Re-replication of a Centromere Induces Chromosomal Instability and Aneuploidy

The faithful inheritance of chromosomes during cell division requires their precise replication and segregation. Numerous mechanisms ensure that each of these fundamental cell cycle events is performed with a high degree of fidelity. The fidelity of chromosomal replication is maintained in part by re-replication controls that ensure there are no more than two copies of every genomic segment to distribute to the two daughter cells. This control is enforced by inhibiting replication initiation proteins from reinitiating replication origins within a single cell cycle. Here we show in Saccharomyces cerevisiae that re-replication control is important for the fidelity of chromosome segregation. In particular, we demonstrate that transient re-replication of centromeric DNA due to disruption of re-replication control greatly induces aneuploidy of the re-replicated chromosome. Some of this aneuploidy arises from missegregation of both sister chromatids to one daughter cell. Aneuploidy can also arise from the generation of an extra sister chromatid via homologous recombination, suggesting that centromeric re-replication can trigger breakage and repair events that expand chromosome number without causing chromosomal rearrangements. Thus, we have identified a potential new non-mitotic source of aneuploidy that can arise from a defect in re-replication control. Given the emerging connections between the deregulation of replication initiation proteins and oncogenesis, this finding may be relevant to the aneuploidy that is prevalent in cancer.     

RNA干扰在哺乳动物卵母细胞及早期胚胎发育研究中的应用

RNA干扰(RNAinterference,RNAi)是一种真核生物体内由特定双链RNA介导的转录后基因沉默现象。近年来,RNAi的作用机制已基本阐明,并广泛的应用于基因功能的研究。现对RNAi在哺乳动物卵母细胞及早期胚胎研究中的作用特点、应用情况、存在问题等几方面进行综述。     

哺乳动物滋养层细胞在胚胎植入中的作用

胚胎植入是哺乳动物生殖的关键环节,是一个非常复杂的过程.在胚胎植入过程中,多种着床相关因子、激素在母体-胚胎之间进行多重作用,引发复杂的生理作用,从而完成胚胎着床.在母体-胚胎界面上,胎源性滋养层细胞与母体子宫内膜细胞在信号联系（妊娠识别）和组织紧密连接（胚胎植入）过程中起着决定性作用,尤其是胚源性滋养层细胞,在胚胎植入过程中起主导作用.本文通过对滋养层细胞在胚胎植入中的作用的阐述,为进一步阐明胚胎植入的分子机制提供思路.     

Loss of ATRX leads to chromosome cohesion and congression defects

Alpha thalassemia/mental retardation X linked (ATRX) is a switch/sucrose nonfermenting-type ATPase localized at pericentromeric heterochromatin in mouse and human cells. Human ATRX mutations give rise to mental retardation syndromes characterized by developmental delay, facial dysmorphisms, cognitive deficits, and microcephaly and the loss of ATRX in the mouse brain leads to reduced cortical size. We find that ATRX is required for normal mitotic progression in human cultured cells and in neuroprogenitors. Using live cell imaging, we show that the transition from prometaphase to metaphase is prolonged in ATRX-depleted cells and is accompanied by defective sister chromatid cohesion and congression at the metaphase plate. We also demonstrate that loss of ATRX in the embryonic mouse brain induces mitotic defects in neuroprogenitors in vivo with evidence of abnormal chromosome congression and segregation. These findings reveal that ATRX contributes to chromosome dynamics during mitosis and provide a possible cellular explanation for reduced cortical size and abnormal brain development associated with ATRX deficiency.     

哺乳动物胚胎分割研究进展及应用前景

胚胎分割是研究细胞分化、早期胚胎发育、胚胎细胞全能性的有力手段。采用不同的分割方法可对不同时期的胚胎进行分割。有多方面因素影响分割胚胎的成活率。将胚胎分割技术与细胞核移植、临床诊断等相结合,将具有更为广阔的应用前景。     

哺乳动物卵母细胞成熟和受精中细胞骨架重组和作用

卵母细胞成熟和受精是动物生殖过程的核心环节。细胞骨架是遍布于卵母细胞胞质中的一种复杂的蛋白质纤维网络,研究表明,卵母细胞成熟和受精过程中伴随着广泛的胞质骨架重组。哺乳动物卵母细胞和早期胚胎中细胞骨架具有其独特的分布和功能,使卵母细胞和胚胎呈现出不同的变化特点。微丝、微管的分布变化与卵母细胞成熟和受精中遗传物质的重组密切相关。近年来,对哺乳动物不同物种间卵母细胞和胚胎中细胞骨架成分的研究取得了很大的进展,结合这些研究成果,对哺乳动物卵母细胞成熟和受精过程中细胞骨架的重组、分布和作用进行了介绍。同时,对多种信号转导途径参与卵母细胞成熟和受精中细胞骨架系统的调控也作了探讨。     

