Ribosomal DNA and the nucleolus at the heart of aging.

The rRNA genes [ribosomal DNA (rDNA)] are organized in a prominent nuclear compartment, the nucleolus. It is now well established that the nucleolus functions beyond ribosome biosynthesis, regulating several physiological cellular responses. The nucleoli constitute dynamic genomic/nuclear hubs and demonstrate unique inherent characteristics, rendering them ideal to sense, signal, and respond to various intrinsic and environmental insults. Here, we discuss emerging findings supporting direct links between rDNA/nucleolar instability and cellular senescence/organismal aging from yeast to mammals. Moreover, we highlight evidence that nucleolar functionality and rDNA architecture impact on meiotic/transgenerational rejuvenation, thus revealing causality underlying connections between rDNA/nucleolar instability and aging.

The cell cycle revisited: DNA replication past S phase preserves genome integrity.

Accurate and complete DNA duplication is critical for maintaining genome integrity. Multiple mechanisms regulate when and where DNA replication takes place, to ensure that the entire genome is duplicated once and only once per cell cycle. Although the bulk of the genome is copied during the S phase of the cell cycle, increasing evidence suggests that parts of the genome are replicated in G2 or mitosis, in a last attempt to secure that daughter cells inherit an accurate copy of parental DNA. Remaining unreplicated gaps may be passed down to progeny and replicated in the next G1 or S phase. These findings challenge the long-established view that genome duplication occurs strictly during the S phase, bridging DNA replication to DNA repair and providing novel therapeutic strategies for cancer treatment.

53BP1-mediated recruitment of RASSF1A to ribosomal DNA breaks promotes local ATM signaling.

DNA lesions occur across the genome and constitute a threat to cell viability; however, damage at specific genomic loci has a relatively greater impact on overall genome stability. The ribosomal RNA gene repeats (rDNA) are emerging fragile sites. Recent progress in understanding how the rDNA damage response is organized has highlighted a key role of adaptor proteins. Here, we show that the scaffold tumor suppressor RASSF1A is recruited to rDNA breaks. RASSF1A recruitment to double-strand breaks is mediated by 53BP1 and depends on RASSF1A phosphorylation at Serine 131 by ATM kinase. Employing targeted rDNA damage, we uncover that RASSF1A recruitment promotes local ATM signaling. RASSF1A silencing, a common epigenetic event during malignant transformation, results in persistent breaks, rDNA copy number alterations and decreased cell viability. Overall, we identify a novel role for RASSF1A at rDNA break sites, provide mechanistic insight into how the DNA damage response is organized in a chromatin context, and provide further evidence for how silencing of the RASSF1A tumor suppressor contributes to genome instability.

Cdt1 overexpression drives colorectal carcinogenesis through origin overlicensing and DNA damage.

Chromatin licensing and DNA replication factor 1 (CDT1), a protein of the pre-replicative complex, is essential for loading the minichromosome maintenance complex (MCM) helicases onto the origins of DNA replication. While several studies have shown that dysregulation of CDT1 expression causes re-replication and DNA damage in cell lines, and CDT1 is highly expressed in several human cancers, whether CDT1 deregulation is sufficient to enhance tumorigenesis in vivo is currently unclear. To delineate its role in vivo, we overexpressed Cdt1 in the mouse colon and induced carcinogenesis using azoxymethane/dextran sodium sulfate (AOM/DSS). Here, we show that mice overexpressing Cdt1 develop a significantly higher number of tumors with increased tumor size, and more severe dysplastic changes (high-grade dysplasia), compared with control mice under the same treatment. These tumors exhibited an increased growth rate, while cells overexpressing Cdt1 loaded greater amounts of Mcm2 onto chromatin, demonstrating origin overlicensing. Adenomas overexpressing Cdt1 showed activation of the DNA damage response (DDR), apoptosis, formation of micronuclei, and chromosome segregation errors, indicating that aberrant expression of Cdt1 results in increased genomic and chromosomal instability in vivo, favoring cancer development. In line with these results, high-level expression of CDT1 in human colorectal cancer tissue specimens and colorectal cancer cell lines correlated significantly with increased origin licensing, activation of the DDR, and microsatellite instability (MSI). © 2022 The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

Replication Licensing Aberrations, Replication Stress, and Genomic Instability.

