Nick Van Hateren

FatJ acts via the Hippo mediator Yap1 to restrict the size of neural progenitor cell pools

The size, composition and functioning of the spinal cord is likely to depend on appropriate numbers of progenitor and differentiated cells of a particular class, but little is known about how cell numbers are controlled in specific cell cohorts along the dorsoventral axis of the neural tube. Here, we show that FatJ cadherin, identified in a large-scale RNA interference (RNAi) screen of cadherin genes expressed in the neural tube, is localised to progenitors in intermediate regions of the neural tube. Loss of function of FatJ promotes an increase in dp4-vp1 progenitors and a concomitant increase in differentiated Lim1+/Lim2+ neurons. Our studies reveal that FatJ mediates its action via the Hippo pathway mediator Yap1: loss of downstream Hippo components can rescue the defect caused by loss of FatJ. Together, our data demonstrate that RNAi screens are feasible in the chick embryonic neural tube, and show that FatJ acts through the Hippo pathway to regulate cell numbers in specific subsets of neural progenitor pools and their differentiated progeny.

Expression of a novel mammalian epidermal growth factor-related gene during mouse neural development

We have recently reported the preliminary characterisation of a novel EGF-related gene, Scube1 (signal peptide-CUB domain-EGF-related, gene 1), that is expressed prominently in the developing gonad, nervous system, somites, surface ectoderm and limb buds of the mouse. Here we describe the expression pattern of a closely related gene, Scube2 (also known as Cegp1), which maps to the distal region of mouse chromosome 7. Scube2 transcription is restricted to the embryonic neurectoderm but is also detectable in the adult heart, lung and testis.

Candidate testis‐determining gene, Maestro (Mro), encodes a novel HEAT repeat protein

Mammalian sex determination depends on the presence or absence of SRY transcripts in the embryonic gonad. Expression of SRY initiates a pathway of gene expression resulting in testis development. Here, we describe a novel gene potentially functioning in this pathway using a cDNA microarray screen for genes exhibiting sexually dimorphic expression during murine gonad development. Maestro (Mro) transcripts are first detected in the developing male gonad before overt testis differentiation. By 12.5 days postcoitus (dpc), Mro transcription is restricted to the developing testis cords and its expression is not germ cell‐dependent. No expression is observed in female gonads between 10.5 and 14.5 dpc. Maestro encodes a protein containing HEAT‐like repeats that localizes to the nucleolus in cell transfection assays. Maestro maps to a region of mouse chromosome 18 containing a genetic modifier of XX sex reversal. We discuss the possible function of Maestro in light of these data. Developmental Dynamics 227:600–607, 2003.

Cyclic Nrarp mRNA Expression Is Regulated by the Somitic Oscillator but Nrarp Protein Levels Do Not Oscillate

Somites are formed progressively from the presomitic mesoderm (PSM) in a highly regulated process according to a strict periodicity driven by an oscillatory mechanism. The Notch and Wnt pathways are key components in the regulation of this somitic oscillator and data from Xenopus and zebrafish embryos indicate that the Notch‐downstream target Nrarp participates in the regulation of both activities. We have analyzed Nrarp/nrarp‐a expression in the PSM of chick, mouse and zebrafish embryos, and we show that it cycles in synchrony with other Notch regulated cyclic genes. In the mouse its transcription is both Wnt‐ and Notch‐dependent, whereas in the chick and fish embryo it is simply Notch‐dependent. Despite oscillating mRNA levels, Nrarp protein does not oscillate in the PSM. Finally, neither gain nor loss of Nrarp function interferes with the normal expression of Notch‐related cyclic genes. Developmental Dynamics 238:3043–3055, 2009.

