Ash2l, an obligatory component of H3K4 methylation complexes, regulates neural crest development

Dyrk1a is required for craniofacial development in Xenopus laevis

Loss of function variations in the dual specificity tyrosine-phosphorylation-regulated kinase 1 A (DYRK1A) gene are associated with craniofacial malformations in humans. Here we characterized the effects of deficient DYRK1A in craniofacial development using a developmental model, Xenopus laevis. Dyrk1a mRNA and protein were expressed throughout the developing head and both were enriched in the branchial arches which contribute to the face and jaw. Consistently, reduced Dyrk1a function, using dyrk1a morpholinos and pharmacological inhibitors, resulted in orofacial malformations including hypotelorism, altered mouth shape, slanted eyes, and narrower face accompanied by smaller jaw cartilage and muscle. Inhibition of Dyrk1a function resulted in misexpression of key craniofacial regulators including transcription factors and members of the retinoic acid signaling pathway. Two such regulators, sox9 and pax3 are required for neural crest development and their decreased expression corresponds with smaller neural crest domains within the branchial arches. Finally, we determined that the smaller size of the faces, jaw elements and neural crest domains in embryos deficient in Dyrk1a could be explained by increased cell death and decreased proliferation. This study is the first to provide insight into why craniofacial birth defects might arise in humans with variants of DYRK1A.

Dyrk1a is required for craniofacial development in Xenopus laevis

Loss of function mutations in the dual specificity tyrosine-phosphorylation-regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A) gene are associated with craniofacial malformations in humans. Here we characterized the effects of deficient DYRK1A in craniofacial development using a developmental model, Xenopus laevis . Dyrk1a mRNA and protein was expressed throughout the developing head and was enriched in the branchial arches which contribute to the face and jaw. Consistently, reduced Dyrk1a function, using dyrk1a morpholinos and pharmacological inhibitors, resulted in orofacial malformations including hypotelorism, altered mouth shape, slanted eyes, and narrower face accompanied by smaller jaw cartilage and muscle. Inhibition of Dyrk1a function resulted in misexpression of key craniofacial regulators including transcription factors and members of the retinoic acid signaling pathway. Two such regulators, sox9 and pax3 are required for neural crest development and their decreased expression corresponds with smaller neural crest domains within the branchial arches. Finally, we determined that the smaller size of the faces, jaw elements and neural crest domains in embryos deficient in Dyrk1a could be explained by increased cell death and decreased proliferation. This study is the first to provide insight into why craniofacial birth defects might arise in humans with DYRK1A mutations.

Recognition of H2AK119ub plays an important role in RSF1-regulated early Xenopus development

Polycomb group (PcG) proteins are key regulators of gene expression and developmental programs via covalent modification of histones, but the factors that interpret histone modification marks to regulate embryogenesis are less studied. We previously identified Remodeling and Spacing Factor 1 (RSF1) as a reader of histone H2A lysine 119 ubiquitination (H2AK119ub), the histone mark deposited by Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 (PRC1). In the current study, we used Xenopus laevis as a model to investigate how RSF1 affects early embryonic development and whether recognition of H2AK119ub is important for the function of RSF1. We showed that knockdown of Xenopus RSF1, rsf1, not only induced gastrulation defects as reported previously, but specific targeted knockdown in prospective neural precursors induced neural and neural crest defects, with reductions of marker genes. In addition, similar to knockdown of PRC1 components in Xenopus, the anterior-posterior neural patterning was affected in rsf1 knockdown embryos. Binding of H2AK119ub appeared to be crucial for rsf1 function, as a construct with deletion of the UAB domain, which is required for RSF1 to recognize the H2AK119ub nucleosomes, failed to rescue rsf1 morphant embryos and was less effective in interfering with early Xenopus development when ectopically expressed. Furthermore, ectopic deposition of H2AK119ub on the Smad2 target gene gsc using a ring1a-smad2 fusion protein led to ectopic recruitment of RSF1. The fusion protein was inefficient in inducing mesodermal markers in the animal region or a secondary axis when expressed in the ventral tissues. Taken together, our results reveal that rsf1 modulates similar developmental processes in early Xenopus embryos as components of PRC1 do, and that RSF1 acts at least partially through binding to the H2AK119ub mark via the UAB domain during development.