This SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Placing the HIRA histone chaperone complex in the chromatin landscape.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe HIRA chaperone complex, comprised of HIRA, UBN1 and CABIN1, collaborates with histone-binding protein ASF1a to incorporate histone variant H3.3 into chromatin in a DNA replication-independent manner. To better understand its function and mechanism, we integrated HIRA, UBN1, ASF1a and histone H3.3 ChIP-seq and gene expression analyses. Most HIRA-binding sites co-localize with UBN1, ASF1a and H3.3 at active promoters and active and weak/poised enhancers. At promoters, binding of HIRA/UBN1/ASF1a correlates with the level of gene expression. HIRA is required for deposition of histone H3.3 at its binding sites. There are marked differences in nucleosome and co-regulator composition at different classes of HIRA-bound regulatory site. Underscoring this, we report novel physical interactions between the HIRA complex and transcription factors, a chromatin insulator and an ATP-dependent chromatin-remodelling complex. Our results map the distribution of the HIRA chaperone across the chromatin landscape and point to different interacting partners at functionally distinct regulatory sites.
Placing the HIRA histone chaperone complex in the chromatin landscape.
Specimen part
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Wnt signaling potentiates nevogenesis.
Specimen part, Cell line
View SamplesMelanocytes within benign human nevi are the paradigm for tumor suppressive senescent cells in a pre-malignant neoplasm. These cells typically contain mutations in either the BRAF or N-RAS oncogene and express markers of senescence, including p16. However, a nevus can contain 10s to 100s of thousands of clonal melanocytes and approximately 20-30% of melanoma are thought to arise in association with a pre-existing nevus. Neither observation is indicative of fail-safe senescence-associated proliferation arrest and tumor suppression. We set out to better understand the status of nevus melanocytes. Proliferation-promoting Wnt target genes, such as cyclin D1 and c-myc, were repressed in oncogene-induced senescent melanocytes in vitro, and repression of Wnt signaling in these cells induced a senescent-like state. In contrast, cyclin D1 and c-myc were expressed in many melanocytes of human benign nevi. Specifically, activated Wnt signalling in nevi correlated inversely with nevus maturation, an established dermatopathological correlate of clinical benignancy. Single cell analyses of lone epidermal melanocytes and nevus melanocytes showed that expression of proliferation-promoting Wnt targets correlates with prior proliferative expansion of p16-expressing nevus melanocytes. In a mouse model, activation of Wnt signaling delayed, but did not bypass, senescence of oncogene-expressing melanocytes, leading to massive accumulation of proliferation-arrested, p16-positive non-malignant melanocytes. We conclude that clonal hyperproliferation of oncogene-expressing melanocytes to form a nevus is facilitated by transient delay of senescence due to activated Wnt signaling. The observation that activation of Wnt signaling correlates inversely with nevus maturation, an indicator of clinical benignancy, supports the notion that persistent destabilization of senescence by Wnt signaling contributes to the malignant potential of nevi.
Wnt signaling potentiates nevogenesis.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe mammalian HIRA/UBN1/ASF1a complex is a histone chaperone complex that is conserved from yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) to humans. This complex preferentially deposits the histone variant H3.3 into chromatin in a DNA replication-independent manner and is implicated in diverse chromatin regu- latory events from gene activation to heterochromatinization. In yeast, the orthologous complex consists of three Hir proteins (Hir1p, Hir2p, and Hir3p), Hpc2p, and Asf1p. Yeast Hir3p has weak homology to CABIN1, a fourth member of the human complex, suggesting that Hir3p and CABIN1 may be orthologs. Here we show that HIRA and CABIN1 interact at ectopic and endogenous levels of expression in cells, and we isolate the quaternary HIRA/UBN1/CABIN1/ASF1a (HUCA) complex, assembled from recombinant proteins. Mutational analyses support the view that HIRA acts as a scaffold to bring together UBN1, ASF1a, and CABIN1 into a quaternary complex. We show that, like HIRA, UBN1, and ASF1a, CABIN1 is involved in heterochromatinization of the genome of senescent human cells. Moreover, in proliferating cells, HIRA and CABIN1 regulate overlapping sets of genes, and these genes are enriched in the histone variant H3.3. In sum, these data demonstrate that CABIN1 is a functional member of the human HUCA complex and so is the likely ortholog of yeast Hir3p.
Human CABIN1 is a functional member of the human HIRA/UBN1/ASF1a histone H3.3 chaperone complex.
Specimen part
View SamplesProfiling project of a panel of tubular adenoma and serrated adenoma patient material collected in the Academic Medical Center (AMC) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The aim of the study was to compare the expression profiles of different types of colon cancer precursor lesions (tubular versus serrated adenomas) and determine their correspondence with a set of colon cancer patient-derived profiles that have distinct clinical outcomes.
Poor-prognosis colon cancer is defined by a molecularly distinct subtype and develops from serrated precursor lesions.
Specimen part
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Methylation of cancer-stem-cell-associated Wnt target genes predicts poor prognosis in colorectal cancer patients.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Disease
View SamplesProfiling project of CRC patient material collected in the Academic Medical Center (AMC) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. We focused on a set of 90 AJCC stage II patients that underwent intentionally curative surgery in the years 1997-2006 (AMC-AJCCII-90). Extensive medical records are kept from these patients and long-term clinical follow-up is available for the large majority. Both paraffin-embedded as well as fresh frozen tissue is available from all these patients for analysis.
Methylation of cancer-stem-cell-associated Wnt target genes predicts poor prognosis in colorectal cancer patients.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Disease
View SamplesPrimary colon CSC cultures were transduced with a Wnt responsive construct (TOP-GFP). 10% highest and lowest TOP-GFP cell fractions were FACS sorted and arrayed.
Methylation of cancer-stem-cell-associated Wnt target genes predicts poor prognosis in colorectal cancer patients.
Specimen part
View SamplesOIS is characterized by a stable proliferation arrest and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). Proliferation arrest and the SASP collaborate to enact tumor suppression, the former by blocking cell proliferation and the latter by recruiting immune cells to clear damaged cells. However, the interactions of OIS cells with the immune system are still poorly defined. Here we show that engagement of OIS in primary human melanocytes, specifically by melanoma driver mutations NRASQ61K and BRAFV600E, causes expression of the MHC class II antigen presentation apparatus, via secreted IL1ß signaling and expression of CIITA, a master regulator of MHC class II gene transcription. Overall design: We quantify transcription via high throughput RNA sequencing in nevus melanocytes in cross FVB/NJ mice with Cre inducible NRAS61K with an MHCII cross
Oncogene-Expressing Senescent Melanocytes Up-Regulate MHC Class II, a Candidate Melanoma Suppressor Function.
Cell line, Subject
View Samples