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Cavazza, Alessia

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Cavazza

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Alessia

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Cavazza, Alessia

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Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.f5685c9c-1020-4cd2-80ba-24ca377e6aaf

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    Single-Cell Transcript Profiles Reveal Multilineage Priming in Early Progenitors Derived from Lgr5 + Intestinal Stem Cells
    (Elsevier BV, 2016-08) Kim, Tae-Hee; Saadatpour, Assieh; Guo, Guoji; Saxena, Madhurima; Cavazza, Alessia; Desai, Niyati; Jadhav, Unmesh; Jiang, Lan; Rivera, Miguel; Orkin, Stuart; Yuan, Guo-Cheng; Shivdasani, Ramesh
    Lgr5+ intestinal stem cells (ISC) drive epithelial self-renewal, and their immediate progeny – intestinal bipotential progenitors – produce absorptive and secretory lineages via lateral inhibition. To define features of early transit from the ISC compartment, we used a microfluidics approach to measure selected stem- and lineage-specific transcripts in single Lgr5+ cells. We identified two distinct cell populations, one that expresses known ISC markers and a second, abundant population that simultaneously expresses markers of stem and mature absorptive and secretory cells. Single-molecule mRNA in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence verified expression of lineage-restricted genes in a subset of Lgr5+ cells in vivo. Transcriptional network analysis revealed that one group of Lgr5+ cells arises from the other and displays characteristics expected of bipotential progenitors, including activation of Notch ligand and cell-cycle inhibitor genes. These findings define the earliest steps in ISC differentiation and reveal multilineage gene priming as a fundamental property of the process.
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    Dynamic Transcriptional and Epigenetic Regulation of Human Epidermal Keratinocyte Differentiation
    (Elsevier, 2016) Cavazza, Alessia; Miccio, Annarita; Romano, Oriana; Petiti, Luca; Malagoli Tagliazucchi, Guidantonio; Peano, Clelia; Severgnini, Marco; Rizzi, Ermanno; De Bellis, Gianluca; Bicciato, Silvio; Mavilio, Fulvio
    Summary Human skin is maintained by the differentiation and maturation of interfollicular stem and progenitors cells. We used DeepCAGE, genome-wide profiling of histone modifications and retroviral integration analysis, to map transcripts, promoters, enhancers, and super-enhancers (SEs) in prospectively isolated keratinocytes and transit-amplifying progenitors, and retrospectively defined keratinocyte stem cells. We show that >95% of the active promoters are in common and differentially regulated in progenitors and differentiated keratinocytes, while approximately half of the enhancers and SEs are stage specific and account for most of the epigenetic changes occurring during differentiation. Transcription factor (TF) motif identification and correlation with TF binding site maps allowed the identification of TF circuitries acting on enhancers and SEs during differentiation. Overall, our study provides a broad, genome-wide description of chromatin dynamics and differential enhancer and promoter usage during epithelial differentiation, and describes a novel approach to identify active regulatory elements in rare stem cell populations.
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    Transcriptional, epigenetic and retroviral signatures identify regulatory regions involved in hematopoietic lineage commitment
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2016) Romano, Oriana; Peano, Clelia; Tagliazucchi, Guidantonio Malagoli; Petiti, Luca; Poletti, Valentina; Cocchiarella, Fabienne; Rizzi, Ermanno; Severgnini, Marco; Cavazza, Alessia; Rossi, Claudia; Pagliaro, Pasqualepaolo; Ambrosi, Alessandro; Ferrari, Giuliana; Bicciato, Silvio; De Bellis, Gianluca; Mavilio, Fulvio; Miccio, Annarita
    Genome-wide approaches allow investigating the molecular circuitry wiring the genetic and epigenetic programs of human somatic stem cells. Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) give rise to the different blood cell types; however, the molecular basis of human hematopoietic lineage commitment is poorly characterized. Here, we define the transcriptional and epigenetic profile of human HSPC and early myeloid and erythroid progenitors by a combination of Cap Analysis of Gene Expression (CAGE), ChIP-seq and Moloney leukemia virus (MLV) integration site mapping. Most promoters and transcripts were shared by HSPC and committed progenitors, while enhancers and super-enhancers consistently changed upon differentiation, indicating that lineage commitment is essentially regulated by enhancer elements. A significant fraction of CAGE promoters differentially expressed upon commitment were novel, harbored a chromatin enhancer signature, and may identify promoters and transcribed enhancers driving cell commitment. MLV-targeted genomic regions co-mapped with cell-specific active enhancers and super-enhancers. Expression analyses, together with an enhancer functional assay, indicate that MLV integration can be used to identify bona fide developmentally regulated enhancers. Overall, this study provides an overview of transcriptional and epigenetic changes associated to HSPC lineage commitment, and a novel signature for regulatory elements involved in cell identity.