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Kokkorakis N, Douka K, Nalmpanti A, Politis PK, Zagoraiou L, Matsas R, Gaitanou M. Mirk/Dyrk1B controls ventral spinal cord development via Shh pathway. Cell Mol Life Sci 2024; 81:70. [PMID: 38294527 PMCID: PMC10830675 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-023-05097-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2023] [Revised: 12/14/2023] [Accepted: 12/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Cross-talk between Mirk/Dyrk1B kinase and Sonic hedgehog (Shh)/Gli pathway affects physiology and pathology. Here, we reveal a novel role for Dyrk1B in regulating ventral progenitor and neuron subtypes in the embryonic chick spinal cord (SC) via the Shh pathway. Using in ovo gain-and-loss-of-function approaches at E2, we report that Dyrk1B affects the proliferation and differentiation of neuronal progenitors at E4 and impacts on apoptosis specifically in the motor neuron (MN) domain. Especially, Dyrk1B overexpression decreases the numbers of ventral progenitors, MNs, and V2a interneurons, while the pharmacological inhibition of endogenous Dyrk1B kinase activity by AZ191 administration increases the numbers of ventral progenitors and MNs. Mechanistically, Dyrk1B overexpression suppresses Shh, Gli2 and Gli3 mRNA levels, while conversely, Shh, Gli2 and Gli3 transcription is increased in the presence of Dyrk1B inhibitor AZ191 or Smoothened agonist SAG. Most importantly, in phenotype rescue experiments, SAG restores the Dyrk1B-mediated dysregulation of ventral progenitors. Further at E6, Dyrk1B affects selectively the medial lateral motor neuron column (LMCm), consistent with the expression of Shh in this region. Collectively, these observations reveal a novel regulatory function of Dyrk1B kinase in suppressing the Shh/Gli pathway and thus affecting ventral subtypes in the developing spinal cord. These data render Dyrk1B a possible therapeutic target for motor neuron diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Kokkorakis
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology-Stem Cells, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, Greece
- Division of Animal and Human Physiology, Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - K Douka
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology-Stem Cells, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, Greece
| | - A Nalmpanti
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology-Stem Cells, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, Greece
- Athens International Master's Programme in Neurosciences, Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - P K Politis
- Center of Basic Research, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
- School of Medicine, European University Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - L Zagoraiou
- School of Medicine, European University Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - R Matsas
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology-Stem Cells, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, Greece
| | - M Gaitanou
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology-Stem Cells, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, Greece.
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Crespo I, Pignatelli J, Kinare V, Méndez-Gómez HR, Esgleas M, Román MJ, Canals JM, Tole S, Vicario C. Tbr1 Misexpression Alters Neuronal Development in the Cerebral Cortex. Mol Neurobiol 2022; 59:5750-5765. [PMID: 35781633 PMCID: PMC9395452 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-022-02936-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Changes in the transcription factor (TF) expression are critical for brain development, and they may also underlie neurodevelopmental disorders. Indeed, T-box brain1 (Tbr1) is a TF crucial for the formation of neocortical layer VI, and mutations and microdeletions in that gene are associated with malformations in the human cerebral cortex, alterations that accompany autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Interestingly, Tbr1 upregulation has also been related to the occurrence of ASD-like symptoms, although limited studies have addressed the effect of increased Tbr1 levels during neocortical development. Here, we analysed the impact of Tbr1 misexpression in mouse neural progenitor cells (NPCs) at embryonic day 14.5 (E14.5), when they mainly generate neuronal layers II–IV. By E18.5, cells accumulated in the intermediate zone and in the deep cortical layers, whereas they became less abundant in the upper cortical layers. In accordance with this, the proportion of Sox5+ cells in layers V–VI increased, while that of Cux1+ cells in layers II–IV decreased. On postnatal day 7, fewer defects in migration were evident, although a higher proportion of Sox5+ cells were seen in the upper and deep layers. The abnormal neuronal migration could be partially due to the altered multipolar-bipolar neuron morphologies induced by Tbr1 misexpression, which also reduced dendrite growth and branching, and disrupted the corpus callosum. Our results indicate that Tbr1 misexpression in cortical NPCs delays or disrupts neuronal migration, neuronal specification, dendrite development and the formation of the callosal tract. Hence, genetic changes that provoke ectopic Tbr1 upregulation during development could provoke cortical brain malformations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inmaculada Crespo
- Instituto Cajal-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Avenida Doctor Arce 37, 28002, Madrid, Spain.,CIBERNED-Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.,CES Cardenal Cisneros, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jaime Pignatelli
- Instituto Cajal-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Avenida Doctor Arce 37, 28002, Madrid, Spain.,CIBERNED-Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain
| | - Veena Kinare
- Department of Life Sciences, Sophia College for Women, Mumbai, 400026, India
| | - Héctor R Méndez-Gómez
- Instituto Cajal-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Avenida Doctor Arce 37, 28002, Madrid, Spain.,CIBERNED-Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain
| | - Miriam Esgleas
- CIBERNED-Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.,Laboratory of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Creatio, Production and Validation Center of Advanced Therapies, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,August Pi I Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain
| | - María José Román
- Instituto Cajal-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Avenida Doctor Arce 37, 28002, Madrid, Spain.,CIBERNED-Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain
| | - Josep M Canals
- CIBERNED-Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.,Laboratory of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Creatio, Production and Validation Center of Advanced Therapies, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,August Pi I Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Shubha Tole
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, 400005, India
| | - Carlos Vicario
- Instituto Cajal-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Avenida Doctor Arce 37, 28002, Madrid, Spain. .,CIBERNED-Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.
