Li-Ru You

Suppression of Notch signalling by the COUP-TFII transcription factor regulates vein identity

Arteries and veins are anatomically, functionally and molecularly distinct. The current model of arterial–venous identity proposes that binding of vascular endothelial growth factor to its heterodimeric receptor—Flk1 and neuropilin 1 (NP-1; also called Nrp1)—activates the Notch signalling pathway in the endothelium, causing induction of ephrin B2 expression and suppression of ephrin receptor B4 expression to establish arterial identity. Little is known about vein identity except that it involves ephrin receptor B4 expression, because Notch signalling is not activated in veins; an unresolved question is how vein identity is regulated. Here, we show that COUP-TFII (also known as Nr2f2), a member of the orphan nuclear receptor superfamily, is specifically expressed in venous but not arterial endothelium. Ablation of COUP-TFII in endothelial cells enables veins to acquire arterial characteristics, including the expression of arterial markers NP-1 and Notch signalling molecules, and the generation of haematopoietic cell clusters. Furthermore, ectopic expression of COUP-TFII in endothelial cells results in the fusion of veins and arteries in transgenic mouse embryos. Thus, COUP-TFII has a critical role in repressing Notch signalling to maintain vein identity, which suggests that vein identity is under genetic control and is not derived by a default pathway.

COUP-TFII is essential for radial and anteroposterior patterning of the stomach

COUP-TFII, an orphan member of the steroid receptor superfamily, has been implicated in mesenchymal-epithelial interaction during organogenesis. The generation of a lacZ knock-in allele in the COUP-TFII locus in mice allows us to use X-gal staining to follow the expression of COUP-TFII in the developing stomach. We found COUP-TFII is expressed in the mesenchyme and the epithelium of the developing stomach. Conditional ablation of floxed COUP-TFII by Nkx3-2Cre recombinase in the gastric mesenchyme results in dysmorphogenesis of the developing stomach manifested by major patterning defects in posteriorization and radial patterning. The epithelial outgrowth, the expansion of the circular smooth muscle layer and enteric neurons as well as the posteriorization of the stomach resemble phenotypes exhibited by inhibition of hedgehog signaling pathways. Using organ cultures and cyclopamine treatment, we showed downregulation of COUP-TFII level in the stomach, suggesting COUP-TFII as a target of hedgehog signaling in the stomach. Our results are consistent with a functional link between hedgehog proteins and COUP-TFII, factors that are vital for epithelial-mesenchymal interactions.

Direct interaction of two homeoproteins, homothorax and extradenticle, is essential for EXD nuclear localization and function.

The Drosophila Homothorax (HTH) and Extradenticle (EXD) are two homeoproteins required in a number of developmental processes. EXD can function as a cofactor to Hox proteins. Its nuclear localization is dependent on HTH. In this study we present evidence of in vivo physical interaction between HTH and EXD, mediated primarily through an evolutionarily conserved MH domain in HTH. This interaction is essential for the mutual stabilization of both proteins, for EXD nuclear localization, and for the cooperative DNA binding of the EXD-HTH heterodimer. Some in vivo functions require both EXD and HTH in the nucleus, suggesting that the EXD-HTH complex may function as a transcriptional regulator.

Conditionally ablated Pten in prostate basal cells promotes basal-to-luminal differentiation and causes invasive prostate cancer in mice.

Prostate glands comprise two major epithelial cell types: luminal and basal. Luminal cells have long been considered the cellular origin of prostate cancer (CaP). However, recent evidence from a prostate regeneration assay suggests that prostate basal cells can also give rise to CaP. Here, we characterize Pten-deficient prostate lesions arising from keratin 5-expressing basal cells in a temporally controlled system in mice. Pten-deficient prostate lesions arising from basal cells exhibited luminal phenotypes with higher invasiveness, and the cell fate of Pten-deficient basal cells was traced to neoplastic luminal cells. After temporally ablating Pten in keratin 8-expressing luminal cells, luminal-derived Pten-deficient prostate tumors exhibited slower disease progression, compared with basal-derived tumors, within 13 weeks after Pten ablation. Cellular proliferation was significantly increased in basal-derived versus luminal-derived Pten-deficient prostate lesions. Increased tumor invasion into the smooth muscle layer and aberrantly regulated aggressive signatures (Smad4 and Spp1) were identified exclusively in basal-derived Pten-deficient lesions. Interestingly, p63-expressing cells, which represent basal stem and progenitor cells of basal-derived Pten-deficient prostate lesions, were significantly increased, relative to cells of the luminal-derived prostate lesion. Furthermore, castration did not suppress cellular proliferation of either basal-derived or luminal-derived Pten-deficient prostate tumors. Taken together, our data suggest that, although prostate malignancy can originate from both basal and luminal populations, these two populations differ in aggressive potential.

