135 results on '"Tatjana Sauka-Spengler"'
Search Results
2. A blood-based miRNA signature with prognostic value for overall survival in advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer treated with immunotherapy
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Timothy Rajakumar, Rastislav Horos, Julia Jehn, Judith Schenz, Thomas Muley, Oana Pelea, Sarah Hofmann, Paul Kittner, Mustafa Kahraman, Marco Heuvelman, Tobias Sikosek, Jennifer Feufel, Jasmin Skottke, Dennis Nötzel, Franziska Hinkfoth, Kaja Tikk, Alberto Daniel-Moreno, Jessika Ceiler, Nathaniel Mercaldo, Florian Uhle, Sandra Uhle, Markus A. Weigand, Mariam Elshiaty, Fabienne Lusky, Hannah Schindler, Quentin Ferry, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Qianxin Wu, Klaus F. Rabe, Martin Reck, Michael Thomas, Petros Christopoulos, and Bruno R. Steinkraus
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Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,RC254-282 - Abstract
Abstract Immunotherapies have recently gained traction as highly effective therapies in a subset of late-stage cancers. Unfortunately, only a minority of patients experience the remarkable benefits of immunotherapies, whilst others fail to respond or even come to harm through immune-related adverse events. For immunotherapies within the PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor class, patient stratification is currently performed using tumor (tissue-based) PD-L1 expression. However, PD-L1 is an accurate predictor of response in only ~30% of cases. There is pressing need for more accurate biomarkers for immunotherapy response prediction. We sought to identify peripheral blood biomarkers, predictive of response to immunotherapies against lung cancer, based on whole blood microRNA profiling. Using three well-characterized cohorts consisting of a total of 334 stage IV NSCLC patients, we have defined a 5 microRNA risk score (miRisk) that is predictive of overall survival following immunotherapy in training and independent validation (HR 2.40, 95% CI 1.37–4.19; P
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- 2022
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3. Evidence from oyster suggests an ancient role for Pdx in regulating insulin gene expression in animals
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Fei Xu, Ferdinand Marlétaz, Daria Gavriouchkina, Xiao Liu, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Guofan Zhang, and Peter W. H. Holland
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Science - Abstract
In vertebrates insulin is a direct transcriptional target of Pdx: the same is true in Pacific oysters and the authors show insulin-related gene, cgILP, is co-expressed with cgPdx in oyster digestive tissue, showing this gene interaction dates back to the origin of Bilateria.
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- 2021
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4. Characterising open chromatin in chick embryos identifies cis-regulatory elements important for paraxial mesoderm formation and axis extension
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Gi Fay Mok, Leighton Folkes, Shannon A. Weldon, Eirini Maniou, Victor Martinez-Heredia, Alice M. Godden, Ruth M. Williams, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Grant N. Wheeler, Simon Moxon, and Andrea E. Münsterberg
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Science - Abstract
How paraxial mesoderm formation and differentiation is regulated is unclear. Here, the authors identify accessible chromatin and gene expression signatures that define different stages of paraxial mesoderm development in the chick and identify CREs important for vertebrate anterior–posterior axis formation.
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- 2021
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5. Macrophages directly contribute collagen to scar formation during zebrafish heart regeneration and mouse heart repair
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Filipa C. Simões, Thomas J. Cahill, Amy Kenyon, Daria Gavriouchkina, Joaquim M. Vieira, Xin Sun, Daniela Pezzolla, Christophe Ravaud, Eva Masmanian, Michael Weinberger, Sarah Mayes, Madeleine E. Lemieux, Damien N. Barnette, Mala Gunadasa-Rohling, Ruth M. Williams, David R. Greaves, Le A. Trinh, Scott E. Fraser, Sarah L. Dallas, Robin P. Choudhury, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, and Paul R. Riley
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Science - Abstract
Macrophages mediate the fibrotic response after a heart attack by extracellular matrix turnover and cardiac fibroblasts activation. Here the authors identify an evolutionarily-conserved function of macrophages that contributes directly to the forming post-injury scar through cell-autonomous deposition of collagen.
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- 2020
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6. Single-cell atlas of early chick development reveals gradual segregation of neural crest lineage from the neural plate border during neurulation
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Ruth M Williams, Martyna Lukoseviciute, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, and Marianne E Bronner
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neural plate border ,neural crest ,single-cell ,placode ,Pax7 ,chick ,Medicine ,Science ,Biology (General) ,QH301-705.5 - Abstract
The epiblast of vertebrate embryos is comprised of neural and non-neural ectoderm, with the border territory at their intersection harboring neural crest and cranial placode progenitors. Here, we a generate single-cell atlas of the developing chick epiblast from late gastrulation through early neurulation stages to define transcriptional changes in the emerging ‘neural plate border’ as well as other regions of the epiblast. Focusing on the border territory, the results reveal gradual establishment of heterogeneous neural plate border signatures, including novel genes that we validate by fluorescent in situ hybridization. Developmental trajectory analysis infers that segregation of neural plate border lineages only commences at early neurulation, rather than at gastrulation as previously predicted. We find that cells expressing the prospective neural crest marker Pax7 contribute to multiple lineages, and a subset of premigratory neural crest cells shares a transcriptional signature with their border precursors. Together, our results suggest that cells at the neural plate border remain heterogeneous until early neurulation, at which time progenitors become progressively allocated toward defined neural crest and placode lineages. The data also can be mined to reveal changes throughout the developing epiblast.
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- 2022
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7. A genome-wide assessment of the ancestral neural crest gene regulatory network
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Dorit Hockman, Vanessa Chong-Morrison, Stephen A. Green, Daria Gavriouchkina, Ivan Candido-Ferreira, Irving T. C. Ling, Ruth M. Williams, Chris T. Amemiya, Jeramiah J. Smith, Marianne E. Bronner, and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
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Science - Abstract
An understanding of the ancestral state of the neural crest (NC) gene regulatory network (GRN) gives insight into vertebrate evolution. Here, the authors use transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility analyses of the lamprey NC, as well as cross-species enhancer assays, to identify GRN elements conserved throughout vertebrates.
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- 2019
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8. Adipocyte-like signature in ovarian cancer minimal residual disease identifies metabolic vulnerabilities of tumor-initiating cells
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Mara Artibani, Kenta Masuda, Zhiyuan Hu, Pascal C. Rauher, Garry Mallett, Nina Wietek, Matteo Morotti, Kay Chong, Mohammad KaramiNejadRanjbar, Christos E. Zois, Sunanda Dhar, Salma El-Sahhar, Leticia Campo, Sarah P. Blagden, Stephen Damato, Pubudu N. Pathiraja, Shibani Nicum, Fergus Gleeson, Alexandros Laios, Abdulkhaliq Alsaadi, Laura Santana Gonzalez, Takeshi Motohara, Ashwag Albukhari, Zhen Lu, Robert C. Bast Jr., Adrian L. Harris, Christer S. Ejsing, Robin W. Klemm, Christopher Yau, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, and Ahmed Ashour Ahmed
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Oncology ,Medicine - Abstract
Similar to tumor-initiating cells (TICs), minimal residual disease (MRD) is capable of reinitiating tumors and causing recurrence. However, the molecular characteristics of solid tumor MRD cells and drivers of their survival have remained elusive. Here we performed dense multiregion transcriptomics analysis of paired biopsies from 17 ovarian cancer patients before and after chemotherapy. We reveal that while MRD cells share important molecular signatures with TICs, they are also characterized by an adipocyte-like gene expression signature and a portion of them had undergone epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In a cell culture MRD model, MRD-mimic cells showed the same phenotype and were dependent on fatty acid oxidation (FAO) for survival and resistance to cytotoxic agents. These findings identify EMT and FAO as attractive targets to eradicate MRD in ovarian cancer and make a compelling case for the further testing of FAO inhibitors in treating MRD.
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- 2021
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9. Dissociation of chick embryonic tissue for FACS and preparation of isolated cells for genome-wide downstream assays
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Ruth M. Williams and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
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Genomics ,Model Organisms ,Molecular Biology ,Sequencing ,Single Cell ,Science (General) ,Q1-390 - Abstract
Summary: In order to process samples by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), it is essential to obtain a single-cell suspension of dissociated cells. Numerous protocols and commercial reagents are available; however, each requires optimization for specific tissue types. Here, we describe an optimized protocol for dissociating dissected chick embryos across a broad span of developmental stages. We also provide protocols for processing targeted cell populations isolated using FACS for ATAC-seq, RNA-seq, and chromatin immunoprecipitation.For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Ling and Sauka-Spengler (2019) and Williams et al. (2019).
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- 2021
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10. Ex ovo electroporation of early chicken embryos
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Ruth M. Williams and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
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High Throughput Screening ,Model Organisms ,Science (General) ,Q1-390 - Abstract
Summary: The chick embryo is a favored model for developmental studies owing to its accessibility and ease of manipulation. Ex ovo electroporation provides a highly efficient method for screening perturbation phenotypes using a variety of reagents, including CRISPR and morpholinos. Additionally, the chick system lends itself well to rapid medium-throughput enhancer screening. Constructs facilitating tissue-specific protein pull-down can also be transfected using this protocol. Furthermore, bilateral electroporation with control and experimental reagents provides a robust assay for accurately interpreting functional perturbations.For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Williams et al. (2019).
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- 2021
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11. Rapid and efficient enhancer cloning and in vivo screening using the developing chick embryo
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Ruth M. Williams and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
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Model Organisms ,Molecular Biology ,Gene Expression ,CRISPR ,Science (General) ,Q1-390 - Abstract
Summary: Here, we describe a highly efficient, medium-throughput strategy for cloning and in vivo screening of putative enhancers using the chick embryo. By incorporating 48 unique nanotags for use in NanoString nCounter® across three different fluorescent reporters and developing a rapid and efficient digestion/ligation type IIs restriction enzyme-based cloning protocol, we develop a multiplexed approach for rapidly identifying enhancer activity.For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please see Williams et al. (2019).
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- 2021
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12. The Cranial Neural Crest in a Multiomics Era
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Vanessa Chong-Morrison and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
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neural crest ,multiomics ,gene regulatory network ,non-coding ,interactome ,transcriptome ,Physiology ,QP1-981 - Abstract
Neural crest ontogeny plays a prominent role in craniofacial development. In this Perspective article, we discuss recent advances to the understanding of mechanisms underlying the cranial neural crest gene regulatory network (cNC-GRN) stemming from omics-based studies. We briefly summarize how parallel considerations of transcriptome, interactome, and epigenome data significantly elaborated the roles of key players derived from pre-omics era studies. Furthermore, the growing cohort of cNC multiomics data revealed contribution of the non-coding genomic landscape. As technological improvements are constantly being developed, we reflect on key questions we are poised to address by taking advantage of the unique perspective a multiomics approach has to offer.
