Nkx2.7 is a Conserved Regulator of Craniofacial Development
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Danio rerio
PROVIDER: GSE240780 | GEO | 2025/02/12
REPOSITORIES: GEO
Similar Datasets
Project description:Disruption of cardiac neural crest cells (CNCCs) results in congenital heart disease, yet we do not understand the cell fate dynamics as these cells differentiate to vascular smooth muscle cells. Here we performed single-cell RNA-sequencing of NCCs from the pharyngeal apparatus with the heart in control mouse embryos and when Tbx1, the gene for 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, is inactivated. We uncover three dynamic transitions of pharyngeal NCCs expressing Tbx2 and Tbx3 through differentiated CNCCs expressing cardiac transcription factors with smooth muscle genes. These transitions are altered non-autonomously by loss of Tbx1. Further, inactivation of Tbx2 and Tbx3 in early CNCCs results in aortic arch branching defects due to failed smooth muscle differentiation. Loss of Tbx1 interrupts mesoderm to CNCC cell-cell communication with upregulation and premature activation of BMP signaling and reduced MAPK signaling, as well as alteration of other signaling, and failed dynamic transitions of CNCCs leading to disruption of aortic arch artery formation and cardiac outflow tract septation.
2023-02-13 | GSE210521 | GEO
Project description:The germ layer concept has been one of the foremost organizing principles in developmental biology, classification, systematics and evolution for 150 years. Of the three germ layers, the mesoderm is found in bilaterian animals but is absent in species in the phyla Cnidaria and Ctenophora, which has been taken as evidence that the mesoderm was the final germ layer to evolve. The origin of the ectoderm and endoderm layers, however, remains unclear with models supporting the antecedence of each as well as a simultaneous origin. We hypothesized that global analysis of gene expression in each layer throughout development may resolve the early events of animal evolution. Here, we determine the temporal and spatial components of gene expression spanning embryonic development for all C. elegans genes and use it to determine the evolutionary age of the germ layers. The gene expression programs of the mesoderm is generally induced after the ectoderm and endoderm germ layers, thus making it the last germ layer to both evolve and develop. Strikingly, the C. elegans endoderm and ectoderm expression programs do not co-induce; rather the endoderm activates earlier. We also observed early expression of endoderm orthologs during the embryology of Xenopus tropicalis, Nematostella vectensis, and the sponge Amphimedon queenslandica. Querying for the phylogenetic ages of specifically expressed genes revealed that the endoderm is comprised of older genes, supporting its antecedence among the germ layers. Taken together, we propose that the endoderm program has retained the feeding functions of the last common ancestor with the choanoflagellates, thus allowing for the specialization of an ectoderm germ layer. Our work reveals that the evolutionary appearance of the germ layers continues to constrain regulatory networks in metazoans. Two temporal assays of C. elegans embryonic development, starting at the zygote: (a) Embryos collected at fixed (~10 minute) time intervals. (b) Embryo segregates, up to five lines of blastomeres, isolated in reference to mitotic events. There were 184 samples in total, representing 100 distnict data points.
2014-12-11 | E-GEOD-50548 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Patterning of the facial skeleton involves the precise deployment of thousands of genes in distinct regions of the pharyngeal arches. Despite their significance for craniofacial development, how genetic programs drive this regionalization remains poorly understood. Here we use combinatorial labeling of zebrafish cranial neural crest-derived cells (CNCCs) to define global gene expression along the dorsoventral axis of the developing arches. Intersection of region-specific transcriptomes with expression changes in response to signaling perturbations demonstrates complex roles for Endothelin1 (Edn1) signaling in the intermediate joint-forming region yet a surprisingly minor role in ventral-most regions. Analysis of co-variance across multiple sequencing experiments further reveals clusters of co-regulated genes, with in situ hybridization confirming the expression of novel genes with domain-specific expression. We then performed mutational analysis of a number of these genes, which uncovered antagonistic functions of two Edn1 targets, follistatin a (fsta) and emx2, in regulating cartilaginous joints in the hyoid arch. Our unbiased discovery and functional analysis of genes with regional expression in arch CNCCs reveals complex regulation by Edn1 and points to novel candidates for craniofacial disorders.
