RNA clamping by Vasa assembles a piRNA amplifier complex on transposon transcripts.

Germline-specific Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) protect animal genomes against transposons and are essential for fertility. piRNAs targeting active transposons are amplified by the ping-pong cycle, which couples Piwi endonucleolytic slicing of target RNAs to biogenesis of new piRNAs. Here, we describe the identification of a transient Amplifier complex that mediates biogenesis of secondary piRNAs in insect cells. Amplifier is nucleated by the DEAD box RNA helicase Vasa and contains the two Piwi proteins participating in the ping-pong loop, the Tudor protein Qin/Kumo and antisense piRNA guides. These components assemble on the surface of Vasa's helicase domain, which functions as an RNA clamp to anchor Amplifier onto transposon transcripts. We show that ATP-dependent RNP remodeling by Vasa facilitates transfer of 5' sliced piRNA precursors between ping-pong partners, and loss of this activity causes sterility in Drosophila. Our results reveal the molecular basis for the small RNA amplification that confers adaptive immunity against transposons.

Clonal Deletion of Tumor-Specific T Cells by Interferon-γ Confers Therapeutic Resistance to Combination Immune Checkpoint Blockade.

Resistance to checkpoint-blockade treatments is a challenge in the clinic. We found that although treatment with combined anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 improved control of established tumors, this combination compromised anti-tumor immunity in the low tumor burden (LTB) state in pre-clinical models as well as in melanoma patients. Activated tumor-specific T cells expressed higher amounts of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) receptor and were more susceptible to apoptosis than naive T cells. Combination treatment induced deletion of tumor-specific T cells and altered the T cell repertoire landscape, skewing the distribution of T cells toward lower-frequency clonotypes. Additionally, combination therapy induced higher IFN-γ production in the LTB state than in the high tumor burden (HTB) state on a per-cell basis, reflecting a less exhausted immune status in the LTB state. Thus, elevated IFN-γ secretion in the LTB state contributes to the development of an immune-intrinsic mechanism of resistance to combination checkpoint blockade, highlighting the importance of achieving the optimal magnitude of immune stimulation for successful combination immunotherapy strategies.

Quiescent Tissue Stem Cells Evade Immune Surveillance.

Stem cells are critical for the maintenance of many tissues, but whether their integrity is maintained in the face of immunity is unclear. Here we found that cycling epithelial stem cells, including Lgr5+ intestinal stem cells, as well as ovary and mammary stem cells, were eliminated by activated T cells, but quiescent stem cells in the hair follicle and muscle were resistant to T cell killing. Immune evasion was an intrinsic property of the quiescent stem cells resulting from systemic downregulation of the antigen presentation machinery, including MHC class I and TAP proteins, and is mediated by the transactivator NLRC5. This process was reversed upon stem cell entry into the cell cycle. These studies identify a link between stem cell quiescence, antigen presentation, and immune evasion. As cancer-initiating cells can derive from stem cells, these findings may help explain how the earliest cancer cells evade immune surveillance.

Regulation of m6A Transcripts by the 3'→5' RNA Helicase YTHDC2 Is Essential for a Successful Meiotic Program in the Mammalian Germline.

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is an essential internal RNA modification that is critical for gene expression control in most organisms. Proteins with a YTH domain recognize m6A marks and are mediators of molecular functions like RNA splicing, mRNA decay, and translation control. Here we demonstrate that YTH domain-containing 2 (YTHDC2) is an m6A reader that is essential for male and female fertility in mice. High-throughput mapping of the m6A transcriptome and expression analysis in the Yhtdc2 mutant testes reveal an upregulation of m6A-enriched transcripts. Our biochemical studies indicate that YTHDC2 is an RNA-induced ATPase with a 3'→5' RNA helicase activity. Furthermore, YTHDC2 recruits the 5'→3' exoribonuclease XRN1 via Ankyrin repeats that are inserted in between the RecA modules of the RNA helicase domain. Our studies reveal a role for YTHDC2 in modulating the levels of m6A-modified germline transcripts to maintain a gene expression program that is conducive for progression through meiosis.

ISG15 deficiency restricts HIV-1 infection.

Type I interferons (IFN-Is) are a group of potent inflammatory and antiviral cytokines. They induce IFN stimulated genes (ISGs), which act as proinflammatory mediators, antiviral effectors, and negative regulators of the IFN-I signaling cascade itself. One such regulator is interferon stimulated gene 15 (ISG15). Humans with complete ISG15 deficiency express persistently elevated levels of ISGs, and consequently, exhibit broad spectrum resistance to viral infection. Here, we demonstrate that IFN-I primed fibroblasts derived from ISG15-deficient individuals are more resistant to infection with single-cycle HIV-1 compared to healthy control fibroblasts. Complementation with both wild-type (WT) ISG15 and ISG15ΔGG (incapable of ISGylation while retaining negative regulation activity) was sufficient to reverse this phenotype, restoring susceptibility to infection to levels comparable to WT cells. Furthermore, CRISPR-edited ISG15ko primary CD4+ T cells were less susceptible to HIV-1 infection compared to cells treated with non-targeting controls. Transcriptome analysis of these CRISPR-edited ISG15ko primary CD4+ T cells recapitulated the ISG signatures of ISG15 deficient patients. Taken together, we document that the increased broad-spectrum viral resistance in ISG15-deficiency also extends to HIV-1 and is driven by a combination of T-cell-specific ISGs, with both known and unknown functions, predicted to target HIV-1 replication at multiple steps.

Specialized piRNA pathways act in germline and somatic tissues of the Drosophila ovary.

In Drosophila gonads, Piwi proteins and associated piRNAs collaborate with additional factors to form a small RNA-based immune system that silences mobile elements. Here, we analyzed nine Drosophila piRNA pathway mutants for their impacts on both small RNA populations and the subcellular localization patterns of Piwi proteins. We find that distinct piRNA pathways with differing components function in ovarian germ and somatic cells. In the soma, Piwi acts singularly with the conserved flamenco piRNA cluster to enforce silencing of retroviral elements that may propagate by infecting neighboring germ cells. In the germline, silencing programs encoded within piRNA clusters are optimized via a slicer-dependent amplification loop to suppress a broad spectrum of elements. The classes of transposons targeted by germline and somatic piRNA clusters, though not the precise elements, are conserved among Drosophilids, demonstrating that the architecture of piRNA clusters has coevolved with the transposons that they are tasked to control.

PIWI Slicing and EXD1 Drive Biogenesis of Nuclear piRNAs from Cytosolic Targets of the Mouse piRNA Pathway.

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) guide PIWI proteins to suppress transposons in the cytoplasm and nucleus of animal germ cells, but how silencing in the two compartments is coordinated is not known. Here we demonstrate that endonucleolytic slicing of a transcript by the cytosolic mouse PIWI protein MILI acts as a trigger to initiate its further 5'→3' processing into non-overlapping fragments. These fragments accumulate as new piRNAs within both cytosolic MILI and the nuclear MIWI2. We also identify Exonuclease domain-containing 1 (EXD1) as a partner of the MIWI2 piRNA biogenesis factor TDRD12. EXD1 homodimers are inactive as a nuclease but function as an RNA adaptor within a PET (PIWI-EXD1-Tdrd12) complex. Loss of Exd1 reduces sequences generated by MILI slicing, impacts biogenesis of MIWI2 piRNAs, and de-represses LINE1 retrotransposons. Thus, piRNA biogenesis triggered by PIWI slicing, and promoted by EXD1, ensures that the same guides instruct PIWI proteins in the nucleus and cytoplasm.

CRISPR-Barcoding for Intratumor Genetic Heterogeneity Modeling and Functional Analysis of Oncogenic Driver Mutations.

Intratumor genetic heterogeneity underlies the ability of tumors to evolve and adapt to different environmental conditions. Using CRISPR/Cas9 technology and specific DNA barcodes, we devised a strategy to recapitulate and trace the emergence of subpopulations of cancer cells containing a mutation of interest. We used this approach to model different mechanisms of lung cancer cell resistance to EGFR inhibitors and to assess effects of combined drug therapies. By overcoming intrinsic limitations of current approaches, CRISPR-barcoding also enables investigation of most types of genetic modifications, including repair of oncogenic driver mutations. Finally, we used highly complex barcodes inserted at a specific genome location as a means of simultaneously tracing the fates of many thousands of genetically labeled cancer cells. CRISPR-barcoding is a straightforward and highly flexible method that should greatly facilitate the functional investigation of specific mutations, in a context that closely mimics the complexity of cancer.

piRNA-guided slicing of transposon transcripts enforces their transcriptional silencing via specifying the nuclear piRNA repertoire.

PIWI clade Argonaute proteins silence transposon expression in animal gonads. Their target specificity is defined by bound ∼23- to 30-nucleotide (nt) PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) that are processed from single-stranded precursor transcripts via two distinct pathways. Primary piRNAs are defined by the endonuclease Zucchini, while biogenesis of secondary piRNAs depends on piRNA-guided transcript cleavage and results in piRNA amplification. Here, we analyze the interdependencies between these piRNA biogenesis pathways in developing Drosophila ovaries. We show that secondary piRNA-guided target slicing is the predominant mechanism that specifies transcripts­including those from piRNA clusters­as primary piRNA precursors and defines the spectrum of Piwi-bound piRNAs in germline cells. Post-transcriptional silencing in the cytoplasm therefore enforces nuclear transcriptional target silencing, which ensures the tight suppression of transposons during oogenesis. As target slicing also defines the nuclear piRNA pool during mouse spermatogenesis, our findings uncover an unexpected conceptual similarity between the mouse and fly piRNA pathways.

piRNA pathway targets active LINE1 elements to establish the repressive H3K9me3 mark in germ cells.

Transposable elements (TEs) occupy a large fraction of metazoan genomes and pose a constant threat to genomic integrity. This threat is particularly critical in germ cells, as changes in the genome that are induced by TEs will be transmitted to the next generation. Small noncoding piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) recognize and silence a diverse set of TEs in germ cells. In mice, piRNA-guided transposon repression correlates with establishment of CpG DNA methylation on their sequences, yet the mechanism and the spectrum of genomic targets of piRNA silencing are unknown. Here we show that in addition to DNA methylation, the piRNA pathway is required to maintain a high level of the repressive H3K9me3 histone modification on long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs) in germ cells. piRNA-dependent chromatin repression targets exclusively full-length elements of actively transposing LINE families, demonstrating the remarkable ability of the piRNA pathway to recognize active elements among the large number of genomic transposon fragments.

The exon junction complex controls transposable element activity by ensuring faithful splicing of the piwi transcript.

The exon junction complex (EJC) is a highly conserved ribonucleoprotein complex that binds RNAs during splicing and remains associated with them following export to the cytoplasm. While the role of this complex in mRNA localization, translation, and degradation has been well characterized, its mechanism of action in splicing a subset of Drosophila and human transcripts remains to be elucidated. Here, we describe a novel function for the EJC and its splicing subunit, RnpS1, in preventing transposon accumulation in both Drosophila germline and surrounding somatic follicle cells. This function is mediated specifically through the control of piwi transcript splicing, where, in the absence of RnpS1, the fourth intron of piwi is retained. This intron contains a weak polypyrimidine tract that is sufficient to confer dependence on RnpS1. Finally, we demonstrate that RnpS1-dependent removal of this intron requires splicing of the flanking introns, suggesting a model in which the EJC facilitates the splicing of weak introns following its initial deposition at adjacent exon junctions. These data demonstrate a novel role for the EJC in regulating piwi intron excision and provide a mechanism for its function during splicing.

Transgenerationally inherited piRNAs trigger piRNA biogenesis by changing the chromatin of piRNA clusters and inducing precursor processing.

Small noncoding RNAs that associate with Piwi proteins, called piRNAs, serve as guides for repression of diverse transposable elements in germ cells of metazoa. In Drosophila, the genomic regions that give rise to piRNAs, the so-called piRNA clusters, are transcribed to generate long precursor molecules that are processed into mature piRNAs. How genomic regions that give rise to piRNA precursor transcripts are differentiated from the rest of the genome and how these transcripts are specifically channeled into the piRNA biogenesis pathway are not known. We found that transgenerationally inherited piRNAs provide the critical trigger for piRNA production from homologous genomic regions in the next generation by two different mechanisms. First, inherited piRNAs enhance processing of homologous transcripts into mature piRNAs by initiating the ping-pong cycle in the cytoplasm. Second, inherited piRNAs induce installment of the histone 3 Lys9 trimethylation (H3K9me3) mark on genomic piRNA cluster sequences. The heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) homolog Rhino binds to the H3K9me3 mark through its chromodomain and is enriched over piRNA clusters. Rhino recruits the piRNA biogenesis factor Cutoff to piRNA clusters and is required for efficient transcription of piRNA precursors. We propose that transgenerationally inherited piRNAs act as an epigenetic memory for identification of substrates for piRNA biogenesis on two levels: by inducing a permissive chromatin environment for piRNA precursor synthesis and by enhancing processing of these precursors.

Selective termination of lncRNA transcription promotes heterochromatin silencing and cell differentiation.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulating gene expression at the chromatin level are widespread among eukaryotes. However, their functions and the mechanisms by which they act are not fully understood. Here, we identify new fission yeast regulatory lncRNAs that are targeted, at their site of transcription, by the YTH domain of the RNA-binding protein Mmi1 and degraded by the nuclear exosome. We uncover that one of them, nam1, regulates entry into sexual differentiation. Importantly, we demonstrate that Mmi1 binding to this lncRNA not only triggers its degradation but also mediates its transcription termination, thus preventing lncRNA transcription from invading and repressing the downstream gene encoding a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK) essential to sexual differentiation. In addition, we show that Mmi1-mediated termination of lncRNA transcription also takes place at pericentromeric regions where it contributes to heterochromatin gene silencing together with RNA interference (RNAi). These findings reveal an important role for selective termination of lncRNA transcription in both euchromatic and heterochromatic lncRNA-based gene silencing processes.

Impact of Suboptimal APOBEC3G Neutralization on the Emergence of HIV Drug Resistance in Humanized Mice.

HIV diversification facilitates immune escape and complicates antiretroviral therapy. In this study, we take advantage of a humanized-mouse model to probe the contribution of APOBEC3 mutagenesis to viral evolution. Humanized mice were infected with isogenic HIV molecular clones (HIV-WT, HIV-45G, and HIV-ΔSLQ) that differ in their abilities to counteract APOBEC3G (A3G). Infected mice remained naive or were treated with the reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitor lamivudine (3TC). Viremia, emergence of drug-resistant variants, and quasispecies diversification in the plasma compartment were determined throughout infection. While both HIV-WT and HIV-45G achieved robust infection, over time, HIV-45G replication was significantly reduced compared to that of HIV-WT in the absence of 3TC treatment. In contrast, treatment responses differed significantly between HIV-45G- and HIV-WT-infected mice. Antiretroviral treatment failed in 91% of HIV-45G-infected mice, while only 36% of HIV-WT-infected mice displayed a similar negative outcome. Emergence of 3TC-resistant variants and nucleotide diversity were determined by analyzing 155,462 single HIV reverse transcriptase gene (RT) and 6,985 vif sequences from 33 mice. Prior to treatment, variants with genotypic 3TC resistance (RT-M184I/V) were detected at low levels in over a third of all the animals. Upon treatment, the composition of the plasma quasispecies rapidly changed, leading to a majority of circulating viral variants encoding RT-184I. Interestingly, increased viral diversity prior to treatment initiation correlated with higher plasma viremia in HIV-45G-infected animals, but not in HIV-WT-infected animals. Taken together, HIV variants with suboptimal anti-A3G activity were attenuated in the absence of selection but displayed a fitness advantage in the presence of antiretroviral treatment.IMPORTANCE Both viral (e.g., RT) and host (e.g., A3G) factors can contribute to HIV sequence diversity. This study shows that suboptimal anti-A3G activity shapes viral fitness and drives viral evolution in the plasma compartment in humanized mice.

Next Generation Sequencing of the Pig αß TCR Repertoire Identifies the Porcine Invariant NKT Cell Receptor.

Swine represent the only livestock with an established invariant NKT (iNKT) cell-CD1d system. In this study, we exploited the fact that pig iNKT cells can be purified using a mouse CD1d tetramer reagent to establish their TCR repertoire by next generation sequencing. CD1d tetramer-positive pig cells predominantly expressed an invariant Vα-Jα rearrangement, without nontemplate nucleotide diversity, homologous to the Vα24-Jα18 and Vα14-Jα18 rearrangements of human and murine iNKT cells. The coexpressed ß-chain used a Vß segment homologous to the semivariant Vß11 and Vß8.2 segments of human and murine iNKT cell receptors. Molecular modeling found that contacts within CD1d and CDR1α that underlie fine specificity differences between mouse and human iNKT cells are conserved between pigs and humans, indicating that the response of porcine and human iNKT cells to CD1d-restricted Ags may be similar. Accordingly, pigs, which are an important species for diverse fields of biomedical research, may be useful for developing human-based iNKT cell therapies for cancer, infectious diseases, and other disorders. Our study also sequenced the expressed TCR repertoire of conventional porcine αß T cells, which identified 48 Vα, 50 Jα, 18 Vß, and 18 Jß sequences, most of which correspond to human gene segments. These findings provide information on the αß TCR usage of pigs, which is understudied and deserves further attention.

Bacterial argonaute samples the transcriptome to identify foreign DNA.

Eukaryotic Argonautes bind small RNAs and use them as guides to find complementary RNA targets and induce gene silencing. Though homologs of eukaryotic Argonautes are present in many bacteria and archaea, their small RNA partners and functions are unknown. We found that the Argonaute of Rhodobacter sphaeroides (RsAgo) associates with 15-19 nt RNAs that correspond to the majority of transcripts. RsAgo also binds single-stranded 22-24 nt DNA molecules that are complementary to the small RNAs and enriched in sequences derived from exogenous plasmids as well as genome-encoded foreign nucleic acids such as transposons and phage genes. Expression of RsAgo in the heterologous E. coli system leads to formation of plasmid-derived small RNA and DNA and plasmid degradation. In a R. sphaeroides mutant lacking RsAgo, expression of plasmid-encoded genes is elevated. Our results indicate that RNAi-related processes found in eukaryotes are also conserved in bacteria and target foreign nucleic acids.

PTEN interacts with the transcription machinery on chromatin and regulates RNA polymerase II-mediated transcription.

Regulation of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII)-mediated transcription controls cellular phenotypes such as cancer. Phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN), one of the most commonly altered tumor suppressors in cancer, affects transcription via its role in antagonizing the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Using co-immunoprecipitations and proximal ligation assays we provide evidence that PTEN interacts with AFF4, RNAPII, CDK9, cyclin T1, XPB and CDK7. Using ChIP-seq, we show that PTEN co-localizes with RNAPII and binds to chromatin in promoter and putative enhancer regions identified by histone modifications. Furthermore, we show that loss of PTEN affects RNAPII occupancy in gene bodies and further correlates with gene expression changes. Interestingly, PTEN binds to promoters and negatively regulates the expression of genes involved in transcription including AFF4 and POL2RA, which encodes a subunit of RNAPII. Loss of PTEN also increased cells' sensitivity to transcription inhibition via small molecules, which could provide a strategy to target PTEN-deficient cancers. Overall, our work describes a previously unappreciated role of nuclear PTEN, which by interacting with the transcription machinery in the context of chromatin exerts an additional layer of regulatory control on RNAPII-mediated transcription.

