Chondhok Delos Reyes, Mana, Kratsios, Paschalis, Moore, Frances, Smith, Jayson, Martinez, Michael, Adikes, Rebecca, Zhang, Wan, Wen, Kailong, Xiao, Yutong, Kohrman, Abraham, Liu, Simeiyun, Matus, David, Palmisano, Nicholas, Bracht, Sydney, Parsan, Nithin, Medwig-Kinney, Taylor
[
International Worm Meeting,
2021]
Chromatin remodeling complexes, such as the SWItching defective/Sucrose Non-Fermenting (SWI/SNF) ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complex, coordinate metazoan development through broad regulation of chromatin accessibility and transcription, ensuring normal cell cycle control and cellular differentiation in a lineage-specific and temporally restricted manner. Mutations in the structural subunits of chromatin, such as histone subunits, and chromatin regulating factors (CRFs) are associated with a variety of diseases including cancer metastasis, which co-opts cellular invasion programs functioning in healthy cells during development. Here we utilize Caenorhabditis elegans anchor cell (AC) invasion as an in vivo model to identify the suite of chromatin agents and CRFs that promote cellular invasiveness. We demonstrate that the SWI/SNF ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complex is a critical regulator of AC invasion, with pleiotropic effects on both G0 cell cycle arrest and activation of invasive machinery. Using targeted protein degradation and RNA interference (RNAi), we show that SWI/SNF contributes to AC invasion in a dose-dependent fashion, with lower levels of activity in the AC corresponding to aberrant cell cycle entry and increased loss of invasion. Specifically, we implicate the SWI/SNF BAF assembly in the regulation of the cell cycle, whereas our data suggests that the SWI/SNF PBAF assembly promotes AC attachment to the basement membrane (BM) and promotes the activation of the invasive machinery. Together these findings demonstrate that the SWI/SNF complex is necessary for two essential components of AC invasion: arresting cell cycle progression and remodeling the BM. The work here provides valuable single-cell mechanistic insight into how the SWI/SNF assemblies differentially contribute to cellular invasion and how SWI/SNF subunit-specific disruptions may contribute to tumorigeneses and cancer metastasis.
[
International Worm Meeting,
2009]
Interactions between proteins are a key component of most or all biological processes. A key challenge in biology is to generate comprehensive and accurate maps (interactomes) of all possible protein interactions in an organism. This will require iterative rounds of interaction mapping using complementary technologies, as well as technological improvements to the approaches used. For example, we recently developed a novel yeast two-hybrid approach that adds a new level of detail to interaction maps by defining interaction domains(1). Currently, I am working to generate an interaction map of proteins involved in controlling cell polarity in C. elegans to improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that establish and maintain cell polarity in multicellular organisms. I will combine two fundamentally different interaction mapping techniques: the yeast two-hybrid system (Y2H) and affinity purification/mass spectrometry (AP/MS). This will provide more detail by identifying both direct interactions between pairs of proteins by Y2H, and the composition of protein complexes by AP/MS. Moreover, interactions missed by one technology may be detected by the other, leading to a more complete interaction map. I will integrate the physical interactions with phenotypic characterizations. To this end I will systematically characterize the interaction network in vivo using two distinct models of polarity: asymmetric division of the one-cell embryo, and stem-cell-like divisions of a multicellular epithelium (in collaboration with M. Wildwater and S. van den Heuvel). M. Boxem, Z. Maliga, N. Klitgord, N. Li, I. Lemmens, M. Mana, L. de Lichtervelde, J. D. Mul, D. van de Peut, M. Devos, N. Simonis, M. A. Yildirim, M. Cokol, H. L. Kao, A. S. de Smet, H. Wang, A. L. Schlaitz, T. Hao, S. Milstein, C. Fan, M. Tipsword, K. Drew, M. Galli, K. Rhrissorrakrai, D. Drechsel, D. Koller, F. P. Roth, L. M. Iakoucheva, A. K. Dunker, R. Bonneau, K. C. Gunsalus, D. E. Hill, F. Piano, J. Tavernier, S. van den Heuvel, A. A. Hyman, and M. Vidal, A protein domain-based interactome network for C. elegans early embryogenesis. Cell, 2008. 134(3): p. 534-545. .