Project description:The proneural NEUROG2 is essential for neuronal commitment, cell cycle exit and neuronal differentiation. Characterizing genes networks regulated downstream of NEUROG2 is therefore of prime importance. To identify NEUROG2 early response genes, we combined gain of function in the neural tube with a global detection of modified transcripts using microarrays. We included in our study a mutant form of NEUROG2 (NEUROG2AQ) that cannot bind DNA and cannot trigger neurogenesis. Using this approach, we identified 942 genes modified at the onset of NEUROG2 activation. The global analysis of functions regulated by NEUROG2 allowed unmasking its rapid impact on cell cycle control. We found that NEUROG2 specifically represses a subset of cyclins acting at the G1 and S phases of the cell cycle, thereby impeding S phase re-entry. This repression occurs before modification of p27kip1, indicating that the decision to leave the cell cycle precedes the activation of this Cyclin-dependant Kinase Inhibitor. Moreover, NEUROG2 down-regulates only one of the D-type cyclins, cyclinD1, and maintaining cyclinD1 blocks the ability of the proneural to trigger cell cycle exit, without altering its capacity to trigger neuronal differentiation. The fact that NEUROG2 represses a subset but not all cell cycle regulators indicates that cell cycle exit is not an indirect consequence of neuronal differentiation but is precisely controlled by NEUROG2. Altogether our findings indicate that NEUROG2, by specifically repressing G1 and S cyclins, allows committed neuronal precursors to perform their last mitosis but blocks their re-entry in the cell cycle, thus favouring cell cycle exit. Stage HH10-11 embryos (11 to 15 somites) were electroporated with a control vector (pGIG-GFP), a NEUROG2-expressing vector (pCIGNEUROG2-GFP), or a NEUROG2AQ-expressing vector (pCIGNEUROG2AQ-GFP). For each biological replicate, neural tubes from 20 embryos were pooled for GFP+ cells collection. GFP+ cells were collected 6h later using FACS sorting (Epics Altra HSS cell sorter, Toulouse Rio platform) and processed for RNA probe preparation and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. For each experimental condition, four biological replicates were processed.
Project description:Developing tissues rely on the coordinated differentiation of stem cell populations in dynamically changing environments. The formation of the vertebrate neural tube is a well characterized example, where stem cells in the caudal epiblast differentiate to neural tissue while transitioning through a changing landscape of signals: rostro-caudally from Retinoic Acid (RA) to Wnt/FGF and dorsal-ventrally from sonic hedgehog to BMP. Despite an understanding of the signaling pathways involved in neural specification, the precise signal interpretation and gene regulatory mechanisms within an embryonic context remain poorly defined. To address this, we first developed an in vivo CRISPR screening approach in chick embryos. We then performed a multiplexed in vivo single-cell perturbation screen of transition genes from caudal epiblast to the neural tube. Our screen revealed a role for MLLT3, a component of the super elongation complex, in the specification of neural identity. MLLT3 is expressed in the epiblast and not the neural tube. Perturbation of MLLT3 disrupted caudal epiblast morphology, reduced neural tube identities, and resulted in the misregulation of genes involved in WNT and RA signaling. Neural specification was also disrupted by expressing mutant forms of Retinoic Acid Receptor A (RARα) lacking the MLLT3 binding domain or consisting only the MLLT3 binding region. Together, these findings validate an in vivo CRISPR screen in chick embryos for the first time and identify a previously unreported role for MLLT3 in caudal neural cell specification, mediated through an interaction with RARα.
Project description:A systematic survey of the transcriptional status of individual segments of the developing chick hindbrain (r1-5) and the adjacent region of the embryonic midbrain (m) during the HH11 stage of chick development Affymetrix Chicken GeneChip Expression Study Paralell comparison of defined regions of the neural tube during early chick development
Project description:Maternal diabetes is a teratogen that can lead to neural tube closure defects in the offspring. We therefore sought to compare gene expression profiles at the site of neural tube closure between stage-matched embryos from normal dams, and embryos from diabetic dams. Neurulation-stage mouse embryos at 8.5 days of gestation were used to prepare neural tissue at the anterior aspect of neural tube closure site 1. Tissue was procured from the open neural tube immediately anterior of the closure site, and from the closed neural tube immediately posterior to the closure site by laser microdissection. For each sample, 10 sections were pooled, total RNA was extracted, and 7 ng of total RNA were used for expression profiling by Tag sequencing using an Applied Biosystems SolidSAGE kit for library construction, and an AB SOLiD 5500 XL instrument for sequencing. Sequence reads were mapped to RefSeq RNA, and count data per gene were obtained using a modified version of the Applied Biosystems SOLiDâ?¢ SAGEâ?¢ Analysis Software. diabetic dam - closed neural tube // diabetic dam - open neural tube // normal dam - closed neural tube // normal dam - open neural tube