scholarly journals Decoding temporal interpretation of the morphogen Bicoid in the early Drosophila embryo

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anqi Huang ◽  
Christopher Amourda ◽  
Shaobo Zhang ◽  
Nicholas S. Tolwinski ◽  
Timothy E. Saunders
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Drosophila Embryo ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Local Concentration ◽  
Cell Fates ◽  
Cell Fate Decisions ◽  
Gap Gene ◽  
Early Drosophila Embryo ◽  
Time Specific

SUMMARYMorphogen gradients provide essential spatial information during development. Not only the local concentration but also duration of morphogen exposure is critical for correct cell fate decisions. Yet, how and when cells temporally integrate signals from a morphogen remains unclear. Here, we use optogenetic manipulation to switch off Bicoid-dependent transcription in the early Drosophila embryo with high temporal resolution, allowing time-specific and reversible manipulation of morphogen signalling. We find that Bicoid transcriptional activity is dispensable for embryonic viability in the first hour after fertilization, but persistently required throughout the rest of the blastoderm stage. Short interruptions of Bicoid activity alter the most anterior cell fate decisions, while prolonged inactivation expands patterning defects from anterior to posterior. Such anterior susceptibility correlates with high reliance of anterior gap gene expression on Bicoid. Therefore, cell fates exposed to higher Bicoid concentration require input for longer duration, demonstrating a previously unknown aspect of morphogen decoding.

scholarly journals Decoding temporal interpretation of the morphogen Bicoid in the early Drosophila embryo

eLife ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anqi Huang ◽  
Christopher Amourda ◽  
Shaobo Zhang ◽  
Nicholas S Tolwinski ◽  
Timothy E Saunders
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Drosophila Embryo ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Local Concentration ◽  
Cell Fates ◽  
Cell Fate Decisions ◽  
Gap Gene ◽  
Early Drosophila Embryo ◽  
Time Specific

Morphogen gradients provide essential spatial information during development. Not only the local concentration but also duration of morphogen exposure is critical for correct cell fate decisions. Yet, how and when cells temporally integrate signals from a morphogen remains unclear. Here, we use optogenetic manipulation to switch off Bicoid-dependent transcription in the early Drosophila embryo with high temporal resolution, allowing time-specific and reversible manipulation of morphogen signalling. We find that Bicoid transcriptional activity is dispensable for embryonic viability in the first hour after fertilization, but persistently required throughout the rest of the blastoderm stage. Short interruptions of Bicoid activity alter the most anterior cell fate decisions, while prolonged inactivation expands patterning defects from anterior to posterior. Such anterior susceptibility correlates with high reliance of anterior gap gene expression on Bicoid. Therefore, cell fates exposed to higher Bicoid concentration require input for longer duration, demonstrating a previously unknown aspect of Bicoid decoding.

scholarly journals Drosophila Notch receptor activity suppresses Hairless function during adult external sensory organ development.

Genetics ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 141 (4) ◽  
pp. 1491-1505
Author(s):  
D F Lyman ◽  
B Yedvobnick
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Daughter Cell ◽  
Notch Receptor ◽  
Sensory Organ ◽  
Cell Fates ◽  
Gain Of Function ◽  
Over Expression ◽  
Cell Fate Decisions ◽  
Synergistic Enhancement ◽  
Conditional Expression

Abstract The neurogenic Notch locus of Drosophila encodes a receptor necessary for cell fate decisions within equivalence groups, such as proneural clusters. Specification of alternate fates within clusters results from inhibitory communication among cells having comparable neural fate potential. Genetically, Hairless (H) acts as an antagonist of most neurogenic genes and may insulate neural precursor cells from inhibition. H function is required for commitment to the bristle sensory organ precursor (SOP) cell fate and for daughter cell fates. Using Notch gain-of-function alleles and conditional expression of an activated Notch transgene, we show that enhanced signaling produces H-like loss-of-function phenotypes by suppressing bristle SOP cell specification or by causing an H-like transformation of sensillum daughter cell fates. Furthermore, adults carrying Notch gain of function and H alleles exhibit synergistic enhancement of mutant phenotypes. Over-expression of an H+ transgene product suppressed virtually all phenotypes generated by Notch gain-of-function genotypes. Phenotypes resulting from over-expression of the H+ transgene were blocked by the Notch gain-of-function products, indicating a balance between Notch and H activity. The results suggest that H insulates SOP cells from inhibition and indicate that H activity is suppressed by Notch signaling.

scholarly journals Context-dependent roles of YAP/TAZ in stem cell fates and cancer

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy LeBlanc ◽  
Nereida Ramirez ◽  
Jonghwan Kim
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Cell Fate ◽  
Control Cell ◽  
Substantial Portion ◽  
Cell Fates ◽  
Cell Fate Decisions ◽  
Cell Death Pathways ◽  
Multiple Context ◽  
Cancer Cell Survival ◽  
Context Dependent

