Similar Datasets
Project description:Through recurrent bouts synchronous with the hair cycle, quiescent melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) become activated to generate proliferative progeny that differentiate into pigment-producing melanocytes. The signaling factors orchestrating these events remain incompletely understood. Here, we use single-cell RNA sequencing with comparative gene expression analysis to elucidate the transcriptional dynamics of McSCs through quiescence, activation, and melanocyte maturation. Unearthing converging signs of increased WNT and BMP signaling along this progression, we endeavored to understand how these pathways are integrated. Employing conditional lineage-specific genetic ablation studies in mice, we found that loss of BMP signaling in the lineage leads to hair graying due to a block in melanocyte maturation. We show that interestingly, BMP signaling functions downstream from activated McSCs and maintains WNT effector, transcription factor LEF1. Employing pseudotime analysis, genetics, and chromatin landscaping, we show that following WNT-mediated activation of McSCs, BMP and WNT pathways collaborate to trigger the commitment of proliferative progeny by fueling LEF1- and MITF-dependent differentiation. Our findings shed light upon the signaling interplay and timing of cues that orchestrate melanocyte lineage progression in the hair follicle and underscore a key role for BMP signaling in driving complete differentiation.
| S-EPMC7706702 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Through recurrent bouts synchronous with the hair cycle, quiescent melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) become activated to generate proliferative progeny that differentiate into pigment-producing melanocytes. The signaling factors orchestrating these events remain incompletely understood. Here, we use single cell RNA-sequencing with comparative gene expression analysis to elucidate the transcriptional dynamics of McSCs through quiescence, activation, and melanocyte maturation. Unearthing signs of increased WNT and BMP signaling along this progression, we endeavored to understand how these pathways are integrated during differentiation. Employing conditional lineage-specific genetic ablation studies in mice, we find that loss of BMP signaling in the lineage leads to hair graying due to a block in melanocyte maturation. We show that interestingly, BMP signaling functions downstream of activated McSCs and maintains WNT effector, transcription factor LEF1. Employing pseudotime analysis, genetics, and promoter analyses, and chromatin landscaping, we show that following WNT-mediated activation of McSCs, BMP and WNT pathways collaborate to trigger the commitment of proliferative progeny by fueling LEF1 and MITF-dependent differentiation. Our findings shed light upon the signaling interplay and timing of cues that orchestrate melanocyte lineage progression in the hair follicle and underscore a key role for BMP signaling in driving complete differentiation.
2020-11-12 | GSE159193 | GEO
Project description:Adult tissue stem cells protect their long-term potential by exerting precise control over their transitions between quiescence, activation, and differentiation. Through cyclic bouts synchronous with the hair cycle, quiescent melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) become activated to generate proliferative progeny that differentiate to produce and transfer pigment to hair cells. The signaling factors orchestrating this process are still poorly understood. Here, we use single cell RNA-sequencing with pseudotime analysis to elucidate the transcriptional trajectory of McSCs through quiescence, activation, and differentiation into mature melanocytes. Unearthing signs of increased WNT and BMP signaling along this progression, we lineage-ablate either pathway and see hair graying. We show that BMP signaling functions downstream of McSCs but upstream of WNT signaling through LEF1. After stem cell activation, the two pathways trigger committed, proliferative progeny to fuel MITF-dependent differentiation. Analyses of the promoters required for melanosome maturation suggest a specific reliance upon MITF and LEF1 transcription factors, which we show are dampened without BMP signaling. Our findings shed light upon the signaling interplay that orchestrates the melanocyte lineage. Moreover, the block in differentiation and enhanced proliferation observed in the absence of BMP signaling raises the disconcerting possibility that BMP may harbor not only tumor promoting but also tumor suppressing activity in melanoma.