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- 2021
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13. Mechanistic Drivers of Müllerian Duct Development and Differentiation Into the Oviduct
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Laura Santana Gonzalez, Ioanna A. Rota, Mara Artibani, Matteo Morotti, Zhiyuan Hu, Nina Wietek, Abdulkhaliq Alsaadi, Ashwag Albukhari, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, and Ahmed A. Ahmed
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Müllerian ducts ,oviducts ,embryonic development ,differentiation ,gene regulatory networks ,epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) ,Biology (General) ,QH301-705.5 - Abstract
The conduits of life; the animal oviducts and human fallopian tubes are of paramount importance for reproduction in amniotes. They connect the ovary with the uterus and are essential for fertility. They provide the appropriate environment for gamete maintenance, fertilization and preimplantation embryonic development. However, serious pathologies, such as ectopic pregnancy, malignancy and severe infections, occur in the oviducts. They can have drastic effects on fertility, and some are life-threatening. Despite the crucial importance of the oviducts in life, relatively little is known about the molecular drivers underpinning the embryonic development of their precursor structures, the Müllerian ducts, and their successive differentiation and maturation. The Müllerian ducts are simple rudimentary tubes comprised of an epithelial lumen surrounded by a mesenchymal layer. They differentiate into most of the adult female reproductive tract (FRT). The earliest sign of Müllerian duct formation is the thickening of the anterior mesonephric coelomic epithelium to form a placode of two distinct progenitor cells. It is proposed that one subset of progenitor cells undergoes partial epithelial-mesenchymal transition (pEMT), differentiating into immature Müllerian luminal cells, and another subset undergoes complete EMT to become Müllerian mesenchymal cells. These cells invaginate and proliferate forming the Müllerian ducts. Subsequently, pEMT would be reversed to generate differentiated epithelial cells lining the fully formed Müllerian lumen. The anterior Müllerian epithelial cells further specialize into the oviduct epithelial subtypes. This review highlights the key established molecular and genetic determinants of the processes involved in Müllerian duct development and the differentiation of its upper segment into oviducts. Furthermore, an extensive genome-wide survey of mouse knockout lines displaying Müllerian or oviduct phenotypes was undertaken. In addition to widely established genetic determinants of Müllerian duct development, our search has identified surprising associations between loss-of-function of several genes and high-penetrance abnormalities in the Müllerian duct and/or oviducts. Remarkably, these associations have not been investigated in any detail. Finally, we discuss future directions for research on Müllerian duct development and oviducts.
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- 2021
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14. Tissue-Specific In Vivo Biotin Chromatin Immunoprecipitation with Sequencing in Zebrafish and Chicken
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Martyna Lukoseviciute, Irving T.C. Ling, Upeka Senanayake, Ivan Candido-Ferreira, Gunes Taylor, Ruth M. Williams, and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
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Science (General) ,Q1-390 - Abstract
Summary: Chromatin immunoprecipitation with sequencing (ChIP-seq) has been instrumental in understanding transcription factor (TF) binding during gene regulation. ChIP-seq requires specific antibodies against desired TFs, which are not available for numerous species. Here, we describe a tissue-specific biotin ChIP-seq protocol for zebrafish and chicken embryos which utilizes AVI tagging of TFs, permitting their biotinylation by a co-expressed nuclear biotin ligase. Subsequently, biotinylated factors can be precipitated with streptavidin beads, enabling the user to construct TF genome-wide binding landscapes like conventional ChIP-seq methods.For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please see Lukoseviciute et al. (2018) and Ling and Sauka-Spengler (2019).
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- 2020
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15. A highly accurate platform for clone-specific mutation discovery enables the study of active mutational processes
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Eli M Carrami, Sahand Sharifzadeh, Nina C Wietek, Mara Artibani, Salma El-Sahhar, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Christopher Yau, Volker Tresp, and Ahmed A Ahmed
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variant calling ,machine learning ,whole genome amplified ,Medicine ,Science ,Biology (General) ,QH301-705.5 - Abstract
Bulk whole genome sequencing (WGS) enables the analysis of tumor evolution but, because of depth limitations, can only identify old mutational events. The discovery of current mutational processes for predicting the tumor’s evolutionary trajectory requires dense sequencing of individual clones or single cells. Such studies, however, are inherently problematic because of the discovery of excessive false positive (FP) mutations when sequencing picogram quantities of DNA. Data pooling to increase the confidence in the discovered mutations, moves the discovery back in the past to a common ancestor. Here we report a robust WGS and analysis pipeline (DigiPico/MutLX) that virtually eliminates all F results while retaining an excellent proportion of true positives. Using our method, we identified, for the first time, a hyper-mutation (kataegis) event in a group of ∼30 cancer cells from a recurrent ovarian carcinoma. This was unidentifiable from the bulk WGS data. Overall, we propose DigiPico/MutLX method as a powerful framework for the identification of clone-specific variants at an unprecedented accuracy.
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- 2020
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16. Active nuclear transcriptome analysis reveals inflammasome-dependent mechanism for early neutrophil response to Mycobacterium marinum
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Amy Kenyon, Daria Gavriouchkina, Jernej Zorman, Giorgio Napolitani, Vincenzo Cerundolo, and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract The mechanisms governing neutrophil response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis remain poorly understood. In this study we utilise biotagging, a novel genome-wide profiling approach based on cell type-specific in vivo biotinylation in zebrafish to analyse the initial response of neutrophils to Mycobacterium marinum, a close genetic relative of M. tuberculosis used to model tuberculosis. Differential expression analysis following nuclear RNA-seq of neutrophil active transcriptomes reveals a significant upregulation in both damage-sensing and effector components of the inflammasome, including caspase b, NLRC3 ortholog (wu: fb15h11) and il1β. Crispr/Cas9-mediated knockout of caspase b, which acts by proteolytic processing of il1β, results in increased bacterial burden and less infiltration of macrophages to sites of mycobacterial infection, thus impairing granuloma development. We also show that a number of immediate early response genes (IEGs) are responsible for orchestrating the initial neutrophil response to mycobacterial infection. Further perturbation of the IEGs exposes egr3 as a key transcriptional regulator controlling il1β transcription.
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- 2017
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17. BRG1-SWI/SNF-dependent regulation of the Wt1 transcriptional landscape mediates epicardial activity during heart development and disease
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Joaquim Miguel Vieira, Sara Howard, Cristina Villa del Campo, Sveva Bollini, Karina N. Dubé, Megan Masters, Damien N. Barnette, Mala Rohling, Xin Sun, Laura E. Hankins, Daria Gavriouchkina, Ruth Williams, Daniel Metzger, Pierre Chambon, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Benjamin Davies, and Paul R. Riley
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Science - Abstract
Priming of the adult mouse heart with Tβ4 activates dormant epicardium-derived cells to aid repair of injured myocardium. Here, Vieiraet al. explain this process and show that Tβ4 binds a chromatin remodeller BRG1 and activates Wt1, the key regulator of epicardial epithelial-to-mesenchymal transformation, by altering the epigenetic landscape of the Wt1 locus.
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- 2017
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18. Biotagging of Specific Cell Populations in Zebrafish Reveals Gene Regulatory Logic Encoded in the Nuclear Transcriptome
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Le A. Trinh, Vanessa Chong-Morrison, Daria Gavriouchkina, Tatiana Hochgreb-Hägele, Upeka Senanayake, Scott E. Fraser, and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
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Biology (General) ,QH301-705.5 - Abstract
Summary: Interrogation of gene regulatory circuits in complex organisms requires precise tools for the selection of individual cell types and robust methods for biochemical profiling of target proteins. We have developed a versatile, tissue-specific binary in vivo biotinylation system in zebrafish termed biotagging that uses genetically encoded components to biotinylate target proteins, enabling in-depth genome-wide analyses of their molecular interactions. Using tissue-specific drivers and cell-compartment-specific effector lines, we demonstrate the specificity of the biotagging toolkit at the biochemical, cellular, and transcriptional levels. We use biotagging to characterize the in vivo transcriptional landscape of migratory neural crest and myocardial cells in different cellular compartments (ribosomes and nucleus). These analyses reveal a comprehensive network of coding and non-coding RNAs and cis-regulatory modules, demonstrating that tissue-specific identity is embedded in the nuclear transcriptomes. By eliminating background inherent to complex embryonic environments, biotagging allows analyses of molecular interactions at high resolution. : A genetically encoded in vivo biotinylation system in zebrafish developed by Trinh et al. reveals cell-type- and subcellular-compartment-specific coding and non-coding RNAs in developing cardiomyocytes and neural crest cells. Characterization of non-coding RNAs in neural crest reveals bidirectionally transcribed cis-regulatory elements that define a specific gene regulatory signature. Keywords: in vivo biotinylation, nuclear transcriptome, neural crest, myocardium, enhancers, cis-regulation, bi-directional transcription
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- 2017
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19. Premalignant SOX2 overexpression in the fallopian tubes of ovarian cancer patients: Discovery and validation studies
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Karin Hellner, Fabrizio Miranda, Donatien Fotso Chedom, Sandra Herrero-Gonzalez, Daniel M. Hayden, Rick Tearle, Mara Artibani, Mohammad KaramiNejadRanjbar, Ruth Williams, Kezia Gaitskell, Samar Elorbany, Ruoyan Xu, Alex Laios, Petronela Buiga, Karim Ahmed, Sunanda Dhar, Rebecca Yu Zhang, Leticia Campo, Kevin A. Myers, María Lozano, María Ruiz-Miró, Sónia Gatius, Alba Mota, Gema Moreno-Bueno, Xavier Matias-Guiu, Javier Benítez, Lorna Witty, Gil McVean, Simon Leedham, Ian Tomlinson, Radoje Drmanac, Jean-Baptiste Cazier, Robert Klein, Kevin Dunne, Robert C. Bast Jr, Stephen H. Kennedy, Bassim Hassan, Stefano Lise, María José Garcia, Brock A. Peters, Christopher Yau, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, and Ahmed Ashour Ahmed
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Ovarian cancer ,Fallopian tube ,BRCA mutations ,SOX2 ,Screening ,Precancer ,Medicine ,Medicine (General) ,R5-920 - Abstract
Current screening methods for ovarian cancer can only detect advanced disease. Earlier detection has proved difficult because the molecular precursors involved in the natural history of the disease are unknown. To identify early driver mutations in ovarian cancer cells, we used dense whole genome sequencing of micrometastases and microscopic residual disease collected at three time points over three years from a single patient during treatment for high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). The functional and clinical significance of the identified mutations was examined using a combination of population-based whole genome sequencing, targeted deep sequencing, multi-center analysis of protein expression, loss of function experiments in an in-vivo reporter assay and mammalian models, and gain of function experiments in primary cultured fallopian tube epithelial (FTE) cells. We identified frequent mutations involving a 40 kb distal repressor region for the key stem cell differentiation gene SOX2. In the apparently normal FTE, the region was also mutated. This was associated with a profound increase in SOX2 expression (p
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- 2016
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20. Generation of a double binary transgenic zebrafish model to study myeloid gene regulation in response to oncogene activation in melanocytes
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Amy Kenyon, Daria Gavriouchkina, Jernej Zorman, Vanessa Chong-Morrison, Giorgio Napolitani, Vincenzo Cerundolo, and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
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Biotagging ,Macrophage ,Melanocyte ,Neutrophil ,Oncogene ,Zebrafish ,Medicine ,Pathology ,RB1-214 - Abstract
A complex network of inflammatory genes is closely linked to somatic cell transformation and malignant disease. Immune cells and their associated molecules are responsible for detecting and eliminating cancer cells as they establish themselves as the precursors of a tumour. By the time a patient has a detectable solid tumour, cancer cells have escaped the initial immune response mechanisms. Here, we describe the development of a double binary zebrafish model that enables regulatory programming of the myeloid cells as they respond to oncogene-activated melanocytes to be explored, focussing on the initial phase when cells become the precursors of cancer. A hormone-inducible binary system allows for temporal control of expression of different Ras oncogenes (NRasQ61K, HRasG12V and KRasG12V) in melanocytes, leading to proliferation and changes in morphology of the melanocytes. This model was coupled to binary cell-specific biotagging models allowing in vivo biotinylation and subsequent isolation of macrophage or neutrophil nuclei for regulatory profiling of their active transcriptomes. Nuclear transcriptional profiling of neutrophils, performed as they respond to the earliest precursors of melanoma in vivo, revealed an intricate landscape of regulatory factors that may promote progression to melanoma, including Serpinb1l4, Fgf1, Fgf6, Cathepsin H, Galectin 1 and Galectin 3. The model presented here provides a powerful platform to study the myeloid response to the earliest precursors of melanoma.