AbstractHippo effectors YAP and TAZ control cell fate and survival through various mechanisms, including transcriptional regulation of key genes. However, much of this research has been marked by conflicting results, as well as controversy over whether YAP and TAZ are redundant. A substantial portion of the discordance stems from their contradictory roles in stem cell self-renewal vs. differentiation and cancer cell survival vs. apoptosis. In this review, we present an overview of the multiple context-dependent functions of YAP and TAZ in regulating cell fate decisions in stem cells and organoids, as well as their mechanisms of controlling programmed cell death pathways in cancer.

An activity gradient of decapentaplegic is necessary for the specification of dorsal pattern elements in the Drosophila embryo

Development ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 807-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.A. Wharton ◽  
R.P. Ray ◽  
W.M. Gelbart
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Gene Dosage ◽  
Early Embryo ◽  
Drosophila Embryo ◽  
Cell Fates ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Intercellular Signalling ◽  
Overlapping Domains ◽  
Dorsal Pattern

decapentaplegic (dpp) is a zygotically expressed gene encoding a TGF-beta-related ligand that is necessary for dorsal-ventral patterning in the Drosophila embryo. We show here that dpp is an integral part of a gradient that specifies many different cell fates via intercellular signalling. There is a graded requirement for dpp activity in the early embryo: high levels of dpp activity specify the amnioserosa, while progressively lower levels specify dorsal and lateral ectoderm. This potential for dpp to specify cell fate is highly dosage sensitive. In the wild-type embryo, increasing the gene dosage of dpp can shift cell fates along the dorsal-ventral axis. Furthermore, in mutant embryos, in which only a subset of the dorsal-ventral pattern elements are represented, increasing the gene dosage of dpp can specifically transform those pattern elements into more dorsal ones. We present evidence that the zygotic dpp gradient and the maternal dorsal gradient specify distinct, non-overlapping domains of the dorsal-ventral pattern.

scholarly journals Nucleocytoplasmic Transport of RNA-Binding Proteins Regulates Neural Stem Cell Fates 

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa J. MacPherson ◽  
Sarah L Erickson ◽  
Drayden Kopp ◽  
Pengqiang Wen ◽  
Mohammadreza Aghanoori ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Progenitor Cells ◽  
Cell Fate ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Rna Binding Proteins ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Neural Progenitor ◽  
Nucleocytoplasmic Transport ◽  
Transcriptional Level ◽  
Cell Fates ◽  
Cell Fate Decisions

Abstract The formation of the cerebral cortex requires balanced expansion and differentiation of neural progenitor cells, the fate choice of which requires regulation at many steps of gene expression. As progenitor cells often exhibit transcriptomic stochasticity, the ultimate output of cell fate-determining genes must be carefully controlled at the post-transcriptional level, but how this is orchestrated is poorly understood. Here we report that de novo missense variants in an RNA-binding protein CELF2 cause human cortical malformations and perturb neural progenitor cell fate decisions in mice by disrupting the nucleocytoplasmic transport of CELF2. In self-renewing neural progenitors, CELF2 is localized in the cytoplasm where it binds and coordinates mRNAs that encode cell fate regulators and neurodevelopmental disorder-related factors. The translocation of CELF2 into the nucleus releases mRNAs for translation and thereby triggers neural progenitor differentiation. Our results reveal a mechanism by which transport of CELF2 between discrete subcellular compartments orchestrates an RNA regulon to instruct cell fates in cerebral cortical development.

Serrate and Notch specify cell fates in the heart field by suppressing cardiomyogenesis

Development ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 127 (17) ◽  
pp. 3865-3876
Author(s):  
M.S. Rones ◽  
K.A. McLaughlin ◽  
M. Raffin ◽  
M. Mercola
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Notch Signaling ◽  
Cell Fate ◽  
Notch Pathway ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Myocardial Cell ◽  
Dominant Negative ◽  
Cell Fates ◽  
Cell Fate Decisions ◽  
Heart Field

