Transcriptomes of adult sorted Epcam+ CD44- enterocytes from small intestine of wildtype and CmafLEC-KO mice

Small intestinal villi are highly specialized structural and functional units uniquely adapted to the absorption of nutrients in higher vertebrates. Intestinal villus enterocytes are organized in spatially resolved “zones” dedicated to specialized tasks, such as anti-bacterial protection, and absorption of amino-acids, carbohydrates and lipids. However, the molecular mechanisms for the establishment and maintenance of villus intestinal epithelial zonation are incompletely understood. Here, we show that transcription factor C-Maf is highly expressed in mature lower and mid-villus small intestinal enterocytes, where it is induced in response to BMP signaling. In vivo depletion of C-Maf in the adult enterocytes perturbed the villus epithelial zonation transcriptional program and enhanced the expression of genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism and bile acid regulation and transport, while suppressing genes related to amino acid transport and lipid metabolism. Loss of C-Maf under homeostatic conditions had no effect on body weight due to compensatory small intestinal remodeling, accompanied by increased generation of tuft cells and goblet cell hyperplasia. However, upon challenge with anti-metabolite therapy, C-Maf inactivation impaired body weight recovery, resulting in reduced survival, due to delayed enterocyte maturation. Our results identify a novel role for C-Maf in maintaining the zonation program of differentiated intestinal epithelium, by balancing absorptive versus secretory cell differentiation in the small intestine, while highlighting the importance of coordination between stem/progenitor cell and enterocyte differentiation programs for intestinal regeneration. Methods:RNA QC, library preparations, and sequencing reactions were conducted at GENEWIZ, LLC. (South Plainfield, NJ, USA). Total RNA samples were quantified using Qubit 2.0 Fluorometer (Life Technologies, Carlsbad, CA, USA) and RNA integrity was checked with 4200 TapeStation (Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA, USA). RNA sequencing library preparation used NEBNext Ultra RNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina by following the manufacturer’s recommendations (NEB, Ipswich, MA, USA). Briefly, enriched RNAs were fragmented for 15 minutes at 94 °C. First strand and second strand cDNA were subsequently synthesized. cDNA fragments were end-repaired and adenylated at 3’ends, and universal adapter was ligated to cDNA fragments, followed by index addition and library enrichment with limited cycle PCR. Sequencing libraries were validated on the Agilent TapeStation (Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA, USA), and quantified by using Qubit 2.0 Fluorometer (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) as well as by quantitative PCR (Applied Biosystems, Carlsbad, CA, USA). The sequencing libraries were clustered on two lanes of a flowcell. After clustering, the flowcell was loaded on the Illumina HiSeq instrument according to manufacturer’s instructions. The samples were sequenced using a 2x150 Paired End (PE) configuration. Image analysis and base calling were conducted by the HiSeq Control Software (HCS). Raw sequence data (.bcl files) generated from Illumina HiSeq was converted into fastq files and de-multiplexed using Illumina's bcl2fastq 2.17 software. One mismatch was allowed for index sequence identification.