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- 2018
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21. A novel TGFβ modulator that uncouples R-Smad/I-Smad-mediated negative feedback from R-Smad/ligand-driven positive feedback.
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Wenchao Gu, Rui Monteiro, Jie Zuo, Filipa Costa Simões, Andrea Martella, Charlotte Andrieu-Soler, Frank Grosveld, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, and Roger Patient
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Biology (General) ,QH301-705.5 - Abstract
As some of the most widely utilised intercellular signalling molecules, transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) superfamily members play critical roles in normal development and become disrupted in human disease. Establishing appropriate levels of TGFβ signalling involves positive and negative feedback, which are coupled and driven by the same signal transduction components (R-Smad transcription factor complexes), but whether and how the regulation of the two can be distinguished are unknown. Genome-wide comparison of published ChIP-seq datasets suggests that LIM domain binding proteins (Ldbs) co-localise with R-Smads at a substantial subset of R-Smad target genes including the locus of inhibitory Smad7 (I-Smad7), which mediates negative feedback for TGFβ signalling. We present evidence suggesting that zebrafish Ldb2a binds and directly activates the I-Smad7 gene, whereas it binds and represses the ligand gene, Squint (Sqt), which drives positive feedback. Thus, the fine tuning of TGFβ signalling derives from positive and negative control by Ldb2a. Expression of ldb2a is itself activated by TGFβ signals, suggesting potential feed-forward loops that might delay the negative input of Ldb2a to the positive feedback, as well as the positive input of Ldb2a to the negative feedback. In this way, precise gene expression control by Ldb2a enables an initial build-up of signalling via a fully active positive feedback in the absence of buffering by the negative feedback. In Ldb2a-deficient zebrafish embryos, homeostasis of TGFβ signalling is perturbed and signalling is stably enhanced, giving rise to excess mesoderm and endoderm, an effect that can be rescued by reducing signalling by the TGFβ family members, Nodal and BMP. Thus, Ldb2a is critical to the homeostatic control of TGFβ signalling and thereby embryonic patterning.
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- 2015
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22. A reporter assay in lamprey embryos reveals both functional conservation and elaboration of vertebrate enhancers.
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Hugo J Parker, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Marianne Bronner, and Greg Elgar
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
The sea lamprey is an important model organism for investigating the evolutionary origins of vertebrates. As more vertebrate genome sequences are obtained, evolutionary developmental biologists are becoming increasingly able to identify putative gene regulatory elements across the breadth of the vertebrate taxa. The identification of these regions makes it possible to address how changes at the genomic level have led to changes in developmental gene regulatory networks and ultimately to the evolution of morphological diversity. Comparative genomics approaches using sea lamprey have already predicted a number of such regulatory elements in the lamprey genome. Functional characterisation of these sequences and other similar elements requires efficient reporter assays in lamprey. In this report, we describe the development of a transient transgenesis method for lamprey embryos. Focusing on conserved non-coding elements (CNEs), we use this method to investigate their functional conservation across the vertebrate subphylum. We find instances of both functional conservation and lineage-specific functional evolution of CNEs across vertebrates, emphasising the utility of functionally testing homologous CNEs in their host species.
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- 2014
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23. Dynamic and differential regulation of stem cell factor FoxD3 in the neural crest is Encrypted in the genome.
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Marcos S Simões-Costa, Sonja J McKeown, Joanne Tan-Cabugao, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, and Marianne E Bronner
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Genetics ,QH426-470 - Abstract
The critical stem cell transcription factor FoxD3 is expressed by the premigratory and migrating neural crest, an embryonic stem cell population that forms diverse derivatives. Despite its important role in development and stem cell biology, little is known about what mediates FoxD3 activity in these cells. We have uncovered two FoxD3 enhancers, NC1 and NC2, that drive reporter expression in spatially and temporally distinct manners. Whereas NC1 activity recapitulates initial FoxD3 expression in the cranial neural crest, NC2 activity recapitulates initial FoxD3 expression at vagal/trunk levels while appearing only later in migrating cranial crest. Detailed mutational analysis, in vivo chromatin immunoprecipitation, and morpholino knock-downs reveal that transcription factors Pax7 and Msx1/2 cooperate with the neural crest specifier gene, Ets1, to bind to the cranial NC1 regulatory element. However, at vagal/trunk levels, they function together with the neural plate border gene, Zic1, which directly binds to the NC2 enhancer. These results reveal dynamic and differential regulation of FoxD3 in distinct neural crest subpopulations, suggesting that heterogeneity is encrypted at the regulatory level. Isolation of neural crest enhancers not only allows establishment of direct regulatory connections underlying neural crest formation, but also provides valuable tools for tissue specific manipulation and investigation of neural crest cell identity in amniotes.
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- 2012
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24. Expression of sympathetic nervous system genes in Lamprey suggests their recruitment for specification of a new vertebrate feature.
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Daniela Häming, Marcos Simoes-Costa, Benjamin Uy, Jonathan Valencia, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, and Marianne Bronner-Fraser
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
The sea lamprey is a basal, jawless vertebrate that possesses many neural crest derivatives, but lacks jaws and sympathetic ganglia. This raises the possibility that the factors involved in sympathetic neuron differentiation were either a gnathostome innovation or already present in lamprey, but serving different purposes. To distinguish between these possibilities, we isolated lamprey homologues of transcription factors associated with peripheral ganglion formation and examined their deployment in lamprey embryos. We further performed DiI labeling of the neural tube combined with neuronal markers to test if neural crest-derived cells migrate to and differentiate in sites colonized by sympathetic ganglia in jawed vertebrates. Consistent with previous anatomical data in adults, our results in lamprey embryos reveal that neural crest cells fail to migrate ventrally to form sympathetic ganglia, though they do form dorsal root ganglia adjacent to the neural tube. Interestingly, however, paralogs of the battery of transcription factors that mediate sympathetic neuron differentiation (dHand, Ascl1 and Phox2b) are present in the lamprey genome and expressed in various sites in the embryo, but fail to overlap in any ganglionic structures. This raises the intriguing possibility that they may have been recruited during gnathostome evolution to a new function in a neural crest derivative.
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- 2011
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25. Molecular characterization of the gastrula in the turtle Emys orbicularis: an evolutionary perspective on gastrulation.
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Marion Coolen, Delphine Nicolle, Jean-Louis Plouhinec, Aurélie Gombault, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Arnaud Menuet, Claude Pieau, and Sylvie Mazan
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Due to the presence of a blastopore as in amphibians, the turtle has been suggested to exemplify a transition form from an amphibian- to an avian-type gastrulation pattern. In order to test this hypothesis and gain insight into the emergence of the unique characteristics of amniotes during gastrulation, we have performed the first molecular characterization of the gastrula in a reptile, the turtle Emys orbicularis. The study of Brachyury, Lim1, Otx2 and Otx5 expression patterns points to a highly conserved dynamic of expression with amniote model organisms and makes it possible to identify the site of mesoderm internalization, which is a long-standing issue in reptiles. Analysis of Brachyury expression also highlights the presence of two distinct phases, less easily recognizable in model organisms and respectively characterized by an early ring-shaped and a later bilateral symmetrical territory. Systematic comparisons with tetrapod model organisms lead to new insights into the relationships of the blastopore/blastoporal plate system shared by all reptiles, with the blastopore of amphibians and the primitive streak of birds and mammals. The biphasic Brachyury expression pattern is also consistent with recent models of emergence of bilateral symmetry, which raises the question of its evolutionary significance.
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- 2008
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26. Evolution of axis specification mechanisms in jawed vertebrates: insights from a chondrichthyan.
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Marion Coolen, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Delphine Nicolle, Chantal Le-Mentec, Yvan Lallemand, Corinne Da Silva, Jean-Louis Plouhinec, Benoît Robert, Patrick Wincker, De-Li Shi, and Sylvie Mazan
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
The genetic mechanisms that control the establishment of early polarities and their link with embryonic axis specification and patterning seem to substantially diverge across vertebrates. In amphibians and teleosts, the establishment of an early dorso-ventral polarity determines both the site of axis formation and its rostro-caudal orientation. In contrast, amniotes retain a considerable plasticity for their site of axis formation until blastula stages and rely on signals secreted by extraembryonic tissues, which have no clear equivalents in the former, for the establishment of their rostro-caudal pattern. The rationale for these differences remains unknown. Through detailed expression analyses of key development genes in a chondrichthyan, the dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula, we have reconstructed the ancestral pattern of axis specification in jawed vertebrates. We show that the dogfish displays compelling similarities with amniotes at blastula and early gastrula stages, including the presence of clear homologs of the hypoblast and extraembryonic ectoderm. In the ancestral state, these territories are specified at opposite poles of an early axis of bilateral symmetry, homologous to the dorso-ventral axis of amphibians or teleosts, and aligned with the later forming embryonic axis, from head to tail. Comparisons with amniotes suggest that a dorsal expansion of extraembryonic ectoderm, resulting in an apparently radial symmetry at late blastula stages, has taken place in their lineage. The synthesis of these results with those of functional analyses in model organisms supports an evolutionary link between the dorso-ventral polarity of amphibians and teleosts and the embryonic-extraembryonic organisation of amniotes. It leads to a general model of axis specification in gnathostomes, which provides a comparative framework for a reassessment of conservations both among vertebrates and with more distant metazoans.
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- 2007
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27. Specific Modulation of CRISPR Transcriptional Activators through RNA-Sensing Guide RNAs in Mammalian Cells and Zebrafish Embryos
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Oana Pelea, Sarah Mayes, Quentin RV. Ferry, Tudor A. Fulga, and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
- Abstract
Cellular transcripts encode important information regarding cell identity and disease status. The activation of CRISPR in response to RNA biomarkers holds the potential for controlling CRISPR activity with spatiotemporal precision. This would enable the restriction of CRISPR activity to specific cell types expressing RNA biomarkers of interest, while preventing unwanted activity in other cells. Here, we present a simple and specific platform for modulating CRISPR activity in response to RNA detection through engineeringStreptococcus pyogenesCas9 single-guide RNAs (sgRNAs). sgRNAs are engineered to fold into complex secondary structures that, in the ground state, inhibit their activity. Upon recognizing complementary RNAs, the engineered sgRNAs become activated, enabling Cas9 to perform its function. Our approach enables CRISPR activation in response to RNA detection in both HEK293T cells and zebrafish embryos. Iterative design optimizations allowed the development of computational tools for generating sgRNAs capable of detecting RNA sequences of choice. Mechanistic investigations reveal that engineered sgRNAs are cleaved during RNA detection, and we identify key positions that benefit from chemical modifications to improve the stability of engineered sgRNAsin vivo. Our sensors open up novel opportunities for the development of new research and therapeutic applications using CRISPR activation in response to endogenous RNA biomarkers.
