IFN-Gamma Gene Regulation in T Cells and NK Cells

Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

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Abstract

of stable epigenetic histone marks at gene loci. These marks can be localized to promoters and transcribed regions of genes or can extend many kilobases beyond these boundaries. Although it is well established that certain histone marks are associated with transcriptional activation and other histone marks are associated with transcriptional repression, the precise mechanisms by which histone marks activate or repress transcription is incompletely understood. Further, it is becoming increasingly apparent that both activating and repressive marks are formed at loci of developmentally regulated genes and it is thought that these dual marks ensure developmental plasticity. For example, the Ifng gene exhibits complex activating and repressive patterns of epigenetic modifications that cover a region spanning over 50 kb of upstream and downstream genomic DNA in cells that express or silence Ifng. Given the critical role epigenetic marks play in normal development, it is becoming increasingly apparent that epigenetic defects also contribute to disease processes, including autoimmunity. Our results also demonstrate that failure to properly establish this long-range histone code may contribute to the characteristic over-production of IFN-γby proliferating T cells from mice that develop autoimmune diabetes. To investigate these questions, we plan a three-pronged approach. First, we will prepare and analyze functional properties of transgenic mice with a wild-type human bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) containing the IFNG gene and approximately 100 kb of flanking upstream and downstream sequence and BAC transgenic mice with various large (20-40 kb) and small (1kb) deletions within the 200 kb BAC. Second, we will perform detailed structure-function and nuclear positioning analyses to identify genomic sequences critical for these essential processes. Third, we will use several approaches to manipulate the formation stable long-range epigenetic histone marks across the IFNG locus and evaluate alterations in transcription, chromosomal conformation and nuclear positioning of the IFNG locus. Together, these studies will provide direct links between the function of the genetic code and the epigenetic code. They will also identify defects in the epigenetic code that may contribute to autoimmune disease