scholarly journals Misregulation of SDF1-CXCR4 Signaling Impairs Early Cardiac Neural Crest Cell Migration Leading to Conotruncal Defects

2013 ◽  
Vol 113 (5) ◽  
pp. 505-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Escot ◽  
Cédrine Blavet ◽  
Sonja Härtle ◽  
Jean-Loup Duband ◽  
Claire Fournier-Thibault

Rationale: Cardiac neural crest cells (NCs) contribute to heart morphogenesis by giving rise to a variety of cell types from mesenchyme of the outflow tract, ventricular septum, and semilunar valves to neurons of the cardiac ganglia and smooth muscles of the great arteries. Failure in cardiac NC development results in outflow and ventricular septation defects commonly observed in congenital heart diseases. Cardiac NCs derive from the vagal neural tube, which also gives rise to enteric NCs that colonize the gut; however, so far, molecular mechanisms segregating these 2 populations and driving cardiac NC migration toward the heart have remained elusive. Objective: Stromal-derived factor-1 (SDF1) is a chemokine that mediates oriented migration of multiple embryonic cells and mice deficient for Sdf1 or its receptors, Cxcr4 and Cxcr7 , exhibit ventricular septum defects, raising the possibility that SDF1 might selectively drive cardiac NC migration toward the heart via a chemotactic mechanism. Methods and Results : We show in the chick embryo that Sdf1 expression is tightly coordinated with the progression of cardiac NCs expressing Cxcr4 . Cxcr4 loss-of-function causes delayed migration and enhanced death of cardiac NCs, whereas Sdf1 misexpression results in their diversion from their normal pathway, indicating that SDF1 acts as a chemoattractant for cardiac NCs. These alterations of SDF1 signaling result in severe cardiovascular defects. Conclusions: These data identify Sdf1 and its receptor Cxcr4 as candidate genes responsible for cardiac congenital pathologies in human.

2016 ◽  
Vol 119 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos E Hatzistergos ◽  
Krystalenia Valasaki ◽  
Zhijie Jiang ◽  
Lauro M Takeuchi ◽  
Wayne Balkan ◽  
...  

Introduction: A multitude of structural, haemodynamic and electromechanical cardiovascular disorders have been observed in humans following space-travel. These abnormalities are thought to emerge from transient alterations in autonomic nervous system (ANS). However, since the ANS is cardiac neural crest (CNC)-derived, whether microgravity-induced cardiomyopathies reflect CNC dysfunction, is unknown. Hypothesis: Impairment of CNCs underlies microgravity-induced cardiomyopathies. Methods: Myocardial explants from adult cKit CreERT2/+ ;IRG mice (n=5/group), as well as cKit CreERT2/+ ;IRG- derived (iPSC Kit-Cre ; n=6/group) and Wnt1-Cre;tdTomato -derived (iPSC Wnt1-Cre ; n=18/group) induced pluripotent stem cells, were cultured under static (SC) or simulated microgravity conditions (rotary cell-culture system; RCCS). Results: CNC lineage-tracing in cardiac explants illustrated that, compared to SC, RCCS abolished the pool of cKit + CNCs in adult hearts, indicated by quantitation of cKit CreERT2 - mediated EGFP expression ( p <0.05). Cardiogenesis modeling experiments with iPSC Kit-Cre yielded fewer beating EBs ( p =0.0005), and ~10-fold reduction in EGFP + cardiomyocytes ( p =0.01), in RCCS vs . SC. Microarray analyses suggested that RCCS-mediated alterations in BMP and Wnt/β-catenin pathways, downregulated ANS and CNC-related gene programs, and enhanced vasculogenic differentiation without affecting the expression of cardiac mesoderm-related genes. Differences were verified by quantitative PCR. Modeling CNC development in iPSC Wnt1-Cre further confirmed an RCCS-mediated dramatic impairment in development and function of CNCs, indicated by quantitation of tdTomato expression in day-10 and day-21 beating embryoid bodies ( p <0.0001). Intriguingly, the effect of RCCS in CNCs could be only partially rescued upon transfer to SC. Conclusions: Together these data indicate that microgravity negatively regulates the development and function of CNCs, thus partly explaining the cellular and molecular mechanisms of microgravity-induced cardiomyopathies. Moreover, these findings are expected to have important implications in space exploration, since they suggest an essential role for gravity in vertebrate development.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalia Martinez-Marin ◽  
Courtney Jarvis ◽  
Thomas Nelius ◽  
Stéphanie Filleur

Abstract Macrophages have been recognized as the main inflammatory component of the tumor microenvironment. Although often considered as beneficial for tumor growth and disease progression, tumor-associated macrophages have also been shown to be detrimental to the tumor depending on the tumor microenvironment. Therefore, understanding the molecular interactions between macrophages and tumor cells in relation to macrophages functional activities such as phagocytosis is critical for a better comprehension of their tumor-modulating action. Still, the characterization of these molecular mechanisms in vivo remains complicated due to the extraordinary complexity of the tumor microenvironment and the broad range of tumor-associated macrophage functions. Thus, there is an increasing demand for in vitro methodologies to study the role of cell–cell interactions in the tumor microenvironment. In the present study, we have developed live co-cultures of macrophages and human prostate tumor cells to assess the phagocytic activity of macrophages using a combination of Confocal and Nomarski Microscopy. Using this model, we have emphasized that this is a sensitive, measurable, and highly reproducible functional assay. We have also highlighted that this assay can be applied to multiple cancer cell types and used as a selection tool for a variety of different types of phagocytosis agonists. Finally, combining with other studies such as gain/loss of function or signaling studies remains possible. A better understanding of the interactions between tumor cells and macrophages may lead to the identification of new therapeutic targets against cancer.


