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Canse C, Yildirim E, Yaba A. Overview of junctional complexes during mammalian early embryonic development. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2023; 14:1150017. [PMID: 37152932 PMCID: PMC10158982 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1150017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Cell-cell junctions form strong intercellular connections and mediate communication between blastomeres during preimplantation embryonic development and thus are crucial for cell integrity, polarity, cell fate specification and morphogenesis. Together with cell adhesion molecules and cytoskeletal elements, intercellular junctions orchestrate mechanotransduction, morphokinetics and signaling networks during the development of early embryos. This review focuses on the structure, organization, function and expressional pattern of the cell-cell junction complexes during early embryonic development. Understanding the importance of dynamic junction formation and maturation processes will shed light on the molecular mechanism behind developmental abnormalities of early embryos during the preimplantation period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ceren Canse
- Faculty of Medicine, Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Türkiye
| | - Ecem Yildirim
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Yeditepe University Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Türkiye
| | - Aylin Yaba
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Yeditepe University Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Türkiye
- *Correspondence: Aylin Yaba,
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Wörsdörfer P, Wagner N, Ergün S. The role of connexins during early embryonic development: pluripotent stem cells, gene editing, and artificial embryonic tissues as tools to close the knowledge gap. Histochem Cell Biol 2018; 150:327-339. [PMID: 30039329 DOI: 10.1007/s00418-018-1697-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Since almost 4 decades, connexins have been discussed as important regulators of embryogenesis. Several different members of the gene family can be detected in the preimplantation embryo and during gastrulation. However, genetically engineered mice deficient for every connexin expressed during early development are available and even double-deficient mice were generated. Interestingly, all of these mice complete gastrulation without any abnormalities. This raises the question if the role of connexins has been overrated or if other gene family members compensate and mask their importance. To answer this question, embryos completely devoid of any gap junctional communication need to be investigated. This is challenging because a variety of connexin genes are co-expressed and some null mutations lead to a lethal phenotype. In addition, maternal connexin transcripts were described to persist until the blastocyst stage. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge about the role of connexins during preimplantation development and in embryonic stem cells. We propose that the use of pluripotent stem cells, trophoblast stem cells, as well as artificial embryo-like structures and organoid cultures in combination with multiplex CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing provides a powerful platform to comprehensively readdress this issue and decipher the role of connexins during lineage decision, differentiation, and morphogenesis in a cell culture model for mouse and human development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Wörsdörfer
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Würzburg, Koellikerstr.6, 97070, Würzburg, Germany.
| | - Nicole Wagner
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Würzburg, Koellikerstr.6, 97070, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Süleyman Ergün
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Würzburg, Koellikerstr.6, 97070, Würzburg, Germany
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Wörsdörfer P, Bosen F, Gebhardt M, Russ N, Zimmermann K, Komla Kessie D, Sekaran T, Egert A, Ergün S, Schorle H, Pfeifer A, Edenhofer F, Willecke K. Abrogation of Gap Junctional Communication in ES Cells Results in a Disruption of Primitive Endoderm Formation in Embryoid Bodies. Stem Cells 2016; 35:859-871. [PMID: 27870307 DOI: 10.1002/stem.2545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2016] [Revised: 10/14/2016] [Accepted: 10/28/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) has been suggested to be involved in early embryonic development but the actual functional role remained elusive. Connexin (Cx) 43 and Cx45 are co-expressed in embryonic stem (ES) cells, form gap junctions and are considered to exhibit adhesive function and/or to contribute to the establishment of defined communication compartments. Here, we describe the generation of Cx43/Cx45-double deficient mouse ES cells to achieve almost complete breakdown of GJIC. Cre-loxP induced deletion of both, Cx43 and Cx45, results in a block of differentiation in embryoid bodies (EBs) without affecting pluripotency marker expression and proliferation in ES cells. We demonstrate that GJIC-incompetent ES cells fail to form primitive endoderm in EB cultures, representing the inductive key step of further differentiation events. Lentiviral overexpression of either Cx43 or Cx45 in Cx43/45 mutants rescued the observed phenotype, confirming the specificity and indicating a partially redundant function of both connexins. Upon differentiation GJIC-incompetent ES cells exhibit a strikingly altered subcellular localization pattern of the transcription factor NFATc3. Control EBs exhibit significantly more activated NFATc3 in cellular nuclei than mutant EBs suggesting that Cx-mediated communication is needed for synchronized NFAT activation to induce orchestrated primitive endoderm formation. Moreover, pharmacological inhibition of NFATc3 activation by Cyclosporin A, a well-described inhibitor of calcineurin, phenocopies the loss of GJIC in control cells. Stem Cells 2017;35:859-871.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Wörsdörfer
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.,Institute of Reconstructive Neurobiology, University of Bonn Medical School, Bonn, Germany
| | | | - Martina Gebhardt
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.,Institute of Reconstructive Neurobiology, University of Bonn Medical School, Bonn, Germany
| | - Nicole Russ
- Institute of Reconstructive Neurobiology, University of Bonn Medical School, Bonn, Germany
| | | | - David Komla Kessie
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Thileepan Sekaran
- Institute of Reconstructive Neurobiology, University of Bonn Medical School, Bonn, Germany
| | - Angela Egert
- Department of Developmental Pathology, University of Bonn Medical School, Bonn, Germany
| | - Süleyman Ergün
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Hubert Schorle
- Department of Developmental Pathology, University of Bonn Medical School, Bonn, Germany
| | | | - Frank Edenhofer
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.,Institute of Reconstructive Neurobiology, University of Bonn Medical School, Bonn, Germany.,Department of Genomics, Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine, Institute of Molecular Biology, Leopold-Franzens-University Innsbruck (LFUI), Innsbruck, Austria
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Nishii K, Seki A, Kumai M, Morimoto S, Miwa T, Hagiwara N, Shibata Y, Kobayashi Y. Connexin45 contributes to global cardiovascular development by establishing myocardial impulse propagation. Mech Dev 2016; 140:41-52. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mod.2016.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2015] [Revised: 02/19/2016] [Accepted: 02/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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