Genome-wide maps of QKI-5, SREBP2, and POL II in eye lens cells

We found the genome-wide co-binding of QKI-5 and SREBP2. Notably, the genomic distribution analysis revealed that the co-binding events between QKI-5 and SREBP2 highly occurred at the regions of the promoter/transcription start site (TSS), where active transcription was taken place in a lens cell-specific manner, which was indicated by POL II binding events. Cellular pathway analysis of the genes whose promoters were co-bound by QKI-5, SREBP2, and POL II showed a significant enrichment of the SREBP2-medaited cholesterol biosynthesis pathway, and QKI depletion led to reduced co-occupancies of SREBP2 and POL II on the promoters of the genes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis. These data suggest QKI-5 as a potential transcription co-activator mediating SREBP2-dependent cholesterol biosynthesis in eye lens cells. We performed ChIP-seq of QKI-5, SREBP2 and Pol II in human lens epithelial (HLE-B3) cells and neural stem cell-derived lens progenitor-like cells of WT and QKI KO.