2018 ◽  
Vol 247 (12) ◽  
pp. 1286-1296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly E. Inman ◽  
Carlo Donato Caiaffa ◽  
Kristin R. Melton ◽  
Lisa L. Sandell ◽  
Annita Achilleos ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Shun Yan ◽  
Jin Lu ◽  
Kai Jiao

The cardiac neural crest cells (cNCCs) is a transient, migratory cell population that contribute to the formation of major arteries and the septa and valves of the heart. Abnormal development of cNCCs leads to a spectrum of congenital heart defects that mainly affect the outflow region of the hearts. Signaling molecules and transcription factors are the best studied regulatory events controlling cNCC development. In recent years, however, accumulated evidence supports that epigenetic regulation also plays an important role in cNCC development. Here, we summarize the functions of epigenetic regulators during cNCC development as well as cNCC related cardiovascular defects. These factors include ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling factors, histone modifiers and DNA methylation modulators. In many cases, mutations in the genes encoding these factors are known to cause inborn heart diseases. A better understanding of epigenetic regulators, their activities and their roles during heart development will ultimately contribute to the development of new clinical applications for patients with congenital heart disease.


Development ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 109 (4) ◽  
pp. 925-934 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.C. Smith-Thomas ◽  
A.R. Johnson ◽  
J.W. Fawcett

Amongst the many cell types that differentiate from migratory neural crest cells are the Schwann cells of the peripheral nervous system. While it has been demonstrated that Schwann cells will not fully differentiate unless in contact with neurons, the factors that cause neural crest cells to enter the differentiative pathway that leads to Schwann cells are unknown. In a previous paper (Development 105: 251, 1989), we have demonstrated that a proportion of morphologically undifferentiated neural crest cells express the Schwann cell markers 217c and NGF receptor, and later, as they acquire the bipolar morphology typical of Schwann cells in culture, express S-100 and laminin. In the present study, we have grown axons from embryonic retina on neural crest cultures to see whether this has an effect on the differentiation of neural crest cells into Schwann cells. After 4 to 6 days of co-culture, many more cells had acquired bipolar morphology and S-100 staining than in controls with no retinal explant, and most of these cells were within 200 microns of an axon, though not necessarily in contact with axons. However, the number of cells expressing the earliest Schwann cell markers 217c and NGF receptor was not affected by the presence of axons. We conclude that axons produce a factor, which is probably diffusible, and which makes immature Schwann cells differentiate. The factor does not, however, influence the entry of neural crest cells into the earliest stages of the Schwann cell differentiative pathway.


Cell Reports ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 603-616.e5
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki N. Arai ◽  
Fuminori Sato ◽  
Takuya Yamamoto ◽  
Knut Woltjen ◽  
Hiroshi Kiyonari ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 311 (5) ◽  
pp. H1150-H1159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pei Ma ◽  
Shi Gu ◽  
Ganga H. Karunamuni ◽  
Michael W. Jenkins ◽  
Michiko Watanabe ◽  
...  

Cardiac neural crest cell (CNCC) ablation creates congenital heart defects (CHDs) that resemble those observed in many syndromes with craniofacial and cardiac consequences. The loss of CNCCs causes a variety of great vessel defects, including persistent truncus arteriosus and double-outlet right ventricle. However, because of the lack of quantitative volumetric measurements, less severe defects, such as great vessel size changes and valve defects, have not been assessed. Also poorly understood is the role of abnormal cardiac function in the progression of CNCC-related CHDs. CNCC ablation was previously reported to cause abnormal cardiac function in early cardiogenesis, before the CNCCs arrive in the outflow region of the heart. However, the affected functional parameters and how they correlate with the structural abnormalities were not fully characterized. In this study, using a CNCC-ablated quail model, we contribute quantitative phenotyping of CNCC ablation-related CHDs and investigate abnormal early cardiac function, which potentially contributes to late-stage CHDs. Optical coherence tomography was used to assay early- and late-stage embryos and hearts. In CNCC-ablated embryos at four-chambered heart stages, great vessel diameter and left atrioventricular valve leaflet volumes are reduced. Earlier, at cardiac looping stages, CNCC-ablated embryos exhibit abnormally twisted bodies, abnormal blood flow waveforms, increased retrograde flow percentage, and abnormal cardiac cushions. The phenotypes observed in this CNCC-ablation model were also strikingly similar to those found in an established avian fetal alcohol syndrome model, supporting the contribution of CNCC dysfunction to the development of alcohol-induced CHDs.


2013 ◽  
Vol 203 (5) ◽  
pp. 835-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Crystal D. Rogers ◽  
Ankur Saxena ◽  
Marianne E. Bronner

The neural crest, an embryonic stem cell population, initially resides within the dorsal neural tube but subsequently undergoes an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) to commence migration. Although neural crest and cancer EMTs are morphologically similar, little is known regarding conservation of their underlying molecular mechanisms. We report that Sip1, which is involved in cancer EMT, plays a critical role in promoting the neural crest cell transition to a mesenchymal state. Sip1 transcripts are expressed in premigratory/migrating crest cells. After Sip1 loss, the neural crest specifier gene FoxD3 was abnormally retained in the dorsal neuroepithelium, whereas Sox10, which is normally required for emigration, was diminished. Subsequently, clumps of adherent neural crest cells remained adjacent to the neural tube and aberrantly expressed E-cadherin while lacking N-cadherin. These findings demonstrate two distinct phases of neural crest EMT, detachment and mesenchymalization, with the latter involving a novel requirement for Sip1 in regulation of cadherin expression during completion of neural crest EMT.


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