MLL1 is required for maintenance of intestinal stem cells and the expression of the cell adhesion molecule JAML

Epigenetic control is crucial for lineage-specific gene expression that creates cellular identity during mammalian development and in adult organism. Histone 3 lysine 4 methylation (H3K4) is a universal epigenetic mark. Mixed lineage leukemia (MLL1) is the founding member of the mammalian family of H3K4 methyltransferases. It was originally discovered as the main gene mutated in early onset leukemias and then found to be required for hematopoietic stem cell development and maintenance. However, the roles of MLL1 in non-hematopoietic tissues remain largely unexplored. To bypass hematopoietic lethality, we used bone marrow transplantation and conditional mutagenesis to discover that the most overt phenotype in Mll1-mutant mice is intestinal failure. Loss of MLL1 is accompanied by a differentiation bias towards the secretory lineage with increased numbers of goblet cells. MLL1 is expressed in intestinal stem cells (ISCs) and transit amplifying (TA) cells but at reduced levels in Paneth cells and not in the villus. MLL1 is required for the maintenance of intestinal stem cells (ISCs) and proliferation in the crypt. Transcriptome analysis implicate MLL1-dependent expression in ISCs of several transcription factors including Pitx2, Gata4, Foxa1 and Onecut2, and also a cell adhesion molecule, Jaml. Reactive transcriptome changes in Paneth cells and organoids imply that JAML plays a key role in the crypt stem cell niche. All known postnatal functions of MLL1 relate to stem cell maintenance and lineage decisions thereby highlighting the suggestion that MLL1 is a master stem cell regulator. Author SummaryThe ability of adult stem cells to produce functional progenies through differentiation is critical to maintain function and integrity of organs. A fundamental challenge is to identify factors that control the transition from self-renewal to the differentiated state. Epigenetic factors amongst others can fullfill such a role. Methylation of histone 3 on lysine 4 (H3K4) is a posttranslational epigenetic modification that is associated with actively transcribed genes. In mammals, this epigenetic mark is catalyzed by one of six H3K4 methyltransferases, including the founding member of the family, MLL1. MLL1 is important for the precise functioning of the hematopoietic stem cell compartment. This raises the possibility of similar functions in other adult stem cell compartments. Due to its intense self-renewal kinetics and its simple repetitive architecture, the intestinal epithelium serves as a prime model for studying adult stem cells. We demonstrate that MLL1 controls intestinal stem cell proliferation and differentiation. Additionally, transcriptome analysis suggests a pertubation in the close interaction between intestinal stem cells and neighbouring Paneth cells through loss of junction adhesion molecule like (JAML). Our work sheds new light on the function of MLL1 for the control of intestinal stem cell identity.