Notch signaling mediates numerous developmental cell fate decisions in organisms ranging from flies to humans, resulting in the generation of multiple cell types from equipotential precursors. In this paper, we present evidence that activation of Notch by its ligand Serrate apportions myogenic and non-myogenic cell fates within the early Xenopus heart field. The crescent-shaped field of heart mesoderm is specified initially as cardiomyogenic. While the ventral region of the field forms the myocardial tube, the dorsolateral portions lose myogenic potency and form the dorsal mesocardium and pericardial roof (Raffin, M., Leong, L. M., Rones, M. S., Sparrow, D., Mohun, T. and Mercola, M. (2000) Dev. Biol., 218, 326–340). The local interactions that establish or maintain the distinct myocardial and non-myocardial domains have never been described. Here we show that Xenopus Notch1 (Xotch) and Serrate1 are expressed in overlapping patterns in the early heart field. Conditional activation or inhibition of the Notch pathway with inducible dominant negative or active forms of the RBP-J/Suppressor of Hairless [Su(H)] transcription factor indicated that activation of Notch feeds back on Serrate1 gene expression to localize transcripts more dorsolaterally than those of Notch1, with overlap in the region of the developing mesocardium. Moreover, Notch pathway activation decreased myocardial gene expression and increased expression of a marker of the mesocardium and pericardial roof, whereas inhibition of Notch signaling had the opposite effect. Activation or inhibition of Notch also regulated contribution of individual cells to the myocardium. Importantly, expression of Nkx2. 5 and Gata4 remained largely unaffected, indicating that Notch signaling functions downstream of heart field specification. We conclude that Notch signaling through Su(H) suppresses cardiomyogenesis and that this activity is essential for the correct specification of myocardial and non-myocardial cell fates.

scholarly journals Signaling Dynamics Control Cell Fate in the Early Drosophila Embryo

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-370.e3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heath E. Johnson ◽  
Jared E. Toettcher
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Control Cell ◽  
Drosophila Embryo ◽  
Signaling Dynamics ◽  
Early Drosophila Embryo

scholarly journals Hypoxia-Inducible Factors 1α and 2α Regulate Trophoblast Differentiation

2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (23) ◽  
pp. 10479-10491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen D. Cowden Dahl ◽  
Benjamin H. Fryer ◽  
Fiona A. Mack ◽  
Veerle Compernolle ◽  
Emin Maltepe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Hypoxia Inducible Factors ◽  
Low Oxygen ◽  
Placental Development ◽  
Cell Fates ◽  
Trophoblast Stem Cells ◽  
Cell Fate Decisions ◽  
Hypoxic Environment ◽  
Life Threatening

ABSTRACT Placental development initially occurs in a low-oxygen (O2) or hypoxic environment. In this report we show that two hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), HIF1α and HIF2α, are essential for determining murine placental cell fates. HIF is a heterodimer composed of HIFα and HIFβ (ARNT) subunits. Placentas from Arnt − / − and Hif1α − / − Hif2α −/− embryos exhibit defective placental vascularization and aberrant cell fate adoption. HIF regulation of Mash2 promotes spongiotrophoblast differentiation, a prerequisite for trophoblast giant cell differentiation. In the absence of Arnt or Hifα, trophoblast stem cells fail to generate these cell types and become labyrinthine trophoblasts instead. Therefore, HIF mediates placental morphogenesis, angiogenesis, and cell fate decisions, demonstrating that O2 tension is a critical regulator of trophoblast lineage determination. This novel genetic approach provides new insights into the role of O2 tension in the development of life-threatening pregnancy-related diseases such as preeclampsia.

Expression pattern of Motch, a mouse homolog of Drosophila Notch, suggests an important role in early postimplantation mouse development

Development ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 115 (3) ◽  
pp. 737-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
F.F. Del Amo ◽  
D.E. Smith ◽  
P.J. Swiatek ◽  
M. Gendron-Maguire ◽  
R.J. Greenspan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Mouse Embryo ◽  
Transmembrane Protein ◽  
Neuronal Cell ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Drosophila Embryo ◽  
Mouse Development ◽  
Cell Fate Decisions ◽  
Early Mouse ◽  
Partial Cdna Clone

The Notch gene of Drosophila encodes a large transmembrane protein involved in cell-cell interactions and cell fate decisions in the Drosophila embryo. To determine if a gene homologous to Drosophila Notch plays a role in early mouse development, we screened a mouse embryo cDNA library with probes from the Xenopus Notch homolog, Xotch. A partial cDNA clone encoding the mouse Notch homolog, which we have termed Motch, was used to analyze expression of the Motch gene. Motch transcripts were detected in a wide variety of adult tissues, which included derivatives of all three germ layers. Differentiation of P19 embryonal carcinoma cells into neuronal cell types resulted in increased expression of Motch RNA. In the postimplantation mouse embryo Motch transcripts were first detected in mesoderm at 7.5 days post coitum (dpc). By 8.5 dpc, transcript levels were highest in presomitic mesoderm, mesenchyme and endothelial cells, while much lower levels were detected in neuroepithelium. In contrast, at 9.5 dpc, neuroepithelium was a major site of Motch expression. Transcripts were also abundant in cell types derived from neural crest. These data suggest that the Motch gene plays multiple roles in patterning and differentiation of the early postimplantation mouse embryo.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document