Functional annotation of human long noncoding RNAs via molecular phenotyping.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) constitute the majority of transcripts in the mammalian genomes, and yet, their functions remain largely unknown. As part of the FANTOM6 project, we systematically knocked down the expression of 285 lncRNAs in human dermal fibroblasts and quantified cellular growth, morphological changes, and transcriptomic responses using Capped Analysis of Gene Expression (CAGE). Antisense oligonucleotides targeting the same lncRNAs exhibited global concordance, and the molecular phenotype, measured by CAGE, recapitulated the observed cellular phenotypes while providing additional insights on the affected genes and pathways. Here, we disseminate the largest-to-date lncRNA knockdown data set with molecular phenotyping (over 1000 CAGE deep-sequencing libraries) for further exploration and highlight functional roles for ZNF213-AS1 and lnc-KHDC3L-2.

Biased allelic expression in human primary fibroblast single cells.

The study of gene expression in mammalian single cells via genomic technologies now provides the possibility to investigate the patterns of allelic gene expression. We used single-cell RNA sequencing to detect the allele-specific mRNA level in 203 single human primary fibroblasts over 133,633 unique heterozygous single-nucleotide variants (hetSNVs). We observed that at the snapshot of analyses, each cell contained mostly transcripts from one allele from the majority of genes; indeed, 76.4% of the hetSNVs displayed stochastic monoallelic expression in single cells. Remarkably, adjacent hetSNVs exhibited a haplotype-consistent allelic ratio; in contrast, distant sites located in two different genes were independent of the haplotype structure. Moreover, the allele-specific expression in single cells correlated with the abundance of the cellular transcript. We observed that genes expressing both alleles in the majority of the single cells at a given time point were rare and enriched with highly expressed genes. The relative abundance of each allele in a cell was controlled by some regulatory mechanisms given that we observed related single-cell allelic profiles according to genes. Overall, these results have direct implications in cellular phenotypic variability.

CAGE profiling of ncRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma reveals widespread activation of retroviral LTR promoters in virus-induced tumors.

An increasing number of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been implicated in various human diseases including cancer; however, the ncRNA transcriptome of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is largely unexplored. We used CAGE to map transcription start sites across various types of human and mouse HCCs with emphasis on ncRNAs distant from protein-coding genes. Here, we report that retroviral LTR promoters, expressed in healthy tissues such as testis and placenta but not liver, are widely activated in liver tumors. Despite HCC heterogeneity, a subset of LTR-derived ncRNAs were more than 10-fold up-regulated in the vast majority of samples. HCCs with a high LTR activity mostly had a viral etiology, were less differentiated, and showed higher risk of recurrence. ChIP-seq data show that MYC and MAX are associated with ncRNA deregulation. Globally, CAGE enabled us to build a mammalian promoter map for HCC, which uncovers a new layer of complexity in HCC genomics.

MBV: a method to solve sample mislabeling and detect technical bias in large combined genotype and sequencing assay datasets.

MOTIVATION: Large genomic datasets combining genotype and sequence data, such as for expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) detection, require perfect matching between both data types. RESULTS: We described here MBV (Match BAM to VCF); a method to quickly solve sample mislabeling and detect cross-sample contamination and PCR amplification bias. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: MBV is implemented in C ++ as an independent component of the QTLtools software package, the binary and source codes are freely available at https://qtltools.github.io/qtltools/ . CONTACT: olivier.delaneau@unige.ch or emmanouil.dermitzakis@unige.ch. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

A liver enhancer in the fibrinogen gene cluster.

The plasma concentration of fibrinogen varies in the healthy human population between 1.5 and 3.5 g/L. Understanding the basis of this variability has clinical importance because elevated fibrinogen levels are associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk. To identify novel regulatory elements involved in the control of fibrinogen expression, we used sequence conservation and in silico-predicted regulatory potential to select 14 conserved noncoding sequences (CNCs) within the conserved block of synteny containing the fibrinogen locus. The regulatory potential of each CNC was tested in vitro using a luciferase reporter gene assay in fibrinogen-expressing hepatoma cell lines (HuH7 and HepG2). 4 potential enhancers were tested for their ability to direct enhanced green fluorescent protein expression in zebrafish embryos. CNC12, a sequence equidistant from the human fibrinogen alpha and beta chain genes, activates strong liver enhanced green fluorescent protein expression in injected embryos and their transgenic progeny. A transgenic assay in embryonic day 14.5 mouse embryos confirmed the ability of CNC12 to activate transcription in the liver. While additional experiments are necessary to prove the role of CNC12 in the regulation of fibrinogen, our study reveals a novel regulatory element in the fibrinogen locus that is active in the liver and may contribute to variable fibrinogen expression in humans.