Endocardial Cushion Morphogenesis and Coronary Vessel Development Require Chicken Ovalbumin Upstream Promoter-Transcription Factor II

Objective—Septal defects and coronary vessel anomalies are common congenital heart defects, yet their ontogeny and the underlying genetic mechanisms are not well understood. Here, we investigated the role of chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter-transcription factor II (COUP-TFII, NR2F2) in cardiac organogenesis. Methods and Results—We analyzed embryos deficient in COUP-TFII and observed a spectrum of cardiac defects, including atrioventricular septal defect, thin-walled myocardium, and abnormal coronary morphogenesis. We show by expression analysis that COUP-TFII is expressed in the endocardium and the epicardium but not in the myocardium of the ventricle. Using endothelial-specific COUP-TFII mutants and molecular approaches, we show that COUP-TFII deficiency resulted in endocardial cushion hypoplasia. This was attributed to the reduced growth and survival of atrioventricular cushion mesenchymal cells and defective epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT) in the underlying endocardium. In addition, the endocardial EMT defect was accompanied by downregulation of Snai1, one of the master regulators of EMT, and upregulation of vascular endothelial-cadherin. Furthermore, we show that although COUP-TFII does not play a major role in the formation of epicardial cell cysts, it is critically important for the formation of epicardium. Ablation of COUP-TFII impairs epicardial EMT and coronary plexus formation. Conclusion—Our results reveal that COUP-TFII plays cell-autonomous roles in the endocardium and the epicardium for endocardial and epicardial EMT, which are required for proper valve and coronary vessel formation during heart development.

Tumor Spectrum, Tumor Latency and Tumor Incidence of the Pten-Deficient Mice

Background Pten functionally acts as a tumor suppressor gene. Lately, tissue-specific ablation of Pten gene in mice has elucidated the role of Pten in different tumor progression models. However, a temporally controlled Pten loss in all adult tissues to examine susceptibility of various tissues to Pten-deficient tumorigenesis has not been addressed yet. Our goal was to explore the genesis of Pten-deficient malignancies in multiple tissue lineages of the adult mouse. Methods and Findings We utilized an inducible Cre/loxP system to delete Pten exon 5 in the systemic organs of ROSA26 (R26)-CreERT;Ptenfx/fx mice. On reaching 45 weeks 4OHT-induced Pten loss, we found that the R26-CreERT;Ptenfx/fx mice developed a variety of malignancies. Overall tumor mean latency was 17 weeks in the Pten-deficient mice. Interestingly, mutant females developed malignancies more quickly at 10∼11 weeks compared with a tumor latency of 21 weeks for mutant males. Lymphoma incidence (76.9% in females; 40.0% in males) was higher than the other malignancies found in the mutant mice. Mutant males developed prostate (20.0%), intestinal cancer (35.0%) and squamous cell carcinoma (10.0%), whereas the mutant females developed squamous cell carcinoma (15.4%) and endometrial cancer (46.1%) in addition to lymphomas. Furthermore, we tested the pharmacological inhibition of the PTEN downstream effectors using LY294002 on Pten-deficient prostate hyperplasia. Our data revealed that, indeed, the prostate hyperplasia resulting from the induced Pten loss was significantly suppressed by LY294002 (pu200a=u200a0.007). Conclusions Through monitoring a variety of Pten-deficient tumor formation, our results revealed that the lymphoid lineages and the epithelium of the prostate, endometrium, intestine and epidermis are highly susceptible to tumorigenesis after the Pten gene is excised. Therefore, this R26-CreERT; Ptenfx/fx mouse model may provide an entry point for understanding the role of Pten in the tumorigenesis of different organs and extend the search for potential therapeutic approaches to prevent Pten-deficient malignancies.

Transgenic mice exhibiting inducible and spontaneous Cre activities driven by a bovine keratin 5 promoter that can be used for the conditional analysis of basal epithelial cells in multiple organs.

BackgroundCre/lox P-mediated genetic modification is the most widely used conditional genetic approach used in the mouse. Engineered Cre and the mutated ligand-binding domain of estrogen receptor fusion recombinase (CreERT) allow temporal control of Cre activity.ResultsIn this study, we have generated two distinct transgenic mouse lines expressing CreERT, which show 4-hydroxytamoxifen (4-OHT)-inducible and spontaneous (4-OHT-independent) Cre activities, referred to Tg(BK5-CreERT)I and Tg(BK5-CreERT)S, respectively. The transgenic construct is driven by the bovine Keratin 5 promoter, which is active in the basal epithelial lineage of stratified and pseudo-stratified epithelium across multiple organs. Despite the difference in 4-OHT dependency, the Tg(BK5-CreERT)I and Tg(BK5-CreERT)S mouse lines shared similar Cre-mediated recombination among various organs, except for unique mammary epithelial Cre activity in Tg(BK5-CreERT)S females.ConclusionThese two new transgenic mouse lines for the analysis of basal epithelial function and for the genetic modification have been created allowing the identification of these cell lineages and analysis of their differentiation during embryogenesis, during perinatal development and in adult mice.

