Ketone Body Signaling Mediates Intestinal Stem Cell Homeostasis and Adaptation to Diet.

Little is known about how metabolites couple tissue-specific stem cell function with physiology. Here we show that, in the mammalian small intestine, the expression of Hmgcs2 (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthetase 2), the gene encoding the rate-limiting enzyme in the production of ketone bodies, including beta-hydroxybutyrate (ßOHB), distinguishes self-renewing Lgr5+ stem cells (ISCs) from differentiated cell types. Hmgcs2 loss depletes ßOHB levels in Lgr5+ ISCs and skews their differentiation toward secretory cell fates, which can be rescued by exogenous ßOHB and class I histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor treatment. Mechanistically, ßOHB acts by inhibiting HDACs to reinforce Notch signaling, instructing ISC self-renewal and lineage decisions. Notably, although a high-fat ketogenic diet elevates ISC function and post-injury regeneration through ßOHB-mediated Notch signaling, a glucose-supplemented diet has the opposite effects. These findings reveal how control of ßOHB-activated signaling in ISCs by diet helps to fine-tune stem cell adaptation in homeostasis and injury.

Braveheart, a long noncoding RNA required for cardiovascular lineage commitment.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are often expressed in a development-specific manner, yet little is known about their roles in lineage commitment. Here, we identified Braveheart (Bvht), a heart-associated lncRNA in mouse. Using multiple embryonic stem cell (ESC) differentiation strategies, we show that Bvht is required for progression of nascent mesoderm toward a cardiac fate. We find that Bvht is necessary for activation of a core cardiovascular gene network and functions upstream of mesoderm posterior 1 (MesP1), a master regulator of a common multipotent cardiovascular progenitor. We also show that Bvht interacts with SUZ12, a component of polycomb-repressive complex 2 (PRC2), during cardiomyocyte differentiation, suggesting that Bvht mediates epigenetic regulation of cardiac commitment. Finally, we demonstrate a role for Bvht in maintaining cardiac fate in neonatal cardiomyocytes. Together, our work provides evidence for a long noncoding RNA with critical roles in the establishment of the cardiovascular lineage during mammalian development.

The endoplasmic reticulum proteostasis network profoundly shapes the protein sequence space accessible to HIV envelope.

The sequence space accessible to evolving proteins can be enhanced by cellular chaperones that assist biophysically defective clients in navigating complex folding landscapes. It is also possible, at least in theory, for proteostasis mechanisms that promote strict quality control to greatly constrain accessible protein sequence space. Unfortunately, most efforts to understand how proteostasis mechanisms influence evolution rely on artificial inhibition or genetic knockdown of specific chaperones. The few experiments that perturb quality control pathways also generally modulate the levels of only individual quality control factors. Here, we use chemical genetic strategies to tune proteostasis networks via natural stress response pathways that regulate the levels of entire suites of chaperones and quality control mechanisms. Specifically, we upregulate the unfolded protein response (UPR) to test the hypothesis that the host endoplasmic reticulum (ER) proteostasis network shapes the sequence space accessible to human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) envelope (Env) protein. Elucidating factors that enhance or constrain Env sequence space is critical because Env evolves extremely rapidly, yielding HIV strains with antibody- and drug-escape mutations. We find that UPR-mediated upregulation of ER proteostasis factors, particularly those controlled by the IRE1-XBP1s UPR arm, globally reduces Env mutational tolerance. Conserved, functionally important Env regions exhibit the largest decreases in mutational tolerance upon XBP1s induction. Our data indicate that this phenomenon likely reflects strict quality control endowed by XBP1s-mediated remodeling of the ER proteostasis environment. Intriguingly, and in contrast, specific regions of Env, including regions targeted by broadly neutralizing antibodies, display enhanced mutational tolerance when XBP1s is induced, hinting at a role for host proteostasis network hijacking in potentiating antibody escape. These observations reveal a key function for proteostasis networks in decreasing instead of expanding the sequence space accessible to client proteins, while also demonstrating that the host ER proteostasis network profoundly shapes the mutational tolerance of Env in ways that could have important consequences for HIV adaptation.