Loss of Dicer in Sertoli cells has a major impact on the testicular proteome of mice.

Sertoli cells (SCs) are the central, essential coordinators of spermatogenesis, without which germ cell development cannot occur. We previously showed that Dicer, an RNaseIII endonuclease required for microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis, is absolutely essential for Sertoli cells to mature, survive, and ultimately sustain germ cell development. Here, using isotope-coded protein labeling, a technique for protein relative quantification by mass spectrometry, we investigated the impact of Sertoli cell-Dicer and subsequent miRNA loss on the testicular proteome. We found that, a large proportion of proteins (50 out of 130) are up-regulated by more that 1.3-fold in testes lacking Sertoli cell-Dicer, yet that this protein up-regulation is mild, never exceeding a 2-fold change, and is not preceeded by alterations of the corresponding mRNAs. Of note, the expression levels of six proteins of interest were further validated using the Absolute Quantification (AQUA) peptide technology. Furthermore, through 3'UTR luciferase assays we identified one up-regulated protein, SOD-1, a Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase whose overexpression has been linked to enhanced cell death through apoptosis, as a likely direct target of three Sertoli cell-expressed miRNAs, miR-125a-3p, miR-872 and miR-24. Altogether, our study, which is one of the few in vivo analyses of miRNA effects on protein output, suggests that, at least in our system, miRNAs play a significant role in translation control.

Regulation of fibrinogen production by microRNAs.

Elevated levels of fibrinogen are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, whereas low fibrinogen can lead to a bleeding disorder. We investigated whether microRNAs (miRNAs), known to act as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression, regulate fibrinogen production. Using transfection of a library of 470 annotated human miRNA precursor molecules in HuH7 hepatoma cells and quantitative measurements of fibrinogen production, we identified 23 miRNAs with down-regulating (up to 64% decrease) and 4 with up-regulating effects (up to 129% increase) on fibrinogen production. Among the down-regulating miRNAs, we investigated the mechanism of action of 3 hsa-miR-29 family members and hsa-miR-409-3p. Overexpression of hsa-miR-29 members led to decreased steady-state levels of all fibrinogen gene (FGA, FGB, and FGG) transcripts in HuH7 cells. Luciferase reporter gene assays demonstrated that this was independent of miRNA-fibrinogen 3'-untranslated region interactions. In contrast, overexpression of hsa-miR-409-3p specifically lowered fibrinogen Bß mRNA levels, and this effect was dependent on a target site in the fibrinogen Bß mRNA 3'-untranslated region. This study adds to the known mechanisms that control fibrinogen production, points toward a potential cause of variable circulating fibrinogen levels, and demonstrates that a screening approach can identify miRNAs that regulate clinically important proteins.

Nuclear AGO1 Regulates Gene Expression by Affecting Chromatin Architecture in Human Cells.

The impact of mammalian RNA interference components, particularly, Argonaute proteins, on chromatin organization is unexplored. Recent reports indicate that AGO1 association with chromatin appears to influence gene expression. To uncover the role of AGO1 in the nucleus, we used a combination of genome-wide approaches in control and AGO1-depleted HepG2 cells. We found that AGO1 strongly associates with active enhancers and RNA being produced at those sites. Hi-C analysis revealed AGO1 enrichment at the boundaries of topologically associated domains (TADs). By Hi-C in AGO1 knockdown cells, we observed changes in chromatin organization, including TADs and A/B compartment mixing, specifically in AGO1-bound regions. Distinct groups of genes and especially eRNA transcripts located within differentially interacting loci showed altered expression upon AGO1 depletion. Moreover, AGO1 association with enhancers is dependent on eRNA transcription. Collectively, our data suggest that enhancer-associated AGO1 contributes to the fine-tuning of chromatin architecture and gene expression in human cells.

Deep Cap Analysis of Gene Expression (CAGE): Genome-Wide Identification of Promoters, Quantification of Their Activity, and Transcriptional Network Inference.

Among the most significant findings of the post-genomic era, the discovery of pervasive transcription of mammalian genomes has tremendously modified our understanding of the genome output seen as RNA molecules. The increased focus on non-protein-coding genomic regions together with concomitant technological innovations has led to rapid discovery of numerous noncoding transcripts (ncRNAs). Biological relevance and functional roles of the vast majority of these ncRNAs remain largely unknown.The cap analysis of gene expression (CAGE) technology allows accurate transcript detection and quantification without relying on preexisting transcript models. In combination with complementary data sets, generated using other technologies, it has been shown as an efficient approach for exploring transcriptome complexity.Here, we describe the use of CAGE for the identification of novel noncoding transcripts in mammalian cells providing detailed information for basic data processing and advanced bioinformatics analyses.

