Project description:During embryonic development, the neural crest is a transient, migratory cell population that differentiates into a large variety of tissues and contributes much to the formation of vertebrate body. In Xenopus, lrig3 is involved in neural crest formation by modulating FGF and Wnt signaling. Lrig3 functions downstream of pax3 and zic1 to regulate the expression of neural crest markers. We used microarrays to identify the lrig3 target genes during neural crest formation.
Project description:Melanocytes are pigment-producing cells of neural crest origin responsible for protecting the skin against UV-irradiation. Melanocyte dysfunction leads to pigmentation defects including albinism, vitiligo, and piebaldism and is a key feature of systemic pathologies such as Hermansky-Pudlak (HP) and Chediak-Higashi (CH) Syndromes. Pluripotent stem cell technology offers a novel approach for studying human melanocyte development and disease. Here we report that timed exposure to activators of WNT, BMP and EDN3 signaling triggers the sequential induction of neural crest and melanocyte precursor fates under dual-SMAD inhibition conditions. Using a SOX10::GFP hESC reporter line, we demonstrate that the temporal onset of WNT activation is particularly critical for human neural crest induction. Surprisingly, suppression of BMP signaling does reduce neural crest yield. Subsequent differentiation of hESC-derived melanocyte precursors under defined conditions yields pure populations of pigmented cells matching the molecular and functional properties of adult melanocytes. Melanocytes from patient-specific iPSCs faithfully reproduce the ultrastructural features of the HP- and CH-specific pigmentation defects with minimal variability across lines. Our data define a highly specific requirement for WNT signaling during neural crest induction and enable the generation of pure populations of hiPSC-derived melanocytes for faithful modeling of human pigmentation disorders. Total RNA obtained from a timecourse of Dual SMAD Inhibition (DSi), Neural Crest (NC), and Melanocyte (BE) differentiation of human embryonic stem cells in triplicate.
Project description:The BAF chromatin remodeler regulates lineage commitment including cranial neural crest cell (CNCC) specification. BAF subunit mutations cause Coffin-Siris Syndrome (CSS), a congenital disorder characterized by distinct craniofacial features and intellectual disability. Approximately 50% of CSS patients carry mutations in one of the mutually exclusive BAF subunits, ARID1A/ARID1B. While Arid1a deletion in mouse neural crest causes severe craniofacial phenotypes, little is known about the role of ARID1A in CNCC specification. Using CSS patient-derived ARID1A+/- iPSCs to model CNCC specification, we discovered that ARID1A-haploinsufficency impairs epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process necessary for CNCC delamination and migration from the neural tube. Furthermore, wild-type ARID1A-BAF regulates enhancers associated with EMT genes. ARID1A-BAF binding at these enhancers is impaired in heterozygotes, while binding at promoters is unaffected. At the sequence level, these EMT enhancers contain binding motifs for ZIC2, and ZIC2 binding at these sites is ARID1A-dependent. When excluded from EMT enhancers, ZIC2 relocates to neuronal enhancers, triggering aberrant neuronal gene activation. In mice, deletion of Zic2 impairs NCC delamination, while ZIC2 overexpression in chick embryos at pre-migratory neural crest stages elicits abnormal cell delamination from the neural tube. These findings reveal a novel ARID1A-ZIC2 axis essential for EMT and CNCC delamination.
Project description:Melanocytes are pigment-producing cells of neural crest origin responsible for protecting the skin against UV-irradiation. Melanocyte dysfunction leads to pigmentation defects including albinism, vitiligo, and piebaldism and is a key feature of systemic pathologies such as Hermansky-Pudlak (HP) and Chediak-Higashi (CH) Syndromes. Pluripotent stem cell technology offers a novel approach for studying human melanocyte development and disease. Here we report that timed exposure to activators of WNT, BMP and EDN3 signaling triggers the sequential induction of neural crest and melanocyte precursor fates under dual-SMAD inhibition conditions. Using a SOX10::GFP hESC reporter line, we demonstrate that the temporal onset of WNT activation is particularly critical for human neural crest induction. Surprisingly, suppression of BMP signaling does reduce neural crest yield. Subsequent differentiation of hESC-derived melanocyte precursors under defined conditions yields pure populations of pigmented cells matching the molecular and functional properties of adult melanocytes. Melanocytes from patient-specific iPSCs faithfully reproduce the ultrastructural features of the HP- and CH-specific pigmentation defects with minimal variability across lines. Our data define a highly specific requirement for WNT signaling during neural crest induction and enable the generation of pure populations of hiPSC-derived melanocytes for faithful modeling of human pigmentation disorders. Total RNA obtained from embryonic stem cells (ESCs), ESC-derived melanocyte progenitors, ESC-derived mature melanocytes, primary melanocytes, and disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cell-derived melanocytes.
Project description:The process of cell fate commitment requires sequential changes in the gene expression profiles of embryonic progenitors. This is exemplified in the development of the neural crest, a migratory stem cell population derived from the ectoderm of vertebrate embryos. Neural crest formation involves a series of regulatory changes, in which cells adopt distinct transcriptional states in a stepwise manner. The mechanisms underpinning these shifts in cell identity are still poorly understood. Here we employ enhancer analysis to identify a genetic sub-circuit that controls developmental transitions in neural crest development. This sub-circuit links Wnt target genes in an incoherent forward loop that controls the sequential activation of genes in the neural crest lineage. By examining the cis-regulatory apparatus of Wnt effector gene AXUD1, we found that multipotency factor SP5 directly promotes neural plate border identity, while inhibiting premature specification by interacting with tissue specific enhancers.
Project description:Wnt signaling plays a fundamental role in the initial patterning and development of the embryo, including in the regulation of convergent extension during gastrulation and the establishment of the dorsal axis. Further, Wnt signaling is a crucial regulator of craniofacial morphogenesis. The relationship between early embryo patterning and craniofacial outcomes warrants further study. The adapter proteins Dact1 and Dact2 modulate the Wnt signaling pathway through binding to Disheveled, however, the distinct roles of Dact1 and Dact2 during embryogenesis remain to be fully elucidated. In this study, we investigated the spatiotemporal gene expression patterns of dact1 and dact2 during zebrafish embryogenesis, revealing both shared and unique domains of expression. We found that both dact1 and dact2 contribute to axis extension, with compound mutants exhibiting a similar convergent extension defect and craniofacial phenotype to the wnt11f2/slb mutant. Utilizing single-cell RNAseq and gpc4-/- zebrafish, a convergent extension mutant with an opposite craniofacial phenotype, we identified dact1/2 specific roles during early development. Using this subtractive approach, we discovered a novel role for dact1/2 in regulating the mRNA expression of the classical calpain, capn8, suggesting a previously unappreciated role of calcium-dependent proteolysis during embryogenesis. Taken together, our findings highlight the distinct and overlapping roles of dact1 and dact2 in embryonic craniofacial development, providing new insights into the multifaceted regulation of Wnt signaling.