Expanded MutaT7 toolkit efficiently and simultaneously accesses all possible transition mutations in bacteria.

Targeted mutagenesis mediated by nucleotide base deaminase-T7 RNA polymerase fusions has recently emerged as a novel and broadly useful strategy to power genetic diversification in the context of in vivo directed evolution campaigns. Here, we expand the utility of this approach by introducing a highly active adenosine deaminase-T7 RNA polymerase fusion protein (eMutaT7A→G), resulting in higher mutation frequencies to enable more rapid directed evolution. We also assess the benefits and potential downsides of using this more active mutator. We go on to show in Escherichia coli that adenosine deaminase-bearing mutators (MutaT7A→G or eMutaT7A→G) can be employed in tandem with a cytidine deaminase-bearing mutator (MutaT7C→T) to introduce all possible transition mutations simultaneously. We illustrate the efficacy of this in vivo mutagenesis approach by exploring mutational routes to antibacterial drug resistance. This work sets the stage for general application of optimized MutaT7 tools able to induce all types of transition mutations during in vivo directed evolution campaigns across diverse organisms.

H3K27me3-mediated silencing of structural genes is required for zebrafish heart regeneration.

Deciphering the genetic and epigenetic regulation of cardiomyocyte proliferation in organisms that are capable of robust cardiac renewal, such as zebrafish, represents an attractive inroad towards regenerating the human heart. Using integrated high-throughput transcriptional and chromatin analyses, we have identified a strong association between H3K27me3 deposition and reduced sarcomere and cytoskeletal gene expression in proliferative cardiomyocytes following cardiac injury in zebrafish. To move beyond an association, we generated an inducible transgenic strain expressing a mutant version of histone 3, H3.3K27M, that inhibits H3K27me3 catalysis in cardiomyocytes during the regenerative window. Hearts comprising H3.3K27M-expressing cardiomyocytes fail to regenerate, with wound edge cells showing heightened expression of structural genes and prominent sarcomeres. Although cell cycle re-entry was unperturbed, cytokinesis and wound invasion were significantly compromised. Collectively, our study identifies H3K27me3-mediated silencing of structural genes as requisite for zebrafish heart regeneration and suggests that repression of similar structural components in the border zone of an infarcted human heart might improve its regenerative capacity.

Global transcriptional regulation of innate immunity by ATF-7 in C. elegans.

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has emerged as a genetically tractable animal host in which to study evolutionarily conserved mechanisms of innate immune signaling. We previously showed that the PMK-1 p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway regulates innate immunity of C. elegans through phosphorylation of the CREB/ATF bZIP transcription factor, ATF-7. Here, we have undertaken a genomic analysis of the transcriptional response of C. elegans to infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, combining genome-wide expression analysis by RNA-seq with ATF-7 chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-Seq). We observe that PMK-1-ATF-7 activity regulates a majority of all genes induced by pathogen infection, and observe ATF-7 occupancy in regulatory regions of pathogen-induced genes in a PMK-1-dependent manner. Moreover, functional analysis of a subset of these ATF-7-regulated pathogen-induced target genes supports a direct role for this transcriptional response in host defense. The genome-wide regulation through PMK-1- ATF-7 signaling reveals a striking level of control over the innate immune response to infection through a single transcriptional regulator.

Destabilized adaptive influenza variants critical for innate immune system escape are potentiated by host chaperones.