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- 2023
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28. Chromatin remodeller Chd7 is developmentally regulated in the neural crest by tissue-specific transcription factors
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Ruth Williams, Gunes Taylor, Irving T C Ling, Ivan Candido-Ferreira, Sarah Mayes, Yavor Bozhilov, Richard C V Tyser, Shankar Srinivas, Jim Raymond Hughes, and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
- Abstract
Neurocristopathies such as CHARGE syndrome result from aberrant neural crest development. A large proportion of CHARGE cases are attributed to mutations in the gene encoding CHD7, chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 7, which remodels chromatin. While the role for CHD7 in neural crest development is well documented, it remains elusive how this seemingly ubiquitous factor is specifically upregulated in neural crest cells. Here, we use epigenomic profiling of chick neural crest to identify a cohort of enhancers regulating Chd7 expression in neural crest cells and other tissues. We functionally validate upstream transcription factor binding at candidate enhancers, revealing novel epistatic relationships between neural crest master regulators and Chd7. To our knowledge, this is the first report of tissue-specific regulation of a chromatin remodeller. Furthermore, we find conserved enhancer feature in human embryonic epigenomic data and validate the activity of the human equivalent CHD7 enhancers in the chick embryo. Collectively our findings embed Chd7 in the neural crest gene regulatory network and offer potentially clinically relevant elements for interpreting CHARGE syndrome cases without causative allocation.
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- 2022
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29. RNA-Responsive gRNAs for Controlling CRISPR Activity: Current Advances, Future Directions, and Potential Applications
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Oana Pelea, Tudor A. Fulga, and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
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Gene Editing ,Streptococcus pyogenes ,Genetics ,RNA ,CRISPR-Cas Systems ,Review Articles ,Biotechnology ,RNA, Guide, Kinetoplastida - Abstract
CRISPR-Cas9 has emerged as a major genome manipulation tool. As Cas9 can cause off-target effects, several methods for controlling the expression of CRISPR systems were developed. Recent studies have shown that CRISPR activity could be controlled by sensing expression levels of endogenous transcripts. This is particularly interesting, as endogenous RNAs could harbor important information about the cell type, disease state, and environmental challenges cells are facing. Single-guide RNA (sgRNA) engineering played a major role in the development of RNA-responsive CRISPR systems. Following further optimizations, RNA-responsive sgRNAs could enable the development of novel therapeutic and research applications. This review introduces engineering strategies that could be employed to modify Streptococcus pyogenes sgRNAs with a focus on recent advances made toward the development of RNA-responsive sgRNAs. Future directions and potential applications of these technologies are also discussed.
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- 2022
30. Constructing custom-made radiotranscriptomic signatures of vascular inflammation from routine CT angiograms: a prospective outcomes validation study in COVID-19
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Christos P Kotanidis, Cheng Xie, Donna Alexander, Jonathan C L Rodrigues, Katie Burnham, Alexander Mentzer, Daniel O’Connor, Julian Knight, Muhammad Siddique, Helen Lockstone, Sheena Thomas, Rafail Kotronias, Evangelos K Oikonomou, Ileana Badi, Maria Lyasheva, Cheerag Shirodaria, Sheila F Lumley, Bede Constantinides, Nicholas Sanderson, Gillian Rodger, Kevin K Chau, Archie Lodge, Maria Tsakok, Fergus Gleeson, David Adlam, Praveen Rao, Das Indrajeet, Aparna Deshpande, Amrita Bajaj, Benjamin J Hudson, Vivek Srivastava, Shakil Farid, George Krasopoulos, Rana Sayeed, Ling-Pei Ho, Stefan Neubauer, David E Newby, Keith M Channon, John Deanfield, Charalambos Antoniades, David J Ahern, Zhichao Ai, Mark Ainsworth, Chris Allan, Alice Allcock, Brian Angus, M Azim Ansari, Carolina Arancibia-Cárcamo, Dominik Aschenbrenner, Moustafa Attar, J Kenneth Baillie, Eleanor Barnes, Rachael Bashford-Rogers, Archana Bashyal, Sally Beer, Georgina Berridge, Amy Beveridge, Sagida Bibi, Tihana Bicanic, Luke Blackwell, Paul Bowness, Andrew Brent, Andrew Brown, John Broxholme, David Buck, Helen Byrne, Susana Camara, Ivan Candido Ferreira, Philip Charles, Wentao Chen, Yi-Ling Chen, Amanda Chong, Elizabeth Clutterbuck, Mark Coles, Christopher Conlon, Richard Cornall, Adam Cribbs, Fabiola Curion, Emma Davenport, Neil Davidson, Simon Davis, Calliope Dendrou, Julie Dequaire, Lea Dib, James Docker, Christina Dold, Tao Dong, Damien Downes, Hal Drakesmith, Susanna Dunachie, David Duncan, Chris Eijsbouts, Robert Esnouf, Alexis Espinosa, Rachel Etherington, Benjamin Fairfax, Rory Fairhead, Hai Fang, Shayan Fassih, Sally Felle, Maria Fernandez Mendoza, Ricardo Ferreira, Roman Fischer, Thomas Foord, Aden Forrow, John Frater, Anastasia Fries, Veronica Gallardo Sanchez, Lucy Garner, Clementine Geeves, Dominique Georgiou, Leila Godfrey, Tanya Golubchik, Maria Gomez Vazquez, Angie Green, Hong Harper, Heather Harrington, Raphael Heilig, Svenja Hester, Jennifer Hill, Charles Hinds, Clare Hird, Renee Hoekzema, Benjamin Hollis, Jim Hughes, Paula Hutton, Matthew Jackson-Wood, Ashwin Jainarayanan, Anna James-Bott, Kathrin Jansen, Katie Jeffery, Elizabeth Jones, Luke Jostins, Georgina Kerr, David Kim, Paul Klenerman, Vinod Kumar, Piyush Kumar Sharma, Prathiba Kurupati, Andrew Kwok, Angela Lee, Aline Linder, Teresa Lockett, Lorne Lonie, Maria Lopopolo, Martyna Lukoseviciute, Jian Luo, Spyridoula Marinou, Brian Marsden, Jose Martinez, Philippa Matthews, Michalina Mazurczyk, Simon McGowan, Stuart McKechnie, Adam Mead, Yuxin Mi, Claudia Monaco, Ruddy Montadon, Giorgio Napolitani, Isar Nassiri, Alex Novak, Darragh O'Brien, Daniel O'Connor, Denise O'Donnell, Graham Ogg, Lauren Overend, Inhye Park, Ian Pavord, Yanchun Peng, Frank Penkava, Mariana Pereira Pinho, Elena Perez, Andrew Pollard, Fiona Powrie, Bethan Psaila, T Phuong Quan, Emmanouela Repapi, Santiago Revale, Laura Silva-Reyes, Jean-Baptiste Richard, Charlotte Rich-Griffin, Thomas Ritter, Christine Rollier, Matthew Rowland, Fabian Ruehle, Mariolina Salio, Stephen Nicholas Sansom, Raphael Sanches Peres, Alberto Santos Delgado, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Ron Schwessinger, Giuseppe Scozzafava, Gavin Screaton, Anna Seigal, Malcolm Semple, Martin Sergeant, Christina Simoglou Karali, David Sims, Donal Skelly, Hubert Slawinski, Alberto Sobrinodiaz, Nikolaos Sousos, Lizzie Stafford, Lisa Stockdale, Marie Strickland, Otto Sumray, Bo Sun, Chelsea Taylor, Stephen Taylor, Adan Taylor, Supat Thongjuea, Hannah Thraves, John Todd, Adriana Tomic, Orion Tong, Amy Trebes, Dominik Trzupek, Felicia Anna Tucci, Lance Turtle, Irina Udalova, Holm Uhlig, Erinke van Grinsven, Iolanda Vendrell, Marije Verheul, Alexandru Voda, Guanlin Wang, Lihui Wang, Dapeng Wang, Peter Watkinson, Robert Watson, Michael Weinberger, Justin Whalley, Lorna Witty, Katherine Wray, Luzheng Xue, Hing Yuen Yeung, Zixi Yin, Rebecca Young, Jonathan Youngs, Ping Zhang, Yasemin-Xiomara Zurke, Adrian Banning, Alexios Antonopoulos, Andrew Kelion, Attila Kardos, Benjamin Hudson, Bon-Kwon Koo, Christos Kotanidis, Ciara Mahon, Colin Berry, David Newby, Derek Connolly, Diane Scaletta, Ed Nicol, Elisa McAlindon, Evangelos Oikonomou, Francesca Pugliese, Gianluca Pontone, Giulia Benedetti, Guo-Wei He, Henry West, Hidekazu Kondo, Imre Benedek, Intrajeet Das, John Graby, John Greenwood, Jonathan Rodrigues, Junbo Ge, Keith Channon, Larissa Fabritz, Li-Juan Fan, Lucy Kingham, Marco Guglielmo, Matthias Schmitt, Meinrad Beer, Michelle Anderson, Milind Desai, Mohamed Marwan, Naohiko Takahashi, Nehal Mehta, Neng Dai, Nicholas Screaton, Nikant Sabharwal, Pál Maurovich-Horvat, Rajesh Kharbanda, Rebecca Preston, Richard Wood, Ron Blankstein, Ronak Rajani, Saeed Mirsadraee, Shahzad Munir, Steffen Klömpken, Steffen Petersen, Stephan Achenbach, Susan Anthony, Sze Mak, Tarun Mittal, Theodora Benedek, Vinoda Sharma, and Wen-Hua Lin
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Inflammation ,SARS-CoV-2 ,lnfectious Diseases and Global Health Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences [Radboudumc 4] ,Angiography ,Medicine (miscellaneous) ,COVID-19 ,Health Informatics ,State Medicine ,Health Information Management ,Artificial Intelligence ,Cytokines ,Humans ,Decision Sciences (miscellaneous) ,Prospective Studies ,Tomography, X-Ray Computed - Abstract
Contains fulltext : 286832.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) BACKGROUND: Direct evaluation of vascular inflammation in patients with COVID-19 would facilitate more efficient trials of new treatments and identify patients at risk of long-term complications who might respond to treatment. We aimed to develop a novel artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted image analysis platform that quantifies cytokine-driven vascular inflammation from routine CT angiograms, and sought to validate its prognostic value in COVID-19. METHODS: For this prospective outcomes validation study, we developed a radiotranscriptomic platform that uses RNA sequencing data from human internal mammary artery biopsies to develop novel radiomic signatures of vascular inflammation from CT angiography images. We then used this platform to train a radiotranscriptomic signature (C19-RS), derived from the perivascular space around the aorta and the internal mammary artery, to best describe cytokine-driven vascular inflammation. The prognostic value of C19-RS was validated externally in 435 patients (331 from study arm 3 and 104 from study arm 4) admitted to hospital with or without COVID-19, undergoing clinically indicated pulmonary CT angiography, in three UK National Health Service (NHS) trusts (Oxford, Leicester, and Bath). We evaluated the diagnostic and prognostic value of C19-RS for death in hospital due to COVID-19, did sensitivity analyses based on dexamethasone treatment, and investigated the correlation of C19-RS with systemic transcriptomic changes. FINDINGS: Patients with COVID-19 had higher C19-RS than those without (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2·97 [95% CI 1·43-6·27], p=0·0038), and those infected with the B.1.1.7 (alpha) SARS-CoV-2 variant had higher C19-RS values than those infected with the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 variant (adjusted OR 1·89 [95% CI 1·17-3·20] per SD, p=0·012). C19-RS had prognostic value for in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 in two testing cohorts (high [≥6·99] vs low [
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- 2022
31. Insights into olfactory ensheathing cell development from a laser‐microdissection and transcriptome‐profiling approach
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Oliver Stubbs, Gos Micklem, Masaharu Noda, Rachel Lyne, Surangi N. Perera, Clare V. H. Baker, Dennis P. Buehler, E. Michelle Southard-Smith, Ruth M. Williams, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Perera, Surangi N [0000-0003-4827-9242], Williams, Ruth M [0000-0002-2628-7834], Lyne, Rachel [0000-0001-8050-402X], Sauka-Spengler, Tatjana [0000-0001-9289-0263], Noda, Masaharu [0000-0002-3796-524X], Micklem, Gos [0000-0002-6883-6168], Southard-Smith, E Michelle [0000-0003-4718-5869], Baker, Clare VH [0000-0002-4434-3107], and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
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0301 basic medicine ,boundary cap cells ,Wnt pathway ,oligodendrocytes ,Biology ,Article ,Mice ,03 medical and health sciences ,Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience ,Olfactory mucosa ,0302 clinical medicine ,Olfactory Mucosa ,Olfactory nerve ,Ptprz1 ,medicine ,Animals ,OECs ,Cells, Cultured ,Laser capture microdissection ,Lasers ,Oligodendrocyte differentiation ,Neural crest ,Cell Differentiation ,Olfactory Bulb ,Olfactory bulb ,Cell biology ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,nervous system ,Neurology ,Olfactory ensheathing glia ,Transcriptome ,neural crest ,Microdissection ,Neuroglia ,Olfactory epithelium ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,trigeminal Schwann cells - Abstract
Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) are neural crest-derived glia that ensheath bundles of olfactory axons from their peripheral origins in the olfactory epithelium to their central targets in the olfactory bulb. We took an unbiased laser microdissection and differential RNA-seq approach, validated by in situ hybridization, to identify candidate molecular mechanisms underlying mouse OEC development and differences with the neural crest-derived Schwann cells developing on other peripheral nerves. We identified 25 novel markers for developing OECs in the olfactory mucosa and/or the olfactory nerve layer surrounding the olfactory bulb, of which 15 were OEC-specific (that is, not expressed by Schwann cells). One pan-OEC-specific gene, Ptprz1, encodes a receptor-like tyrosine phosphatase that blocks oligodendrocyte differentiation. Mutant analysis suggests Ptprz1 may also act as a brake on OEC differentiation, and that its loss disrupts olfactory axon targeting. Overall, our results provide new insights into OEC development and the diversification of neural crest-derived glia.