A complete tool set for molecular QTL discovery and analysis.

Population scale studies combining genetic information with molecular phenotypes (for example, gene expression) have become a standard to dissect the effects of genetic variants onto organismal phenotypes. These kinds of data sets require powerful, fast and versatile methods able to discover molecular Quantitative Trait Loci (molQTL). Here we propose such a solution, QTLtools, a modular framework that contains multiple new and well-established methods to prepare the data, to discover proximal and distal molQTLs and, finally, to integrate them with GWAS variants and functional annotations of the genome. We demonstrate its utility by performing a complete expression QTL study in a few easy-to-perform steps. QTLtools is open source and available at https://qtltools.github.io/qtltools/.

The effect of genetic variation on promoter usage and enhancer activity.

The identification of genetic variants affecting gene expression, namely expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs), has contributed to the understanding of mechanisms underlying human traits and diseases. The majority of these variants map in non-coding regulatory regions of the genome and their identification remains challenging. Here, we use natural genetic variation and CAGE transcriptomes from 154 EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines, derived from unrelated individuals, to map 5376 and 110 regulatory variants associated with promoter usage (puQTLs) and enhancer activity (eaQTLs), respectively. We characterize five categories of genes associated with puQTLs, distinguishing single from multi-promoter genes. Among multi-promoter genes, we find puQTL effects either specific to a single promoter or to multiple promoters with variable effect orientations. Regulatory variants associated with opposite effects on different mRNA isoforms suggest compensatory mechanisms occurring between alternative promoters. Our analyses identify differential promoter usage and modulation of enhancer activity as molecular mechanisms underlying eQTLs related to regulatory elements.

An integrated expression atlas of miRNAs and their promoters in human and mouse.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs with key roles in cellular regulation. As part of the fifth edition of the Functional Annotation of Mammalian Genome (FANTOM5) project, we created an integrated expression atlas of miRNAs and their promoters by deep-sequencing 492 short RNA (sRNA) libraries, with matching Cap Analysis Gene Expression (CAGE) data, from 396 human and 47 mouse RNA samples. Promoters were identified for 1,357 human and 804 mouse miRNAs and showed strong sequence conservation between species. We also found that primary and mature miRNA expression levels were correlated, allowing us to use the primary miRNA measurements as a proxy for mature miRNA levels in a total of 1,829 human and 1,029 mouse CAGE libraries. We thus provide a broad atlas of miRNA expression and promoters in primary mammalian cells, establishing a foundation for detailed analysis of miRNA expression patterns and transcriptional control regions.

Nuclear transcriptome profiling of induced pluripotent stem cells and embryonic stem cells identify non-coding loci resistant to reprogramming.

Identification of functionally relevant differences between induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and reference embryonic stem cells (ESC) remains a central question for therapeutic applications. Differences in gene expression between iPSC and ESC have been examined by microarray and more recently with RNA-SEQ technologies. We here report an in depth analyses of nuclear and cytoplasmic transcriptomes, using the CAGE (cap analysis of gene expression) technology, for 5 iPSC clones derived from mouse lymphocytes B and 3 ESC lines. This approach reveals nuclear transcriptomes significantly more complex in ESC than in iPSC. Hundreds of yet not annotated putative non-coding RNAs and enhancer-associated transcripts specifically transcribed in ESC have been detected and supported with epigenetic and chromatin-chromatin interactions data. We identified super-enhancers transcriptionally active specifically in ESC and associated with genes implicated in the maintenance of pluripotency. Similarly, we detected non-coding transcripts of yet unknown function being regulated by ESC specific super-enhancers. Taken together, these results demonstrate that current protocols of iPSC reprogramming do not trigger activation of numerous cis-regulatory regions. It thus reinforces the need for already suggested deeper monitoring of the non-coding transcriptome when characterizing iPSC clones. Such differences in regulatory transcript expression may indeed impact their potential for clinical applications.

HSA21 Single-Minded 2 (Sim2) Binding Sites Co-Localize with Super-Enhancers and Pioneer Transcription Factors in Pluripotent Mouse ES Cells.