The threat of viral pandemics demands a comprehensive understanding of evolution at the host-pathogen interface. Here, we show that the accessibility of adaptive mutations in influenza nucleoprotein at fever-like temperatures is mediated by host chaperones. Particularly noteworthy, we observe that the Pro283 nucleoprotein variant, which (1) is conserved across human influenza strains, (2) confers resistance to the Myxovirus resistance protein A (MxA) restriction factor, and (3) critically contributed to adaptation to humans in the 1918 pandemic influenza strain, is rendered unfit by heat shock factor 1 inhibition-mediated host chaperone depletion at febrile temperatures. This fitness loss is due to biophysical defects that chaperones are unavailable to address when heat shock factor 1 is inhibited. Thus, influenza subverts host chaperones to uncouple the biophysically deleterious consequences of viral protein variants from the benefits of immune escape. In summary, host proteostasis plays a central role in shaping influenza adaptation, with implications for the evolution of other viruses, for viral host switching, and for antiviral drug development.

Cross-site comparison of ribosomal depletion kits for Illumina RNAseq library construction.

BACKGROUND: Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) comprises at least 90% of total RNA extracted from mammalian tissue or cell line samples. Informative transcriptional profiling using massively parallel sequencing technologies requires either enrichment of mature poly-adenylated transcripts or targeted depletion of the rRNA fraction. The latter method is of particular interest because it is compatible with degraded samples such as those extracted from FFPE and also captures transcripts that are not poly-adenylated such as some non-coding RNAs. Here we provide a cross-site study that evaluates the performance of ribosomal RNA removal kits from Illumina, Takara/Clontech, Kapa Biosystems, Lexogen, New England Biolabs and Qiagen on intact and degraded RNA samples. RESULTS: We find that all of the kits are capable of performing significant ribosomal depletion, though there are differences in their ease of use. All kits were able to remove ribosomal RNA to below 20% with intact RNA and identify ~ 14,000 protein coding genes from the Universal Human Reference RNA sample at >1FPKM. Analysis of differentially detected genes between kits suggests that transcript length may be a key factor in library production efficiency. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide a roadmap for labs on the strengths of each of these methods and how best to utilize them.

A Method for Selective Depletion of Zn(II) Ions from Complex Biological Media and Evaluation of Cellular Consequences of Zn(II) Deficiency.

We describe the preparation, evaluation, and application of an S100A12 protein-conjugated solid support, hereafter the "A12-resin", that can remove 99% of Zn(II) from complex biological solutions without significantly perturbing the concentrations of other metal ions. The A12-resin can be applied to selectively deplete Zn(II) from diverse tissue culture media and from other biological fluids, including human serum. To further demonstrate the utility of this approach, we investigated metabolic, transcriptomic, and metallomic responses of HEK293 cells cultured in medium depleted of Zn(II) using S100A12. The resulting data provide insight into how cells respond to acute Zn(II) deficiency. We expect that the A12-resin will facilitate interrogation of disrupted Zn(II) homeostasis in biological settings, uncovering novel roles for Zn(II) in biology.

An Adaptable Platform for Directed Evolution in Human Cells.

The discovery and optimization of biomolecules that reliably function in metazoan cells is imperative for both the study of basic biology and the treatment of disease. We describe the development, characterization, and proof-of-concept application of a platform for directed evolution of diverse biomolecules of interest (BOIs) directly in human cells. The platform relies on a custom-designed adenovirus variant lacking multiple genes, including the essential DNA polymerase and protease genes, features that allow us to evolve BOIs encoded by genes as large as 7 kb while attaining the mutation rates and enforcing the selection pressure required for successful directed evolution. High mutagenesis rates are continuously attained by trans-complementation of a newly engineered, highly error-prone form of the adenoviral polymerase. Selection pressure that couples desired BOI functions to adenoviral propagation is achieved by linking the functionality of the encoded BOI to the production of adenoviral protease activity by the human cell. The dynamic range for directed evolution can be enhanced to several orders of magnitude via application of a small-molecule adenoviral protease inhibitor to modulate selection pressure during directed evolution experiments. This platform makes it possible, in principle, to evolve any biomolecule activity that can be coupled to adenoviral protease expression or activation by simply serially passaging adenoviral populations carrying the BOI. As proof-of-concept, we use the platform to evolve, directly in the human cell environment, several transcription factor variants that maintain high levels of function while gaining resistance to a small-molecule inhibitor. We anticipate that this platform will substantially expand the repertoire of biomolecules that can be reliably and robustly engineered for both research and therapeutic applications in metazoan systems.

