Biology subjects

Perovanovic, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Perovanovic, J..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2020

Oct1 recruits the histone lysine demethylase Utx to canalize lineage specification

The transition between pluripotent and tissue-specific states is a key aspect of development. Understanding the pathways driving these transitions will facilitate the engineering of properly differentiated cells for experimental and therapeutic uses. Here, we showed that during mesoderm differentiation, the transcription factor Oct1 activated developmental lineage-appropriate genes that were silent in pluripotent cells. Using mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) with an inducible knockout of Oct1, we showed that Oct1 deficiency resulted in poor induction of mesoderm-specific genes, leading to impaired mesodermal and terminal muscle differentiation. Oct1-deficient cells exhibited poor temporal coordination of the induction of lineage-specific genes and showed inappropriate developmental lineage branching, resulting in poorly differentiated cell states retaining epithelial characteristics. In ESCs, Oct1 localized with the pluripotency factor Oct4 at mesoderm-associated genes and remained bound to those loci during differentiation after the dissociation of Oct4. Binding events for Oct1 overlapped with those for the histone lysine demethylase Utx, and an interaction between Oct1 and Utx suggested that these two proteins cooperate to activate gene expression. The specificity of the ubiquitous Oct1 for the induction of mesodermal genes could be partially explained by the frequent coexistence of Smad and Oct binding sites at mesoderm-specific genes and the cooperative stimulation of mesodermal gene transcription by Oct1 and Smad3. Together, these results identify Oct1 as a key mediator of mesoderm lineage-specific gene induction.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Targeting OCA-B/Pou2af1 blocks type-1 diabetes and reduces infiltration of activated, islet-reactive T cells

The transcriptional coregulator OCA-B promotes expression of T cell target genes in cases of repeated antigen exposure, a necessary feature of autoimmunity. We hypothesized that T cell-specific OCA-B deletion and pharmacologic OCA-B inhibition would protect mice from autoimmune diabetes. We developed an Ocab conditional allele and backcrossed it onto a diabetes-prone NOD/ShiLtJ strain background. T cell-specific OCA-B loss protected mice from spontaneous disease. Protection was associated with large reductions in islet CD8+ T cell receptor specificities associated with diabetes pathogenesis. CD4+ clones associated with diabetes were present, but associated with anergic phenotypes. The protective effect of OCA-B loss was recapitulated using autoantigen-specific NY8.3 mice, but diminished in monoclonal models specific to artificial or neoantigens. Rationally-designed membrane-penetrating OCA-B peptide inhibitors normalized glucose levels, and reduced T cell infiltration and proinflammatory cytokine expression in newly-diabetic NOD mice. Together, the results indicate that OCA-B is a potent autoimmune regulator and a promising target for pharmacologic inhibition. ~40-word summary statement for the online JEM table of contents and alertsKim and colleagues show that OCA-B in T cells is essential for the generation of type-1 diabetes. OCA-B loss leaves the pancreatic lymph nodes largely undisturbed, but associates autoreactive CD4+ T cells in the pancreas with anergy while deleting potentially autoreactive CD8+ T cells. SummaryKim et al. show that loss or inhibition of OCA-B in T cells protects mice from type-1 diabetes.

immunology↗