Suchergebnisse

DNA lesions interfere with cellular processes such as transcription and replication and need to be adequately resolved to warrant genome integrity. Beyond their primary role in molecule transport, nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) function in other processes such as transcription, nuclear organization and DNA double strand break (DSB) repair. Here we found that the removal of UV-induced DNA lesions by nucleotide excision repair (NER) is compromised in the absence of the Nup84 nuclear pore component. Importantly, nup84Δ cells show an exacerbated sensitivity to UV in early S phase and delayed replication fork progression, suggesting that unrepaired spontaneous DNA lesions persist during S phase. In addition, nup84Δ cells are defective in the repair of replication-born DSBs by sister chromatid recombination (SCR) and rely on post-replicative repair functions for normal proliferation, indicating dysfunctions in the cellular pathways that enable replication on damaged DNA templates. Altogether, our data reveal a central role of the NPC in the DNA damage response to facilitate replication progression through damaged DNA templates by promoting efficient NER and SCR and preventing chromosomal rearrangements. ; European Research Council [ERC2014 AdG669898 TARLOOP to A.A.]; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [BFU2016-75058-P to A.A.]; Junta de Andalucía [PA12-BIO1238 to A.A.]; European Union Regional Funds (FEDER). Funding for open access charge: European Research Council [ERC2014 AdG669898 TARLOOP]; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [BFU2016-75058-P].

The transcription factor p63 is an essential regulator of vertebrate ectoderm development, including epidermis, limbs, and craniofacial tissues. Here, we have investigated the evolutionary conservation of p63 binding sites (BSs) between zebrafish and human. First, we have analyzed sequence conservation of p63 BSs by comparing ChIP-seq data from human keratinocytes and zebrafish embryos, observing a very poor conservation. Next, we compared the gene regulatory network orchestrated by p63 in both species and found a high overlap between them, suggesting a high degree of functional conservation during evolution despite sequence divergence and the large evolutionary distance. Finally, we used transgenic reporter assays in zebrafish embryos to functionally validate a set of equivalent p63 BSs from zebrafish and human located close to genes involved in epidermal development. Reporter expression was driven by human and zebrafish BSs to many common tissues related to p63 expression domains. Therefore, we conclude that the gene regulatory network controlled by p63 is highly conserved across vertebrates despite the fact that p63-bound regulatory elements show high divergence. ; This work was supported by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness to JT (BFU2014-58449-JIN) and an ERC-Advanced grant from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (Grant Agreement No. 740041). JS-P was funded by a Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación fellow from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (IJCI-2016-29884) and LG-F by a grant from La Marató TV3 (Grant No. 201611). ; Peer reviewed

The transcription factor p63 is a master regulator of ectoderm development. Although previous studies show that p63 triggers epidermal differentiation in vitro, the roles of p63 in developing embryos remain poorly understood. Here, we use zebrafish embryos to analyze in vivo how p63 regulates gene expression during development. We generate tp63-knock-out mutants that recapitulate human phenotypes and show down-regulated epidermal gene expression. Following p63-binding dynamics, we find two distinct functions clearly separated in space and time. During early development, p63 binds enhancers associated to neural genes, limiting Sox3 binding and reducing neural gene expression. Indeed, we show that p63 and Sox3 are co-expressed in the neural plate border. On the other hand, p63 acts as a pioneer factor by binding non-accessible chromatin at epidermal enhancers, promoting their opening and epidermal gene expression in later developmental stages. Therefore, our results suggest that p63 regulates cell fate decisions during vertebrate ectoderm specification. ; This work was supported by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness to J.J.T. (BFU2014-58449-JIN) and an ERC-Advanced grant from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 740041). J.M.S.-P. was funded by a postdoctoral contract associated to an Excellence Project from Junta de Andalucía (P12-BIO-396) and by a Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación fellow from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (IJCI-2016-29884).

The THSC/TREX-2 complex of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mediates the anchoring of transcribed genes to the nuclear pore, linking transcription elongation with mRNA export and genome stability, as shown for specific reporters. However, it is still unknown whether the function of TREX-2 is global and the reason for its relevant role in genome integrity. Here, by studying two TREX-2 representative subunits, Thp1 and Sac3, we show that TREX-2 has a genome-wide role in gene expression. Both proteins show similar distributions along the genome, with a gradient disposition at active genes that increases towards the 3 end. Thp1 and Sac3 have a relevant impact on the expression of long, G+C-rich and highly transcribed genes. Interestingly, replication impairment detected by the genome-wide accumulation of the replicative Rrm3 helicase is increased preferentially at highly expressed genes in the thp1Δ and sac3Δ mutants analyzed. Therefore, our work provides evidence of a function of TREX-2 at the genome-wide level and suggests a role for TREX-2 in preventing transcription– replication conflicts, as a source of genome instability derived from a defective messenger ribonucleoprotein particle (mRNP) biogenesis. ; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [BFU2010-16372]; Junta de Andalucía [CVI4567 and P12/BIO-1238]; European Union (FEDER); and a JAE predoctoral training grant from the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) [to J.M.S-P.]. Funding for open access charge: Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [BFU2010-16372]. ; Peer reviewed

