Project description:We wanted to assess the role of a specific smooth muscle protein (MMP17) in two different intestinal compartments, the epithelium (crypts) and the smooth muscle. To do that we isolate intestinal crypts from wild-type (WT) and knockout (KO, Mmp17-/-) mice, and obtained clean strips of smooth muscle. After muscle dissociation, we obtained RNA directly from crypts and muscle, and it was used for RNA-seq. By comparing WT and KO samples we observed a higher impact in gene expression affecting crypts, even though MMP17 is only expressed in muscle. This helped us to identify altered signaling pathways in KO crypts that linked MMP17 with SMAD4 and BMP signaling.
Project description:Smooth muscle is an essential component of the intestine, both to maintain its structure and produce peristaltic and segmentation movements. However, very little is known about other putative roles that smooth muscle may have. Here, we show that smooth muscle is the dominant supplier of BMP antagonists, which are niche factors that are essential for intestinal stem cell maintenance. Furthermore, muscle-derived factors can render epithelium reparative and fetal-like, which includes heightened YAP activity. Mechanistically, we find that the matrix metalloproteinase MMP17, which is exclusively expressed by smooth muscle, is required for intestinal epithelial repair after inflammation- or irradiation-induced injury. Furthermore, we provide evidence that MMP17 affects intestinal epithelial reprogramming indirectly by cleaving the matricellular protein PERIOSTIN, which itself is able to activate YAP. Together, we identify an important signaling axis that firmly establishes a role for smooth muscle as a modulator of intestinal epithelial regeneration and the intestinal stem cell niche.
Project description:Smooth muscle is an essential component of the intestine, both to maintain its structure and produce peristaltic and segmentation movements. However, very little is known about other putative roles that smooth muscle may have. Here, we show that smooth muscle is the dominant supplier of BMP antagonists, which are niche factors that are essential for intestinal stem cell maintenance. Furthermore, muscle-derived factors can render epithelium reparative and fetal-like, which includes heightened YAP activity. Mechanistically, we find that the matrix metalloproteinase MMP17, which is exclusively expressed by smooth muscle, is required for intestinal epithelial repair after inflammation- or irradiation-induced injury. Furthermore, we provide evidence that MMP17 affects intestinal epithelial reprogramming indirectly by cleaving the matricellular protein PERIOSTIN, which itself is able to activate YAP. Together, we identify an important signaling axis that firmly establishes a role for smooth muscle as a modulator of intestinal epithelial regeneration and the intestinal stem cell niche.
Project description:In order to unravel the impact of intestinal smooth muscle tissue on the intestinal epithelium, we isolated clean smooth muscle, cultured it for 24h in DMEM-F12, and collected the supernatant (muscle-SN). This supernatant was used to treat small intestinal organoids (made of intestinal epithelium), compared to normal ENR treatment. After 5 days of muscle-SN exposure, we disrupted the organoids, and directly isolate the RNA. RNA-seq was performed in this sample to assess the genetic changes induced by muscle products.