A patients, and demonstrates that it blocks mitochondrial fusion. A proposed dynamic model is presented to explain the mechanism behind this variant's effect.
LIFE SCIENCE ALLIANCE
(2023)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Yukiko Shimada, Sarah H. Carl, Merle Skribbe, Valentin Flury, Tahsin Kuzdere, Georg Kempf, Marc Buehler
Summary: Small non-protein coding RNAs, such as siRNAs, play a crucial role in regulating genome at the chromatin level. Mutant alleles have been identified to enable de novo formation of heterochromatin at protein-coding genes by using trans-acting siRNAs as triggers. This study expands our understanding of the mechanisms involved in small-RNA-directed epigenetic gene silencing.
Article
Cell Biology
Audrey E. Calvird, Morgan N. Broniec, Katherine L. Duval, Alysha N. Higgs, Vani Arora, Lauren N. Ha, Erik B. Schouten, Annabel R. Crippen, Maura McGrail, Kathrin Laue, Mary G. Goll
Summary: This study demonstrates a new in vivo tool for monitoring heterochromatin-mediated repression of repetitive sequences in vertebrate development and reveals a novel role for zebrafish NSD1 orthologs in heterochromatin-mediated repression.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Cell Biology
Aidan J. Levinsky, Gregor McEdwards, Nasha Sethna, Mark A. Currie
Summary: H3K9 methyltransferases play crucial roles in genome stability, cell type-specific gene expression, and non-histone methylation. They are involved in histone modification and regulate the methylation of various non-histone targets, contributing to genome regulation and cellular functions.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gabriel K. Griffin, Jingyi Wu, Arvin Iracheta-Vellve, James C. Patti, Jeffrey Hsu, Thomas Davis, Deborah Dele-Oni, Peter P. Du, Aya G. Halawi, Jeffrey J. Ishizuka, Sarah Y. Kim, Susan Klaeger, Nelson H. Knudsen, Brian C. Miller, Tung H. Nguyen, Kira E. Olander, Malvina Papanastasiou, Suzanna Rachimi, Emily J. Robitschek, Emily M. Schneider, Mitchell D. Yeary, Margaret D. Zimmer, Jacob D. Jaffe, Steven A. Carr, John G. Doench, W. Nicholas Haining, Kathleen B. Yates, Robert T. Manguso, Bradley E. Bernstein
Summary: A CRISPR-Cas9 screen in mouse tumour models treated with immune checkpoint blockade identified SETDB1 as an epigenetic checkpoint protein that suppresses tumour-intrinsic immunogenicity. Loss of SETDB1 leads to derepression of immune-stimulating genes and triggers TE-specific cytotoxic T cell responses, suggesting it as a potential target for immunotherapy in cancer treatment.
Article
Oncology
Carla Guenther, Imrul Faisal, Manlio Fusciello, Maria Sokolova, Heidi Harjunpaa, Mette Ilander, Robert Tallberg, Maria Kristina Vartiainen, Ronen Alon, Jose-Maria Gonzalez-Granado, Vincenzo Cerullo, Susanna Carola Fagerholm
Summary: The study found that bone marrow-derived DCs expressing dysfunctional beta 2-integrin adhesion receptors displayed enhanced tumor rejection capabilities in melanoma models, showing spontaneous maturation. This maturation was associated with alterations in the cellular epigenetic/transcriptional profile and a potential role of integrins in regulating cell function.
CANCER IMMUNOLOGY RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Yukiko Kuroda, Aiko Iwata-Otsubo, Kerith-Rae Dias, Suzanna E. L. Temple, Koji Nagao, Lachlan De Hayr, Ying Zhu, Shin-Ya Isobe, Gohei Nishibuchi, Sarah K. Fiordaliso, Yuki Fujita, Alyssa L. Rippert, Samuel W. Baker, Marco L. Leung, Daniel C. Koboldt, Adele Harman, Beth A. Keena, Izumi Kazama, Gopinath Musuwadi Subramanian, Kandamurugu Manickam, Betsy Schmalz, Maeson Latsko, Elaine H. Zackai, Matt Edwards, Carey-Anne Evans, Matthew C. Dulik, Michael F. Buckley, Toshihide Yamashita, W. Timothy O'Brien, Robert J. Harvey, Chikashi Obuse, Tony Roscioli, Kosuke Izumi
Summary: This study identified heterozygous de novo variants in the CBX1 gene, encoding HP1β, as a cause of a novel syndromic neurodevelopmental disorder. In vitro cellular assays, neurobehavioral and cytological analyses of neuronal cells, and mouse models confirmed the pathogenicity of the identified variants. The disruption of HP1β chromatin binding during neurocognitive development contributes to developmental disabilities.
GENETICS IN MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Longfei Ma, Dan Xie, Mengcheng Luo, Xiwen Lin, Hengyu Nie, Jian Chen, Chenxu Gao, Shuguang Duo, Chunsheng Han
Summary: The study found that the BEND2 gene is specifically expressed in spermatogenic cells during meiotic initiation and plays a crucial role in meiotic progression. BEND2 interacts with chromatin-associated proteins and regulates the expression of meiotic-related genes and chromatin accessibility.
