An in vitro model of acute horizontal basal cell activation reveals dynamic gene regulatory networks underlying the acute activation phase

Horizontal basal cells (HBCs) activate only in response to severe olfactory epithelium (OE) injury. This activation is mediated by the loss of the transcription factor TP63. Using the compound phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), we find that we can model the process of acute HBC activation. First, we find that PMA treatment induces a rapid loss in TP63 protein and induces the expression of HOPX and the nuclear translocation of RELA, previously identified to mediate HBC activation. Using bulk RNA sequencing, we find that PMA-treated HBCs pass through various stages of acute activation identifiable by transcriptional regulatory signatures that mimic stages identified in vivo . These temporal stages are associated with varying degrees of engraftment and differentiation potential in transplantation assays. Together, this data shows that our model can model physiologically relevant features of HBC activation and identifies new candidates for mechanistic testing.

Horizontal basal cells self-govern their neurogenic potential during injury-induced regeneration of the olfactory epithelium

Horizontal basal cells (HBCs) residing within severely damaged olfactory epithelium (OE) mediate OE regeneration by differentiating into odorant detecting olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) and other tissue supporting non-neuronal cell types. Within various regenerative tissues, the Notch signaling pathway can either positively or negatively regulate resident stem cell activity and potentially vary with tissue integrity. Although Notch1 specifies HBC dormancy in the uninjured OE, little is known about how HBCs are influenced by the Notch pathway following OE injury. Here, we show that HBCs depend on a functional inversion of the Notch pathway to appropriately mediate OE regeneration. At 24 hours post-injury, HBCs enhance Notch1-mediated signaling. Moreover, at 3 days post-injury when the regenerating OE is composed of multiple cell layers, HBCs enrich both Notch1 and the Notch ligand, Dll1. Notably, HBC-specific Notch1 knockout increases HBC quiescence and impairs HBC differentiation into neuronal progenitors and OSNs. Interestingly, complete HBC knockout of Dll1 only decreases differentiation of HBC-derived OSNs. These data underscore the context-dependent nature of Notch signaling. Furthermore, they reveal that HBCs regulate their own neurogenic potential after OE injury.

Molecular Evidence for Olfactory Neuroblastoma as a Tumor of Malignant Globose Basal Cells

Olfactory neuroblastoma (ONB, esthesioneuroblastoma) is a sinonasal cancer with an underdeveloped diagnostic toolkit, and is the subject of many incidents of tumor misclassification throughout the literature. Despite its name, connections between the cancer and normal cells of the olfactory epithelium have not been systematically explored and markers of olfactory epithelial cell types are not deployed in clinical practice. Here, we utilize an integrated human-mouse single-cell atlas of the nasal mucosa, including the olfactory epithelium, to identify transcriptomic programs that link ONB to a specific population of stem/progenitor cells known as olfactory epithelial globose basal cells (GBCs). Expression of a GBC transcription factor NEUROD1 distinguishes both low- and high-grade ONB from sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma, a potential histologic mimic with a distinctly unfavorable prognosis. Furthermore, we identify a reproducible subpopulation of highly proliferative ONB cells expressing the GBC stemness marker EZH2, suggesting that EZH2 inhibition may play a role in the targeted treatment of ONB. Finally, we study the cellular states comprising ONB parenchyma using single-cell transcriptomics and identify evidence of a conserved GBC transcriptional regulatory circuit that governs divergent neuronal-versus-sustentacular differentiation. These results link ONB to a specific cell type for the first time and identify conserved developmental pathways within ONB that inform diagnostic, prognostic, and mechanistic investigation.

Rapid fluorescent vital imaging of olfactory epithelium

Olfactory epithelium (OE) undergoes degeneration in disorders such as age-related and post-viral olfactory dysfunction. However, methods for real-time in vivo detection of OE and assessment of total extent within the nasal cavity are currently unavailable. We identified two fluorescence probes for rapidly detecting and evaluating the entire extent of mice OE with topical application. Taking advantage of the differential expression of the enzymes cytochrome p450 (CYP) and γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) in OE relative to respiratory epithelium, we utilized the conversion of coumarin (a substrate of various CYP subtypes) and gGlu-HRMG (a substrate of GGT) by these enzymes to form metabolites with fluorescent emissions in the duct cells and sustentacular cells of neuron-containing OE. In depleted and regenerated OE model, the emission of these probes remained absent in respiratory metaplasia but appeared in regenerated OE. These substrates could be used to monitor OE degeneration and follow regenerative response to therapeutic interventions.

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Enzymes Cyp2a5 and Ggt7 are expressed in olfactory epithelial cells

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Substrates for Cyp2a5 and Ggt7 can label olfactory epithelium (OE) in situ

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Lesion recovered, not damaged OE, is labeled with Cyp2a5 and Ggt7 substrates

Opposing functions for retromer and Rab11 in extracellular vesicle traffic at presynaptic terminals

Neuronal extracellular vesicles (EVs) play important roles in intercellular communication and pathogenic protein propagation in neurological disease. However, it remains unclear how cargoes are selectively packaged into neuronal EVs. Here, we show that loss of the endosomal retromer complex leads to accumulation of EV cargoes including amyloid precursor protein (APP), synaptotagmin-4 (Syt4), and neuroglian (Nrg) at Drosophila motor neuron presynaptic terminals, resulting in increased release of these cargoes in EVs. By systematically exploring known retromer-dependent trafficking mechanisms, we show that EV regulation is separable from several previously identified roles of neuronal retromer. Conversely, mutations in rab11 and rab4, regulators of endosome-plasma membrane recycling, cause reduced EV cargo levels, and rab11 suppresses cargo accumulation in retromer mutants. Thus, EV traffic reflects a balance between Rab4/Rab11 recycling and retromer-dependent removal from EV precursor compartments. Our data shed light on previous studies implicating Rab11 and retromer in competing pathways in Alzheimer's disease, and suggest that misregulated EV traffic may be an underlying defect.

Injury Induces Endogenous Reprogramming and Dedifferentiation of Neuronal Progenitors to Multipotency

Adult neurogenesis in the olfactory epithelium is often depicted as a unidirectional pathway during homeostasis and repair. We challenge the unidirectionality of this model by showing that epithelial injury unlocks the potential for Ascl1+ progenitors and Neurog1+ specified neuronal precursors to dedifferentiate into multipotent stem/progenitor cells that contribute significantly to tissue regeneration in the murine olfactory epithelium (OE). We characterize these dedifferentiating cells using several lineage-tracing strains and single-cell mRNA-seq, and we show that Sox2 is required for initiating dedifferentiation and that inhibition of Ezh2 promotes multipotent progenitor expansion. These results suggest that the apparent hierarchy of neuronal differentiation is not irreversible and that lineage commitment can be overridden following severe tissue injury. We elucidate a previously unappreciated pathway for endogenous tissue repair by a highly regenerative neuroepithelium and introduce a system to study the mechanisms underlying plasticity in the OE that can be adapted for other tissues.