Promoter Methylation Pattern Controls Corticotropin Releasing Hormone Gene Activity in Human Trophoblasts

PLoS One. 2017 Feb 2;12(2):e0170671. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170671. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Placental CRH production increases with advancing pregnancy in women and its course predicts gestational length. We hypothesized that CRH gene expression in the placenta is epigenetically controlled setting gestational trajectories characteristic of normal and pathological pregnancies. Here we determined histone modification and DNA methylation levels and DNA methylation patterns at the CRH promoter in primary trophoblast cultures by chromatin immunoprecipitation combined with clonal bisulfite sequencing and identified the transcriptionally active epialleles that associate with particular histone modifications and transcription factors during syncytialisation and cAMP-stimulation. CRH gene expression increased during syncytial differentiation and cAMP stimulation, which was associated with increased activating and decreased repressive histone modification levels at the promoter. DNA methylation levels remained unchanged. The nine CpGs of the CRH proximal promoter were partially and allele-independently methylated displaying many (>100) epialleles. RNA-polymerase-II (Pol-II) bound only to three particular epialleles in cAMP-stimulated cells, while phospho-cAMP response element-binding protein (pCREB) bound to only one epiallele, which was different from those selected by Pol-II. Binding of TATA-binding protein increased during syncytial differentiation preferentially at epialleles compatible with Pol-II and pCREB binding. Histone-3 acetylation was detected only at epialleles targeted by Pol-II and pCREB, while gene activating histone-4 acetylation and histone-3-lysine-4 trimethylation occurred at CRH epialleles not associated with Pol-II or pCREB. The suppressive histone-3-lysine-27 trimethyl and-lysine-9 trimethyl modifications showed little or no epiallele preference. The epiallele selectivity of activating histone modifications and transcription factor binding demonstrates the epigenetic and functional diversity of the CRH gene in trophoblasts, which is controlled predominantly by the patterns, not the overall extent, of promoter methylation. We propose that conditions impacting on epiallele distribution influence the number of transcriptionally active CRH gene copies in the trophoblast cell population determining the gestational trajectory of placental CRH production in normal and pathological pregnancies.

MeSH terms

  • Acetylation
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / genetics*
  • Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / metabolism
  • CpG Islands / genetics
  • Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein / metabolism
  • DNA Methylation / genetics*
  • Female
  • Histones / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Placenta / metabolism
  • Pregnancy
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic / genetics*
  • Protein Binding
  • RNA Polymerase II / metabolism
  • TATA-Box Binding Protein / metabolism
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Trophoblasts / metabolism*

Substances

  • Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein
  • Histones
  • TATA-Box Binding Protein
  • Transcription Factors
  • Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone
  • RNA Polymerase II

Grants and funding

X.P. received support from the China Scholarship Council (CRC) and the School of Medicine and Public Health Research Training Scheme (RTS), The University of Newcastle, Australia. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.