1. EZH2 specifically regulates ISL1 during embryonic urinary tract formation.
- Author
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Mingardo E, Kalanithy JC, Dworschak G, Ishorst N, Yilmaz Ö, Lindenberg T, Hollstein R, Felger T, Angrand PO, Reutter H, and Odermatt B
- Subjects
- Animals, Humans, Bladder Exstrophy genetics, Bladder Exstrophy metabolism, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Genome-Wide Association Study, Promoter Regions, Genetic, Urinary Tract metabolism, Urinary Tract abnormalities, Urinary Tract embryology, Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 Protein metabolism, Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 Protein genetics, LIM-Homeodomain Proteins genetics, LIM-Homeodomain Proteins metabolism, Transcription Factors genetics, Transcription Factors metabolism, Zebrafish embryology, Zebrafish genetics
- Abstract
Isl1 has been described as an embryonic master control gene expressed in the pericloacal mesenchyme. Deletion of Isl1 from the genital mesenchyme in mice leads to an ectopic urethral opening and epispadias-like phenotype. Using genome wide association methods, we identified ISL1 as the key susceptibility gene for classic bladder exstrophy (CBE), comprising epispadias and exstrophy of the urinary bladder. The most significant marker (rs6874700) identified in our recent GWAS meta-analysis achieved a p value of 1.48 × 10
- 24 within the ISL1 region. In silico analysis of rs6874700 and all other genome-wide significant markers in Linkage Disequilibrium (LD) with rs6874700 (D' = 1.0; R2 > 0.90) revealed marker rs2303751 (p value 8.12 × 10- 20 ) as the marker with the highest regulatory effect predicted. Here, we describe a novel 1.2 kb intragenic promoter residing between 6.2 and 7.4 kb downstream of the ISL1 transcription starting site, which is located in the reverse DNA strand and harbors a binding site for EZH2 at the exact region of marker rs2303751. We show, that EZH2 silencing in HEK cells reduces ISL1 expression. We show that ezh2-/- knockout (KO) zebrafish larvae display tissues specificity of ISL1 regulation with reduced expression of Isl1 in the pronephric region of zebrafish larvae. In addition, a shorter and malformed nephric duct is observed in ezh2-/- ko zebrafish Tg(wt1ß:eGFP) reporter lines. Our study shows, that Ezh2 is a key regulator of Isl1 during urinary tract formation and suggests tissue specific ISL1 dysregulation as an underlying mechanism for CBE formation., (© 2024. The Author(s).)- Published
- 2024
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