This article is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported). ; Transcription is a major obstacle for replication fork (RF) progression and a cause of genome instability. Part of this instability is mediated by cotranscriptional R loops, which are believed to increase by suboptimal assembly of the nascent messenger ribonucleoprotein particle (mRNP). However, no clear evidence exists that heterogeneous nuclear RNPs (hnRNPs), the basic mRNP components, prevent R-loop stabilization. Here we show that yeast Npl3, the most abundant RNA-binding hnRNP, prevents R-loop-mediated genome instability. npl3¿ cells show transcription-dependent and R-loop-dependent hyperrecombination and genome-wide replication obstacles as determined by accumulation of the Rrm3 helicase. Such obstacles preferentially occur at long and highly expressed genes, to which Npl3 is preferentially bound in wild-type cells, and are reduced by RNase H1 overexpression. The resulting replication stress confers hypersensitivity to double-strand break-inducing agents. Therefore, our work demonstrates that mRNP factors are critical for genome integrity and opens the option of using them as therapeutic targets in anti-cancer treatment. ; Research was funded by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Consolider 2010 CSD2007-0015 to A.A. and S.M., BFU2010-16372 to A.A., and BFU2011-28274 to S.M.), the Junta de Andalucía (CVI4567 to A.A.), and the European Union (FEDER). J.M.S.-P. was the recipient of a JAE predoctoral training grant from the Spanish Research Council (CSIC). A.B.H. was supported by a post-doctoral grant from the Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC). ; Peer reviewed

Research was funded by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Consolider 2010 CSD2007-0015 to A.A. and S.M., BFU2010- 16372 to A.A., and BFU2011-28274 to S.M.), the Junta de Andalucía (CVI4567 to A.A.), and the European Union (FEDER). J.M.S.-P. was the recipient of a JAE predoctoral training grant from the Spanish Research Council (CSIC). A.B.H. was supported by a post-doctoral grant from the Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC) ; Peer reviewed

Coordinated chromatin interactions between enhancers and promoters are critical for gene regulation. The architectural protein CTCF mediates chromatin looping and is enriched at the boundaries of topologically associating domains (TADs), which are sub-megabase chromatin structures. In vitro CTCF depletion leads to a loss of TADs but has only limited effects over gene expression, challenging the concept that CTCF-mediated chromatin structures are a fundamental requirement for gene regulation. However, how CTCF and a perturbed chromatin structure impacts gene expression during development remains poorly understood. Here we link the loss of CTCF and gene regulation during patterning and organogenesis in a ctcf knockout zebrafish model. CTCF absence leads to loss of chromatin structure and affects the expression of thousands of genes, including many developmental regulators. Our results demonstrate the essential role of CTCF in providing the structural context for enhancer-promoter interactions, thus regulating developmental genes. ; J.L.G.-S. received funding from the ERC (Grant Agreement No. 740041), the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Grant No. BFU2016-74961-P) and the institutional grant Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu (MDM-2016-0687). J.T. was funded by a 2019 Leonardo Grant for Researchers and Cultural Creators, BBVA Foundation. I.I.-A. acknowledges support from the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS Long-Term Fellowship). M.F. was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement [#800396] and a Juan de la Cierva-Formación fellow from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (FJC2018-038233-I). JMS-P was funded by a postdoctoral fellowship from Junta de Andalucía (DOC_00512).

MacroH2A histone variants have a function in gene regulation that is poorly understood at the molecular level. We report that macroH2A1.2 and macroH2A2 modulate the transcriptional ground state of cancer cells and how they respond to inflammatory cytokines. Removal of macroH2A1.2 and macroH2A2 in hepatoblastoma cells affects the contact frequency of promoters and distal enhancers coinciding with changes in enhancer activity or preceding them in response to the cytokine tumor necrosis factor alpha. Although macroH2As regulate genes in both directions, they globally facilitate the nuclear factor κB (NF-κB)-mediated response. In contrast, macroH2As suppress the response to the pro-inflammatory cytokine interferon gamma. MacroH2A2 has a stronger contribution to gene repression than macroH2A1.2. Taken together, our results suggest that macroH2As have a role in regulating the response of cancer cells to inflammatory signals on the level of chromatin structure. This is likely relevant for the interaction of cancer cells with immune cells of their microenvironment. ; This research project was supported by the national grants RTI2018-094005-B-I00 and BFU2015-66559-P from FEDER / Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación - Agencia Estatal de Investigación (to M.B.); PI09/00751 , PI10/02082 , and PI13/02340 from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (to C.A.); the MECD fellowship FPU14/06542 (to D.C.); AGAUR 2019 FI_B01024 and 2022 FI_B00528 fellowships (to J.C.-R. and A.D.R.-A., respectively); and predoctoral fellowships BES-2016-077251 (to M.-M.L.P.) and PRE2019-088529 (to O.M.). Research in the M.B. lab is further supported by the following grants: the Marie Skłodowska Curie Training network " INTERCEPT-MDS " H2020-MSCA-ITN-2020-953407 (to M.B.); MINECO-ISCIII PIE16/00011 (to M.B.); the Deutsche José Carreras Leukämie Stiftung DJCLS 14R/2018 (to M.B.); AGAUR 2017-SGR-305 (to M.B.); and Fundació La Marató de TV3 257/C/2019 (to M.B.). C.A.'s research has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation ...