Persistence of Fear Memory Depends on a Delayed Elevation of BAF53b and FGF1 Expression in the Lateral Amygdala.

Endurance represents a highly adaptive function of fear memory and a major cause of maladaptive fear- and anxiety-related mental disorders. However, less is known about the mechanisms underlying the persistence of fear memory. The epigenetic gene regulation recently emerged as an important mechanism for memory persistence. In the previous study, we found that BAF53b, a neuron-specific subunit of BAF chromatin remodeling complex, is induced after auditory cued fear conditioning in the lateral amygdala (LA) and is crucial for recent fear memory formation. In this study using mice of both sexes, we report a delayed induction of BAF53b in the LA 48 h after auditory fear conditioning and its critical role for the persistence of established fear memory. To specifically block the delayed but not the early induced BAF53b function, we used a postlearning knock-down method based on RNAi. The transient knockdown of Baf53b using siRNA in the lateral amygdala 24 h after cued fear conditioning led to specific impairment of remote but not recent memory retrieval. RNA-sequencing analyses identified fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF1) as a candidate downstream effector. Consistently, postlearning administration of FGF1 peptide rescued memory persistence in Baf53b knock-down mice. These results demonstrate the crucial role of BAF53b and FGF1 in persistent retention of fear memory, giving insights into how fear memory persistently stored through consolidation processes and suggest candidate target for treating mental disorders related to traumatic memory.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT It is still unclear how once consolidated memory persists over time. In this study, we report the delayed induction of nucleosome remodeling factor BAF53b in the lateral nucleus of amygdala after fear learning and its crucial role for persistence of established memory beyond 24 h after learning. Our data link the regulation of BAF53b and fibroblast growth factor 1 expression in the amygdala to fear memory persistence. Results from this study open a new direction to understand the time-dependent continuous consolidation processes potentially by a nucleosome-remodeling mechanism enabling long-lasting memory formation and give insights into how to treat mental disorders caused by enduring traumatic memory.

Characterization of altered molecular mechanisms in Parkinson's disease through cell type-resolved multiomics analyses.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder. However, cell type-dependent transcriptional regulatory programs responsible for PD pathogenesis remain elusive. Here, we establish transcriptomic and epigenomic landscapes of the substantia nigra by profiling 113,207 nuclei obtained from healthy controls and patients with PD. Our multiomics data integration provides cell type annotation of 128,724 cis-regulatory elements (cREs) and uncovers cell type-specific dysregulations in cREs with a strong transcriptional influence on genes implicated in PD. The establishment of high-resolution three-dimensional chromatin contact maps identifies 656 target genes of dysregulated cREs and genetic risk loci, uncovering both potential and known PD risk genes. Notably, these candidate genes exhibit modular gene expression patterns with unique molecular signatures in distinct cell types, highlighting altered molecular mechanisms in dopaminergic neurons and glial cells including oligodendrocytes and microglia. Together, our single-cell transcriptome and epigenome reveal cell type-specific disruption in transcriptional regulations related to PD.

scAVENGERS: a genotype-based deconvolution of individuals in multiplexed single-cell ATAC-seq data without reference genotypes.

Genetic differences inferred from sequencing reads can be used for demultiplexing of pooled single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) data across multiple donors without WGS-based reference genotypes. However, such methods could not be directly applied to single-cell ATAC-seq (scATAC-seq) data owing to the lower read coverage for each variant compared to scRNA-seq. We propose a new software, scATAC-seq Variant-based EstimatioN for GEnotype ReSolving (scAVENGERS), which resolves this issue by calling more individual-specific germline variants and using an optimized mixture model for the scATAC-seq. The benchmark conducted with three synthetic multiplexed scATAC-seq datasets of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and prefrontal cortex tissues showed outstanding performance compared to existing methods in terms of accuracy, doublet detection, and a portion of donor-assigned cells. Furthermore, analyzing the effect of the improved sections provided insight into handling pooled single-cell data in the future. Our source code of the devised software is available at GitHub: https://github.com/kaistcbfg/scAVENGERS.

Single-cell transcriptome analyses reveal distinct gene expression signatures of severe COVID-19 in the presence of clonal hematopoiesis.

Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), a common aging-related process that predisposes individuals to various inflammatory responses, has been reported to be associated with COVID-19 severity. However, the immunological signature and the exact gene expression program by which the presence of CHIP exerts its clinical impact on COVID-19 remain to be elucidated. In this study, we generated a single-cell transcriptome landscape of severe COVID-19 according to the presence of CHIP using peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Patients with CHIP exhibited a potent IFN-γ response in exacerbating inflammation, particularly in classical monocytes, compared to patients without CHIP. To dissect the regulatory mechanism of CHIP (+)-specific IFN-γ response gene expression in severe COVID-19, we identified DNMT3A CHIP mutation-dependent differentially methylated regions (DMRs) and annotated their putative target genes based on long-range chromatin interactions. We revealed that CHIP mutant-driven hypo-DMRs at poised cis-regulatory elements appear to facilitate the CHIP (+)-specific IFN-γ-mediated inflammatory immune response. Our results highlight that the presence of CHIP may increase the susceptibility to hyperinflammation through the reorganization of chromatin architecture, establishing a novel subgroup of severe COVID-19 patients.

Immunophenotyping of COVID-19 and influenza highlights the role of type I interferons in development of severe COVID-19.

Although most SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals experience mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), some patients suffer from severe COVID-19, which is accompanied by acute respiratory distress syndrome and systemic inflammation. To identify factors driving severe progression of COVID-19, we performed single-cell RNA-seq using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from healthy donors, patients with mild or severe COVID-19, and patients with severe influenza. Patients with COVID-19 exhibited hyper-inflammatory signatures across all types of cells among PBMCs, particularly up-regulation of the TNF/IL-1ß-driven inflammatory response as compared to severe influenza. In classical monocytes from patients with severe COVID-19, type I IFN response co-existed with the TNF/IL-1ß-driven inflammation, and this was not seen in patients with milder COVID-19. Interestingly, we documented type I IFN-driven inflammatory features in patients with severe influenza as well. Based on this, we propose that the type I IFN response plays a pivotal role in exacerbating inflammation in severe COVID-19.

PHF7 Modulates BRDT Stability and Histone-to-Protamine Exchange during Spermiogenesis.

Spermatogenesis is a complex process of sperm generation, including mitosis, meiosis, and spermiogenesis. During spermiogenesis, histones in post-meiotic spermatids are removed from chromatin and replaced by protamines. Although histone-to-protamine exchange is important for sperm nuclear condensation, the underlying regulatory mechanism is still poorly understood. Here, we identify PHD finger protein 7 (PHF7) as an E3 ubiquitin ligase for histone H3K14 in post-meiotic spermatids. Generation of Phf7-deficient mice and Phf7 C160A knockin mice with impaired E3 ubiquitin ligase activity reveals defects in histone-to-protamine exchange caused by dysregulation of histone removal factor Bromodomain, testis-specific (BRDT) in early condensing spermatids. Surprisingly, E3 ubiquitin ligase activity of PHF7 on histone ubiquitination leads to stabilization of BRDT by attenuating ubiquitination of BRDT. Collectively, our findings identify PHF7 as a critical factor for sperm chromatin condensation and contribute to mechanistic understanding of fundamental phenomenon of histone-to-protamine exchange and potential for drug development for the male reproduction system.