Transcriptional reversion of cardiac myocyte fate during mammalian cardiac regeneration.

RATIONALE: Neonatal mice have the capacity to regenerate their hearts in response to injury, but this potential is lost after the first week of life. The transcriptional changes that underpin mammalian cardiac regeneration have not been fully characterized at the molecular level. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of our study were to determine whether myocytes revert the transcriptional phenotype to a less differentiated state during regeneration and to systematically interrogate the transcriptional data to identify and validate potential regulators of this process. METHODS AND RESULTS: We derived a core transcriptional signature of injury-induced cardiac myocyte (CM) regeneration in mouse by comparing global transcriptional programs in a dynamic model of in vitro and in vivo CM differentiation, in vitro CM explant model, as well as a neonatal heart resection model. The regenerating mouse heart revealed a transcriptional reversion of CM differentiation processes, including reactivation of latent developmental programs similar to those observed during destabilization of a mature CM phenotype in the explant model. We identified potential upstream regulators of the core network, including interleukin 13, which induced CM cell cycle entry and STAT6/STAT3 signaling in vitro. We demonstrate that STAT3/periostin and STAT6 signaling are critical mediators of interleukin 13 signaling in CMs. These downstream signaling molecules are also modulated in the regenerating mouse heart. CONCLUSIONS: Our work reveals new insights into the transcriptional regulation of mammalian cardiac regeneration and provides the founding circuitry for identifying potential regulators for stimulating heart regeneration.

Multiplexed DNA repair assays for multiple lesions and multiple doses via transcription inhibition and transcriptional mutagenesis.

The capacity to repair different types of DNA damage varies among individuals, making them more or less susceptible to the detrimental health consequences of damage exposures. Current methods for measuring DNA repair capacity (DRC) are relatively labor intensive, often indirect, and usually limited to a single repair pathway. Here, we describe a fluorescence-based multiplex flow-cytometric host cell reactivation assay (FM-HCR) that measures the ability of human cells to repair plasmid reporters, each bearing a different type of DNA damage or different doses of the same type of DNA damage. FM-HCR simultaneously measures repair capacity in any four of the following pathways: nucleotide excision repair, mismatch repair, base excision repair, nonhomologous end joining, homologous recombination, and methylguanine methyltransferase. We show that FM-HCR can measure interindividual DRC differences in a panel of 24 cell lines derived from genetically diverse, apparently healthy individuals, and we show that FM-HCR may be used to identify inhibitors or enhancers of DRC. We further develop a next-generation sequencing-based HCR assay (HCR-Seq) that detects rare transcriptional mutagenesis events due to lesion bypass by RNA polymerase, providing an added dimension to DRC measurements. FM-HCR and HCR-Seq provide powerful tools for exploring relationships among global DRC, disease susceptibility, and optimal treatment.

H2A.Z acidic patch couples chromatin dynamics to regulation of gene expression programs during ESC differentiation.

