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Yang L, Wang X, Yu XX, Yang L, Zhou BC, Yang J, Xu CR. The default and directed pathways of hepatoblast differentiation involve distinct epigenomic mechanisms. Dev Cell 2023; 58:1688-1700.e6. [PMID: 37490911 DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2023.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Revised: 05/01/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/27/2023]
Abstract
The effectiveness of multiomics analyses in defining cell differentiation pathways during development is ambiguous. During liver development, hepatoblasts follow a default or directed pathway to differentiate into hepatocytes or cholangiocytes, respectively, and this provides a practical model to address this issue. Our study discovered that promoter-associated histone modifications and chromatin accessibility dynamics, rather than enhancer-associated histone modifications, effectively delineated the "default vs. directed" process of hepatoblast differentiation. Histone H3K27me3 on bivalent promoters is associated with this asymmetric differentiation strategy in mice and humans. We demonstrated that Ezh2 and Jmjd3 exert opposing regulatory roles in hepatoblast-cholangiocyte differentiation. Additionally, active enhancers, regulated by P300, correlate with the development of both hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. This research proposes a model highlighting the division of labor between promoters and enhancers, with promoter-associated chromatin modifications governing the "default vs. directed" differentiation mode of hepatoblasts, whereas enhancer-associated modifications primarily dictate the progressive development processes of hepatobiliary lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Yang
- Department of Human Anatomy, Histology, and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Xin Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Xin-Xin Yu
- Department of Human Anatomy, Histology, and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Lu Yang
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Bi-Chen Zhou
- Department of Human Anatomy, Histology, and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Jing Yang
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Cheng-Ran Xu
- Department of Human Anatomy, Histology, and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; State Key Laboratory of Female Fertility Promotion, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
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2
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Freeburg SH, Goessling W. Hepatobiliary Differentiation: Principles from Embryonic Liver Development. Semin Liver Dis 2020; 40:365-372. [PMID: 32526786 DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1709679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Hepatocytes and biliary epithelial cells (BECs), the two endodermal cell types of the liver, originate from progenitor cells called hepatoblasts. Based principally on in vitro data, hepatoblasts are thought to be bipotent stem cells with the potential to produce both hepatocytes and BECs. However, robust in vivo evidence for this model has only recently emerged. We examine the molecular mechanisms that stimulate hepatoblast differentiation into hepatocytes or BECs. In the absence of extrinsic cues, the default fate of hepatoblasts is hepatocyte differentiation. Inductive cues from the hepatic portal vein, however, initiate transcription factor expression in hepatoblasts, driving biliary specification. Defining the mechanisms of hepatobiliary differentiation provides important insights into congenital disorders, such as Alagille syndrome, and may help to better characterize the poorly understood hepatic lineage relationships observed during regeneration from liver injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott H Freeburg
- Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Wolfram Goessling
- Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.,Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts.,Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts.,Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts.,Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.,Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
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Prior N, Hindley CJ, Rost F, Meléndez E, Lau WWY, Göttgens B, Rulands S, Simons BD, Huch M. Lgr5 + stem and progenitor cells reside at the apex of a heterogeneous embryonic hepatoblast pool. Development 2019; 146:dev.174557. [PMID: 31142540 PMCID: PMC6602348 DOI: 10.1242/dev.174557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2018] [Accepted: 05/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
During mouse embryogenesis, progenitors within the liver known as hepatoblasts give rise to adult hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. Hepatoblasts, which are specified at E8.5-E9.0, have been regarded as a homogeneous progenitor population that initiate differentiation from E13.5. Recently, scRNA-seq analysis has identified sub-populations of transcriptionally distinct hepatoblasts at E11.5. Here, we show that hepatoblasts are not only transcriptionally but also functionally heterogeneous, and that a subpopulation of E9.5-E10.0 hepatoblasts exhibit a previously unidentified early commitment to cholangiocyte fate. Importantly, we also identify a subpopulation constituting 2% of E9.5-E10.0 hepatoblasts that express the adult stem cell marker Lgr5, and generate both hepatocyte and cholangiocyte progeny that persist for the lifespan of the mouse. Combining lineage tracing and scRNA-seq, we show that Lgr5 marks E9.5-E10.0 bipotent liver progenitors residing at the apex of a hepatoblast hierarchy. Furthermore, isolated Lgr5+ hepatoblasts can be clonally expanded in vitro into embryonic liver organoids, which can commit to either hepatocyte or cholangiocyte fates. Our study demonstrates functional heterogeneity within E9.5 hepatoblasts and identifies Lgr5 as a marker for a subpopulation of bipotent liver progenitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Prior
- The Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QN, UK
| | - Christopher J Hindley
- The Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QN, UK.,The Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, JJ Thompson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
| | - Fabian Rost
- Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Strasse 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany
| | - Elena Meléndez
- The Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QN, UK
| | - Winnie W Y Lau
- Department of Haematology and Wellcome and MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0XY, UK
| | - Berthold Göttgens
- Department of Haematology and Wellcome and MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0XY, UK
| | - Steffen Rulands
- The Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QN, UK.,The Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, JJ Thompson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK.,Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Strasse 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany.,Center for Systems Biology Dresden, Pfotenhauer Strasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Benjamin D Simons
- The Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QN, UK.,The Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, JJ Thompson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK.,Wellcome Trust - Medical Research Council Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Rd, Cambridge, CB2 1QR, UK
| | - Meritxell Huch
- The Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QN, UK .,Wellcome Trust - Medical Research Council Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Rd, Cambridge, CB2 1QR, UK.,Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3DY, UK
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