Alvizi L, Nani D, Brito LA, Kobayashi GS, Passos-Bueno MR, Mayor R. Neural crest E-cadherin loss drives cleft lip/palate by epigenetic modulation via pro-inflammatory gene-environment interaction.
Nat Commun 2023;
14:2868. [PMID:
37225711 DOI:
10.1038/s41467-023-38526-1]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Gene-environment interactions are believed to play a role in multifactorial phenotypes, although poorly described mechanistically. Cleft lip/palate (CLP), the most common craniofacial malformation, has been associated with both genetic and environmental factors, with little gene-environment interaction experimentally demonstrated. Here, we study CLP families harbouring CDH1/E-Cadherin variants with incomplete penetrance and we explore the association of pro-inflammatory conditions to CLP. By studying neural crest (NC) from mouse, Xenopus and humans, we show that CLP can be explained by a 2-hit model, where NC migration is impaired by a combination of genetic (CDH1 loss-of-function) and environmental (pro-inflammatory activation) factors, leading to CLP. Finally, using in vivo targeted methylation assays, we demonstrate that CDH1 hypermethylation is the major target of the pro-inflammatory response, and a direct regulator of E-cadherin levels and NC migration. These results unveil a gene-environment interaction during craniofacial development and provide a 2-hit mechanism to explain cleft lip/palate aetiology.
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