Tissue-specific regulation of the number of cell division rounds by inductive cell interaction and transcription factors during ascidian embryogenesis

Zic-r.b controls cell numbers in Ciona embryos by activating CDKN1B

The control of cell numbers and the establishment of cell types are two processes that are essential in early embryonic development. We have a reasonable understanding of how these processes occur individually, but we have considerably less sophisticated understanding of how these processes are linked. Tunicates have fixed cell lineages with predictable cell cycles, making them well suited to investigate these processes. In the ascidian Ciona, we show that the transcription factor Zic-r.b, known to be involved in establishing several cell types in early development also activates the expression of the cell cycle inhibitor CDKN1B. Zic-r.b is a major missing component of the cell division clock establishing specific cell numbers. We also show that a larvacean homolog of Zic-r.b is expressed one cell cycle earlier than its Ciona counterpart. The early expression in larvaceans may explain why they have half as many notochord cells as ascidians and may illustrate a general mechanism to evolve changes in morphology.

Regulators specifying cell fate activate cell cycle regulator genes to determine cell numbers in ascidian larval tissues

In animal development, most cell types stop dividing before terminal differentiation; thus, cell cycle control is tightly linked to cell differentiation programmes. In ascidian embryos, cell lineages do not vary among individuals, and rounds of the cell cycle are determined according to cell lineages. Notochord and muscle cells stop dividing after eight or nine rounds of cell division depending on their lineages. In the present study, we showed that a Cdk inhibitor, Cdkn1.b, is responsible for stopping cell cycle progression in these lineages. Cdkn1.b is also necessary for epidermal cells to stop dividing. In contrast, mesenchymal and endodermal cells continue to divide even after hatching, and Myc is responsible for maintaining cell cycle progression in these tissues. Expression of Cdkn1.b in notochord and muscle is controlled by transcription factors that specify the developmental fate of notochord and muscle. Likewise, expression of Myc in mesenchyme and endoderm is under control of transcription factors that specify the developmental fate of mesenchyme and endoderm. Thus, cell fate specification and cell cycle control are linked by these transcription factors.

Developmental toxicity of the novel PFOS alternative OBS in developing zebrafish: An emphasis on cilia disruption

In recent years, sodium p-perfluorous nonenoxybenzene sulfonate (OBS) has emerged as a substitute for PFOS with large demand and application in the Chinese market. However, little is known about potential developmental effects of OBS. In this study, zebrafish embryos were acutely exposed to different concentrations of OBS and the positive control PFOS for a comparative developmental toxicity assessment. OBS caused hatching delays, body axis curvature, neurobehavioral inhibition and abnormal cardiovascular development. These organismal effects were accompanied by change of development related genes expression profile, in which some cases were similar to PFOS. Overall, the toxic effects induced by OBS were generally milder than that of PFOS. Further investigation suggested that both OBS and PFOS disrupted ciliogenesis, evidenced by the ciliary immunostaining, changes in gene expression of kinesin family, dynein arm family and tubulin family members, as well as downregulation of the abundance of motor proteins including KIF3C, DYNC1H1 and DYNC1LI1. The influence of PFOS was stronger than that of OBS on ciliary genes and proteins. Molecular docking analysis revealed that both OBS and PFOS fitted into the motor proteins tightly, but binding affinity between OBS and motor proteins was lower than PFOS. Collectively, OBS and PFOS may act on ciliary motor proteins to interfere with ciliogenesis, leading to ciliary dysfunction and providing a novel probable action mode linked to developmental toxicity. This raises concerns regarding the health risks of the novel PFOS alternative OBS.

