Université de Fribourg

A network of chromatin factors is regulating the transition to postembryonic development in caenorhabditis elegans

Erdelyi, Peter ; Wang, Xing ; Suleski, Marina ; Wicky, Chantal

In: G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, 2017, vol. 7, no. 2, p. 343–353

Mi2 proteins are evolutionarily conserved, ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers of the CHD family that play key roles in stem cell differentiation and reprogramming. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the let-418 gene encodes one of the two Mi2 homologs, which is part of at least two chromatin complexes, namely the Nucleosome Remodeling and histone Deacetylase (NuRD) complex and the MEC complex, and...

Université de Fribourg

Fine-tuning of chromatin composition and Polycomb recruitment by two Mi2 homologues during C. elegans early embryonic development

Käser-Pébernard, Stéphanie ; Pfefferli, Catherine ; Aschinger, Caroline ; Wicky, Chantal

In: Epigenetics & Chromatin, 2016, vol. 9, p. 39

The nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase complex promotes cell fate decisions throughout embryonic development. Its core enzymatic subunit, the SNF2-like ATPase and Helicase Mi2, is well conserved throughout the eukaryotic kingdom and can be found in multiple and highly homologous copies in all vertebrates and some invertebrates. However, the reasons for such duplications and their...

Université de Fribourg

LET-418/Mi2 and SPR-5/LSD1 cooperatively prevent somatic reprogramming of C. elegans germline stem cells

Käser-Pébernard, Stéphanie ; Müller, Fritz ; Wicky, Chantal

In: Stem Cell Reports, 2014, vol. 2, no. 4, p. 547–559

Throughout their journey to forming new individuals, germline stem cells must remain totipotent, particularly by maintaining a specific chromatin structure. However, the place epigenetic factors occupy in this process remains elusive. So far, “sensitization” of chromatin by modulation of histone arrangement and/or content was believed to facilitate transcription-factor-induced germ cell...

Université de Fribourg

Specific NuRD components are required for fin regeneration in zebrafish

Pfefferli, Catherine ; Müller, Fritz ; Jaźwińska, Anna ; Wicky, Chantal

In: BMC Biology, 2014, vol. 12, no. 1, p. 30

Background: epimorphic regeneration of a missing appendage in fish and urodele amphibians involves the creation of a blastema, a heterogeneous pool of progenitor cells underneath the wound epidermis. Current evidence indicates that the blastema arises by dedifferentiation of stump tissues in the vicinity of the amputation. In response to tissue loss, silenced developmental programs are...

Université de Fribourg

The Caenorhabditis elegans LET-418/Mi2 plays a conserved role in lifespan regulation

Vaux, Véronique De ; Pfefferli, Catherine ; Passannante, Myriam ; Belhaj, Khaoula ; Essen, Alina von ; Sprecher, Simon G. ; Müller, Fritz ; Wicky, Chantal

In: Aging Cell, 2013, p. –

The evolutionarily conserved nucleosome-remodeling protein Mi2 is involved in transcriptional repression during development in various model systems, plays a role in embryonic patterning and germ line development, and participates in DNA repair and cell cycle progression. It is the catalytic subunit of the nucleosome remodeling and histone deacetylase (NuRD) complex, a key determinant of...

Université de Fribourg

Different Mi-2 Complexes for Various Developmental Functions in Caenorhabditis elegans

Passannante, Myriam ; Marti, Claude-Olivier ; Pfefferli, Catherine ; Moroni, Paolo S. ; Kaeser-Pebernard, Stéphanie ; Puoti, Alessandro ; Hunziker, Peter ; Wicky, Chantal ; Müller, Fritz

In: PLoS ONE, 2010, vol. 5, no. 10, p. e13681

Biochemical purifications from mammalian cells and Xenopus oocytes revealed that vertebrate Mi-2 proteins reside in multisubunit NuRD (Nucleosome Remodeling and Deacetylase) complexes. Since all NuRD subunits are highly conserved in the genomes of C. elegans and Drosophila, it was suggested that NuRD complexes also exist in invertebrates. Recently, a novel dMec complex, composed of dMi-2 and...

Université de Fribourg

Multiple genetic pathways involving the Caenorhabditis elegans Bloom's syndrome genes him-6, rad-51, and top-3 are needed to maintain genome stability in the germ line

Wicky, Chantal ; Alpi, Arno ; Passannante, Myriam ; Rose, Ann ; Gartner, Anton ; Müller, Fritz

In: Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2004, vol. 24, p. 5016-5027

Bloom's syndrome (BS) is an autosomal-recessive human disorder caused by mutations in the BS RecQ helicase and is associated with loss of genomic integrity and an increased incidence of cancer. We analyzed the mitotic and the meiotic roles of Caenorhabditis elegans him-6, which we show to encode the ortholog of the human BS gene. Mutations in him-6 result in an enhanced irradiation sensitivity, a...