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- 2020
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32. A blood-based miRNA signature with prognostic value for overall survival in advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer treated with immunotherapy
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Q. Wu, J. Feufel, Nathaniel D. Mercaldo, J. Jehn, A. Daniel-Moreno, S. Hofmann, Mariam Elshiaty, Petros Christopoulos, F. Hinkfoth, Klaus F. Rabe, O. Pelea, J. Ceiler, Florian Uhle, S. Uhle, T. Sikosek, Michael Thomas, Timothy Rajakumar, M. Heuvelman, D. Noetzel, P. Kittneer, B. R. Steinkraus, Markus A. Weigand, R. Horos, J. Schenz, F. Lusky, Q. Ferry, J. Skottke, M. Reck, Thomas Muley, K. Tikk, M. Kahraman, H. Schindler, and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
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Oncology ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Cancer Research ,Myeloid ,Framingham Risk Score ,business.industry ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Immunotherapy ,medicine.disease ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Internal medicine ,microRNA ,medicine ,business ,Adverse effect ,Lung cancer ,Companion diagnostic ,Whole blood - Abstract
Immunotherapies have recently gained traction as highly effective therapies in a subset of late-stage cancers. Unfortunately, only a minority of patients experience the remarkable benefits of immunotherapies, whilst others fail to respond or even come to harm through immune related adverse events. For immunotherapies within the PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor class, patient stratification is currently performed using tumor (tissue-based) PD-L1 expression. However, PD-L1 is an accurate predictor of response in only ∼30% of cases. There is pressing need for more accurate biomarkers for immunotherapy response prediction.We sought to identify peripheral blood biomarkers, predictive of response to immunotherapies against lung cancer, based on whole blood microRNA profiling. Using three well characterized cohorts consisting of a total of 334 stage IV NSCLC patients, we have defined a 5 microRNA risk score (miRisk) that is predictive of overall survival following immunotherapy in training and independent validation (HR 2.40, 95% CI 1.37-4.19; P < 0.01) cohorts. We have traced the signature to a myeloid origin and performed miRNA target prediction to make a direct mechanistic link to the PD-L1 signalling pathway and PD-L1 itself. The miRisk score offers a potential blood-based companion diagnostic for immunotherapy that outperforms tissue-based PD-L1 staining.
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- 2022
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33. Cellular plasticity in the neural crest and cancer
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Zhiyuan Hu and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
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Neural Crest ,Neoplasms ,Neurogenesis ,Cell Plasticity ,Genetics ,Animals ,Humans ,Cell Differentiation ,Developmental Biology - Abstract
In vertebrates, neural crest cells (NCCs) are a multipotent embryonic population generating both neural/neuronal and mesenchymal derivatives, and thus the neural crest (NC) is often referred to as the fourth germ layer. NC development is a dynamic process, where NCCs possess substantial plasticity in transcriptional and epigenomic profiles. Recent technical advances in single-cell and low-input sequencing have empowered fine-resolution characterisation of NC development. In this review, we summarise the latest models underlying NC-plasticity acquirement and cell-fate restriction, outline the connections between NC plasticity and NC-derived cancer and envision the new opportunities in studying NC plasticity and its link to cancer.
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- 2022
34. Multi-layered transcriptional control of cranial neural crest development
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Ivan L. Candido-Ferreira, Martyna Lukoseviciute, and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
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Neural Crest ,Neurogenesis ,Humans ,Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ,Gene Regulatory Networks ,Cell Biology ,Embryonic Stem Cells ,Developmental Biology - Abstract
The neural crest (NC) is an emblematic population of embryonic stem-like cells with remarkable migratory ability. These distinctive attributes have inspired the curiosity of developmental biologists for over 150 years, however only recently the regulatory mechanisms controlling the complex features of the NC have started to become elucidated at genomic scales. Regulatory control of NC development is achieved through combinatorial transcription factor binding and recruitment of associated transcriptional complexes to distal cis-regulatory elements. Together, they regulate when, where and to what extent transcriptional programmes are actively deployed, ultimately shaping ontogenetic processes. Here, we discuss how transcriptional networks control NC ontogeny, with a special emphasis on the molecular mechanisms underlying specification of the cephalic NC. We also cover emerging properties of transcriptional regulation revealed in diverse developmental systems, such as the role of three-dimensional conformation of chromatin, and how they are involved in the regulation of NC ontogeny. Finally, we highlight how advances in deciphering the NC transcriptional network have afforded new insights into the molecular basis of human diseases.
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- 2022
35. Multiomic atlas with functional stratification and developmental dynamics of zebrafish cis-regulatory elements
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Damir Baranasic, Matthias Hörtenhuber, Piotr J. Balwierz, Tobias Zehnder, Abdul Kadir Mukarram, Chirag Nepal, Csilla Várnai, Yavor Hadzhiev, Ada Jimenez-Gonzalez, Nan Li, Joseph Wragg, Fabio M. D’Orazio, Dorde Relic, Mikhail Pachkov, Noelia Díaz, Benjamín Hernández-Rodríguez, Zelin Chen, Marcus Stoiber, Michaël Dong, Irene Stevens, Samuel E. Ross, Anne Eagle, Ryan Martin, Oluwapelumi Obasaju, Sepand Rastegar, Alison C. McGarvey, Wolfgang Kopp, Emily Chambers, Dennis Wang, Hyejeong R. Kim, Rafael D. Acemel, Silvia Naranjo, Maciej Łapiński, Vanessa Chong, Sinnakaruppan Mathavan, Bernard Peers, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Martin Vingron, Piero Carninci, Uwe Ohler, Scott Allen Lacadie, Shawn M. Burgess, Cecilia Winata, Freek van Eeden, Juan M. Vaquerizas, José Luis Gómez-Skarmeta, Daria Onichtchouk, Ben James Brown, Ozren Bogdanovic, Erik van Nimwegen, Monte Westerfield, Fiona C. Wardle, Carsten O. Daub, Boris Lenhard, Ferenc Müller, European Commission, and Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)
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Life sciences ,biology ,Cancer Research ,Genome ,Organogenesis ,Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ,Molecular Sequence Annotation ,Genomics ,Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid ,Zebrafish Proteins ,Chromatin ,Mice ,ddc:570 ,Databases, Genetic ,Genetics ,Animals ,Humans ,Technology Platforms ,Zebrafish - Abstract
14 pages, 8 figures, supplementary information https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-022-01089-w.-- Data availability: Raw and aligned sequencing data are available at https://danio-code.zfin.org/dataExport/. The raw sequencing data produced for this study are available on the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) under study numbers PRJNA824720, PRJNA821001, PRJNA821088, PRJNA821148 and PRJNA821034. Annotation tracks are available at http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=danRer10&hubUrl=https://danio-code.zfin.org/trackhub/DANIO-CODE.hub.txt (danRer10) and http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=danRer11&hubUrl=https://danio-code.zfin.org/trackhub/DANIO-CODE.hub.txt (danRer11). Code availability: The processing pipelines for the individual assays are available at https://gitlab.com/danio-code. The code used for the analysis is available at https://github.com/DANIO-CODE/DANIO-CODE_Data_analysis (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6424702). The script to generate the TrackHub is available at https://gitlab.com/danio-code/TrackHub, Zebrafish, a popular organism for studying embryonic development and for modeling human diseases, has so far lacked a systematic functional annotation program akin to those in other animal models. To address this, we formed the international DANIO-CODE consortium and created a central repository to store and process zebrafish developmental functional genomic data. Our data coordination center (https://danio-code.zfin.org) combines a total of 1,802 sets of unpublished and re-analyzed published genomic data, which we used to improve existing annotations and show its utility in experimental design. We identified over 140,000 cis-regulatory elements throughout development, including classes with distinct features dependent on their activity in time and space. We delineated the distinct distance topology and chromatin features between regulatory elements active during zygotic genome activation and those active during organogenesis. Finally, we matched regulatory elements and epigenomic landscapes between zebrafish and mouse and predicted functional relationships between them beyond sequence similarity, thus extending the utility of zebrafish developmental genomics to mammals, We thank our main funders, the Horizon 2020 MSCA-ITN project ZENCODE-ITN by the European Commission to F.M., B.L., C.O.D., J.M.V. and B.P. (GA no: 643062), BBSRC support (DanioPeaks, P61715) to B.L., F.M. and F.C.W., Wellcome Trust (Joint-Investigator award 106955/Z/15/Z) to F.M. and B.L. and AQUA-FAANG (Horizon 2020, GA 817923) to B.L., D.B. and F.M. and BBSRC (BB/R015457/1) to F.vE and Key Special Project for Introduced Talents Team to Z.C. (GML2019ZD0401) and PrecisionTox project by the European Commission (GA no: 965406), With the institutional support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S)
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- 2022
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36. Author response: Single-cell atlas of early chick development reveals gradual segregation of neural crest lineage from the neural plate border during neurulation
- Author
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Ruth M Williams, Martyna Lukoseviciute, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, and Marianne E Bronner
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- 2021
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37. Integrated annotation and analysis of genomic features reveal new types of functional elements and large-scale epigenetic phenomena in the developing zebrafish
- Author
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Daria Onichtchouk, Carsten O. Daub, Damir Baranasic, Ada Jimenez Gonzalez, Freek van Eeden, Nan Li, Sepand Rastegar, Marcus H. Stoiber, Abdul Kadir Mukarram, Vanessa Chong, Tobias Zehnder, Dennis Wang, Irene Stevens, Joseph W. Wragg, Csilla Várnai, Wolfgang Kopp, Ferenc Müller, Juan M. Vaquerizas, José Luis Gómez-Skarmeta, Sinnakaruppan Mathavan, Scott A. Lacadie, Uwe Ohler, Maciej Lapinski, Hyejeong R. Kim, Shawn M. Burgess, Benjamín Hernández Rodríguez, Fiona C. Wardle, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Matthias Hörtenhuber, Zelin Chen, Alison C. McGarvey, Anne E. Eagle, Monte Westerfield, Ozren Bogdanovic, Samuel E. Ross, Noelia Díaz, Cecilia Lanny Winata, Martin Vingron, Piotr J. Balwierz, Piero Carninci, Chirag Nepal, Ryan Martin, Bernard Peers, Ben Brown, Boris Lenhard, Emily V. Chambers, Rafael D. Acemel, Silvia Naranjo, Yavor Hadzhiev, Pelumi Obasaju, Michaël Dong, and Fabio M. D’Orazio
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Annotation ,biology ,Genomic data ,Scale (chemistry) ,Maternal to zygotic transition ,Genomics ,Epigenetics ,Computational biology ,biology.organism_classification ,Zebrafish ,Epigenomics - Abstract
Zebrafish, a popular model for embryonic development and for modelling human diseases, has so far lacked a systematic functional annotation programme akin to those in other animal models. To address this, we formed the international DANIO-CODE consortium and created the first central repository to store and process zebrafish developmental functional genomic data. Our Data Coordination Center (https://danio-code.zfin.org) combines a total of 1,802 sets of unpublished and reanalysed published genomics data, which we used to improve existing annotations and show its utility in experimental design. We identified over 140,000 cis-regulatory elements in development, including novel classes with distinct features dependent on their activity in time and space. We delineated the distinction between regulatory elements active during zygotic genome activation and those active during organogenesis, identifying new aspects of how they relate to each other. Finally, we matched regulatory elements and epigenomic landscapes between zebrafish and mouse and predict functional relationships between them beyond sequence similarity, extending the utility of zebrafish developmental genomics to mammals.