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Smits LM, Magni S, Kinugawa K, Grzyb K, Luginbühl J, Sabate-Soler S, Bolognin S, Shin JW, Mori E, Skupin A, Schwamborn JC. Single-cell transcriptomics reveals multiple neuronal cell types in human midbrain-specific organoids. Cell Tissue Res 2020; 382:463-76. [PMID: 32737576 DOI: 10.1007/s00441-020-03249-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Human stem cell-derived organoids have great potential for modelling physiological and pathological processes. They recapitulate in vitro the organization and function of a respective organ or part of an organ. Human midbrain organoids (hMOs) have been described to contain midbrain-specific dopaminergic neurons that release the neurotransmitter dopamine. However, the human midbrain contains also additional neuronal cell types, which are functionally interacting with each other. Here, we analysed hMOs at high-resolution by means of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), imaging and electrophysiology to unravel cell heterogeneity. Our findings demonstrate that hMOs show essential neuronal functional properties as spontaneous electrophysiological activity of different neuronal subtypes, including dopaminergic, GABAergic, glutamatergic and serotonergic neurons. Recapitulating these in vivo features makes hMOs an excellent tool for in vitro disease phenotyping and drug discovery.
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Hörmann N, Schilling T, Ali AH, Serbe E, Mayer C, Borst A, Pujol-Martí J. A combinatorial code of transcription factors specifies subtypes of visual motion-sensing neurons in Drosophila. Development 2020; 147:223179. [PMID: 32238425 PMCID: PMC7240302 DOI: 10.1242/dev.186296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2019] [Accepted: 03/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Direction-selective T4/T5 neurons exist in four subtypes, each tuned to visual motion along one of the four cardinal directions. Along with their directional tuning, neurons of each T4/T5 subtype orient their dendrites and project their axons in a subtype-specific manner. Directional tuning, thus, appears strictly linked to morphology in T4/T5 neurons. How the four T4/T5 subtypes acquire their distinct morphologies during development remains largely unknown. Here, we investigated when and how the dendrites of the four T4/T5 subtypes acquire their specific orientations, and profiled the transcriptomes of all T4/T5 neurons during this process. This revealed a simple and stable combinatorial code of transcription factors defining the four T4/T5 subtypes during their development. Changing the combination of transcription factors of specific T4/T5 subtypes resulted in predictable and complete conversions of subtype-specific properties, i.e. dendrite orientation and matching axon projection pattern. Therefore, a combinatorial code of transcription factors coordinates the development of dendrite and axon morphologies to generate anatomical specializations that differentiate subtypes of T4/T5 motion-sensing neurons. Summary: Morphological and transcriptomic analyses allowed the identification of a combinatorial code of transcription factors that controls the development of subtype-specific morphologies in motion-detecting neurons of the Drosophila visual system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikolai Hörmann
- Department of Circuits - Computation - Models, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Tabea Schilling
- Department of Circuits - Computation - Models, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Aicha Haji Ali
- Department of Circuits - Computation - Models, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Etienne Serbe
- Department of Circuits - Computation - Models, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Christian Mayer
- Laboratory of Neurogenomics, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Alexander Borst
- Department of Circuits - Computation - Models, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Jesús Pujol-Martí
- Department of Circuits - Computation - Models, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
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El Wazan L, Urrutia-Cabrera D, Wong RCB. Using transcription factors for direct reprogramming of neurons in vitro. World J Stem Cells 2019; 11:431-444. [PMID: 31396370 PMCID: PMC6682505 DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.v11.i7.431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2019] [Revised: 06/07/2019] [Accepted: 06/27/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Cell therapy offers great promises in replacing the neurons lost due to neurodegenerative diseases or injuries. However, a key challenge is the cellular source for transplantation which is often limited by donor availability. Direct reprogramming provides an exciting avenue to generate specialized neuron subtypes in vitro, which have the potential to be used for autologous transplantation, as well as generation of patient-specific disease models in the lab for drug discovery and testing gene therapy. Here we present a detailed review on transcription factors that promote direct reprogramming of specific neuronal subtypes with particular focus on glutamatergic, GABAergic, dopaminergic, sensory and retinal neurons. We will discuss the developmental role of master transcriptional regulators and specification factors for neuronal subtypes, and summarize their use in promoting direct reprogramming into different neuronal subtypes. Furthermore, we will discuss up-and-coming technologies that advance the cell reprogramming field, including the use of computational prediction of reprogramming factors, opportunity of cellular reprogramming using small chemicals and microRNA, as well as the exciting potential for applying direct reprogramming in vivo as a novel approach to promote neuro-regeneration within the body. Finally, we will highlight the clinical potential of direct reprogramming and discuss the hurdles that need to be overcome for clinical translation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Layal El Wazan
- Cellular Reprogramming Unit, Centre for Eye Research Australia, Melbourne 3004, Australia
| | - Daniel Urrutia-Cabrera
- Cellular Reprogramming Unit, Centre for Eye Research Australia, Melbourne 3004, Australia
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