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Stromal Pbrm1 mediates chromatin remodeling necessary for embryo implantation in the mouse uterus
Qiliang Xin, … , Guoyun Yu, Jurrien Dean
Qiliang Xin, … , Guoyun Yu, Jurrien Dean
Published March 1, 2024
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2024;134(5):e174194. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI174194.
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Research Article Endocrinology Reproductive biology Article has an altmetric score of 1

Stromal Pbrm1 mediates chromatin remodeling necessary for embryo implantation in the mouse uterus

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Abstract

Early gestational loss occurs in approximately 20% of all clinically recognized human pregnancies and is an important cause of morbidity. Either embryonic or maternal defects can cause loss, but a functioning and receptive uterine endometrium is crucial for embryo implantation. We report that the switch/sucrose nonfermentable (SWI/SNF) remodeling complex containing polybromo-1 (PBRM1) and Brahma-related gene 1 (BRG1) is essential for implantation of the embryonic blastocyst on the wall of the uterus in mice. Although preimplantation development is unaffected, conditional ablation of Pbrm1 in uterine stromal cells disrupts progesterone pathways and uterine receptivity. Heart and neural crest derivatives expressed 2 (Hand2) encodes a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor required for embryo implantation. We identify an enhancer of the Hand2 gene in stromal cells that requires PBRM1 for epigenetic histone modifications/coactivator recruitment and looping with the promoter. In Pbrm1cKO mice, perturbation of chromatin assembly at the promoter and enhancer sites compromises Hand2 transcription, adversely affects fibroblast growth factor signaling pathways, prevents normal stromal-epithelial crosstalk, and disrupts embryo implantation. The mutant female mice are infertile and provide insight into potential causes of early pregnancy loss in humans.

Authors

Qiliang Xin, Iris Feng, Guoyun Yu, Jurrien Dean

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Figure 4

PBRM1 promotion of Hand2 transcription is dependent on chromatin remodeling.

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PBRM1 promotion of Hand2 transcription is dependent on chromatin remodel...
(A) PCA plot of RNA-Seq results of uterine stromal cells from Pbrm1fl/fl and Pbrm1cKO mice. (B) MA plots of differentially expressed RNAs in Pbrm1fl/fl and Pbrm1cKO mUSCs. Upregulated and downregulated RNAs are shown as red and blue dots, respectively (>1.5-fold, P <0.01, Padj < 0.1). (C) The top 10 GO terms of downregulated transcripts. (D) Genes directly associated with uterine receptivity and implantation that were significantly downregulated (log2 fold change and P value) from Pbrm1fl/fl and Pbrm1cKO uterine stromal cell RNA-Seq. (E) Venn diagram showing overlap among genes (n = 168) with reduction of RNA expression and differential ATAC accessibility by Pbrm1 deletion and genes with PBRM1/BRG1 direct binding. (F) Genomic distribution of overlapping genes (n = 168) that are most likely to be direct targets of the PBRM1/BRG1 complex. (G) Genome browser view of normalized RNA-Seq signals, ATAC-Seq, and PBRM1/BRG1 ChIC-Seq tracks for Hand2 in Pbrm1fl/fl and Pbrm1cKO primary mUSCs. Green rectangle, newly identified uterine specific enhancer regulated by SWI/SNF complex; blue rectangle, known branchial arch enhancer; black rectangle, cardiac-specific enhancer; red rectangle, promoter of Hand2; Rep 1, 2 and 3, 3 biological replicates. (H) Schematic representation of enhancer regions of Hand2 in different tissues. Hand2 uterine (site 1, red), branchial arch enhancer (site 2, green), and cardiac enhancer (site 3, blue). (I) Prediction of DNA-binding site motifs for PBRM1/BRG1 derived from ChIC-Seq data. Graph to right indicates the probability of the binding motif. (J) Renilla-normalized luciferase reporter assay to evaluate Hand2 promoter activation transfected with Hand2 WT or motif mutation vectors. Values are represented as mean ± SEM (n = 3). P values were calculated by post hoc pairwise t test after 1-way ANOVA. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01.

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ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

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