1. Control of endothelial cell function and arteriogenesis by MEG3:EZH2 epigenetic regulation of integrin expression.
- Author
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Dunn-Davies H, Dudnakova T, Nogara A, Rodor J, Thomas AC, Parish E, Gautier P, Meynert A, Ulitsky I, Madeddu P, Caporali A, Baker A, Tollervey D, and Mitić T
- Abstract
Epigenetic processes involving long non-coding RNAs regulate endothelial gene expression. However, the underlying regulatory mechanisms causing endothelial dysfunction remain to be elucidated. Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) is an important rheostat of histone H3K27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) that represses endothelial targets, but EZH2 RNA binding capacity and EZH2:RNA functional interactions have not been explored in post-ischemic angiogenesis. We used formaldehyde/UV-assisted crosslinking ligation and sequencing of hybrids and identified a new role for maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3). MEG3 formed the predominant RNA:RNA hybrid structures in endothelial cells. Moreover, MEG3:EZH2 assists recruitment onto chromatin. By EZH2-chromatin immunoprecipitation, following MEG3 depletion, we demonstrated that MEG3 controls recruitment of EZH2/H3K27me3 onto integrin subunit alpha4 ( ITGA4 ) promoter. Both MEG3 knockdown or EZH2 inhibition (A-395) promoted ITGA4 expression and improved endothelial cell migration and adhesion to fibronectin in vitro . The A-395 inhibitor re-directed MEG3 -assisted chromatin remodeling, offering a direct therapeutic benefit by increasing endothelial function and resilience. This approach subsequently increased the expression of ITGA4 in arterioles following ischemic injury in mice, thus promoting arteriogenesis. Our findings show a context-specific role for MEG3 in guiding EZH2 to repress ITGA4 . Novel therapeutic strategies could antagonize MEG3:EZH2 interaction for pre-clinical studies., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024.)
- Published
- 2024
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