PLX145308

GSE141085: CHD8 and ELK1 cooperativity regulate cellular sensitivity to MAPK/ERK pathway

• Organsim human
• Type RNASEQ
• Target gene
• Project ARCHS4

The chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein CHD8 is among the most frequently found de-novo mutations in autism. Unlike other autism-risk genes, CHD8 mutations appear to be fully penetrant. Despite this prominent disease involvement, relatively little is known about its molecular function. Based on sequence homology, CHD8 is believed to be a chromatin regulator but mechanisms for its genomic targeting and its function on chromatin are unclear. Here, we developed a human cell model carrying conditional CHD8 loss-of-function alleles. Remarkably, while undifferentiated human embryonic stem (ES) cells required CHD8 for survival, postmitotic neurons survived following CHD8 depletion. Chromatin accessibility revealed that CHD8 is a highly potent and general chromatin activator, enhancing transcription of its direct target genes. We also found that CHD8 genomic binding in human neurons was significantly enriched at ELK1 DNA binding motifs as previously found in other cell types. Given its prominent role as effector molecule of the MAPK/ERK pathway, we decided to further explore its relationship with CHD8. ELK1 motif-containing CHD8 binding sites showed a higher degree of chromatin opening function of CHD8 than other CHD8 binding sites. Moreover, ELK1 was required for CHD8 binding to Elk1-containing sites, but not other sites. Finally, the anti-apoptotic function of CHD8 in human ES cells could be rescued by depletion of ELK1 and the enhancement of neurogenesis by ELK1 was dependent on presence of CHD8. In summary, our results establish a clear role of CHD8 for chromatin opening and transcriptional activation and a molecular and functional interdependence of CHD8 and ELK1. These data imply the involvement of the MAPK/ERK pathway effector ELK1 in the pathogenesis of autism caused by CHD8 mutations. SOURCE: BAHAREH HADDADDERAFSHI (baharehh@stanford.edu) - Ms.