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A chemical screen in zebrafish embryonic cells establishes that Akt activation is required for neural crest development [RNA-seq]

ABSTRACT: The neural crest is a dynamic progenitor cell population that arises at the border of neural and non-neural ectoderm. The inductive roles of FGF, Wnt, and BMP at the neural plate border are well established, but the signals required for subsequent neural crest development remain poorly characterized. Here, we conducted a screen in primary zebrafish embryo cultures for chemicals that decrease neural crest formation, as read out by crestin:EGFP expression. We found that the natural product caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) disrupts neural crest gene expression, migration, and melanocytic differentiation by reducing Sox10 activity. CAPE inhibits PI3K/Akt signaling specifically in FGF-stimulated cells, and neural crest defects in CAPE-treated embryos are suppressed by constitutively active Akt1. Inhibition of Akt activity by constitutively active PTEN similarly decreases crestin expression and Sox10 activity. Our study has identified Akt as a novel intracellular pathway required for neural crest development.

ORGANISM(S): Danio rerio

PROVIDER: GSE95814 | GEO | 2017/08/17

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA378505

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Neural crest development is orchestrated by a complex and still poorly understood gene regulatory network. Premigratory neural crest is induced at the lateral border of the neural plate by the combined action of signaling molecules and transcription factors such as AP2, Gbx2, Pax3 and Zic1. Among them, Pax3 and Zic1 are both necessary and sufficient to trigger a complete neural crest developmental program. However, their gene targets in the neural crest regulatory network remain unknown. Here, through a transcriptome analysis of frog microdissected neural border, we identified an extended gene signature for the premigratory neural crest, and we defined novel potential members of the regulatory network. This signature includes 34 novel genes, as well as 44 known genes expressed at the neural border. Using another microarray analysis which combined Pax3 and Zic1 gain-of-function and protein translation blockade, we uncovered 25 Pax3 and Zic1 direct targets within this signature. We demonstrated that the neural border specifiers Pax3 and Zic1 are direct upstream regulators of neural crest specifiers Snail1/2, Foxd3, Twist1, and Tfap2b. In addition, they may modulate the transcriptional output of multiple signaling pathways involved in neural crest development (Wnt, Retinoic Acid) through the induction of key pathway regulators (Axin2 and Cyp26c1). We also found that Pax3 could maintain its own expression through a positive autoregulatory feedback loop. These hierarchical inductions, feedback loops, and pathway modulation provide novel tools to understand the neural crest induction network. The transcriptomes of neural border samples (stage 14 and 18) were compared to the transcriptome of anterior neural fold (stage 18), early neural plate (stage 12), and animal cap explants (stage14) to identify genes expressed specifically in neural border samples. Tissue samples from Xenopus laevis embryos were dissected, then total RNA was extracted and hybridized on Affymetrix microarrays. Selected tissue samples encompass the neural crest at different stages of its induction (early neural plate at stage 12, neural border at stage 14, neural border at stage 18), as well as reference tissues (anterior neural fold at stage 18, a tissue that belongs to the neural border but does not produce neural crest, and animal cap grown until stage 14 that differentiates into epidermis).

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A chemical screen in zebrafish embryonic cells establishes that Akt activation is required for neural crest development [RNA-seq]

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