- Published
- 2021
38. Segregation of neural crest specific lineage trajectories from a heterogeneous neural plate border territory only emerges at neurulation
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Ruth M. Williams, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Marianne E. Bronner, and Martyna Lukoseviciute
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animal structures ,Neural crest ,Vertebrate ,Ectoderm ,Biology ,Gastrulation ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Neurulation ,Evolutionary biology ,Epiblast ,biology.animal ,embryonic structures ,medicine ,PAX7 ,Neural plate - Abstract
The epiblast of vertebrate embryos is comprised of neural and non-neural ectoderm, with the border territory at their intersection harbouring neural crest and cranial placode progenitors. Here we profile avian epiblast cells as a function of time using single-cell RNA-seq to define transcriptional changes in the emerging ‘neural plate border’. The results reveal gradual establishment of heterogeneous neural plate border signatures, including novel genes that we validate by fluorescent in situ hybridisation. Developmental trajectory analysis shows that segregation of neural plate border lineages only commences at early neurulation, rather than at gastrulation as previously predicted. We find that cells expressing the prospective neural crest marker Pax7 contribute to multiple lineages, and a subset of premigratory neural crest cells shares a transcriptional signature with their border precursors. Together, our results suggest that cells at the neural plate border remain heterogeneous until early neurulation, at which time progenitors become progressively allocated toward defined lineages.
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- 2021
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39. A genome-wide assessment of the ancestral neural crest gene regulatory network
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Ivan Candido-Ferreira, Daria Gavriouchkina, Ruth M. Williams, Vanessa Chong-Morrison, Stephen A. Green, Irving T.C. Ling, Marianne E. Bronner, Dorit Hockman, Chris T. Amemiya, J. Joshua Smith, and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Epigenomics ,Gene regulatory network ,General Physics and Astronomy ,Epigenesis, Genetic ,0302 clinical medicine ,Cell Movement ,Developmental ,Gene Regulatory Networks ,Petromyzon ,lcsh:Science ,SOX Transcription Factors ,Regulation of gene expression ,Pediatric ,education.field_of_study ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,Neural crest ,Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ,Cell Differentiation ,Neural Crest ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Evolutionary developmental biology ,Pediatric Research Initiative ,Science ,1.1 Normal biological development and functioning ,Population ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,Genetic ,Underpinning research ,Genetics ,Animals ,14. Life underwater ,Enhancer ,education ,Transcriptomics ,Homeodomain Proteins ,Lamprey ,Gene Expression Profiling ,Human Genome ,Neurosciences ,General Chemistry ,biology.organism_classification ,Regulatory networks ,Gene expression profiling ,030104 developmental biology ,Gene Expression Regulation ,Transcription Factor AP-2 ,Evolutionary biology ,Congenital Structural Anomalies ,lcsh:Q ,Generic health relevance ,Cell Adhesion Molecules ,Epigenesis ,Transcription Factors - Abstract
The neural crest (NC) is an embryonic cell population that contributes to key vertebrate-specific features including the craniofacial skeleton and peripheral nervous system. Here we examine the transcriptional and epigenomic profiles of NC cells in the sea lamprey, in order to gain insight into the ancestral state of the NC gene regulatory network (GRN). Transcriptome analyses identify clusters of co-regulated genes during NC specification and migration that show high conservation across vertebrates but also identify transcription factors (TFs) and cell-adhesion molecules not previously implicated in NC migration. ATAC-seq analysis uncovers an ensemble of cis-regulatory elements, including enhancers of Tfap2B, SoxE1 and Hox-α2 validated in the embryo. Cross-species deployment of lamprey elements identifies the deep conservation of lamprey SoxE1 enhancer activity, mediating homologous expression in jawed vertebrates. Our data provide insight into the core GRN elements conserved to the base of the vertebrates and expose others that are unique to lampreys., An understanding of the ancestral state of the neural crest (NC) gene regulatory network (GRN) gives insight into vertebrate evolution. Here, the authors use transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility analyses of the lamprey NC, as well as cross-species enhancer assays, to identify GRN elements conserved throughout vertebrates.
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- 2019
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40. Distinct epicardial gene regulatory programmes drive development and regeneration of the zebrafish heart
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Paul R. Riley, Michael Weinberger, Filipa C. Simões, and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
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Transcriptome ,Regeneration (biology) ,Gene regulatory network ,Epigenome ,Biology ,biology.organism_classification ,Enhancer ,Neuroscience ,Gene ,Zebrafish ,Chromatin - Abstract
SummaryUnlike the adult mammalian heart, which has limited regenerative capacity, the zebrafish heart can fully regenerate following injury. Reactivation of cardiac developmental programmes is considered key to successfully regenerating the heart, yet the regulatory elements underlying the response triggered upon injury and during development remain elusive. Organ-wide activation of the epicardium is essential for zebrafish heart regeneration and is considered a potential regenerative source to target in the mammalian heart. Here we compared the transcriptome and epigenome of the developing and regenerating zebrafish epicardium by integrating gene expression profiles with open chromatin ATAC-seq data. By generating gene regulatory networks associated with epicardial development and regeneration, we inferred genetic programmes driving each of these processes, which were largely distinct. We identified wt1a, wt1b, and the AP-1 subunits junbb, fosab and fosb as central regulators of the developing network, whereas hif1ab, zbtb7a, tbx2b and nrf1 featured as putative central regulators of the regenerating epicardial network. By interrogating developmental gene regulatory networks that drive cell-specific transcriptional heterogeneity, we tested novel subpopulation-related epicardial enhancers in vivo. Taken together, our work revealed striking differences between the regulatory blueprint deployed during epicardial development and regeneration. These findings challenge the dogma that heart regeneration is essentially a reactivation of developmental programmes, and provide important insights into epicardial regulation that can assist in developing therapeutic approaches to enable tissue regeneration in the adult mammalian heart.
