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The asymmetric Pitx2 gene regulates gut muscular-lacteal development and protects against fatty liver disease.

ABSTRACT: Intestinal lacteals are essential lymphatic channels for absorption and transport of dietary lipids and drive the pathogenesis of debilitating metabolic diseases. However, organ-specific mechanisms linking lymphatic dysfunction to disease etiology remain largely unknown. In this study, we uncover an intestinal lymphatic program that is linked to the left-right (LR) asymmetric transcription factor Pitx2. We show that deletion of the asymmetric Pitx2 enhancer ASE alters normal lacteal development through the lacteal-associated contractile smooth muscle lineage. ASE deletion leads to abnormal muscle morphogenesis induced by oxidative stress, resulting in impaired lacteal extension and defective lymphatic system-dependent lipid transport. Surprisingly, activation of lymphatic system-independent trafficking directs dietary lipids from the gut directly to the liver, causing diet-induced fatty liver disease. Our study reveals the molecular mechanism linking gut lymphatic function to the earliest symmetry-breaking Pitx2 and highlights the important relationship between intestinal lymphangiogenesis and the gut-liver axis.

SUBMITTER: Hu S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8650168 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The asymmetric Pitx2 gene regulates gut muscular-lacteal development and protects against fatty liver disease.

Hu Shing S Mahadevan Aparna A Elysee Isaac F IF Choi Joseph J Souchet Nathan R NR Bae Gloria H GH Taboada Alessandra K AK Sanketi Bhargav B Duhamel Gerald E GE Sevier Carolyn S CS Tao Ge G Kurpios Natasza A NA

Cell reports 20211101 8

Intestinal lacteals are essential lymphatic channels for absorption and transport of dietary lipids and drive the pathogenesis of debilitating metabolic diseases. However, organ-specific mechanisms linking lymphatic dysfunction to disease etiology remain largely unknown. In this study, we uncover an intestinal lymphatic program that is linked to the left-right (LR) asymmetric transcription factor Pitx2. We show that deletion of the asymmetric Pitx2 enhancer ASE alters normal lacteal development ...[more]

PMID: 34818545

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Project description:Rationale: The most significantly associated atrial fibrillation (AF) risk loci in humans map to a noncoding gene desert upstream of the evolutionarily conserved left-right (LR) transcription factor Pitx2, a master regulator of LR asymmetric organ development. Pitx2 dosage is fundamentally linked to the development of sinus node dysfunction (SND) and AF, the most common cardiac arrhythmia affecting adults, but the mechanistic basis for this remains obscure. We identified a conserved long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), Playrr, which is exclusively transcribed on the embryo’s right side, opposite to Pitx2 on the left, that participates in mutually antagonistic transcriptional regulation with Pitx2. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate a role of Playrr in regulating Pitx2 transcription and protecting against the development of cardiac rhythm disturbances. Methods and Results: Playrr expression in the developing heart was analyzed with RNA in situ hybridization. Playrr was expressed asymmetrically (on the right) to Pitx2 (on the left) in developing mouse embryos, including in mouse embryonic sinoatrial node cells. We utilized CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in mice to target Playrr, generating mice lacking Playrr RNA transcript (PlayrrEx1sj allele). Using qRT-PCR we detected upregulation of the cardiac isoform, Pitx2c, during visceral organ morphogenesis in PlayrrEx1sj mutant embryos. Surface ECG (AliveCor®) and 24-hour telemetry ECG detected bradycardia and irregular interbeat (R-R) intervals suggestive of SND in PlayrrEx1sj mutant adults. Programmed stimulation of PlayrrEx1sj mutant adults resulted in pacing-induced AF. Within the right atrium of PlayrrEx1sj mutant hearts, Masson’s trichrome stain revealed increased collagen deposition indicative of fibrosis, and immunofluorescence demonstrated mis-localization of Connexin 43 in atrial cardiomyocytes. These findings suggested an altered atrial substrate in PlayrrEx1sj adult mice. Finally, transcriptomic analysis by chromatin run-on and sequencing (ChRO-seq) in atria of PlayrrEx1sj mutant mice compared to wild type controls revealed differential expression of genes involved in cell-cell adhesion and motility, fibrosis, and dysregulation of the key cardiac genes Tbx5 and Hcn1. Conclusions: Adult mice lacking functional Playrr lncRNA transcript have baseline bradyarrhythmia and increased susceptibility to AF. These cardiac phenotypes are similar to those observed in Pitx2 heterozygous mice. Interactions between Pitx2 and Playrr may provide a genetic mechanism for modulating Pitx2 dosage and susceptibility to SND and AF.

Dataset Information

The asymmetric Pitx2 gene regulates gut muscular-lacteal development and protects against fatty liver disease.

Publications

The asymmetric Pitx2 gene regulates gut muscular-lacteal development and protects against fatty liver disease.

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