Biology subjects

Garcia-Perez, L.

Publications and source records attributed to Garcia-Perez, L..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

The epigenetic reader MORC3 is required for T cell development in the thymus

Cell fate decisions are orchestrated by an interplay of epigenetic factors in collaboration with transcriptional activators and repressors. The epigenetic reader MORC3 is known as a silencer of endogenous retroviruses in mouse embryonic stem cells. Here, we show that mouse MORC3 is expressed in the thymus and reveal that MORC3 loss of function leads to a severe arrest in T cell development at the DN1 stage, accompanied by an expansion of natural killer and myeloid cells. MORC3 function in thymus depends on its ATPase and its ability to bind H3K4me via the CW-type zinc finger domain. We find altered chromatin accessibility at regulatory elements of key T cell transcription factors in DN1 cells and show that re-expressing TCF1 in MORC3-deficient progenitor cells, rescues T cell development. Our work indicates a novel function for MORC3 in modulating regulatory sites essential for T cell lineage commitment at the level of chromatin.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2024

Protein degradation shapes developmental tempo in mouse and human neural progenitors

The pace of embryonic development differs markedly across mammalian species, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying these tempo differences remain largely unknown. Here, we systematically compared protein dynamics in mouse and human neural progenitors (NPs) and examined how protein stability influences developmental timing. We find that mouse NPs exhibit faster protein production and degradation than human NPs. Human NPs display broadly increased protein half-lives, independent of cellular compartment or protein function, and this difference persists in post-mitotic neurons. Consistent with this, proteasomal activity is lower in human embryonic spinal cord and stem cell-derived neural progenitors than mouse, correlating with reduced expression of proteasome-associated proteins. Functionally, accelerating the degradation of the key transcriptional repressor IRX3 in mouse NPs speeds the activation of its target gene, providing causal evidence that protein turnover modulates developmental tempo. These results reveal that species-specific regulation of protein degradation shapes the timing of neural development and suggest that evolutionary tuning of proteasomal activity contributes to differences in embryonic developmental pace.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Single-cell immune profiling reveals novel thymus-seeding populations, T cell commitment, and multi-lineage development in the human thymus

T cell development in the mouse thymus has been studied rather extensively; in contrast, strikingly little is known regarding T cell development in the human thymus. To close this knowledge gap, we used a combination of single-cell techniques and functional assays to perform deep immune profiling of human T cell development, focusing on the initial stages of pre-lineage commitment. We identified three thymus-seeding progenitor populations that also have counterparts in the bone marrow. In addition, we found that the human thymus physiologically supports the development of monocytes, dendritic cells, and NK cells, as well as limited development of B cells. These results are an important step towards monitoring and guiding regenerative therapies in patients following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2019

Species-specific developmental timing is associated with global differences in protein stability in mouse and human

What determines the pace of embryonic development? Although many molecular mechanisms controlling developmental processes are evolutionarily conserved, the speed at which these operate can vary substantially between species. For example, the same genetic programme, comprising sequential changes in transcriptional states, governs the differentiation of motor neurons in mouse and human, but the tempo at which it operates differs between species. Using in vitro directed differentiation of embryonic stem cells to motor neurons, we show that the programme runs twice as fast in mouse as in human. We provide evidence that this is neither due to differences in signalling, nor the genomic sequence of genes or their regulatory elements. Instead, we find an approximately two-fold increase in protein stability and cell cycle duration in human cells compared to mouse. This can account for the slower pace of human development, indicating that global differences in key kinetic parameters play a major role in interspecies differences in developmental tempo.

developmental biology↗