A direct comparison of strategies for combinatorial RNA interference

BackgroundCombinatorial RNA interference (co-RNAi) is a valuable tool for highly effective gene suppression of single and multiple-genes targets, and can be used to prevent the escape of mutation-prone transcripts. There are currently three main approaches used to achieve co-RNAi in animal cells; multiple promoter/shRNA cassettes, long hairpin RNAs (lhRNA) and miRNA-embedded shRNAs, however, the relative effectiveness of each is not known. The current study directly compares the ability of each co-RNAi method to deliver pre-validated siRNA molecules to the same gene targets.ResultsDouble-shRNA expression vectors were generated for each co-RNAi platform and their ability to suppress both single and double-gene reporter targets were compared. The most reliable and effective gene silencing was achieved from the multiple promoter/shRNA approach, as this method induced additive suppression of single-gene targets and equally effective knockdown of double-gene targets. Although both lhRNA and microRNA-embedded strategies provided efficient gene knockdown, suppression levels were inconsistent and activity varied greatly for different siRNAs tested. Furthermore, it appeared that not only the position of siRNAs within these multi-shRNA constructs impacted upon silencing activity, but also local properties of each individual molecule. In addition, it was also found that the insertion of up to five promoter/shRNA cassettes into a single construct did not negatively affect the efficacy of each individual shRNA.ConclusionsBy directly comparing the ability of shRNAs delivered from different co-RNA platforms to initiate knockdown of the same gene targets, we found that multiple U6/shRNA cassettes offered the most reliable and predictable suppression of both single and multiple-gene targets. These results highlight some important strengths and pitfalls of the currently used methods for multiple shRNA delivery, and provide valuable insights for the design and application of reliable co-RNAi.

Expression of avian C-terminal binding proteins (Ctbp1 and Ctbp2) during embryonic development

C‐terminal binding proteins (CtBPs) are transcriptional corepressors of mediators of Notch, Wnt, and other signalling pathways. Thus, they are potential players in the control of several developmentally important processes, including segmentation, somitogenesis, and neural tube and limb patterning. We have cloned the avian orthologues of Ctbp1 and Ctbp2 and examined their expression pattern by whole‐mount in situ hybridization between Hamburger and Hamilton (HH) stages 3 and 24. Both Ctbp genes show similar expression patterns during embryonic development, and both are detected from HH stage 3 in the developing central nervous system, by HH stage 7 in the paraxial mesoderm and later in the limb bud. In most places, Ctbp1 and Ctbp2 are expressed in overlapping domains. However, there are interesting domains and/or temporal expression patterns that are specific to each Ctbp gene. For instance, Ctbp1 is predominantly expressed in the epiblast, whereas Ctbp2 is in the primitive streak at HH stage 3. However, by HH stage 4, both genes are found in the primitive streak and in the ectoderm. Similarly, although both genes display similar expression patterns in early somitogenesis, in mature somites, Ctbp1 transcripts are located in myotomal cells, whereas Ctbp2 transcripts are observed in dermomyotomal cells. Finally, we found that emigrating neural crest cells express Ctbp2, whereas dorsal root ganglia express Ctbp1. These data suggest that Ctbp1 and Ctbp2 may be functionally redundant in some tissues and have unique functions in other tissues. Developmental Dynamics 235:490–495, 2005.

RNA Interference in Chicken Embryos

The chicken has played an important role in biological discoveries since the 17th century (Stern, 2005). Many investigations into vertebrate development have utilized the chicken due to the accessibility of the chick embryo and its ease of manipulation (Brown et al., 2003). However, the lack of genetic resources has often handicapped these studies and so the chick is frequently overlooked as a model organism for the analysis of vertebrate gene function in favor of mice or zebrafish. In the past six years this situation has altered dramatically with the generation of over half a million expressed sequence tags and >20,000 fully sequenced chicken cDNAs (Boardman et al. 2002; Caldwell et al., 2005; Hubbard et al., 2005) together with a 6X coverage genome sequence (Hillier et al., 2004). These resources have created a comprehensive catalogue of chicken genes with readily accessible cDNA and EST resources available via ARK-GENOMICS (www.ark-genomics.org) for the functional analysis of vertebrate gene function. The chicken embryo is conveniently packaged in an egg shell and it is a relatively straightforward process to create a window in this shell. This allows access to the embryo at any stage of development and facilitates manipulation of the embryo. After this procedure, the window can be resealed and the egg incubated for a suitable time period prior to analyzing the results of the manipulation. Such manipulations traditionally involved “cut and paste” experiments in which tissue is excised and transplanted to ectopic locations in the embryo or from quail embryos, which are readily distinguished histologically, to chick embryos to generate chimeras. Whilst these studies have led to many important discoveries (Brown et al., 2003), there has recently been an increase in direct genetic manipulation approaches that can be applied to the chick embryo. Manipulation of embryonic gene expression frequently involves over expression of wild type or dominant negative forms of cDNAs and, most recently, RNA inter-