Strict regulation of DNA replication is of fundamental significance for the maintenance of genome stability. Licensing of origins of DNA replication is a critical event for timely genome duplication. Errors in replication licensing control lead to genomic instability across evolution. Here, we present accumulating evidence that aberrant replication licensing is linked to oncogene-induced replication stress and poses a major threat to genome stability, promoting tumorigenesis. Oncogene activation can lead to defects in where along the genome and when during the cell cycle licensing takes place, resulting in replication stress. We also discuss the potential of replication licensing as a specific target for novel anticancer therapies.

Chromatin and Nuclear Architecture: Shaping DNA Replication in 3D.

In eukaryotes, DNA replication progresses through a finely orchestrated temporal and spatial program. The 3D genome structure and nuclear architecture have recently emerged as fundamental determinants of the replication program. Factors with established roles in replication have been recognized as genome organization regulators. Exploiting paradigms from yeasts and mammals, we discuss how DNA replication is regulated in time and space through DNA-associated trans-acting factors, diffusible limiting replication initiation factors, higher-order chromatin folding, dynamic origin localization, and specific nuclear microenvironments. We present an integrated model for the regulation of DNA replication in 3D and highlight the importance of accurate spatio-temporal regulation of DNA replication in physiology and disease.

GemC1 governs multiciliogenesis through direct interaction with and transcriptional regulation of p73.

A distinct combination of transcription factors elicits the acquisition of a specific fate and the initiation of a differentiation program. Multiciliated cells (MCCs) are a specialized type of epithelial cells that possess dozens of motile cilia on their apical surface. Defects in cilia function have been associated with ciliopathies that affect many organs, including brain and airway epithelium. Here we show that the geminin coiled-coil domain-containing protein 1 GemC1 (also known as Lynkeas) regulates the transcriptional activation of p73, a transcription factor central to multiciliogenesis. Moreover, we show that GemC1 acts in a trimeric complex with transcription factor E2F5 and tumor protein p73 (officially known as TP73), and that this complex is important for the activation of the p73 promoter. We also provide in vivo evidence that GemC1 is necessary for p73 expression in different multiciliated epithelia. We further show that GemC1 regulates multiciliogenesis through the control of chromatin organization, and the epigenetic marks/tags of p73 and Foxj1. Our results highlight novel signaling cues involved in the commitment program of MCCs across species and tissues.This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.

Integrin-Linked-Kinase Overexpression Is Implicated in Mechanisms of Genomic Instability in Human Colorectal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Genomic instability is a hallmark of cancer cells contributing to tumor development and progression. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a focal adhesion protein with well-established role in carcinogenesis. We have previously shown that ILK overexpression is critically implicated in human colorectal cancer (CRC) progression. In light of the recent findings that ILK regulates centrosomes and mitotic spindle formation, we aimed to determine its implication in mechanisms of genomic instability in human CRC. METHODS: Association of ILK expression with markers of genomic instability (micronuclei formation, nucleus size, and intensity) was investigated in diploid human colon cancer cells HCT116 upon ectopic ILK overexpression, by immunofluorescence and in human CRC samples by Feulgen staining. We also evaluated the role of ILK in mitotic spindle formation, by immunofluorescence, in HCT116 cells upon inhibition and overexpression of ILK. Finally, we evaluated association of ILK overexpression with markers of DNA damage (p-H2AX, p-ATM/ATR) in human CRC tissue samples by immunohistochemistry and in ILK-overexpressing cells by immunofluorescence. RESULTS: We showed that ILK overexpression is associated with genomic instability markers in human colon cancer cells and tissues samples. Aberrant mitotic spindles were observed in cells treated with specific ILK inhibitor (QLT0267), while ILK-overexpressing cells failed to undergo nocodazole-induced mitotic arrest. ILK overexpression was also associated with markers of DNA damage in HCT116 cells and human CRC tissue samples. CONCLUSIONS: The above findings indicate that overexpression of ILK is implicated in mechanisms of genomic instability in CRC suggesting a novel role of this protein in cancer.