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- 2021
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41. A blood atlas of COVID-19 defines hallmarks of disease severity and specificity
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David J. Ahern, Zhichao Ai, Mark Ainsworth, Chris Allan, Alice Allcock, Brian Angus, M. Azim Ansari, Carolina V. Arancibia-Cárcamo, Dominik Aschenbrenner, Moustafa Attar, J. Kenneth Baillie, Eleanor Barnes, Rachael Bashford-Rogers, Archana Bashyal, Sally Beer, Georgina Berridge, Amy Beveridge, Sagida Bibi, Tihana Bicanic, Luke Blackwell, Paul Bowness, Andrew Brent, Andrew Brown, John Broxholme, David Buck, Katie L. Burnham, Helen Byrne, Susana Camara, Ivan Candido Ferreira, Philip Charles, Wentao Chen, Yi-Ling Chen, Amanda Chong, Elizabeth A. Clutterbuck, Mark Coles, Christopher P. Conlon, Richard Cornall, Adam P. Cribbs, Fabiola Curion, Emma E. Davenport, Neil Davidson, Simon Davis, Calliope A. Dendrou, Julie Dequaire, Lea Dib, James Docker, Christina Dold, Tao Dong, Damien Downes, Hal Drakesmith, Susanna J. Dunachie, David A. Duncan, Chris Eijsbouts, Robert Esnouf, Alexis Espinosa, Rachel Etherington, Benjamin Fairfax, Rory Fairhead, Hai Fang, Shayan Fassih, Sally Felle, Maria Fernandez Mendoza, Ricardo Ferreira, Roman Fischer, Thomas Foord, Aden Forrow, John Frater, Anastasia Fries, Veronica Gallardo Sanchez, Lucy C. Garner, Clementine Geeves, Dominique Georgiou, Leila Godfrey, Tanya Golubchik, Maria Gomez Vazquez, Angie Green, Hong Harper, Heather A. Harrington, Raphael Heilig, Svenja Hester, Jennifer Hill, Charles Hinds, Clare Hird, Ling-Pei Ho, Renee Hoekzema, Benjamin Hollis, Jim Hughes, Paula Hutton, Matthew A. Jackson-Wood, Ashwin Jainarayanan, Anna James-Bott, Kathrin Jansen, Katie Jeffery, Elizabeth Jones, Luke Jostins, Georgina Kerr, David Kim, Paul Klenerman, Julian C. Knight, Vinod Kumar, Piyush Kumar Sharma, Prathiba Kurupati, Andrew Kwok, Angela Lee, Aline Linder, Teresa Lockett, Lorne Lonie, Maria Lopopolo, Martyna Lukoseviciute, Jian Luo, Spyridoula Marinou, Brian Marsden, Jose Martinez, Philippa C. Matthews, Michalina Mazurczyk, Simon McGowan, Stuart McKechnie, Adam Mead, Alexander J. Mentzer, Yuxin Mi, Claudia Monaco, Ruddy Montadon, Giorgio Napolitani, Isar Nassiri, Alex Novak, Darragh P. O'Brien, Daniel O'Connor, Denise O'Donnell, Graham Ogg, Lauren Overend, Inhye Park, Ian Pavord, Yanchun Peng, Frank Penkava, Mariana Pereira Pinho, Elena Perez, Andrew J. Pollard, Fiona Powrie, Bethan Psaila, T. Phuong Quan, Emmanouela Repapi, Santiago Revale, Laura Silva-Reyes, Jean-Baptiste Richard, Charlotte Rich-Griffin, Thomas Ritter, Christine S. Rollier, Matthew Rowland, Fabian Ruehle, Mariolina Salio, Stephen Nicholas Sansom, Raphael Sanches Peres, Alberto Santos Delgado, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Ron Schwessinger, Giuseppe Scozzafava, Gavin Screaton, Anna Seigal, Malcolm G. Semple, Martin Sergeant, Christina Simoglou Karali, David Sims, Donal Skelly, Hubert Slawinski, Alberto Sobrinodiaz, Nikolaos Sousos, Lizzie Stafford, Lisa Stockdale, Marie Strickland, Otto Sumray, Bo Sun, Chelsea Taylor, Stephen Taylor, Adan Taylor, Supat Thongjuea, Hannah Thraves, John A. Todd, Adriana Tomic, Orion Tong, Amy Trebes, Dominik Trzupek, Felicia Anna Tucci, Lance Turtle, Irina Udalova, Holm Uhlig, Erinke van Grinsven, Iolanda Vendrell, Marije Verheul, Alexandru Voda, Guanlin Wang, Lihui Wang, Dapeng Wang, Peter Watkinson, Robert Watson, Michael Weinberger, Justin Whalley, Lorna Witty, Katherine Wray, Luzheng Xue, Hing Yuen Yeung, Zixi Yin, Rebecca K. Young, Jonathan Youngs, Ping Zhang, Yasemin-Xiomara Zurke, Cribbs, AP, and Consortium, COvid-19 Multi-omics Blood ATlas (COMBAT)
- Subjects
Resource ,Adult ,Male ,Myeloid ,Proteome ,coronavirus ,Cell Cycle Proteins ,Disease ,Severity of Illness Index ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Monocytes ,Sepsis ,Machine Learning ,Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 14 ,transcriptomics ,Immune system ,proteomics ,blood ,Influenza, Human ,medicine ,Humans ,Lymphocytes ,Progenitor cell ,Principal Component Analysis ,epigenetics ,business.industry ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Clinical study design ,Acute-phase protein ,COVID-19 ,personalized medicine ,Blood Proteins ,multi-omics ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Coronavirus ,Transcription Factor AP-1 ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Drug development ,Immunology ,Female ,immune ,business ,Biomarkers - Abstract
Treatment of severe COVID-19 is currently limited by clinical heterogeneity and incomplete description of specific immune biomarkers. We present here a comprehensive multi-omic blood atlas for patients with varying COVID-19 severity in an integrated comparison with influenza and sepsis patients versus healthy volunteers. We identify immune signatures and correlates of host response. Hallmarks of disease severity involved cells, their inflammatory mediators and networks, including progenitor cells and specific myeloid and lymphocyte subsets, features of the immune repertoire, acute phase response, metabolism and coagulation. Persisting immune activation involving AP-1/p38MAPK was a specific feature of COVID-19. The plasma proteome enabled sub-phenotyping into patient clusters, predictive of severity and outcome. Systems-based integrative analyses including tensor and matrix decomposition of all modalities revealed feature groupings linked with severity and specificity compared to influenza and sepsis. Our approach and blood atlas will support future drug development, clinical trial design and personalized medicine approaches for COVID-19., Graphical Abstract, A multi-omic analysis of patient blood samples reveals both similarities and specific features of COVID-19 when compared with samples obtained from sepsis or influenza patients which could yield better targetted therapies for severe COVID-19.
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- 2021
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42. Adipocyte-like signature in ovarian cancer minimal residual disease identifies metabolic vulnerabilities of tumor initiating cells
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P N Pathiraja, Nina Wietek, Robin W. Klemm, Matteo Morotti, Kay Chong, Christer S. Ejsing, S Nicum, Fergus V. Gleeson, Christos E. Zois, Zhimin Lu, Robert C. Bast, Kenta Masuda, Stephen Damato, P C Rauher, Christopher Yau, Alexandros Laios, Zhiyuan Hu, Abdulkhaliq Alsaadi, Garry Mallett, L Santana Gonzalez, Takeshi Motohara, Salma El-Sahhar, Leticia Campo, Sunanda Dhar, Adrian L. Harris, Mohammad KaramiNejadRanjbar, Ahmed Ashour Ahmed, Ashwag Albukhari, Sarah P. Blagden, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, and Mara Artibani
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ,Neoplasm, Residual ,Paclitaxel ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Obstetrics/gynecology ,Carcinoma, Ovarian Epithelial ,Carboplatin ,Transcriptome ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Cell Line, Tumor ,hemic and lymphatic diseases ,Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ,Gene expression ,Adipocytes ,medicine ,Humans ,Cytotoxicity ,Aged ,Aged, 80 and over ,Ovarian Neoplasms ,Chemotherapy ,business.industry ,Fatty Acids ,Cytoreduction Surgical Procedures ,General Medicine ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Phenotype ,Minimal residual disease ,Neoadjuvant Therapy ,body regions ,030104 developmental biology ,Oncology ,Cell culture ,Fatty acid oxidation ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Neoplastic Stem Cells ,Cancer research ,Female ,Ovarian cancer ,business ,Oxidation-Reduction ,Research Article - Abstract
Similar to tumor-initiating cells (TICs), minimal residual disease (MRD) is capable of reinitiating tumors and causing recurrence. However, the molecular characteristics of solid tumor MRD cells and drivers of their survival have remained elusive. Here we performed dense multiregion transcriptomics analysis of paired biopsies from 17 ovarian cancer patients before and after chemotherapy. We reveal that while MRD cells share important molecular signatures with TICs, they are also characterized by an adipocyte-like gene expression signature and a portion of them had undergone epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In a cell culture MRD model, MRD-mimic cells showed the same phenotype and were dependent on fatty acid oxidation (FAO) for survival and resistance to cytotoxic agents. These findings identify EMT and FAO as attractive targets to eradicate MRD in ovarian cancer and make a compelling case for the further testing of FAO inhibitors in treating MRD.
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- 2021
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43. Rapid and efficient enhancer cloning and in vivo screening using the developing chick embryo
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Tatjana Sauka-Spengler and Ruth M. Williams
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Science (General) ,ved/biology.organism_classification_rank.species ,Gene Expression ,Computational biology ,Chick Embryo ,Biology ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Q1-390 ,Model Organisms ,In vivo ,Protocol ,CRISPR ,Animals ,Cloning, Molecular ,Enhancer ,Model organism ,Molecular Biology ,Cloning ,General Immunology and Microbiology ,ved/biology ,General Neuroscience ,Embryo ,Restriction enzyme ,Enhancer Elements, Genetic ,Ligation - Abstract
Summary Here, we describe a highly efficient, medium-throughput strategy for cloning and in vivo screening of putative enhancers using the chick embryo. By incorporating 48 unique nanotags for use in NanoString nCounter® across three different fluorescent reporters and developing a rapid and efficient digestion/ligation type IIs restriction enzyme-based cloning protocol, we develop a multiplexed approach for rapidly identifying enhancer activity. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please see Williams et al. (2019)., Graphical abstract, Highlights • Highly efficient, medium-throughput protocol for cloning putative enhancers • Multiplexed, rapid screening strategy for detecting in vivo enhancer activity • Reproducible, non-mosaic validation of spatial and temporal enhancer activity in vivo • Functional conservation allows cross-species enhancer screening, Here, we describe a highly efficient, medium-throughput strategy for cloning and in vivo screening of putative enhancers using the chick embryo. By incorporating 48 unique nanotags for use in NanoString nCounter® across three different fluorescent reporters and developing a rapid and efficient digestion/ligation type IIs restriction enzyme-based cloning protocol, we develop a multiplexed approach for rapidly identifying enhancer activity.
- Published
- 2021
44. The Cranial Neural Crest in a Multiomics Era
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Tatjana Sauka-Spengler and Vanessa Chong-Morrison
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lcsh:QP1-981 ,Physiology ,Gene regulatory network ,epigenome ,Neural crest ,gene regulatory network ,interactome ,Epigenome ,Biology ,Interactome ,lcsh:Physiology ,Cranial neural crest ,Physiology (medical) ,Perspective ,non-coding ,Neuroscience ,neural crest ,transcriptome ,multiomics - Abstract
Neural crest ontogeny plays a prominent role in craniofacial development. In this Perspective article, we discuss recent advances to the understanding of mechanisms underlying the cranial neural crest gene regulatory network (cNC-GRN) stemming fromomics-based studies. We briefly summarize how parallel considerations of transcriptome, interactome, and epigenome data significantly elaborated the roles of key players derived from pre-omicsera studies. Furthermore, the growing cohort of cNC multiomics data revealed contribution of the non-coding genomic landscape. As technological improvements are constantly being developed, we reflect on key questions we are poised to address by taking advantage of the unique perspective a multiomics approach has to offer.
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- 2021
45. Characterising open chromatin in chick embryos identifies cis-regulatory elements important for paraxial mesoderm formation and axis extension
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Simon Moxon, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Eirini Maniou, Ruth M. Williams, Grant N. Wheeler, Gi Fay Mok, Leighton Folkes, Andrea Münsterberg, Alice M. Godden, Shannon A. Weldon, and Victor Martinez-Heredia
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0301 basic medicine ,Cell biology ,animal structures ,Molecular biology ,Lymphoid Enhancer-Binding Factor 1 ,Science ,Gene regulatory network ,General Physics and Astronomy ,Chick Embryo ,Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid ,Biology ,Article ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Mesoderm ,Xenopus laevis ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Developmental biology ,Genetics ,Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors ,Paraxial mesoderm ,Animals ,CDX2 Transcription Factor ,Cell Lineage ,Hox gene ,Transcription factor ,Homeodomain Proteins ,Multidisciplinary ,Gastrulation ,Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ,General Chemistry ,Epigenome ,Paraxial mesoderm formation ,Embryonic stem cell ,Chromatin ,030104 developmental biology ,Somites ,embryonic structures ,Female ,Transcriptome ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Transcription Factors - Abstract
Somites arising from paraxial mesoderm are a hallmark of the segmented vertebrate body plan. They form sequentially during axis extension and generate musculoskeletal cell lineages. How paraxial mesoderm becomes regionalised along the axis and how this correlates with dynamic changes of chromatin accessibility and the transcriptome remains unknown. Here, we report a spatiotemporal series of ATAC-seq and RNA-seq along the chick embryonic axis. Footprint analysis shows differential coverage of binding sites for several key transcription factors, including CDX2, LEF1 and members of HOX clusters. Associating accessible chromatin with nearby expressed genes identifies cis-regulatory elements (CRE) for TCF15 and MEOX1. We determine their spatiotemporal activity and evolutionary conservation in Xenopus and human. Epigenome silencing of endogenous CREs disrupts TCF15 and MEOX1 gene expression and recapitulates phenotypic abnormalities of anterior–posterior axis extension. Our integrated approach allows dissection of paraxial mesoderm regulatory circuits in vivo and has implications for investigating gene regulatory networks., How paraxial mesoderm formation and differentiation is regulated is unclear. Here, the authors identify accessible chromatin and gene expression signatures that define different stages of paraxial mesoderm development in the chick and identify CREs important for vertebrate anterior–posterior axis formation.
