Meeting Abstract

106-4  Saturday, Jan. 7 14:30 – 14:45  MIR Retrotransposons Rewired the GATA2 Regulatory Network in Decidual Stromal Cells MIKA, KM*; LYNCH, VJ; University of Chicago; University of Chicago kmmika@uchicago.edu

Previous work has suggested that transposable elements (TEs) have played a significant role in establishing the gene regulatory networks responsible for proper function of Decidual Stromal Cells (DSCs), an important pregnancy cell type at the maternal-fetal interface. Among the transcription factors that direct the hormone response in DSCS is GATA2. Here we show that three closely related TEs- MIR3, MIRb, and MIRc- were significantly enriched within GATA2 ChIPseq data in DSCs. These MIR elements are enriched for GATA2 binding sites, as well as binding sites for other transcription factors important for DSC function, such as HOXA10 and HOXA11. Finally we show GATA2 binding sites within the MIR elements are required for the MIR elements’ abilities to regulate gene expression.