EasyFRAP-web: a web-based tool for the analysis of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching data.

Understanding protein dynamics is crucial in order to elucidate protein function and interactions. Advances in modern microscopy facilitate the exploration of the mobility of fluorescently tagged proteins within living cells. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) is an increasingly popular functional live-cell imaging technique which enables the study of the dynamic properties of proteins at a single-cell level. As an increasing number of labs generate FRAP datasets, there is a need for fast, interactive and user-friendly applications that analyze the resulting data. Here we present easyFRAP-web, a web application that simplifies the qualitative and quantitative analysis of FRAP datasets. EasyFRAP-web permits quick analysis of FRAP datasets through an intuitive web interface with interconnected analysis steps (experimental data assessment, different types of normalization and estimation of curve-derived quantitative parameters). In addition, easyFRAP-web provides dynamic and interactive data visualization and data and figure export for further analysis after every step. We test easyFRAP-web by analyzing FRAP datasets capturing the mobility of the cell cycle regulator Cdt2 in the presence and absence of DNA damage in cultured cells. We show that easyFRAP-web yields results consistent with previous studies and highlights cell-to-cell heterogeneity in the estimated kinetic parameters. EasyFRAP-web is platform-independent and is freely accessible at: https://easyfrap.vmnet.upatras.gr/.

GemC1 is a critical switch for neural stem cell generation in the postnatal brain.

The subventricular zone (SVZ) is one of two main niches where neurogenesis persists during adulthood, as it retains neural stem cells (NSCs) with self-renewal capacity and multi-lineage potency. Another critical cellular component of the niche is the population of postmitotic multiciliated ependymal cells. Both cell types are derived from radial glial cells that become specified to each lineage during embryogenesis. We show here that GemC1, encoding Geminin coiled-coil domain-containing protein 1, is associated with congenital hydrocephalus in humans and mice. Our results show that GemC1 deficiency drives cells toward a NSC phenotype, at the expense of multiciliated ependymal cell generation. The increased number of NSCs is accompanied by increased levels of proliferation and neurogenesis in the postnatal SVZ. Finally, GemC1-knockout cells display altered chromatin organization at multiple loci, further supporting a NSC identity. Together, these findings suggest that GemC1 regulates the balance between NSC generation and ependymal cell differentiation, with implications for the pathogenesis of human congenital hydrocephalus.

Controlling centriole numbers: Geminin family members as master regulators of centriole amplification and multiciliogenesis.

To ensure that the genetic material is accurately passed down to daughter cells during mitosis, dividing cells must duplicate their chromosomes and centrosomes once and only once per cell cycle. The same key steps-licensing, duplication, and segregation-control both the chromosome and the centrosome cycle, which must occur in concert to safeguard genome integrity. Aberrations in genome content or centrosome numbers lead to genomic instability and are linked to tumorigenesis. Such aberrations, however, can also be part of the normal life cycle of specific cell types. Multiciliated cells best exemplify the deviation from a normal centrosome cycle. They are post-mitotic cells which massively amplify their centrioles, bypassing the rule for once-per-cell-cycle centriole duplication. Hundreds of centrioles dock to the apical cell surface and generate motile cilia, whose concerted movement ensures fluid flow across epithelia. The early steps that control the generation of multiciliated cells have lately started to be elucidated. Geminin and the vertebrate-specific GemC1 and McIdas are distantly related coiled-coil proteins, initially identified as cell cycle regulators associated with the chromosome cycle. Geminin is required to ensure once-per-cell-cycle genome replication, while McIdas and GemC1 bind to Geminin and are implicated in DNA replication control. Recent findings highlight Geminin family members as early regulators of multiciliogenesis. GemC1 and McIdas specify the multiciliate cell fate by forming complexes with the E2F4/5 transcription factors to switch on a gene expression program leading to centriole amplification and cilia formation. Positive and negative interactions among Geminin family members may link cell cycle control to centriole amplification and multiciliogenesis, acting close to the point of transition from proliferation to differentiation. We review key steps of centrosome duplication and amplification, present the role of Geminin family members in the centrosome and chromosome cycle, and discuss links with disease.