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- 2021
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46. Neuromesodermal progenitor origin of trunk neural crestin vivo
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Sarah Mayes, Martyna Lukoseviciute, and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
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education.field_of_study ,Population ,Embryogenesis ,Neural crest ,Biology ,Ectomesenchymal cell ,education ,FOXD3 ,Embryonic stem cell ,Trunk ,Cell biology ,Progenitor - Abstract
Neural crest (NC) is a vertebrate-specific population of multipotent embryonic cells predisposed to diverse derivatives along the anteroposterior (A-P) axis. Only cranial NC progenitors give rise to ectomesenchymal cell types, whereas trunk NC is biased for neuronal cell fates. By integrating multimodal single-cell analysis, we provide evidence for divergent embryonic origins of cranial vs. trunk NC that explain this dichotomy. We show that the NC regulator foxd3 is heterogeneously expressed across the A-P axis and identify its specific cranial and trunk autoregulatory enhancers. Whereas cranial-specific enhancer is active in thebona fideNC, the trunk foxd3 autoregulatory element surprisingly marked bipotent tailbud neuromesodermal progenitors (NMps). We integrated NMp single cell epigemomics and trasncriptomics data and for the first time reconstructed anamniote NMp gene regulatory network. Moreover, using pseudotime and developmental trajectory analyses of NMps and NC during normal development and infoxd3mutants, we demonstrate an active role for foxd3 in balancing non-cranial NC and NMp fates during early embryonic development. Strikingly, we show that a portion of posterior NC in the developing zebrafish embryo is derived from the pro-neural NMps. This suggests a common embryonic origin of trunk NC and NM progenitors that is distinct from cranial NC anlage, and elucidates pro-neural bias of trunk NC.
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- 2021
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47. Neuromesodermal Progenitor Origin of Trunk Neural Crest in vivo
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Martyna Lukoseviciute, Sarah Mayes, and Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
- Subjects
education.field_of_study ,Embryogenesis ,Population ,Gene regulatory network ,Neural crest ,Embryo ,Ectomesenchymal cell ,Biology ,education ,Embryonic stem cell ,Progenitor ,Cell biology - Abstract
Neural crest (NC) is a vertebrate-specific population of multipotent embryonic cells predisposed to diverse derivatives along the anteroposterior (A-P) axis. Only cranial NC progenitors give rise to ectomesenchymal cell types, whereas trunk NC is biased for neuronal cell fates. By integrating multimodal single-cell analysis, we provide evidence for divergent embryonic origins of cranial vs. trunk NC that explain this dichotomy. We show that the NC regulator neural crest, neuromesodermal progenitors, gene regulatory network, axial progenitors, embryo patterning is heterogeneously expressed across the A-P axis and identify its specific cranial and trunk autoregulatory enhancers. Whereas cranial-specific enhancer is active in the bona fide NC, the trunk neural crest, neuromesodermal progenitors, gene regulatory network, axial progenitors, embryo patterning autoregulatory element surprisingly marked bipotent tailbud neuromesodermal progenitors (NMps). We integrated NMp single cell epigemomics and trasncriptomics data and for the first time reconstructed anamniote NMp gene regulatory network. Moreover, using pseudotime and developmental trajectory analyses of NMps and NC during normal development and inneural crest, neuromesodermal progenitors, gene regulatory network, axial progenitors, embryo patterning mutants, we demonstrate an active role for neural crest, neuromesodermal progenitors, gene regulatory network, axial progenitors, embryo patterning in balancing non-cranial NC and NMp fates during early embryonic development. Strikingly, we show that a portion of posterior NC in the developing zebrafish embryo is derived from the pro-neural NMps. This suggests a common embryonic origin of trunk NC and NM progenitors that is distinct from cranial NC anlage, and elucidates pro-neural bias of trunk NC.
- Published
- 2021
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48. Evidence from oyster suggests an ancient role for Pdx in regulating insulin gene expression in animals
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Fei, Xu, Ferdinand, Marlétaz, Daria, Gavriouchkina, Xiao, Liu, Tatjana, Sauka-Spengler, Guofan, Zhang, Peter W. H., Holland, Fei, Xu, Ferdinand, Marlétaz, Daria, Gavriouchkina, Xiao, Liu, Tatjana, Sauka-Spengler, Guofan, Zhang, and Peter W. H., Holland
- Abstract
Hox and ParaHox genes encode transcription factors with similar expression patterns in divergent animals. The Pdx (Xlox) homeobox gene, for example, is expressed in a sharp spatial domain in the endodermal cell layer of the gut in chordates, echinoderms, annelids and molluscs. The significance of comparable gene expression patterns is unclear because it is not known if downstream transcriptional targets are also conserved. Here, we report evidence indicating that a classic transcriptional target of Pdx1 in vertebrates, the insulin gene, is a likely direct target of Pdx in Pacific oyster adults. We show that one insulin-related gene, cgILP, is co-expressed with cgPdx in oyster digestive tissue. Transcriptomic comparison suggests that this tissue plays a similar role to the vertebrate pancreas. Using ATAC-seq and ChIP, we identify an upstream regulatory element of the cgILP gene which shows binding interaction with cgPdx protein in oyster hepatopancreas and demonstrate, using a cell culture assay, that the oyster Pdx can act as a transcriptional activator through this site, possibly in synergy with NeuroD. These data argue that a classic homeodomain-target gene interaction dates back to the origin of Bilateria. In vertebrates insulin is a direct transcriptional target of Pdx: the same is true in Pacific oysters and the authors show insulin-related gene, cgILP, is co-expressed with cgPdx in oyster digestive tissue, showing this gene interaction dates back to the origin of Bilateria., source:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23216-7
- Published
- 2021
49. Loss of Extreme Long-Range Enhancers in Human Neural Crest Drives a Craniofacial Disorder
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Yiran E. Liu, Diane E. Dickel, Robert Aho, Mervenaz Koska, Hannah K. Long, Neha Arora, Licia Selleri, Matthew H. Porteus, Alexander T. Adams, Ian C. Welsh, Ruth M. Williams, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, James O.J. Davies, Marco Osterwalder, Douglas R. Higgs, Karissa Hansen, Kazuya Ikeda, Axel Visel, Tomek Swigut, Timothy J. Mohun, Jim R. Hughes, and Joanna Wysocka
- Subjects
Pediatric Research Initiative ,Mutation/genetics ,Cellular differentiation ,gene dosage ,non-coding mutation ,SOX9 ,Biology ,Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid ,craniofacial ,Medical and Health Sciences ,Gene dosage ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Stem Cell Research - Nonembryonic - Human ,Genetics ,Humans ,Stem Cell Research - Embryonic - Human ,Dental/Oral and Craniofacial Disease ,Craniofacial ,Enhancer ,Gene ,030304 developmental biology ,Pediatric ,0303 health sciences ,Pierre Robin sequence ,Nucleic Acid ,Pierre Robin Syndrome ,enhanceropathy ,Neural crest ,SOX9 Transcription Factor ,Cell Differentiation ,Cell Biology ,Biological Sciences ,Stem Cell Research ,Phenotype ,Cell biology ,SOX9 Transcription Factor/genetics ,long-range regulation ,Neural Crest ,Mutation ,Congenital Structural Anomalies ,Molecular Medicine ,enhancer ,transcription ,Regulatory Sequences ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Developmental Biology - Abstract
Summary Non-coding mutations at the far end of a large gene desert surrounding the SOX9 gene result in a human craniofacial disorder called Pierre Robin sequence (PRS). Leveraging a human stem cell differentiation model, we identify two clusters of enhancers within the PRS-associated region that regulate SOX9 expression during a restricted window of facial progenitor development at distances up to 1.45 Mb. Enhancers within the 1.45 Mb cluster exhibit highly synergistic activity that is dependent on the Coordinator motif. Using mouse models, we demonstrate that PRS phenotypic specificity arises from the convergence of two mechanisms: confinement of Sox9 dosage perturbation to developing facial structures through context-specific enhancer activity and heightened sensitivity of the lower jaw to Sox9 expression reduction. Overall, we characterize the longest-range human enhancers involved in congenital malformations, directly demonstrate that PRS is an enhanceropathy, and illustrate how small changes in gene expression can lead to morphological variation., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Extreme long-range enhancer clusters overlap PRS patient mutations at the SOX9 locus • PRS enhancers drive stage-specific SOX9 expression in the cranial neural crest • Mandible development has heightened sensitivity to perturbation of SOX9 gene dosage • Deletion of mouse EC1.45 leads to quantitative changes in mandible morphology, Non-coding mutations over a megabase from SOX9 cause the craniofacial disorder Pierre Robin sequence (PRS). Long et al. leverage a human neural crest model to demonstrate that PRS is caused by loss of extreme long-range enhancers active during a restricted developmental window and explore mechanisms underlying the specificity of disease manifestations.
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- 2020
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50. Tissue-Specific In Vivo Biotin Chromatin Immunoprecipitation with Sequencing in Zebrafish and Chicken
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Ivan Candido-Ferreira, Upeka Senanayake, Irving T.C. Ling, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Ruth M. Williams, Gunes Taylor, and Martyna Lukoseviciute
- Subjects
Streptavidin ,Chromatin Immunoprecipitation ,genetic processes ,Biotin ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,03 medical and health sciences ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,0302 clinical medicine ,Protocol ,Animals ,natural sciences ,lcsh:Science (General) ,Zebrafish ,Transcription factor ,Cells, Cultured ,030304 developmental biology ,chemistry.chemical_classification ,Regulation of gene expression ,0303 health sciences ,DNA ligase ,General Immunology and Microbiology ,biology ,General Neuroscience ,Sequence Analysis, DNA ,biology.organism_classification ,3. Good health ,Cell biology ,chemistry ,Organ Specificity ,Biotinylation ,Chickens ,Chromatin immunoprecipitation ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Transcription Factors ,lcsh:Q1-390 - Abstract
Summary Chromatin immunoprecipitation with sequencing (ChIP-seq) has been instrumental in understanding transcription factor (TF) binding during gene regulation. ChIP-seq requires specific antibodies against desired TFs, which are not available for numerous species. Here, we describe a tissue-specific biotin ChIP-seq protocol for zebrafish and chicken embryos which utilizes AVI tagging of TFs, permitting their biotinylation by a co-expressed nuclear biotin ligase. Subsequently, biotinylated factors can be precipitated with streptavidin beads, enabling the user to construct TF genome-wide binding landscapes like conventional ChIP-seq methods. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please see Lukoseviciute et al. (2018) and Ling and Sauka-Spengler (2019)., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Tissue-specific in vivo ChIP for biotinylated DNA-binding proteins of interest • Protocol generates genome-wide binding maps in chicken or zebrafish • ChIP-seq can be performed without antibody usage and cell sorting • Protocol requires a relatively low number of cells as input (100,000–150,000), Chromatin immunoprecipitation with sequencing (ChIP-seq) has been instrumental in understanding transcription factor (TF) binding during gene regulation. ChIP-seq requires specific antibodies against desired TFs, which are not available for numerous species. Here, we describe a tissue-specific biotin ChIP-seq protocol for zebrafish and chicken embryos which utilizes AVI tagging of TFs, permitting their biotinylation by a co-expressed nuclear biotin ligase. Subsequently, biotinylated factors can be precipitated with streptavidin beads, enabling the user to construct TF genome-wide binding landscapes like conventional ChIP-seq methods.
- Published
- 2020
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