2017-03-09 | GSE95812 | GEO
Project description:The mandible of the jawed vertebrate is derived from the mandibular process of the first pharyngeal arch of the early embryo. The first pharyngeal arch consists of cells from all three germ layers, with the neural crest giving rise to all the skeletal elements of the mandible. The correct patterning of the neural crest cells by spatially and temporally controlled expression of various transcription factors during mandible development is crucial for the proper morphogenesis of the lower jaw. Msx family genes encode transcription factors which contain the conserved homeodomain. Among the three members of Msx genes, Msx1 and Msx2 are expressed in the neural crest and epithelium of distal mandibular process during early embryonic development with partially overlapped expression patterns. Msx1-/- mouse embryos develop multiple craniofacial developmental defects including tooth agenesis, cleft palate, and hypoplastic mandible. Although no jaw defects were observed in Msx2-/- mouse embryos, Msx1-/-Msx2-/- mouse embryos exhibit significantly severer mandibular defects compared to Msx1-/- mouse embryos, suggesting a partial functional redundancy between the two genes in mandible development. Besides the direct roles of Msx1 and Msx2 in the development of the mandibular neural crest, the phenotypes of Msx1-/-Msx2-/- may also contributed by secondary impacts from defective pre-migrative neural crest and non-neural crest tissues. Here we performed the gene expression profiling by RNA-seq in the distal mandibular processes of Msx1f/f;Msx2f/f;Hand2-Cre and Msx1f/+;Msx2f/f;Hand2-Cre embryos at E10.75, the former developed distally truncated mandible at later stages while the latter served as morphologically normal littermate control. Comparing the gene expression profiles of the two will give us insight into the functions of Msx1 and Msx2 expressed in mandibular neural crest cells in the development of the mandible.
2024-01-10 | GSE222566 | GEO
Project description:Human pluripotent stem cells (hESCs) are an excellent model to dissect the transcriptional changes that direct cell fate decisions and lineage specification during development. Utilizing directed differentiation protocols to derive definitive endoderm, splanchnic mesoderm, neural progenitor cells (NPCs), and pre-neural crest stem cells (NCSCs) from hESCs. Transcriptional profiling via RNA-seq on hESCs and cells differentiated to all three germ layers revealed lineage specific transcriptional networks that remodeled many cell processes, including epigenetic status, cell surface markers, cell cycle profiles, metabolic flux, and cellular signaling pathways. From this data we were able to verify that metabolic flux within NPCs and pre-NCSCs are regulated in a lineage specific manner that is distinct from endoderm and mesoderm formation.
2017-09-22 | GSE101655 | GEO
Project description:Craniofacial development depends on cell-cell interactions, coordinated cellular movement and differentiation under the control of regulatory gene networks, which include the distal-less (Dlx) gene family. However, the functional significance of Dlx5 in patterning the oropharyngeal region has remained unknown. Here we show that loss of Dlx5 leads to a shortened soft palate and an absence of the levator veli palatini, palatopharyngeus, and palatoglossus muscles that are derived from the 4th pharyngeal arch (PA), but the tensor veli palatini, derived from the 1st PA, is unaffected. Dlx5-positive cranial neural crest (CNC) cells are in direct contact with myoblasts derived from the pharyngeal mesoderm, and Dlx5 disruption leads to altered proliferation and apoptosis of CNC and muscle progenitor cells. Moreover, the FGF10 pathway is downregulated in Dlx5-/- mice, and activation of FGF10 signaling rescues CNC cell proliferation and myogenic differentiation in these mutant mice. Collectively, our results indicate that Dlx5 plays critical roles in patterning of the oropharyngeal region and development of muscles derived from the 4th PA mesoderm in the soft palate, likely via interactions between CNC-derived and myogenic progenitor cells.
2017-10-15 | GSE104163 | GEO
Project description:Alternative splicing is critical for development. However, its role in the specification of the three embryonic germ layers is poorly understood. By performing RNA-Seq on human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and derived endoderm, cardiac mesoderm, and ectoderm cell lineages, we detect distinct alternative splicing programs associated with each lineage. The most prominent splicing program differences are observed between definitive endoderm and cardiac mesoderm. Integrative multi-omics analyses link each program with lineage-specific RNA binding protein regulators, and further suggest a widespread role for Quaking (QKI) in the specification of cardiac mesoderm. Remarkably, knockout of QKI disrupts the cardiac mesoderm-associated alternative splicing program and formation of myocytes. These changes likely arise in part through reduced expression of BIN1 splice variants linked to cardiac development. Collectively, our results thus uncover alternative splicing programs associated with the three germ lineages and demonstrate an important role for QKI in the formation of cardiac mesoderm.
