Abstract
Communication between cancer cells and immune cells is a key determinant of the glioblastoma ecosystem and its response to therapies, but remains poorly understood. Here we leveraged ...single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) of human samples and mouse models, deconvolution analysis of bulk specimen from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and functional approaches, to dissect cellular cross-talks in glioblastoma. We demonstrate that macrophages induce a transition of glioblastoma cells into mesenchymal-like (MES-like) states. This effect is mediated, both in vitro and in vivo, by macrophage-derived Oncostatin M (OSM) and its cognate receptor OSMR on glioblastoma cells. We show that MES-like glioblastoma states are also associated with increased expression of a mesenchymal program in macrophages and with increased cytotoxicity of T cells, highlighting extensive alterations of the immune microenvironment with potential therapeutic implications.
DNA methylation is highly dynamic during mammalian embryogenesis. It is broadly accepted that the paternal genome is actively depleted of 5-methylcytosine at fertilization, followed by passive loss ...that reaches a minimum at the blastocyst stage. However, this model is based on limited data, and so far no base-resolution maps exist to support and refine it. Here we generate genome-scale DNA methylation maps in mouse gametes and from the zygote through post-implantation. We find that the oocyte already exhibits global hypomethylation, particularly at specific families of long interspersed element 1 and long terminal repeat retroelements, which are disparately methylated between gametes and have lower methylation values in the zygote than in sperm. Surprisingly, the oocyte contributes a unique set of differentially methylated regions (DMRs)--including many CpG island promoters--that are maintained in the early embryo but are lost upon specification and absent from somatic cells. In contrast, sperm-contributed DMRs are largely intergenic and become hypermethylated after the blastocyst stage. Our data provide a genome-scale, base-resolution timeline of DNA methylation in the pre-specified embryo, when this epigenetic modification is most dynamic, before returning to the canonical somatic pattern.
The transcription factor BATF is required for the differentiation of interleukin 17 (IL-17)-producing helper T cells (T.sub.H17 cells) and follicular helper T cells (T.sub.FH cells). Here we ...identified a fundamental role for BATF in regulating the differentiation of effector of CD8.sup.+ T cells. BATF-deficient CD8.sup.+ T cells showed profound defects in effector population expansion and underwent proliferative and metabolic catastrophe early after encountering antigen. BATF, together with the transcription factors IRF4 and Jun proteins, bound to and promoted early expression of genes encoding lineage-specific transcription-factors (T-bet and Blimp-1) and cytokine receptors while paradoxically repressing genes encoding effector molecules (IFN-γ and granzyme B). Thus, BATF amplifies T cell antigen receptor (TCR)-dependent expression of transcription factors and augments the propagation of inflammatory signals but restrains the expression of genes encoding effector molecules. This checkpoint prevents irreversible commitment to an effector fate until a critical threshold of downstream transcriptional activity has been achieved.
The transcription factor BATF is required for differentiation of certain helper T cell subsets. Haining and colleagues show that BATF crucially regulates CD8.sup.+ effector cells by coordinating a ...transcription factor network.
The transcription factor BATF is required for the differentiation of interleukin 17 (IL-17)-producing helper T cells (T sub(H)17 cells) and follicular helper T cells (T sub(FH) cells). Here we ...identified a fundamental role for BATF in regulating the differentiation of effector of CD8 super(+) T cells. BATF-deficient CD8 super(+) T cells showed profound defects in effector population expansion and underwent proliferative and metabolic catastrophe early after encountering antigen. BATF, together with the transcription factors IRF4 and Jun proteins, bound to and promoted early expression of genes encoding lineage-specific transcription-factors (T-bet and Blimp-1) and cytokine receptors while paradoxically repressing genes encoding effector molecules (IFN- gamma and granzyme B). Thus, BATF amplifies T cell antigen receptor (TCR)-dependent expression of transcription factors and augments the propagation of inflammatory signals but restrains the expression of genes encoding effector molecules. This checkpoint prevents irreversible commitment to an effector fate until a critical threshold of downstream transcriptional activity has been achieved.
N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most ubiquitous mRNA base modification, but little is known about its precise location, temporal dynamics, and regulation. Here, we generated genomic maps of m6A sites ...in meiotic yeast transcripts at nearly single-nucleotide resolution, identifying 1,308 putatively methylated sites within 1,183 transcripts. We validated 8/8 methylation sites in different genes with direct genetic analysis, demonstrated that methylated sites are significantly conserved in a related species, and built a model that predicts methylated sites directly from sequence. Sites vary in their methylation profiles along a dense meiotic time-course, and are regulated both locally, via predictable methylatability of each site, and globally, through the core meiotic circuitry. The methyltransferase complex components localize to the yeast nucleolus, and this localization is essential for mRNA methylation. Our data illuminates a conserved, dynamically regulated methylation program in yeast meiosis, and provides an important resource for studying the function of this epitranscriptomic modification.
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