Project description:Establishment and maintenance of CNS glial cell identity ensures proper brain development and function, yet the epigenetic mechanisms underlying glial fate control remain poorly understood. Here we show that the histone deacetylase Hdac3 controls oligodendrocyte-specification gene Olig2 expression, and functions as a molecular switch for oligodendrocyte and astrocyte lineage determination. Our data suggest that Hdac3 cooperates with p300 to prime and maintain oligodendrogenic programs while inhibiting Stat3-mediated astrogliogenesis, and thereby regulate phenotypic commitment at the point of oligodendrocyte-astrocytic fate decision. Examination of Hdac3 and p300 genomewide occupancy in differentiating oligodendrocytes
Project description:Establishment and maintenance of CNS glial cell identity ensures proper brain development and function, yet the epigenetic mechanisms underlying glial fate control remain poorly understood. Here we show that the histone deacetylase Hdac3 controls oligodendrocyte-specification gene Olig2 expression, and functions as a molecular switch for oligodendrocyte and astrocyte lineage determination. Our data suggest that Hdac3 cooperates with p300 to prime and maintain oligodendrogenic programs while inhibiting Stat3-mediated astrogliogenesis, and thereby regulate phenotypic commitment at the point of oligodendrocyte-astrocytic fate decision. Gene expression profiling of optic nerve from P12 control and Hdac3 cKO mice
Project description:Establishment and maintenance of CNS glial cell identity ensures proper brain development and function, yet the epigenetic mechanisms underlying glial fate control remain poorly understood. Here we show that the histone deacetylase Hdac3 controls oligodendrocyte-specification gene Olig2 expression, and functions as a molecular switch for oligodendrocyte and astrocyte lineage determination. Our data suggest that Hdac3 cooperates with p300 to prime and maintain oligodendrogenic programs while inhibiting Stat3-mediated astrogliogenesis, and thereby regulate phenotypic commitment at the point of oligodendrocyte-astrocytic fate decision.
Project description:Establishment and maintenance of CNS glial cell identity ensures proper brain development and function, yet the epigenetic mechanisms underlying glial fate control remain poorly understood. Here we show that the histone deacetylase Hdac3 controls oligodendrocyte-specification gene Olig2 expression, and functions as a molecular switch for oligodendrocyte and astrocyte lineage determination. Our data suggest that Hdac3 cooperates with p300 to prime and maintain oligodendrogenic programs while inhibiting Stat3-mediated astrogliogenesis, and thereby regulate phenotypic commitment at the point of oligodendrocyte-astrocytic fate decision.
Project description:Schwann cell remyelination defects impair functional restoration after nerve damage, contributing to peripheral neuropathies. The mechanisms that mediate remyelination block remain elusive. Upon small-molecule epigenetic screening, we identified HDAC3, a histone-modifying enzyme, as a potent inhibitor of peripheral myelinogenesis. Inhibition of HDAC3 markedly enhances myelin growth and regeneration, and improves functional recovery after peripheral nerve injury. HDAC3 antagonizes myelinogenic neuregulin/PI3K/AKT signaling axis. Moreover, genome-wide profiling analyses reveal that HDAC3 represses pro-myelinating programs through epigenetic silencing, while coordinating with p300 histone acetyltransferase to activate myelination-inhibitory programs that include HIPPO signaling effector TEAD4 to inhibit myelin growth. Schwann-cell-specific deletion of either Hdac3 or Tead4 results in a profound increase in myelin thickness in sciatic nerves. Thus, our findings identify the HDAC3-TEAD4 network as a dual-function switch of cell-intrinsic inhibitory machinery that counters myelinogenic signals and maintains peripheral myelin homeostasis, highlighting the therapeutic potential of transient HDAC3 inhibition for improving peripheral myelin repair.
Project description:Schwann cell remyelination defects impair functional restoration after nerve damage, contributing to peripheral neuropathies. The mechanisms that mediate remyelination block remain elusive. Upon small-molecule epigenetic screening, we identified HDAC3, a histone-modifying enzyme, as a potent inhibitor of peripheral myelinogenesis. Inhibition of HDAC3 markedly enhances myelin growth and regeneration, and improves functional recovery after peripheral nerve injury. HDAC3 antagonizes myelinogenic neuregulin/PI3K/AKT signaling axis. Moreover, genome-wide profiling analyses reveal that HDAC3 represses pro-myelinating programs through epigenetic silencing, while coordinating with p300 histone acetyltransferase to activate myelination-inhibitory programs that include HIPPO signaling effector TEAD4 to inhibit myelin growth. Schwann-cell-specific deletion of either Hdac3 or Tead4 results in a profound increase in myelin thickness in sciatic nerves. Thus, our findings identify the HDAC3-TEAD4 network as a dual-function switch of cell-intrinsic inhibitory machinery that counters myelinogenic signals and maintains peripheral myelin homeostasis, highlighting the therapeutic potential of transient HDAC3 inhibition for improving peripheral myelin repair.
Project description:Astrocytes within specific brain regions contribute uniquely to regional circuits for higher-order brain function through interactions with local neurons. The regional diversification of astrocytes is dictated by their embryonic origin, yet the mechanisms governing their regional allocation remain unknown. Here we show that allocation of astrocytes to specific brain regions requires the transcription factor 4 (Tcf4) mediated fate restriction during brain development. Loss of Tcf4 in ventral telencephalic neural progenitors alters the fate of oligodendrocyte precursors to transient intermediate astrocyte precursor cells, resulting in mislocated astrocytes in the dorsal neocortex. These ectopic astrocytes originated from the ventral telencephalon engage with neurons and acquire features reminiscent of local neocortical astrocytes. Furthermore, Tcf4 functions as a suppressor of astrocyte fate during differentiation of oligodendrocyte precursors, thereby restricting the fate to oligodendrocyte lineage. Our study reveals that fate restriction governs regional astrocyte allocation, contributing to astrocyte diversification across brain regions.
Project description:Glial progenitor cells (GPCs) pervade the human brain. These cells express gangliosides recognized by MAb A2B5, and some but not all can generate oligodendrocytes. Since some A2B5+ GPCs express PDGFa receptor (PDGFRa), which is critical to oligodendrocyte development, we asked if PDGFRa-directed sorting might isolate oligodendrocyte-competent progenitors. We used FACS to sort PDGFRa+ cells from the second trimester fetal human forebrain, based on expression of the PDGFRa epitope CD140a. CD140a+ cells could be maintained as mitotic progenitors that could be instructed to either oligodendrocyte or astrocyte phenotype. Transplanted CD140a+ cells robustly myelinated the hypomyelinated shiverer mouse brain. Microarray confirmed that CD140a+ cells differentially expressed PDGFRA, NG2, OLIG1/2, NKX2.2 and SOX2. Some expressed CD9, thereby defining a CD140a+/CD9+ fraction of oligodendrocyte-biased progenitors. CD140a+ cells differentially expressed genes of the PTN-PTPRZ1, wnt, notch and BMP pathways, suggesting the interaction of self-renewal and fate-restricting pathways in these cells, while identifying targets for their mobilization and instruction. 10 samples, 5 CD140a+, and 5 CD140a- sorted samples for individual fetal human brain