Geminin ablation in vivo enhances tumorigenesis through increased genomic instability.

Geminin, a DNA replication licensing inhibitor, ensures faithful DNA replication in vertebrates. Several studies have shown that geminin depletion in vitro results in rereplication and DNA damage, whereas increased expression of geminin has been observed in human cancers. However, conditional inactivation of geminin during embryogenesis has not revealed any detectable DNA replication defects. In order to examine its role in vivo, we conditionally inactivated geminin in the murine colon and lung, and assessed chemically induced carcinogenesis. We show here that mice lacking geminin develop a significantly higher number of tumors and bear a larger tumor burden than sham-treated controls in urethane-induced lung and azoxymethane/dextran sodium sulfate-induced colon carcinogenesis. Survival is also significantly reduced in mice lacking geminin during lung carcinogenesis. A significant increase in the total number and grade of lesions (hyperplasias, adenomas, and carcinomas) was also confirmed by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Moreover, increased genomic aberrations, identified by increased ATR and γH2AX expression, was detected with immunohistochemistry analysis. In addition, we analyzed geminin expression in human colon cancer, and found increased expression, as well as a positive correlation with ATM/ATR levels and a non-monotonic association with γH2AX. Taken together, our data demonstrate that geminin acts as a tumor suppressor by safeguarding genome stability, whereas its overexpression is also associated with genomic instability. Copyright © 2018 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mcidas and GemC1 are key regulators for the generation of multiciliated ependymal cells in the adult neurogenic niche.

Multiciliated cells are abundant in the epithelial surface of different tissues, including cells lining the walls of the lateral ventricles in the brain and the airway epithelium. Their main role is to control fluid flow and defects in their differentiation are implicated in many human disorders, such as hydrocephalus, accompanied by defects in adult neurogenesis and mucociliary disorder in the airway system. Here we show that Mcidas, which is mutated in human mucociliary clearance disorder, and GemC1 (Gmnc or Lynkeas), previously implicated in cell cycle progression, are key regulators of multiciliated ependymal cell generation in the mouse brain. Overexpression and knockdown experiments show that Mcidas and GemC1 are sufficient and necessary for cell fate commitment and differentiation of radial glial cells to multiciliated ependymal cells. Furthermore, we show that GemC1 and Mcidas operate in hierarchical order, upstream of Foxj1 and c-Myb transcription factors, which are known regulators of ependymal cell generation, and that Notch signaling inhibits GemC1 and Mcidas function. Our results suggest that Mcidas and GemC1 are key players in the generation of multiciliated ependymal cells of the adult neurogenic niche.

Geminin deletion increases the number of fetal hematopoietic stem cells by affecting the expression of key transcription factors.

Balancing stem cell self-renewal and initiation of lineage specification programs is essential for the development and homeostasis of the hematopoietic system. We have specifically ablated geminin in the developing murine hematopoietic system and observed profound defects in the generation of mature blood cells, leading to embryonic lethality. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) accumulated in the fetal liver following geminin ablation, while committed progenitors were reduced. Genome-wide transcriptome analysis identified key HSC transcription factors as being upregulated upon geminin deletion, revealing a gene network linked with geminin that controls fetal hematopoiesis. In order to obtain mechanistic insight into the ability of geminin to regulate transcription, we examined Hoxa9 as an example of a key gene in definitive hematopoiesis. We demonstrate that in human K562 cells geminin is associated with HOXA9 regulatory elements and its absence increases HOXA9 transcription similarly to that observed in vivo. Moreover, silencing geminin reduced recruitment of the PRC2 component SUZ12 to the HOXA9 locus and resulted in an increase in RNA polymerase II recruitment and H3K4 trimethylation (H3K4me3), whereas the repressive marks H3K9me3 and H3K27me3 were reduced. The chromatin landscape was also modified at the regulatory regions of HOXA10 and GATA1. K562 cells showed a reduced ability to differentiate to erythrocytes and megakaryocytes upon geminin silencing. Our data suggest that geminin is indispensable for fetal hematopoiesis and regulates the generation of a physiological pool of stem and progenitor cells in the fetal hematopoietic system.