Review
Plant Sciences
Florent Velay, Louis-Valentin Meteignier, Christophe Laloi
Summary: This article summarizes the recent findings on the interplay between euchromatin and heterochromatin in the plant genome and proposes avenues for improving our understanding of chromatin architecture and transitions in plants.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Dawei Zhou, Zhenyu Wu, Jun-Gyu Park, Guillaume N. Fiches, Tai-Wei Li, Qin Ma, Huachao Huang, Ayan Biswas, Luis Martinez-Sobrido, Netty G. Santoso, Jian Zhu
Summary: The study revealed a new role of the FACT complex in coordinating with BRD4 to regulate IFN signaling in both epithelial and NK cells, and proposed a novel application of the FACT inhibitor CBL0137 for treating viral infections.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Elettra Musolino, Christina Pagiatakis, Federica Pierin, Daniele Sabatino, Giovanna Finzi, Rosalba Gornati, Giovanni Bernardini, Roberto Papait
Summary: Three-dimensional chromatin organization plays a crucial role in defining cell transcription program during development. A new electron-microscopy staining technique called ChromEM has been developed to selectively mark nuclear DNA without altering its structure, allowing better visualization of 3D chromatin conformation. In this study, the protocol for applying ChromEM on myocardial tissue from mice is provided, along with the use of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to measure morphological parameters of peripheral heterochromatin in cardiomyocytes. This protocol can also be used with electron tomography to study 3D chromatin organization in different aspects of heart pathobiology and establish ChromEM in other tissues.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Thomas S. van Emden, Marta Forn, Ignasi Forne, Zsuzsa Sarkadi, Matias Capella, Lucia Martin Caballero, Sabine Fischer-Burkart, Cornelia Broenner, Marco Simonetta, David Toczyski, Mario Halic, Axel Imhof, Sigurd Braun
Review
Genetics & Heredity
Thomas S. van Emden, Sigurd Braun
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Matias Capella, Sigurd Braun
NATURE STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Cell Biology
R. A. Greenstein, Ramon R. Barrales, Nicholas A. Sanchez, Jordan E. Bisanz, Sigurd Braun, Bassem Al-Sady
GENES & DEVELOPMENT
(2020)
Correction
Cell Biology
R. A. Greenstein, Ramon R. Barrales, Nicholas A. Sanchez, Jordan E. Bisanz, Sigurd Braun, Bassem Al-Sady
GENES & DEVELOPMENT
(2020)
Article
Cell Biology
Matias Capella, Lucia Martin Caballero, Boris Pfander, Sigurd Braun, Stefan Jentsch
JOURNAL OF CELL SCIENCE
(2020)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Matias Capella, Imke K. Mandemaker, Lucia Martin Caballero, Fabian den Brave, Boris Pfander, Andreas G. Ladurner, Stefan Jentsch, Sigurd Braun
Summary: The authors uncover the mechanism of rDNA release, showing that phosphorylation and SUMOylation facilitate the release of damaged rDNA repeats in the nucleolus. The release of broken rDNA repeats from the nucleolus to the nucleoplasm is essential for repair by homologous recombination and maintaining genome integrity.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Anna Schmuecker, Bingkun Lei, Zdravko J. Lorkovic, Matias Capella, Sigurd Braun, Pierre Bourguet, Olivier Mathieu, Karl Mechtler, Frederic Berger
Summary: The selection of C-terminal motifs contributes to the evolution of distinct histone H2A variants, with cell cycle dependent kinases playing a crucial role. Interference between the functions carried by these motifs led to their mutual exclusion and the evolution of different classes of H2A variants.
Article
Cell Biology
Magdalena Murawska, R. A. Greenstein, Tamas Schauer, Karl C. F. Olsen, Henry Ng, Andreas G. Ladurner, Bassem Al-Sady, Sigurd Braun
Summary: The formation of heterochromatin involves nucleation, self-propagation, and maintenance steps, with the histone chaperone FACT playing a crucial role in promoting heterochromatin spreading by repressing heterochromatic histone turnover in fission yeast. This study sheds light on the mechanisms underlying the involvement of FACT in heterochromatin silencing.
Article
Microbiology
Ismael Moreno-Sanchez, Maria Dolores Pejenaute-Ochoa, Blanca Navarrete, Ramon R. Barrales, Jose I. Ibeas
Summary: The study reveals that all secreted endo-xylanases, except Xyn3, are essential for fungal proliferation in plant tissues during infection process of the biotrophic fungus Ustilago maydis, indicating non-redundant roles of each xylanase in this process. Additionally, at least Xyn11A accumulates in the apoplast of the infected plant after three days, highlighting the importance of these enzymes as secreted proteins during fungal proliferation inside plant tissues.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
R. A. A. Greenstein, Henry Ng, Ramon R. A. Barrales, Catherine Tan, Sigurd A. Braun, Bassem Al-Sady
Summary: This study investigates the spreading process of heterochromatin and identifies specific genes that promote or antagonize this process. It also shows that different genes are required for spreading from different seeding sites. These findings have potential implications for cell fate specification and highlight the importance of understanding the mechanisms underlying the spread of epigenetic silencing along chromatin.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Lucia Martin Caballero, Matias Capella, Ramon Ramos Barrales, Nikolay Dobrev, Thomas van Emden, Yasuhiro Hirano, Vishnu N. Suma Sreechakram, Sabine Fischer-Burkart, Yasuha Kinugasa, Alicia Nevers, Mathieu Rougemaille, Irmgard Sinning, Tamas Fischer, Yasushi Hiraoka, Sigurd Braun
Summary: This study reveals that the nuclear membrane protein Lem2 interacts with the MTREC complex to promote recruitment and degradation of ncRNAs and meiotic transcripts at the nuclear periphery in Schizosaccharomycespombe.
NATURE STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Paula R. Georgescu, Matias Capella, Sabine Fischer-Burkart, Sigurd Braun