Genomic analysis of the mouse protamine 1, protamine 2, and transition protein 2 gene cluster reveals hypermethylation in expressing cells

To understand the role of chromatin structure in the expression of the mouse protamine 1, protamine 2, and transition protein 2 genes during spermatogenesis, we have examined the genomic organization of this cluster of ``haploid-specific' genes. As seen in the human genome, protamine 2, transition protein 2, and approximately 2.8 kb of a CpG island, hereafter called CpG island-dTP2, were clustered in a small region. Methylation analyses of this region have demonstrated that i) unlike most other tissue-specific genes, the protamine 1, protamine 2, and transition protein 2 genes were located in a large methylated domain in round spermatids, the cell type where they are transcribed, ii) the protamine 1 gene was only partially methylated in somatic cells and in testes from 7-day-old mice, and iii) the approximately 2 kb upstream and downstream of the CpG island-dTP2 were only partially methylated in somatic tissues. DNase I analysis revealed the presence of at least five strong DNase I hypersensitive sites over the CpG island-dTP2 in somatic tissues, but not in germ cells, and sequence analysis indicated that the CpG island-dTP2 is homologous to a CpG island located approximately 10.6 kb downstream of the human transition protein 2 gene. Although the nature of a CpG island-dTP2 and the function of a CpG island-dTP2-containing somatic tissue-specific DNase I hypersensitive sites in close proximity to the germ cell-specific gene cluster are unclear, the ``open' chromatin structure of the CpG island-dTP2 may be responsible for the partial methylation pattern of the flanking sequences including the transition protein 2 gene in somatic tissues. Received: 6 September 1996 / Accepted: 14 January 1997     

Interferon signaling suppresses the unfolded protein response and induces cell death in hepatocytes accumulating hepatitis B surface antigen

Virus infection, such as hepatitis B virus (HBV), occasionally causes endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. The unfolded protein response (UPR) is counteractive machinery to ER stress, and the failure of UPR to cope with ER stress results in cell death. Mechanisms that regulate the balance between ER stress and UPR are poorly understood. Type 1 and type 2 interferons have been implicated in hepatic flares during chronic HBV infection. Here, we examined the interplay between ER stress, UPR, and IFNs using transgenic mice that express hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) (HBs-Tg mice) and humanized-liver chimeric mice infected with HBV. IFNα causes severe and moderate liver injury in HBs-Tg mice and HBV infected chimeric mice, respectively. The degree of liver injury is directly correlated with HBsAg levels in the liver, and reduction of HBsAg in the transgenic mice alleviates IFNα mediated liver injury. Analyses of total gene expression and UPR biomarkers’ protein expression in the liver revealed that UPR is induced in HBs-Tg mice and HBV infected chimeric mice, indicating that HBsAg accumulation causes ER stress. Notably, IFNα administration transiently suppressed UPR biomarkers before liver injury without affecting intrahepatic HBsAg levels. Furthermore, UPR upregulation by glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) suppression or low dose tunicamycin alleviated IFNα mediated liver injury. These results suggest that IFNα induces ER stress-associated cell death by reducing UPR. IFNγ uses the same mechanism to exert cytotoxicity to HBsAg accumulating hepatocytes. Collectively, our data reveal a previously unknown mechanism of IFN-mediated cell death. This study also identifies UPR as a potential target for regulating ER stress-associated cell death.     

复制型HBV转基因小鼠遗传稳定性研究

目的：提高复制型HBV转基因小鼠的遗传稳定性。方法：应用回交传代及双杂交育种法,经荧光定量PCR、ELISA和化学发光法研究HBV基因在小鼠体内的复制与表达。结果：HBV转基因小鼠已稳定传至第23代,血清HBsAg达4122.31±2044.74IU/ml,93.93%的转基因小鼠血清HBV DNA达104-106copies/ml,表达复制水平较早期有显著提高并稳定传代;雌雄小鼠之间表达水平无显著性差异。结论：该转基因小鼠经过培育传代,已成为一个高表达且遗传稳定的复制型HBV小鼠模型。     

Parental methylation patterns of a transgenic locus in adult somatic tissues are imprinted during gametogenesis.

The methylation status of a mouse metallothionein-I/human transthyretin fusion gene was studied during gametogenesis in transgenic mice. In the adult tissues of this mouse line, the promoter region of the transgene on chromosome 11 is methylated when it is maternally inherited and undermethylated when it is paternally inherited. Germ cells from various developmental stages of gametogenesis were isolated, and their DNAs were assayed using methylation-sensitive restriction endonucleases and the polymerase chain reaction. Only low to nonexistent levels of transgene methylation were detected in germ cells from 14.5-day-old male and female fetuses irrespective of the parental origin of the transgene. This undermethylated state persisted in oocytes from newborn females as well as in testicular spermatogenic cells and sperm. By contrast, the transgene promoter was completely methylated in fully grown oocytes arrested at the first meiotic prophase. The endogenous metallothionein-I gene promoter, located on a different chromosome, remained undermethylated at all stages examined, consistent with previous findings reported for a typical CpG island. Taken together, the results suggest that parental-specific adult patterns of transgene methylation are established during gametogenesis.     