2020-11-12 | GSE147295 | GEO
Project description:Adult tissue stem cells protect their long-term potential by exerting precise control over their transitions between quiescence, activation, and differentiation. Through cyclic bouts synchronous with the hair cycle, quiescent melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) become activated to generate proliferative progeny that differentiate to produce and transfer pigment to hair cells. The signaling factors orchestrating this process are still poorly understood. Here, we use single cell RNA-sequencing with pseudotime analysis to elucidate the transcriptional trajectory of McSCs through quiescence, activation, and differentiation into mature melanocytes. Unearthing signs of increased WNT and BMP signaling along this progression, we lineage-ablate either pathway and see hair graying. We show that BMP signaling functions downstream of McSCs but upstream of WNT signaling through LEF1. After stem cell activation, the two pathways trigger committed, proliferative progeny to fuel MITF-dependent differentiation. Analyses of the promoters required for melanosome maturation suggest a specific reliance upon MITF and LEF1 transcription factors, which we show are dampened without BMP signaling. Our findings shed light upon the signaling interplay that orchestrates the melanocyte lineage. Moreover, the block in differentiation and enhanced proliferation observed in the absence of BMP signaling raises the disconcerting possibility that BMP may harbor not only tumor promoting but also tumor suppressing activity in melanoma.
2020-11-12 | GSE147298 | GEO
Project description:BMP signaling: at the gate between activated melanocyte stem cells and differentiation
| PRJNA613693 | ENA
Project description:BMP signaling: at the gate between activated melanocyte stem cells and differentiation [ATAC-seq]
| PRJNA667929 | ENA
Project description:BMP signaling: at the gate between activated melanocyte stem cells and differentiation [RNA-Seq]
| PRJNA613692 | ENA
Project description:BMP signaling: at the gate between activated melanocyte stem cells and differentiation [SMART-Seq2 single cell RNA-seq]
| PRJNA613699 | ENA
Project description:Preventing terminal differentiation is important in the development and progression of many cancers including melanoma. Recent identification of the BMP ligand GDF6 as a novel melanoma oncogene showed GDF6-activated BMP signaling suppresses differentiation of melanoma cells. Previous studies have identified roles for GDF6 orthologs during early embryonic and neural crest development, but have not identified direct regulation of melanocyte development by GDF6. Here, we investigate the BMP ligand gdf6a, a zebrafish ortholog of human GDF6, during the development of melanocytes from the neural crest. We establish that the loss of gdf6a or inhibition of BMP signaling during neural crest development disrupts normal pigment cell development, leading to an increase in the number of melanocytes and a corresponding decrease in iridophores, another neural crest-derived pigment cell type in zebrafish. This shift occurs as pigment cells arise from the neural crest and depends on mitfa, an ortholog of MITF, a key regulator of melanocyte development that is also targeted by oncogenic BMP signaling. Together, these results indicate that the oncogenic role ligand-dependent BMP signaling plays in suppressing differentiation in melanoma is a reiteration of its physiological roles during melanocyte development.
| S-EPMC6968919 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Oncogenomic studies indicate that copy number variation (CNV) alters genes involved in tumor progression; however, identification of specific driver genes affected by CNV has been difficult, as these rearrangements are often contained in large chromosomal intervals among several bystander genes. Here, we addressed this problem and identified a CNV-targeted oncogene by performing comparative oncogenomics of human and zebrafish melanomas. We determined that the gene encoding growth differentiation factor 6 (GDF6), which is the ligand for the BMP family, is recurrently amplified and transcriptionally upregulated in melanoma. GDF6-induced BMP signaling maintained a trunk neural crest gene signature in melanomas. Additionally, GDF6 repressed the melanocyte differentiation gene MITF and the proapoptotic factor SOX9, thereby preventing differentiation, inhibiting cell death, and promoting tumor growth. GDF6 was specifically expressed in melanomas but not melanocytes. Moreover, GDF6 expression levels in melanomas were inversely correlated with patient survival. Our study has identified a fundamental role for GDF6 and BMP signaling in governing an embryonic cell gene signature to promote melanoma progression, thus providing potential opportunities for targeted therapy to treat GDF6-positive cancers.
| S-EPMC5749509 | biostudies-literature