EST技术及其在哺乳动物早期胚胎研究中的应用

EST(expressed sequence tags ,EST) 是一段长约150～500 bp的基因表达的外源序列片段,是由大规模随机挑取的cDNA克隆测序得到的组织或细胞基因组的表达序列标签。一个EST代表生物某一时期的某种组织或细胞的一个表达基因。本文主要综述了EST技术的原理方法,哺乳动物早期胚胎研究的理论基础以及EST技术在早期胚胎研究方面的应用,并讨论了利用EST进行研究分析的发展趋势。     

Loss of ATRX confers DNA repair defects and PARP inhibitor sensitivity

Alpha Thalassemia/Mental Retardation Syndrome X-Linked (ATRX) is mutated frequently in gliomas and represents a potential target for cancer therapies. ATRX is known to function as a histone chaperone that helps incorporate histone variant, H3.3, into the genome. Studies have implicated ATRX in key DNA damage response (DDR) pathways but a distinct role in DNA repair has yet to be fully elucidated. To further investigate the function of ATRX in the DDR, we created isogenic wild-type (WT) and ATRX knockout (KO) model cell lines using CRISPR-based gene targeting. These studies revealed that loss of ATRX confers sensitivity to poly(ADP)-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors, which was linked to an increase in replication stress, as detected by increased activation of the ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related (ATR) signaling axis. ATRX mutations frequently co-occur with mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 and -2 (IDH1/2), and the latter mutations also induce HR defects and PARP inhibitor sensitivity. We found that the magnitude of PARP inhibitor sensitivity was equal in the context of each mutation alone, although no further sensitization was observed in combination, suggesting an epistatic interaction. Finally, we observed enhanced synergistic tumor cell killing in ATRX KO cells with ATR and PARP inhibition, which is commonly seen in HR-defective cells. Taken together, these data reveal that ATRX may be used as a molecular marker for DDR defects and PARP inhibitor sensitivity, independent of IDH1/2 mutations. These data highlight the important role of common glioma-associated mutations in the regulation of DDR, and novel avenues for molecularly guided therapeutic intervention.     

Acute Versus Chronic Loss of Mammalian Azi1/Cep131 Results in Distinct Ciliary Phenotypes

Defects in cilium and centrosome function result in a spectrum of clinically-related disorders, known as ciliopathies. However, the complex molecular composition of these structures confounds functional dissection of what any individual gene product is doing under normal and disease conditions. As part of an siRNA screen for genes involved in mammalian ciliogenesis, we and others have identified the conserved centrosomal protein Azi1/Cep131 as required for cilia formation, supporting previous Danio rerio and Drosophila melanogaster mutant studies. Acute loss of Azi1 by knock-down in mouse fibroblasts leads to a robust reduction in ciliogenesis, which we rescue by expressing siRNA-resistant Azi1-GFP. Localisation studies show Azi1 localises to centriolar satellites, and traffics along microtubules becoming enriched around the basal body. Azi1 also localises to the transition zone, a structure important for regulating traffic into the ciliary compartment. To study the requirement of Azi1 during development and tissue homeostasis, Azi1 null mice were generated (Azi1^Gt/Gt). Surprisingly, Azi1^Gt/Gt MEFs have no discernible ciliary phenotype and moreover are resistant to Azi1 siRNA knock-down, demonstrating that a compensation mechanism exists to allow ciliogenesis to proceed despite the lack of Azi1. Cilia throughout Azi1 null mice are functionally normal, as embryonic patterning and adult homeostasis are grossly unaffected. However, in the highly specialised sperm flagella, the loss of Azi1 is not compensated, leading to striking microtubule-based trafficking defects in both the manchette and the flagella, resulting in male infertility. Our analysis of Azi1 knock-down (acute loss) versus gene deletion (chronic loss) suggests that Azi1 plays a conserved, but non-essential trafficking role in ciliogenesis. Importantly, our in vivo analysis reveals Azi1 mediates novel trafficking functions necessary for flagellogenesis. Our study highlights the importance of both acute removal of a protein, in addition to mouse knock-out studies, when functionally characterising candidates for human disease.     