Clinical and Virological Characteristics of Chronic Hepatitis B Patients with Coexistence of HBsAg and Anti-HBs

Coexistence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibody against HBsAg (anti-HBs) comprises an atypical serological profile in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In this study, in total 94 patients with coexisting HBsAg and anti-HBs and 94 age- and sex-matched patients with positive HBsAg were characterized by quantitatively measuring HBsAg and HBV DNA, sequencing large S genes, and observing clinical features. Compared with common hepatitis B patients, the patients with coexisting HBsAg and anti-HBs had lower HBsAg and HBV DNA levels. These two groups had similar rate of pre-S deletion mutations. However, in patients with coexisting HBsAg and anti-HBs, more amino acid substitutions in the a determinant of S gene were observed in HBV genotype C, but not in genotype B. Fourteen patients with coexisting HBsAg and anti-HBs were followed up for an average of 15.5 months. There were no significant changes in the levels of HBsAg, anti-HBs, HBV DNA and ALT over the follow-up period. Compared with the baseline sequences, amino acid substitutions in the MHR of HBsAg occurred in 14.3% (2/14) patients. In conclusion, coexistence of HBsAg and anti-HBs may be associated with higher frequency of mutations in the a determinant of HBV genotype C.     

The interplay of ubiquitous DNA-binding factors, availability of binding sites in the chromatin, and DNA methylation in the differential regulation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene expression.

We have identified DNA elements in the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) gene promoter which are bound 'in vivo' by proteins under conditions of basal level gene expression and have evaluated several hypothesis to account for the tissue specific expression of the gene. In vitro DNase I footprinting demonstrated that factors which bind to basal expression elements of the PEPCK promoter, the BSE/CRE and NFI/CCAAT sites, are also present in HTC and XC cells which do not express the PEPCK gene. 'In vivo' DNase I footprinting demonstrated that the BSE/CRE, NFI/CCAAT, and three additional sites are bound by protein in H4IIE cells which express the PEPCK gene but not in the HTC or XC cells. No evidence for a repressor protein or for phased nucleosome binding to the PEPCK promoter in HTC or XC cells could be detected. Genomic sequencing was used to determine if differential methylation of the PEPCK promoter could account for the lack of factor binding in HTC and XC nuclei. None of the 14 cytosine residues in CpG dinucleotides was methylated in H4IIE or rat liver DNA, all were methylated in rat sperm DNA, and 6 were methylated in HTC DNA; including the cytosine at position--90 within the BSE/CRE. Only one cytosine residue, at position--90, was methylated in XC DNA. Treatment of XC cells with 5-azacytidine resulted in loss of methylation at the--90 position yet this was insufficient to allow synthesis of a detectable amount of PEPCK mRNA.     

The DeltauvrB mutations in the Ames strains of Salmonella span 15 to 119 genes

The lacI transgene used in the Big Blue (BB) mouse and rat mutation assays typically displays spontaneous mutation frequencies in the 5x10(-5) range. Recently, the bone marrow and bladder of the Big Blue rat were reported to have, by an order of magnitude, the lowest spontaneous mutation frequencies ever observed for lacI in a transgenic animal, approaching the value for endogenous targets such as hprt ( approximately 10(-6)). Since spontaneous mutations in transgenes have been attributed in part to deamination of 5-methylcytosine in CpG sequences, we have investigated the methylation status of the lacI transgene in bone marrow of BB rats and compared it to that present in other tissues including liver, spleen, and breast. The first 400 bases of the lacI gene were investigated using bisulfite genomic sequencing since this region contains the majority of both spontaneous and induced mutations. Surprisingly, all the CpG cytosines in the lacI sequence were fully methylated in all the tissues examined from both 2- and 14-week-old rats. Thus, there is no correlation between 5-methylcytosine content at CpG sites in lacI and the frequency of spontaneous mutation at this marker. We also investigated the methylation status of another widely used transgenic mutation target, the cII gene. The CpG sites in cII in BB rats were fully methylated while those in BB mice were partially methylated (each site approximately 50% methylated). Since spontaneous mutation frequency at cII is comparable in rat and mouse, the methylation status of CpG sequences in this gene also does not correlate with spontaneous frequency. We conclude that other mechanisms besides spontaneous deamination of 5-methylcytosine at CpG sites are driving spontaneous mutation at BB transgenic loci.     