Redundant mechanisms are involved in suppression of default cell fates during embryonic mesenchyme and notochord induction in ascidians

During embryonic induction, the responding cells invoke an induced developmental program, whereas in the absence of an inducing signal, they assume a default uninduced cell fate. Suppression of the default fate during the inductive event is crucial for choice of the binary cell fate. In contrast to the mechanisms that promote an induced cell fate, those that suppress the default fate have been overlooked. Upon induction, intracellular signal transduction results in activation of genes encoding key transcription factors for induced tissue differentiation. It is elusive whether an induced key transcription factor has dual functions involving suppression of the default fates and promotion of the induced fate, or whether suppression of the default fate is independently regulated by other factors that are also downstream of the signaling cascade. We show that during ascidian embryonic induction, default fates were suppressed by multifold redundant mechanisms. The key transcription factor, Twist-related.a, which is required for mesenchyme differentiation, and another independent transcription factor, Lhx3, which is dispensable for mesenchyme differentiation, sequentially and redundantly suppress the default muscle fate in induced mesenchyme cells. Similarly in notochord induction, Brachyury, which is required for notochord differentiation, and other factors, Lhx3 and Mnx, are likely to suppress the default nerve cord fate redundantly. Lhx3 commonly suppresses the default fates in two kinds of induction. Mis-activation of the autonomously executed default program in induced cells is detrimental to choice of the binary cell fate. Multifold redundant mechanisms would be required for suppression of the default fate to be secure.

Brachyury regulates proliferation of cancer cells via a p27Kip1-dependent pathway

The T-box transcription factor Brachyury is expressed in a number of tumour types and has been demonstrated to have cancer inducing properties. To date, it has been linked to cancer associated induction of epithelial to mesenchymal transition, tumour metastasis and expression of markers for cancer stem-like cells. Taken together, these findings indicate that Brachyury plays an important role in the progression of cancer, although the mechanism through which it functions is poorly understood. Here we show that Brachyury regulates the potential of Brachyury-positive colorectal cancer cells to proliferate and reduced levels of Brachyury result in inhibition of proliferation, with features consistent with the cells entering a quiescent-like state. This inhibition of proliferation is dependent upon p27^Kip1 demonstrating that Brachyury acts to modulate cellular proliferative fate in colorectal cancer cells in a p27^Kip1-dependent manner. Analysis of patient derived colorectal tumours reveals a heterogeneous localisation of Brachyury (in the nucleolus, nucleus and cytoplasm) indicating the potential complexity of the regulatory role of Brachyury in solid colorectal tumours.

Regulation of the number of cell division rounds by tissue-specific transcription factors and Cdk inhibitor during ascidian embryogenesis

Mechanisms that regulate the number of cell division rounds during embryogenesis have remained largely elusive. To investigate this issue, we used the ascidian, which develops into a tadpole larva with a small number of cells. The embryonic cells divide 11.45 times on average from fertilization to hatching. The number of cell division rounds varies depending on embryonic lineages. Notochord and muscle consist of large postmitotic cells and stop dividing early in developing embryos. Here we show that conversion of mesenchyme to muscle cell fates by inhibition of inductive FGF signaling or mis-expression of a muscle-specific key transcription factor for muscle differentiation, Tbx6, changed the number of cell divisions in accordance with the altered fate. Tbx6 likely activates a putative mechanism to halt cell division at a specific stage. However, precocious expression of Tbx6 has no effect on progression of the developmental clock itself. Zygotic expression of a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, CKI-b, is initiated in muscle and then in notochord precursors. CKI-b is possibly downstream of tissue-specific key transcription factors of notochord and muscle. In the two distinct muscle lineages, postmitotic muscle cells are generated after 9 and 8 rounds of cell division depending on lineage, but the final cell divisions occur at a similar developmental stage. CKI-b gene expression starts simultaneously in both muscle lineages at the 110-cell stage, suggesting that CKI-b protein accumulation halts cell division at a similar stage. The difference in the number of cell divisions would be due to the cumulative difference in cell cycle length. These results suggest that muscle cells do not count the number of cell division rounds, and that accumulation of CKI-b protein triggered by tissue-specific key transcription factors after cell fate determination might act as a kind of timer that measures elapsed time before cell division termination.