Role of OVCA1/DPH1 in craniofacial abnormalities of Miller–Dieker syndrome

OVCA1/DPH1 (OVCA1) encodes a component of the diphthamide biosynthesis pathway and is located on chromosome 17p13.3. Deletions in this region are associated with Miller-Dieker syndrome (MDS). Ovca1/Dph1 (Ovca1)-null mice exhibit multiple developmental defects, including cleft palate, growth restriction and perinatal lethality, suggesting a role in the craniofacial abnormalities associated with MDS. Conditional ablation of Ovca1 in neural crest cells, but not in cranial paraxial mesoderm, also results in cleft palate and shortened lower jaw phenotypes, similar to Ovca1-null embryos. Expression of transgenic myc-tagged Ovca1 in craniofacial structures can partially rescue the cleft palate and shortened mandible of Ovca1-null embryos. Interestingly, Ovca1-null mutants are resistant to conditional expression of diphtheria toxin subunit A in both neural crest cell and paraxial mesoderm derivatives. However, OVCA1-dependent diphthamide biosynthesis is essential for neural crest cell-derived craniofacial development but that is dispensable for paraxial mesodermal-derived craniofacial structures in mammals. These findings suggest that OVCA1 deficiency in the neural crest contributes to the craniofacial abnormalities in patients with MDS. Also, our findings provide new insights into the molecular and cellular mechanisms that lead to the craniofacial defects of MDS.

Gene targeting and expression analysis of mouse Tem1/endosialin using a lacZ reporter.

TEM1 (endosialin) expression is increased in the stroma and tumor vasculature of several common human cancers. The exact physiological role of TEM1 is still unknown since Tem1-deficient mice are viable and show only a lower rate of abdominal site-specific tumor invasion in tumor transplantation experiments. Previous studies have reported Tem1 expression in mouse embryos and adults, but did not determine the timing or location of the earliest expression, and did not examine all organ systems. Using the highly sensitive Bluo-Gal staining method for detecting temporal and spatial Tem1-lacZ activity in lacZ knock-in (+/lacZ) mice, we found that Tem1 gene expression was initially detectable in the dorsal aortic wall, the heart, the umbilical vessels, the first branchial arch, and the cephalic mesenchyme at E9.5. From E10.5 to E14.5, Tem1 gene expression was additionally seen mainly in the genital tubercle, the mesonephros, the whisker follicles, the mesenchymal tissues around the eye, and the lung. Remarkably, the kidney expressed abundant Tem1-lacZ starting from E16.5. Postnatally, Tem1 expression decreased in most organs but elevated expression persisted in the renal glomerulus and the uterus, where the expression pattern varied at different estrous cycle stages. Co-localization studies indicated that most vimentin-positive cells co-expressed Tem1-lacZ, while a large portion of CD31- or desmin-positive cells were also positive for Tem1-lacZ. Taken together, our observations suggest that Tem1 is expressed throughout embryonic and adult development in several types of mesenchymal cells closely related to blood vessels.

Thymic epithelial β-catenin is required for adult thymic homeostasis and function

The role of β‐catenin in thymocyte development has been extensively studied, however, the function of β‐catenin in thymic epithelial cells (TECs) remains largely unclear. Here, we demonstrate a requirement for β‐catenin in keratin 5 (K5)‐expressing TECs, which comprise the majority of medullary TECs (mTECs) and a progenitor subset for cortical TECs (cTECs) in the young adult thymus. We found that conditionally ablated β‐catenin in K5+‐TECs and their progeny cells resulted in thymic atrophy. The composition of TECs was also aberrantly affected. Percentages of K5hiK8+‐TECs, K5+K8–‐TECs and UEA1+‐mTECs were significantly decreased and the percentage of K5loK8+‐TECs and Ly51+‐cTECs were increased in β‐catenin‐deficient thymi compared with that in the control thymi. We also observed that β‐catenin‐deficient TEC lineage could give rise to K8+‐cTECs more efficiently than wild‐type TECs using lineage‐tracing approach. Importantly, the expression levels of several transcription factors (p63, FoxN1 and Aire), which are essential for TEC differentiation, were altered in β‐catenin‐deficient thymi. Under the aberrant differentiation of TECs, development of all thymocytes in β‐catenin‐deficient thymi was impaired. Interleukin‐7 (IL‐7) and chemokines (Ccl19, Ccl25 and Cxcl12) levels were also downregulated in the thymic stromal cells in the mutants. Finally, introducing a BCL2 transgene in lymphoid lineages, which has been shown to rescue IL‐7‐deficient thymopoiesis, partially rescued the thymic atrophy and thymocyte development defects caused by induced ablation of β‐catenin in K5+‐TECs. Collectively, these findings suggest that β‐catenin is required for the differentiation of TECs, thereby contributing to thymocyte development in the postnatal thymus.