Therapeutic inhibition of hepatitis B virus surface antigen expression by RNA interference

RNA interference (RNAi) mediated inhibition of virus-specific genes has emerged as a potential therapeutic strategy against virus induced diseases. Human hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg) has proven to be a significant risk factor in HBV induced liver diseases, and an increasing number of mutations in HBsAg are known to enhance the difficulty in therapeutic interventions. The key challenge for achieving effective gene silencing in particular for the purpose of the therapeutics is primarily based on the effectiveness and specificity of the RNAi targeting sequence. To explore the therapeutic potential of RNAi on HBV induced diseases in particular resulted from aberrant or persistent expression of HBsAg, we have especially screened and identified the most potent and specific RNAi targeting sequence that directly mediated inhibition of the HBsAg expression. Using an effective DNA vector-based shRNA expression system, we have screened 10 RNAi targeting sequences (HBsAg-1 to 10) that were chosen from HBsAg coding region, in particular the major S region, and have identified four targeting sequences that could mediate sequence specific inhibition of the HBsAg expression. Among these four shRNAs, an extremely potent and highly sequence specific HBsAg-3 shRNA was found to inhibit HBsAg expression in mouse HBV model. The inhibition was not only preventive in cotransfection experiments, but also had therapeutic effect as assessed by post-treatment protocols. Moreover, this HBsAg-3 shRNA also exhibited a great potency of inhibition in transgenic mice that constitutively expressed HBsAg. These results indicate that HBsAg-3 shRNA can be considered as a powerful therapeutic agent on HBsAg induced diseases.     

特异性表达siRNA的新型乙肝核酸药物的研究

旨在研究靶向于HBsAg的肝脏特异性siRNA,实现核酸药物高靶向性、高特异性基因治疗乙肝。通过重组PCR的方法构建靶向于HBsAg的肝脏特异性表达的siRNA的核酸药物。将目标载体转染HepG2 2.2.15细胞,用ELISA的方法测定转染细胞培养液内HBsAg的含量。PCR鉴定和测序确定重组PAAV-MCS载体PApoE1-ApoE2-hAAT-siHBsAg-U1 3’Box构建成功。重组质粒对HepG2 2.2.15细胞分泌的HBsAg所产生的抑制作用自转染后5 d达到高峰,抑制率达到(30±0.28)%(P<0.01),siRNA特异性表达单元能显著降低HepG2 2.2.15细胞HBV DNA的拷贝数。成功构建的肝脏特异性、siRNA高表达的核酸药物可以有效地抑制HBV基因的表达和复制,为乙肝的进一步治疗研究做了关键性工作。     

Persistence of the Recombinant Genomes of Woodchuck Hepatitis Virus in the Mouse Model

Hydrodynamic injection (HI) with a replication competent hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome may lead to transient or prolonged HBV replication in mice. However, the prolonged HBV persistence after HI depends on the specific backbone of the vector carrying HBV genome and the genetic background of the mouse strain. We asked whether a genetically closely related hepadnavirus, woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV), may maintain the gene expression and replication in the mouse liver after HI. Interestingly, we found that HI of pBS-WHV1.3 containing a 1.3 fold overlength WHV genome in BALB/c mouse led to the long presence of WHV DNA and WHV proteins expression in the mouse liver. Thus, we asked whether WHV genome carrying foreign DNA sequences could maintain the long term gene expression and persistence. For this purpose, the coding region of HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) was inserted into the WHV genome to replace the corresponding region. Three recombinant WHV-HBV genomes were constructed with the replacement with HBsAg a-determinant, major HBsAg, and middle HBsAg. Serum HBsAg, viral DNA, hepatic WHV protein expression, and viral replication intermediates were detected in mice after HI with recombinant genomes. Similarly, the recombinant genomes could persist for a prolonged period of time up to 45 weeks in mice. WHV and recombinant WHV-HBV genomes did not trigger effective antibody and T-cell responses to viral proteins. The ability of recombinant WHV constructs to persist in mice is an interesting aspect for the future investigation and may be explored for in vivo gene transfer.     

Persistence or loss of preimposed methylation patterns and de novo methylation of foreign DNA integrated in transgenic mice.

In cultured mammalian cells, foreign DNA can be integrated into the host genome. Foreign DNA is frequently de novo methylated in specific patterns with successive cell generations. The sequence-specific methylation of promoter sequences in integrated foreign DNA is associated with the long-term inactivation of eukaryotic genes. We have now extended these experiments to studies on transgenic mice. As in previous work, a construct (pAd2E2AL-CAT) has been used which consists of the late E2A promoter of adenovirus type 2 (Ad2) DNA fused to the prokaryotic gene for chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT). This construct has been integrated in the non-methylated in the 5'-CCGG-3' premethylated form in the genomes of transgenic mice. DNA from various organs was analyzed by HpaII/MspI cleavage to assess the state of methylation in 5'-CCGG-3' sequences. The results demonstrate that the transgenic construct is in general stable. Non-methylated constructs have remained partly non-methylated for four generations or can become de novo methylated at all or most 5'-CCGG-3' sequences in the founder animal. Preimposed patterns of 5'-CCGG-3' methylation have been preserved for up to four generations beyond the founder animal. In the testes of two different founder animals and two F1 males, the transgenic DNA has become demethylated by an unknown mechanism. In all other organs, the transgenic DNA preserves the preimposed 5'-CCGG-3' methylation pattern. In the experiments performed so far we have not observed differences in the transmission of methylation patterns depending on whether the transgene has been maternally or paternally inherited. The 5'-CCGG-3' premethylated transgene does not catalyze CAT activity in several organs, except in one example of the testes of an animal in which the transgenic construct has become demethylated. In contrast, when the nonmethylated construct has been integrated and remained largely non-methylated, CAT activity has been detected in extracts from some of the organs.