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Fatima A, Wang Y, Uchida Y, Norden P, Liu T, Culver A, Dietz WH, Culver F, Millay M, Mukouyama YS, Kume T. Foxc1 and Foxc2 deletion causes abnormal lymphangiogenesis and correlates with ERK hyperactivation. J Clin Invest 2016; 126:2437-51. [PMID: 27214551 PMCID: PMC4922698 DOI: 10.1172/jci80465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2014] [Accepted: 04/05/2016] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The lymphatic vasculature is essential for maintaining interstitial fluid homeostasis, and dysfunctional lymphangiogenesis contributes to various pathological processes, including inflammatory disease and tumor metastasis. Mutations in FOXC2 are dominantly associated with late-onset lymphedema; however, the precise role of FOXC2 and a closely related factor, FOXC1, in the lymphatic system remains largely unknown. Here we identified a molecular cascade by which FOXC1 and FOXC2 regulate ERK signaling in lymphatic vessel growth. In mice, lymphatic endothelial cell-specific (LEC-specific) deletion of Foxc1, Foxc2, or both resulted in increased LEC proliferation, enlarged lymphatic vessels, and abnormal lymphatic vessel morphogenesis. Compared with LECs from control animals, LECs from mice lacking both Foxc1 and Foxc2 exhibited aberrant expression of Ras regulators, and embryos with LEC-specific deletion of Foxc1 and Foxc2, alone or in combination, exhibited ERK hyperactivation. Pharmacological ERK inhibition in utero abolished the abnormally enlarged lymphatic vessels in FOXC-deficient embryos. Together, these results identify FOXC1 and FOXC2 as essential regulators of lymphangiogenesis and indicate a new potential mechanistic basis for lymphatic-associated diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anees Fatima
- Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute, Department of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Ying Wang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
| | - Yutaka Uchida
- Laboratory of Stem Cell and Neuro-Vascular Biology, Genetics and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Pieter Norden
- Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute, Department of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Ting Liu
- Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute, Department of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Austin Culver
- Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute, Department of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - William H. Dietz
- Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute, Department of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Ford Culver
- Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute, Department of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Meredith Millay
- Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute, Department of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Yoh-suke Mukouyama
- Laboratory of Stem Cell and Neuro-Vascular Biology, Genetics and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Tsutomu Kume
- Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute, Department of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
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Fatima A, Culver A, Culver F, Liu T, Dietz WH, Thomson BR, Hadjantonakis AK, Quaggin SE, Kume T. Murine Notch1 is required for lymphatic vascular morphogenesis during development. Dev Dyn 2014; 243:957-64. [PMID: 24659232 DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.24129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [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: 08/30/2013] [Revised: 03/06/2014] [Accepted: 03/11/2014] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The transmembrane receptor Notch1 is a critical regulator of arterial differentiation and blood vessel sprouting. Recent evidence shows that functional blockade of Notch1 and its ligand, Dll4, leads to postnatal lymphatic defects in mice. However, the precise role of the Notch signaling pathway in lymphatic vessel development has yet to be defined. Here we show the developmental role of Notch1 in lymphatic vascular morphogenesis by analyzing lymphatic endothelial cell (LEC)-specific conditional Notch1 knockout mice crossed with an inducible Prox1CreER(T2) driver. RESULTS LEC-specific Notch1 mutant embryos exhibited enlarged lymphatic vessels. The phenotype of lymphatic overgrowth accords with increased LEC sprouting from the lymph sacs and increased filopodia formation. Furthermore, cell death was significantly reduced in Notch1-mutant LECs, whereas proliferation was increased. RNA-seq analysis revealed that expression of cytokine/chemokine signaling molecules was upregulated in Notch1-mutant LECs isolated from E15.5 dorsal skin, whereas VEGFR3, VEGFR2, VEGFC, and Gja4 (Connexin 37) were downregulated. CONCLUSIONS The lymphatic phenotype of LEC-specific conditional Notch1 mouse mutants indicates that Notch activity in LECs controls lymphatic sprouting and growth during development. These results provide evidence that similar to postnatal and pathological lymphatic vessel formation, the Notch signaling pathway plays a role in inhibiting developmental lymphangiogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anees Fatima
- Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
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