Concise Review: Geminin-A Tale of Two Tails: DNA Replication and Transcriptional/Epigenetic Regulation in Stem Cells.

Molecular mechanisms governing maintenance, commitment, and differentiation of stem cells are largely unexploited. Molecules involved in the regulation of multiple cellular processes are of particular importance for stem cell physiology, as they integrate different signals and coordinate cellular decisions related with self-renewal and fate determination. Geminin has emerged as a critical factor in DNA replication and stem cell differentiation in different stem cell populations. Its inhibitory interaction with Cdt1, a member of the prereplicative complex, ensures the controlled timing of DNA replication and, consequently, genomic stability in actively proliferating cells. In embryonic as well as somatic stem cells, Geminin has been shown to interact with transcription factors and epigenetic regulators to drive gene expression programs and ultimately guide cell fate decisions. An ever-growing number of studies suggests that these interactions of Geminin and proteins regulating transcription are conserved among metazoans. Interactions between Geminin and proteins modifying the epigenome, such as members of the repressive Polycomb group and the SWI/SNF proteins of the permissive Trithorax, have long been established. The complexity of these interactions, however, is only just beginning to unravel, revealing key roles on maintaining stem cell self-renewal and fate specification. In this review, we summarize current knowledge and give new perspectives for the role of Geminin on transcriptional and epigenetic regulation, alongside with its regulatory activity in DNA replication and their implication in the regulation of stem and progenitor cell biology. Stem Cells 2017;35:299-310.

GemC1 controls multiciliogenesis in the airway epithelium.

Multiciliated cells are terminally differentiated, post-mitotic cells that form hundreds of motile cilia on their apical surface. Defects in multiciliated cells lead to disease, including mucociliary clearance disorders that result from ciliated cell disfunction in airways. The pathway controlling multiciliogenesis, however, remains poorly characterized. We showed that GemC1, previously implicated in cell cycle control, is a central regulator of ciliogenesis. GemC1 is specifically expressed in ciliated epithelia. Ectopic expression of GemC1 is sufficient to induce early steps of multiciliogenesis in airway epithelial cells ex vivo, upregulating McIdas and FoxJ1, key transcriptional regulators of multiciliogenesis. GemC1 directly transactivates the McIdas and FoxJ1 upstream regulatory sequences, and its activity is enhanced by E2F5 and inhibited by Geminin. GemC1-knockout mice are born with airway epithelia devoid of multiciliated cells. Our results identify GemC1 as an essential regulator of ciliogenesis in the airway epithelium and a candidate gene for mucociliary disorders.

Expression of α-Defensins, CD20+ B-lymphocytes, and Intraepithelial CD3+ T-lymphocytes in the Intestinal Mucosa of Patients with Liver Cirrhosis: Emerging Mediators of Intestinal Barrier Function.

AIM: The present study investigates the role of innate and adaptive immune system of intestinal mucosal barrier function in cirrhosis. METHODS: Forty patients with decompensated (n = 40, group A), 27 with compensated cirrhosis (n = 27, group B), and 27 controls (n = 27, group C) were subjected to duodenal biopsy. Expression of α-defensins 5 and 6 at the intestinal crypts was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. Serum endotoxin, intestinal T-intraepithelial, and lamina propria B-lymphocytes were quantified. RESULTS: Cirrhotic patients presented higher endotoxin concentrations (p < 0.0001) and diminished HD5 and HD6 expression compared to healthy controls (p = 0.000287, p = 0.000314, respectively). The diminished HD5 and HD6 expressions were also apparent among the decompensated patients compared to compensated group (p = 0.025, p = 0.041, respectively). HD5 and HD6 expressions were correlated with endotoxin levels (r = -0.790, p < 0.0001, r = - 0.777, p < 0.0001, respectively). Although intraepithelial T-lymphocytes were decreased in group A compared to group C (p = 0.002), no notable alterations between groups B and C were observed. The B-lymphocytic infiltrate did not differ among the investigated groups. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that decreased expression of antimicrobial peptides may be considered as a potential pathophysiological mechanism of intestinal barrier dysfunction in liver cirrhosis, while remodeling of gut-associated lymphoid tissue as an acquired immune response to bio-pathogens remains an open field to illuminate.