The histone H2A variant H2A.Z is essential for embryonic development and for proper control of developmental gene expression programs in embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Divergent regions of amino acid sequence of H2A.Z likely determine its functional specialization compared to core histone H2A. For example, H2A.Z contains three divergent residues in the essential C-terminal acidic patch that reside on the surface of the histone octamer as an uninterrupted acidic patch domain; however, we know little about how these residues contribute to chromatin structure and function. Here, we show that the divergent amino acids Gly92, Asp97, and Ser98 in the H2A.Z C-terminal acidic patch (H2A.Z(AP3)) are critical for lineage commitment during ESC differentiation. H2A.Z is enriched at most H3K4me3 promoters in ESCs including poised, bivalent promoters that harbor both activating and repressive marks, H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 respectively. We found that while H2A.Z(AP3) interacted with its deposition complex and displayed a highly similar distribution pattern compared to wild-type H2A.Z, its enrichment levels were reduced at target promoters. Further analysis revealed that H2A.Z(AP3) was less tightly associated with chromatin, suggesting that the mutant is more dynamic. Notably, bivalent genes in H2A.Z(AP3) ESCs displayed significant changes in expression compared to active genes. Moreover, bivalent genes in H2A.Z(AP3) ESCs gained H3.3, a variant associated with higher nucleosome turnover, compared to wild-type H2A.Z. We next performed single cell imaging to measure H2A.Z dynamics. We found that H2A.Z(AP3) displayed higher mobility in chromatin compared to wild-type H2A.Z by fluorescent recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). Moreover, ESCs treated with the transcriptional inhibitor flavopiridol resulted in a decrease in the H2A.Z(AP3) mobile fraction and an increase in its occupancy at target genes indicating that the mutant can be properly incorporated into chromatin. Collectively, our work suggests that the divergent residues in the H2A.Z acidic patch comprise a unique domain that couples control of chromatin dynamics to the regulation of developmental gene expression patterns during lineage commitment.

MutaT7GDE: A Single Chimera for the Targeted, Balanced, Efficient, and Processive Installation of All Possible Transition Mutations In Vivo.

Deaminase-T7 RNA polymerase fusion (MutaT7) proteins are a growing class of synthetic biology tools used to diversify target genes during in vivo laboratory evolution. To date, MutaT7 chimeras comprise either a deoxyadenosine or deoxycytidine deaminase fused to a T7 RNA polymerase. Their expression drives targeted deoxyadenosine-to-deoxyguanosine or deoxycytidine-to-deoxythymidine mutagenesis, respectively. Here, we repurpose recently engineered substrate-promiscuous general deaminases (GDEs) to establish a substantially simplified system based on a single chimeric enzyme capable of targeting both deoxyadenosine and deoxycytidine. We assess on- and off-target mutagenesis, strand and context preference, and parity of deamination for four different MutaT7GDE constructs. We identify a single chimera that installs all possible transition mutations more efficiently than preexisting, more cumbersome MutaT7 tools. The optimized MutaT7GDE chimera reported herein is a next-generation hypermutator capable of mediating efficient and uniform target-gene diversification during in vivo directed evolution.

ER procollagen storage defect without coupled unfolded protein response drives precocious arthritis.

Collagenopathies are a group of clinically diverse disorders caused by defects in collagen folding and secretion. For example, mutations in the gene encoding collagen type-II, the primary collagen in cartilage, can lead to diverse chondrodysplasias. One example is the Gly1170Ser substitution in procollagen-II, which causes precocious osteoarthritis. Here, we biochemically and mechanistically characterize an induced pluripotent stem cell-based cartilage model of this disease, including both hetero- and homozygous genotypes. We show that Gly1170Ser procollagen-II is notably slow to fold and secrete. Instead, procollagen-II accumulates intracellularly, consistent with an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) storage disorder. Owing to unique features of the collagen triple helix, this accumulation is not recognized by the unfolded protein response. Gly1170Ser procollagen-II interacts to a greater extent than wild-type with specific proteostasis network components, consistent with its slow folding. These findings provide mechanistic elucidation into the etiology of this disease. Moreover, the cartilage model will enable rapid testing of therapeutic strategies to restore proteostasis in the collagenopathies.

ER procollagen storage defect without coupled unfolded protein response drives precocious arthritis.