The HSA21 encoded Single-minded 2 (SIM2) transcription factor has key neurological functions and is a good candidate to be involved in the cognitive impairment of Down syndrome. We aimed to explore the functional capacity of SIM2 by mapping its DNA binding sites in mouse embryonic stem cells. ChIP-sequencing revealed 1229 high-confidence SIM2-binding sites. Analysis of the SIM2 target genes confirmed the importance of SIM2 in developmental and neuronal processes and indicated that SIM2 may be a master transcription regulator. Indeed, SIM2 DNA binding sites share sequence specificity and overlapping domains of occupancy with master transcription factors such as SOX2, OCT4 (Pou5f1), NANOG or KLF4. The association between SIM2 and these pioneer factors is supported by co-immunoprecipitation of SIM2 with SOX2, OCT4, NANOG or KLF4. Furthermore, the binding of SIM2 marks a particular sub-category of enhancers known as super-enhancers. These regions are characterized by typical DNA modifications and Mediator co-occupancy (MED1 and MED12). Altogether, we provide evidence that SIM2 binds a specific set of enhancer elements thus explaining how SIM2 can regulate its gene network in neuronal features.

Deep transcriptome profiling of mammalian stem cells supports a regulatory role for retrotransposons in pluripotency maintenance.

The importance of microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs in the regulation of pluripotency has been documented; however, the noncoding components of stem cell gene networks remain largely unknown. Here we investigate the role of noncoding RNAs in the pluripotent state, with particular emphasis on nuclear and retrotransposon-derived transcripts. We have performed deep profiling of the nuclear and cytoplasmic transcriptomes of human and mouse stem cells, identifying a class of previously undetected stem cell-specific transcripts. We show that long terminal repeat (LTR)-derived transcripts contribute extensively to the complexity of the stem cell nuclear transcriptome. Some LTR-derived transcripts are associated with enhancer regions and are likely to be involved in the maintenance of pluripotency.

Developmental expression and organisation of fibrinogen genes in the zebrafish.

The zebrafish is a model organism for studying vertebrate development and many human diseases. Orthologues of the majority of human coagulation factors are present in zebrafish, including fibrinogen. As a first step towards using zebrafish to model human fibrinogen disorders, we cloned the zebrafish fibrinogen cDNAs and made in situ hybridisations and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reactions (qRT-PCR) to detect zebrafish fibrinogen mRNAs. Prior to liver development or blood flow we detected zebrafish fibrinogen expression in the embryonic yolk syncytial layer and then in the early cells of the developing liver. While human fibrinogen is encoded by a three-gene, 50 kilobase (kb) cluster on chromosome 4 ( FGB-FGA-FGG ), recent genome assemblies showed that the zebrafish fgg gene appears distanced from fga and fgb , which we confirmed by in situ hybridisation. The zebrafish fibrinogen Bß and γ protein chains are conserved at over 50% of amino acid positions, compared to the human polypeptides. The zebrafish Aα chain is less conserved and its C-terminal region is nearly 200 amino acids shorter than human Aα. We generated transgenic zebrafish which express a green fluorescent protein reporter gene under the control of a 1.6 kb regulatory region from zebrafish fgg . Transgenic embryos showed strong fluorescence in the developing liver, mimicking endogenous fibrinogen expression. This regulatory sequence can now be used for overexpression of transgenes in zebrafish hepatocytes. Our study is a proof-of-concept step towards using zebrafish to model human disease linked to fibrinogen gene mutations.

A novel frameshift mutation in FGA (c.1846 del A) leading to congenital afibrinogenemia in a consanguineous Syrian family.

Congenital afibrinogenemia is a rare autosomal recessive coagulation disorder characterized essentially by bleeding symptoms, but miscarriages and, paradoxically, thromboembolic events can also occur. Most reported mutations leading to congenital afibrinogenemia are located in FGA encoding the fibrinogen A α-chain. In this study, we analysed 12 individuals from a consanguineous Syrian family with reduced or absent fibrinogen levels: those with fibrinogen levels around 1 g/l (n = 7) were found to be heterozygous for a novel frameshift mutation in FGA exon 5 (c.1846 del A) and those with undetectable fibrinogen levels (n = 5) were homozygous for the same mutation. This novel frameshift mutation is the most C-terminal causative FGA mutation identified to date in afibrinogenemic patients. The resulting aberrant Aα-chain (p.Thr616HisfsX32) is most likely synthesized, but is less efficiently assembled and/or secreted into the circulation given the phenotype of asymptomatic hypofibrinogenemia in heterozygous individuals and bleeding diathesis in homozygous individuals.