Unknown,Transcriptomics,Genomics,Proteomics

Dataset Information

Notch targets stem-cell and temporal-programming genes to orchestrate neuroblast tumours

ABSTRACT: Notch signalling is involved in a multitude of developmental decisions and its aberrant activation is linked to many diseases, including cancers. One such example is the neural stem cell tumours that arise from constitutive Notch activity in Drosophila neuroblasts. To investigate how hyper-activation of Notch in larval neuroblasts leads to tumours, we combined results from profiling the upregulated mRNAs and mapping the regions bound by Su(H) (the core Notch pathway transcription factor ). This identified 127 putative direct Notch targets that were up-regulated in the hyperplastic tissue. These genes were highly enriched for transcription factors (TFs) and overlapped significantly with a previously identified regulatory programme dependent on the proneural transcription factor Asense. Included were genes associated with the neuroblast maintenance and self-renewal programme that we validated as Notch regulated in vivo. A second category contained so-called temporal transcription factors, which are involved in neuroblast progression. Normally expressed in specific time windows, several temporal transcription factors were ectopically expressed in the stem cell tumours, suggesting that Notch had reprogrammed the normal temporal hierarchy. Indeed, the Notch-induced hyperplasia was reduced by mutations affecting two of the temporal factors which, conversely, were sufficient to induce mild hyperplasia on their own. Altogether the results demonstrate that Notch induces neural stem cell tumors by promoting the expression of genes that contribute to stem cell identity and by reprogramming expression of temporal factors that regulate maturity.

ORGANISM(S): Drosophila melanogaster

SUBMITTER: George Garinis A.

PROVIDER: E-MTAB-3561 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress

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Publications

Genes implicated in stem cell identity and temporal programme are directly targeted by Notch in neuroblast tumours.

Zacharioudaki Evanthia E Housden Benjamin E BE Garinis George G Stojnic Robert R Delidakis Christos C Bray Sarah J SJ

Development (Cambridge, England) 20151210 2

Notch signalling is involved in a multitude of developmental decisions and its aberrant activation is linked to many diseases, including cancers. One example is the neural stem cell tumours that arise from constitutive Notch activity in Drosophila neuroblasts. To investigate how hyperactivation of Notch in larval neuroblasts leads to tumours, we combined results from profiling the upregulated mRNAs and mapping the regions bound by the core Notch pathway transcription factor Su(H). This identifie ...[more]

PMID: 26657768

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Project description:Embryonic development results in the production of distinct tissue types, and different cell types within each tissue. A major goal of developmental biology is to uncover the “parts list” of cell types that comprise each organ. Here we perform single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of the Drosophila embryo to identify the genes that characterize different cell and tissue types during development. We assay three different timepoints, revealing a coordinated change in gene expression within each tissue. Interestingly, we find that the elav and mhc genes, whose protein products are widely used as markers for neurons and muscles, respectively, show broad pan-embryonic expression, indicating the importance of post-transcriptional regulation. We next focus on the central nervous system (CNS), where we identify genes characterizing each stage of neuronal differentiation: from neural progenitors, called neuroblasts, to their immediate progeny ganglion mother cells (GMCs), followed by new-born neurons, young neurons, and the most mature neurons. Finally, we ask whether the clonal progeny of a single neuroblast (NB7-1) share a similar transcriptional identity. Surprisingly, we find that clonal identity does not lead to transcriptional clustering, showing that neurons within a lineage are diverse, and that neurons with a similar transcriptional profile (e.g. motor neurons, glia) are distributed among multiple neuroblast lineages. Although each lineage consists of diverse progeny, we were able to identify a previously uncharacterized gene, Fer3, as an excellent marker for the NB7-1 lineage. Within the NB7-1 lineage, transcriptional clusters are identifiable in neuroblasts and neurons, and each cluster is composed of current temporal transcription factor (e.g. Hunchback, Kruppel, Pdm, and Castor), novel temporal factors, and/or targets of the temporal transcription factors. In conclusion, we have characterized the embryonic transcriptome for all major tissue types and for three stages of development, as well as the first transcriptomic analysis of a single, identified neuroblast lineage, finding a lineage-enriched transcription factor.

Dataset Information

Notch targets stem-cell and temporal-programming genes to orchestrate neuroblast tumours

Publications

Genes implicated in stem cell identity and temporal programme are directly targeted by Notch in neuroblast tumours.

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