The cochaperone shutdown defines a group of biogenesis factors essential for all piRNA populations in Drosophila.

In animal gonads, PIWI proteins and their bound 23-30 nt piRNAs guard genome integrity by the sequence specific silencing of transposons. Two branches of piRNA biogenesis, namely primary processing and ping-pong amplification, have been proposed. Despite an overall conceptual understanding of piRNA biogenesis, identity and/or function of the involved players are largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate an essential role for the female sterility gene shutdown in piRNA biology. Shutdown, an evolutionarily conserved cochaperone collaborates with Hsp90 during piRNA biogenesis, potentially at the loading step of RNAs into PIWI proteins. We demonstrate that Shutdown is essential for both primary and secondary piRNA populations in Drosophila. An extension of our study to previously described piRNA pathway members revealed three distinct groups of biogenesis factors. Together with data on how PIWI proteins are wired into primary and secondary processing, we propose a unified model for piRNA biogenesis.

A role for Fkbp6 and the chaperone machinery in piRNA amplification and transposon silencing.

Epigenetic silencing of transposons by Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) constitutes an RNA-based genome defense mechanism. Piwi endonuclease action amplifies the piRNA pool by generating new piRNAs from target transcripts by a poorly understood mechanism. Here, we identified mouse Fkbp6 as a factor in this biogenesis pathway delivering piRNAs to the Piwi protein Miwi2. Mice lacking Fkbp6 derepress LINE1 (L1) retrotransposon and display reduced DNA methylation due to deficient nuclear accumulation of Miwi2. Like other cochaperones, Fkbp6 associates with the molecular chaperone Hsp90 via its tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) domain. Inhibition of the ATP-dependent Hsp90 activity in an insect cell culture model results in the accumulation of short antisense RNAs in Piwi complexes. We identify these to be byproducts of piRNA amplification that accumulate only in nuage-localized Piwi proteins. We propose that the chaperone machinery normally ejects these inhibitory RNAs, allowing turnover of Piwi complexes for their continued participation in piRNA amplification.

Recruitment of Armitage and Yb to a transcript triggers its phased processing into primary piRNAs in Drosophila ovaries.

Small RNAs called PIWI -interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are essential for transposon control and fertility in animals. Primary processing is the small RNA biogenesis pathway that uses long single-stranded RNA precursors to generate millions of individual piRNAs, but the molecular mechanisms that identify a transcript as a precursor are poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that artificial tethering of the piRNA biogenesis factor, Armi, to a transcript is sufficient to direct it into primary processing in Drosophila ovaries and in an ovarian cell culture model. In the fly ovarian somatic follicle cells, the transcript becomes cleaved in a stepwise manner, with a 5'→3' directionality, liberating U1-containing ~24 nt piRNAs that are loaded into Piwi. Although uridines are preferred for generation of piRNA 5' ends, processing takes place even in their absence, albeit at a lower efficiency. We show that recombinant Armi has 5'→3' helicase activity, and mutations that abolish this activity also reduce piRNA processing in vivo. Another somatic piRNA pathway factor Yb, an interactor of Armi, is also able to trigger piRNA biogenesis when tethered to a transcript. Tethering-mediated primary piRNA biogenesis is also functional in the fly ovarian germline and loads all the three PIWI proteins present in this environment. Our study finds a broad correlation between piRNA processing and localization of the tethered factors to the cytoplasmic perinuclear ribonucleoprotein granules called germline nuage or somatic Yb bodies. We conclude that transcripts bound by Armi and Yb are identified as piRNA precursors, resulting in localization to cytoplasmic processing granules and their subsequent engagement by the resident piRNA biogenesis machinery.