Collagenopathies are a group of clinically diverse disorders caused by defects in collagen folding and secretion. For example, mutations in the gene encoding collagen type-II, the primary collagen in cartilage, can lead to diverse chondrodysplasias. One example is the Gly1170Ser substitution in procollagen-II, which causes precocious osteoarthritis. Here, we biochemically and mechanistically characterize an induced pluripotent stem cell-based cartilage model of this disease, including both hetero- and homozygous genotypes. We show that Gly1170Ser procollagen-II is notably slow to fold and secrete. Instead, procollagen-II accumulates intracellularly, consistent with an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) storage disorder. Likely owing to the unique features of the collagen triple helix, this accumulation is not recognized by the unfolded protein response. Gly1170Ser procollagen-II interacts to a greater extent than wild-type with specific ER proteostasis network components, consistent with its slow folding. These findings provide mechanistic elucidation into the etiology of this disease. Moreover, the easily expandable cartilage model will enable rapid testing of therapeutic strategies to restore proteostasis in the collagenopathies.

Emergent mechanical control of vascular morphogenesis.

Vascularization is driven by morphogen signals and mechanical cues that coordinately regulate cellular force generation, migration, and shape change to sculpt the developing vascular network. However, it remains unclear whether developing vasculature actively regulates its own mechanical properties to achieve effective vascularization. We engineered tissue constructs containing endothelial cells and fibroblasts to investigate the mechanics of vascularization. Tissue stiffness increases during vascular morphogenesis resulting from emergent interactions between endothelial cells, fibroblasts, and ECM and correlates with enhanced vascular function. Contractile cellular forces are key to emergent tissue stiffening and synergize with ECM mechanical properties to modulate the mechanics of vascularization. Emergent tissue stiffening and vascular function rely on mechanotransduction signaling within fibroblasts, mediated by YAP1. Mouse embryos lacking YAP1 in fibroblasts exhibit both reduced tissue stiffness and develop lethal vascular defects. Translating our findings through biology-inspired vascular tissue engineering approaches will have substantial implications in regenerative medicine.

A single-cell liver atlas of Plasmodium vivax infection.

Malaria-causing Plasmodium vivax parasites can linger in the human liver for weeks to years and reactivate to cause recurrent blood-stage infection. Although they are an important target for malaria eradication, little is known about the molecular features of replicative and non-replicative intracellular liver-stage parasites and their host cell dependence. Here, we leverage a bioengineered human microliver platform to culture patient-derived P. vivax parasites for transcriptional profiling. Coupling enrichment strategies with bulk and single-cell analyses, we capture both parasite and host transcripts in individual hepatocytes throughout the course of infection. We define host- and state-dependent transcriptional signatures and identify unappreciated populations of replicative and non-replicative parasites that share features with sexual transmissive forms. We find that infection suppresses the transcription of key hepatocyte function genes and elicits an anti-parasite innate immune response. Our work provides a foundation for understanding host-parasite interactions and reveals insights into the biology of P. vivax dormancy and transmission.

High-throughput Minitaturized RNA-Seq Library Preparation.

Advances in next-generation sequencing technologies have allowed RNA sequencing to become an increasingly time efficient, cost-effective, and accessible tool for genomic research. We present here an automated and miniaturized workflow for RNA library preparation that minimizes reagent usage and processing time required per sample to generate Illumina compatible libraries for sequencing. The reduced-volume libraries show similar behavior to full-scale libraries with comparable numbers of genes detected and reproducible clustering of samples.

HSF1 Activation Can Restrict HIV Replication.

Host protein folding stress responses can play important roles in RNA virus replication and evolution. Prior work suggested a complicated interplay between the cytosolic proteostasis stress response, controlled by the transcriptional master regulator heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), and human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1). We sought to uncouple HSF1 transcription factor activity from cytotoxic proteostasis stress and thereby better elucidate the proposed role(s) of HSF1 in the HIV-1 lifecycle. To achieve this objective, we used chemical genetic, stress-independent control of HSF1 activity to establish whether and how HSF1 influences HIV-1 replication. Stress-independent HSF1 induction decreased both the total quantity and infectivity of HIV-1 virions. Moreover, HIV-1 was unable to escape HSF1-mediated restriction over the course of several serial passages. These results clarify the interplay between the host's heat shock response and HIV-1 infection and motivate continued investigation of chaperones as potential antiviral therapeutic targets.