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Neitzel LR, Spencer ZT, Nayak A, Cselenyi CS, Benchabane H, Youngblood CQ, Zouaoui A, Ng V, Stephens L, Hann T, Patton JG, Robbins D, Ahmed Y, Lee E. Developmental regulation of Wnt signaling by Nagk and the UDP-GlcNAc salvage pathway. Mech Dev 2019; 156:20-31. [PMID: 30904594 DOI: 10.1016/j.mod.2019.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2019] [Revised: 03/15/2019] [Accepted: 03/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
In a screen for human kinases that regulate Xenopus laevis embryogenesis, we identified Nagk and other components of the UDP-GlcNAc glycosylation salvage pathway as regulators of anteroposterior patterning and Wnt signaling. We find that the salvage pathway does not affect other major embryonic signaling pathways (Fgf, TGFβ, Notch, or Shh), thereby demonstrating specificity for Wnt signaling. We show that the role of the salvage pathway in Wnt signaling is evolutionarily conserved in zebrafish and Drosophila. Finally, we show that GlcNAc is essential for the growth of intestinal enteroids, which are highly dependent on Wnt signaling for growth and maintenance. We propose that the Wnt pathway is sensitive to alterations in the glycosylation state of a cell and acts as a nutritional sensor in order to couple growth/proliferation with its metabolic status. We also propose that the clinical manifestations observed in congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG) in humans may be due, in part, to their effects on Wnt signaling during development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leif R Neitzel
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Program in Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Zachary T Spencer
- Department of Molecular and Systems Biology, Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
| | - Anmada Nayak
- Sylvester Cancer Center, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA
| | - Christopher S Cselenyi
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Hassina Benchabane
- Department of Molecular and Systems Biology, Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
| | - CheyAnne Q Youngblood
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Department of Natural Science, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK 74464, USA
| | - Alya Zouaoui
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Victoria Ng
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Leah Stephens
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Trevor Hann
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - James G Patton
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - David Robbins
- Sylvester Cancer Center, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA
| | - Yashi Ahmed
- Department of Molecular and Systems Biology, Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
| | - Ethan Lee
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Program in Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA.
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Min Z, Lin H, Zhu X, Gao L, Khand AA, Tao Q. Ascl1 represses the mesendoderm induction in Xenopus. Acta Biochim Biophys Sin (Shanghai) 2016; 48:1006-1015. [PMID: 27624953 DOI: 10.1093/abbs/gmw092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2016] [Accepted: 07/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Ascl1 is a multi-functional regulator of neural development in invertebrates and vertebrates. Ectopic expression of Ascl1 can generate functional neurons from non-neural somatic cells. The abnormal expression of ASCL1 has been reported in several types of carcinomas. We have previously identified Ascl1 as a crucial maternal regulator of the germ layer pattern formation in Xenopus Functional studies have indicated that the maternally-supplied Ascl1 renders embryonic cells a propensity to adopt neural fates on one hand, and represses the mesendoderm formation on the other. However, it remains unclear how Ascl1 achieves its repressor function during the activation of mesendoderm genes by VegT. Here, we performed series of gain- and loss-of-function experiments and found that: (i) VegT, the maternal mesendoderm determinant in Xenopus, is required for the deposition of H3K27ac and H3K9ac at its target gene loci during mesendoderm induction; (ii) Ascl1 and VegT antagonistically modulate the deposition of acetylated histone marks at mesendoderm gene loci; (iii) Ascl1 overexpression reduces the VegT-occupancy at mesendoderm gene loci; (iv) Ascl1 but not Neurog2 possesses a repressive activity during mesendoderm induction. These findings reveal a novel repressive function for Ascl1 in inhibiting non-neural fates during early Xenopus embryogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zheying Min
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Hao Lin
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Xuechen Zhu
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Li Gao
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Aftab A Khand
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Qinghua Tao
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
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Gao L, Zhu X, Chen G, Ma X, Zhang Y, Khand AA, Shi H, Gu F, Lin H, Chen Y, Zhang H, He L, Tao Q. A novel role for Ascl1 in the regulation of mesendoderm formation via HDAC-dependent antagonism of VegT. Development 2015; 143:492-503. [PMID: 26700681 PMCID: PMC4760308 DOI: 10.1242/dev.126292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2015] [Accepted: 12/16/2015] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Maternally expressed proteins function in vertebrates to establish the major body axes of the embryo and to establish a pre-pattern that sets the stage for later-acting zygotic signals. This pre-patterning drives the propensity of Xenopus animal cap cells to adopt neural fates under various experimental conditions. Previous studies found that the maternally expressed transcription factor, encoded by the Xenopus achaete scute-like gene ascl1, is enriched at the animal pole. Asc1l is a bHLH protein involved in neural development, but its maternal function has not been studied. Here, we performed a series of gain- and loss-of-function experiments on maternal ascl1, and present three novel findings. First, Ascl1 is a repressor of mesendoderm induced by VegT, but not of Nodal-induced mesendoderm. Second, a previously uncharacterized N-terminal domain of Ascl1 interacts with HDAC1 to inhibit mesendoderm gene expression. This N-terminal domain is dispensable for its neurogenic function, indicating that Ascl1 acts by different mechanisms at different times. Ascl1-mediated repression of mesendoderm genes was dependent on HDAC activity and accompanied by histone deacetylation in the promoter regions of VegT targets. Finally, maternal Ascl1 is required for animal cap cells to retain their competence to adopt neural fates. These results establish maternal Asc1l as a key factor in establishing pre-patterning of the early embryo, acting in opposition to VegT and biasing the animal pole to adopt neural fates. The data presented here significantly extend our understanding of early embryonic pattern formation. Summary: The proneural factor ASCL1 recruits HDAC1 to repress VegT-induced, but not Nodal-induced, mesendoderm formation via a previously uncharacterized N-terminal domain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Gao
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Xuechen Zhu
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Geng Chen
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Xin Ma
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Yan Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Aftab A Khand
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Huijuan Shi
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Fei Gu
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Hao Lin
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Yuemeng Chen
- Tianjin Normal University College of Life Science, Binshuixidao (extension line) 393, Xinqing District, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Haiyan Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Lei He
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Qinghua Tao
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China
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