2022-02-01 | MSV000088762 | MassIVE
Project description:The concept of germ layers has been one of the foremost organizing principles in developmental biology, classification, systematics and evolution for 150 years. Of the three germ layers, the mesoderm is found in bilaterian animals but is absent in species in the phyla Cnidaria and Ctenophora, which has been taken as evidence that the mesoderm was the final germ layer to evolve. The origin of the ectoderm and endoderm germ layers, however, remains unclear, with models supporting the antecedence of each as well as a simultaneous origin. Here we determine the temporal and spatial components of gene expression spanning embryonic development for all Caenorhabditis elegans genes and use it to determine the evolutionary ages of the germ layers. The gene expression program of the mesoderm is induced after those of the ectoderm and endoderm, thus making it the last germ layer both to evolve and to develop. Strikingly, the C. elegans endoderm and ectoderm expression programs do not co-induce; rather the endoderm activates earlier, and this is also observed in the expression of endoderm orthologues during the embryology of the frog Xenopus tropicalis, the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis and the sponge Amphimedon queenslandica. Querying the phylogenetic ages of specifically expressed genes reveals that the endoderm comprises older genes. Taken together, we propose that the endoderm program dates back to the origin of multicellularity, whereas the ectoderm originated as a secondary germ layer freed from ancestral feeding functions.
2014-12-11 | GSE50548 | GEO
Project description:Distinct shaping of the upper versus lower facial skeleton is essential for function of the vertebrate jaw and middle ear, yet the cellular mechanisms by which this occurs have remained unclear. Here, we show that Endothelin1 (Edn1) signaling accelerates mesenchymal condensation and subsequent cartilage formation in the lower face through antagonism of Jagged-Notch signaling and Prrx1 transcription factors. A genomic analysis of facial skeletal precursors in mutants and overexpression embryos reveals that Jagged-Notch signaling represses genes that are strongly induced as pharyngeal arch neural crest-derived cells begin skeletal differentiation. In wild types, initial Jagged-Notch repression dorsally ensures that barx1+ condensations and cartilage differentiation occur first in ventral-intermediate zones of the pharyngeal arches. Reduced Jagged-Notch signaling results in an expansion of pre-cartilage condensations in the upper face, with loss of barx1 partially restoring dorsal cartilage shapes in jag1b mutants. Further, by studying new mutants for zebrafish prrx1a and prrx1b, we find that Prrx1 genes function in parallel to Jagged-Notch signaling to restrict the formation of dorsal barx1+ pre-cartilage condensations. Consistently, combined losses of jag1b and prrx1a/b robustly rescue ventral barx1+ condensations and lower facial cartilage development in edn1 mutants. Together, our work suggests that Edn1 works through parallel inhibition of Jagged-Notch and Prrx1 pathways to promote an earlier and more extensive establishment of cartilage condensations in the lower face. We performed RNAseq on FACS-sorted neural crest-derived pharyngeal arch cells (fli1a:GFP; sox10:DsRed double positive) from wild-type embryos at 3 different stages (20, 28, and 36 hours post fertilization) and embryos with altered levels of Edn1 and Notch signaling (edn1 mutants and hsp70I:Gal4; UAS:Edn1 transgenics; jag1b mutants, dibenzazepine-treated embryos, and hsp70I:Gal4; UAS:NICD transgenics. We also sequenced RNA from heat-shocked UAS:Edn1+ and hsp70I:Gal4+ transgenics and jag1b+/+ controls.
2016-03-23 | E-GEOD-72985 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:The Hox genes play a key role in specifying the axial identity of neural crest cells (NCCs) migrating into the pharyngeal arches of the developing mouse embryo. In the absence of Hoxa2, NCC derivatives of the second pharyngeal arch (PA2) duplicate those formed by NCCs of the first arch (PA1). In this study, we use bulk and single-cell RNAseq to establish the molecular mechanisms driving this phenotypic reversion to a ground state. Comparing the transcriptomes of PA1 and PA2 in wildtype and Hoxa2-/- embryos during NCC migration and differentiation, we find that Hoxa2-/- PA2 does not revert to a molecular ‘ground state’ corresponding to the NCC derivatives. This separation of phenotypic and molecular states has significant implications for our understanding of NCC biology. We also identify putative targets through which HOXA2 likely acts to impart PA2 identity. The heterogenous expression of these targets within the PAs and their responses to the absence of HOXA2 suggest that subsets of NCCs may respond to HOXA2 activity in distinct manners related to their ultimate fate. To understand the heterogeneity of neural crest cells (NCCs) and other tissues of pharyngeal arches (PAs) 1 and 2 in the mouse embryo at E10.5, during NCC differentiation, we collected PA1 and PA2 from wildtype embryos and Hoxa2-/- embryos. We used the 10x Chromium single-cell sequencing system to compare the transcriptional profiles between PA1 and PA2 as well as wildtype and Hoxa2-/- PAs.
2021-02-09 | GSE164108 | GEO