Beta-catenin patterns the cell cycle during maternal-to-zygotic transition in urochordate embryos

During the transition from maternal to zygotic control of development, cell cycle length varies in different lineages, and this is important for their fates and functions. The maternal to zygotic transition (MZT) in metazoan embryos involves a profound remodeling of the cell cycle: S phase length increases then G2 is introduced. Although β-catenin is the master regulator of endomesoderm patterning at MZT in all metazoans, the influence of maternal β-catenin on the cell cycle at MZT remains poorly understood. By studying urochordate embryogenesis we found that cell cycle remodeling during MZT begins with the formation of 3 mitotic domains at the 16-cell stage arising from differential S phase lengthening, when endomesoderm is specified. Then, at the 64-cell stage, a G2 phase is introduced in the endoderm lineage during its specification. Strikingly, these two phases of cell cycle remodeling are patterned by β-catenin-dependent transcription. Functional analysis revealed that, at the 16-cell stage, β-catenin speeds up S phase in the endomesoderm. In contrast, two cell cycles later at gastrulation, nuclear β-catenin induces endoderm fate and delays cell division. Such interphase lengthening in invaginating cells is known to be a requisite for gastrulation movements. Therefore, in basal chordates β-catenin has a dual role to specify germ layers and remodel the cell cycle.

Ascidians as excellent models for studying cellular events in the chordate body plan

The larvae of non-vertebrate chordate ascidians consist of countable numbers of cells. With this feature, ascidians provide us with excellent models for studying cellular events in the construction of the chordate body. This review discusses the recent observations of morphogenetic movements and cell cycles and divisions along with tissue specifications during ascidian embryogenesis. Unequal cleavages take place at the posterior blastomeres during the early cleavage stages of ascidians, and the structure named the centrosome-attracting body restricts the position of the nuclei near the posterior pole to achieve the unequal cleavages. The most-posterior cells differentiate into the primordial germ cells. The gastrulation of ascidians starts as early as the 110-cell stage. During gastrulation, the endodermal cells show two-step changes in cell shape that are crucial for gastrulation. The ascidian notochord is composed of only 40 cells. The 40 cells align to form a single row by an event named the convergent extension, and then the notochord cells undergo vacuolation to transform the notochord into a single hollowed tube. The strictly restricted number of notochord cells is achieved by the regulated number of cell divisions coupled with the differentiation of the cells conducted by a key transcription factor, Brachyury. The dorsally located neural tube is a characteristic of chordates. During the closure of the ascidian neural tube, the epidermis surrounding the neural plate moves toward the midline to close the neural fold. This morphogenetic movement is allowed by an elongation of interphase in the epidermal cell cycles.

An integrated functional genomics approach identifies the regulatory network directed by brachyury (T) in chordoma

Chordoma is a rare malignant tumour of bone, the molecular marker of which is the expression of the transcription factor, brachyury. Having recently demonstrated that silencing brachyury induces growth arrest in a chordoma cell line, we now seek to identify its downstream target genes. Here we use an integrated functional genomics approach involving shRNA-mediated brachyury knockdown, gene expression microarray, ChIP-seq experiments, and bioinformatics analysis to achieve this goal. We confirm that the T-box binding motif of human brachyury is identical to that found in mouse, Xenopus, and zebrafish development, and that brachyury acts primarily as an activator of transcription. Using human chordoma samples for validation purposes, we show that brachyury binds 99 direct targets and indirectly influences the expression of 64 other genes, thereby acting as a master regulator of an elaborate oncogenic transcriptional network encompassing diverse signalling pathways including components of the cell cycle, and extracellular matrix components. Given the wide repertoire of its active binding and the relative specific localization of brachyury to the tumour cells, we propose that an RNA interference-based gene therapy approach is a plausible therapeutic avenue worthy of investigation.