Loss of Rec8 from Chromosome Arm and Centromere Region is Required for Homologous Chromosome Separation and Sister Chromatid Separation,Respectively, in Mammalian Meiosis

Chromosome separation in meiosis I is different from those in mitosis and meiosis II inthat homologs separate from each other in the former while sisters do so in the latter. Weshow here that meiosis-specific cohesin subunit Rec8 in mouse oocytes showsessentially the same pattern of localization to those reported in yeasts1-3 and mammalianspermatocytes4,5; Rec8 along chromosome arm (armRec8) is lost at the metaphaseI-to-anaphase I transition, although centromeric Rec8 (cenRec8) is maintained until theonset of anaphase II. Suppression of the loss of armRec8 by microinjection of anti-Rec8antibody into the oocytes inhibits homolog separation but not the first polar bodyemission (cytokinesis). Similarly, the injection of anti-Rec8 antibody into metaphase IIoocytes prevents sister separation in anaphase II after oocyte activation. These datademonstrate that the loss of armRec8 and cenRec8 is required for separation ofhomologs and sisters, respectively, but both are not required for other late mitotic eventssuch as spindle elongation and cytokinesis in mouse oocytes. Further, we propose thatloss of armRec8 (homolog separation) and cytokinesis are suppressed until anaphase Iby Securin whose destruction is regulated by spindle checkpoint-proteasome pathway,and that Topoisomerase II is required for homolog separation independently from suchpathway.     

The C-Terminal Domain of CENP-C Displays Multiple and Critical Functions for Mammalian Centromere Formation

CENP-C is a fundamental component of functional centromeres. The elucidation of its structure-function relationship with centromeric DNA and other kinetochore proteins is critical to the understanding of centromere assembly. CENP-C carries two regions, the central and the C-terminal domains, both of which are important for the ability of CENP-C to associate with the centromeric DNA. However, while the central region is largely divergent in CENP-C homologues, the C-terminal moiety contains two regions that are highly conserved from yeast to humans, named Mif2p homology domains (blocks II and III). The activity of these two domains in human CENP-C is not well defined. In this study we performed a functional dissection of C-terminal CENP-C region analyzing the role of single Mif2p homology domains through in vivo and in vitro assays. By immunofluorescence and Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay (ChIP) we were able to elucidate the ability of the Mif2p homology domain II to target centromere and contact alpha satellite DNA. We also investigate the interactions with other conserved inner kinetochore proteins by means of coimmunoprecipitation and bimolecular fluorescence complementation on cell nuclei. We found that the C-terminal region of CENP-C (Mif2p homology domain III) displays multiple activities ranging from the ability to form higher order structures like homo-dimers and homo-oligomers, to mediate interaction with CENP-A and histone H3. Overall, our findings support a model in which the Mif2p homology domains of CENP-C, by virtue of their ability to establish multiple contacts with DNA and centromere proteins, play a critical role in the structuring of kinethocore chromatin.     

Cyclic AMP Affects Oocyte Maturation and Embryo Development in Prepubertal and Adult Cattle

High cAMP levels during in vitro maturation (IVM) have been related to improved blastocyst yields. Here, we employed the cAMP/cGMP modulators, forskolin, IBMX, and cilostamide, during IVM to unravel the role of high cAMP in early embryonic development produced from prepubertal and adult bovine oocytes. Oocytes were collected via transvaginal aspiration and randomly assigned to three experimental groups: TCM24 (24h IVM/control), cAMP30 (2h pre-IVM (forskolin-IBMX), 30h IVM-cilostamide), and DMSO30 (Dimethyl Sulfoxide/vehicle control). After IVM, oocytes were fertilized in vitro and zygotes were cultured in vitro to blastocysts. Meiotic progression, cAMP levels, mRNA abundance of selected genes and DNA methylation were evaluated in oocytes. Blastocysts were used for gene expression or DNA methylation analyses. Blastocysts from the cAMP30 groups were transferred to recipients. The cAMP elevation delayed meiotic progression, but developmental rates were not increased. In immature oocytes, mRNA abundance of PRKACA was higher for cAMP30 protocol and no differences were found for PDE3A, SMAD2, ZAR1, PRDX1 and SLC2A8. EGR1 gene was up-regulated in prepubertal cAMP30 immature oocytes and down-regulated in blastocysts from all in vitro treatments. A similar gene expression profile was observed for DNMT3b, BCL2L1, PRDX1 and SLC2A8 in blastocysts. Satellite DNA methylation profiles were different between prepubertal and adult oocytes and blastocysts derived from the TCM24 and DMSO30 groups. Blastocysts obtained from prepubertal and adult oocytes in the cAMP30 treatment displayed normal methylation profiles and produced offspring. These data indicate that cAMP regulates IVM in prepubertal and adult oocytes in a similar manner, with impact on the establishment of epigenetic marks and acquisition of full developmental competency.