Inactivation of Geminin in neural crest cells affects the generation and maintenance of enteric progenitor cells, leading to enteric aganglionosis.

Neural crest cells comprise a multipotent, migratory cell population that generates a diverse array of cell and tissue types, during vertebrate development. Enteric Nervous System controls the function of the gastrointestinal tract and is mainly derived from the vagal and sacral neural crest cells. Deregulation on self-renewal and differentiation of the enteric neural crest cells is evident in enteric nervous system disorders, such as Hirschsprung disease, characterized by the absence of ganglia in a variable length of the distal bowel. Here we show that Geminin is essential for Enteric Nervous System generation as mice that lacked Geminin expression specifically in neural crest cells revealed decreased generation of vagal neural crest cells, and enteric neural crest cells (ENCCs). Geminin-deficient ENCCs showed increased apoptosis and decreased cell proliferation during the early stages of gut colonization. Furthermore, decreased number of committed ENCCs in vivo and the decreased self-renewal capacity of enteric progenitor cells in vitro, resulted in almost total aganglionosis resembling a severe case of Hirschsprung disease. Our results suggest that Geminin is an important regulator of self-renewal and survival of enteric nervous system progenitor cells.

How a radial glial cell decides to become a multiciliated ependymal cell.

The V-SVZ adult neurogenic niche is located in the wall of the lateral ventricles and contains neural stem cells, with self-renewing and differentiating ability and postmitotic multiciliated ependymal cells, an important structural and trophic component of the niche. The niche is established at postnatal stages from a subpopulation of radial glial cells, determined during embryogenesis. Radial glial cells constitute a heterogeneous population, which give rise, in addition to niche cellular components, to neurons and glial cells. The mechanisms that direct their fate commitment towards V-SVZ niche cells are largely unknown. In the present review, we discuss recent findings on the signaling networks governing fate commitment decisions of radial glial cells towards multiciliated ependymal cells. We highlight the role of two novel factors: McIdas and GemC1/Lynkeas and the molecular pathways which they activate in order to promote ependymal cell differentiation. Finally, we discuss a possible crosstalk of known signaling pathways, such as Notch, STAT3, and BMPs, for the specification of ependymal versus adult neural stem cells in the V-SVZ niche. GLIA 2017;65:1032-1042.

Inference of protein kinetics by stochastic modeling and simulation of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments.

MOTIVATION: Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) is a functional live cell imaging technique that permits the exploration of protein dynamics in living cells. To extract kinetic parameters from FRAP data, a number of analytical models have been developed. Simplifications are inherent in these models, which may lead to inexhaustive or inaccurate exploitation of the experimental data. An appealing alternative is offered by the simulation of biological processes in realistic environments at a particle level. However, inference of kinetic parameters using simulation-based models is still limited. RESULTS: We introduce and demonstrate a new method for the inference of kinetic parameter values from FRAP data. A small number of in silico FRAP experiments is used to construct a mapping from FRAP recovery curves to the parameters of the underlying protein kinetics. Parameter estimates from experimental data can then be computed by applying the mapping to the observed recovery curves. A bootstrap process is used to investigate identifiability of the physical parameters and determine confidence regions for their estimates. Our method circumvents the computational burden of seeking the best-fitting parameters via iterative simulation. After validation on synthetic data, the method is applied to the analysis of the nuclear proteins Cdt1, PCNA and GFPnls. Parameter estimation results from several experimental samples are in accordance with previous findings, but also allow us to discuss identifiability issues as well as cell-to-cell variability of the protein kinetics. IMPLEMENTATION: All methods were implemented in MATLAB R2011b. Monte Carlo simulations were run on the HPC cluster Brutus of ETH Zurich. CONTACT: lygeros@control.ee.ethz.ch or lygerou@med.upatras.gr SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.