Rommelfanger MK, MacLean AL. A single-cell resolved cell-cell communication model explains lineage commitment in hematopoiesis.
Development 2021;
148:273837. [PMID:
34935903 PMCID:
PMC8722395 DOI:
10.1242/dev.199779]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 11/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Cells do not make fate decisions independently. Arguably, every cell-fate decision occurs in response to environmental signals. In many cases, cell-cell communication alters the dynamics of the internal gene regulatory network of a cell to initiate cell-fate transitions, yet models rarely take this into account. Here, we have developed a multiscale perspective to study the granulocyte-monocyte versus megakaryocyte-erythrocyte fate decisions. This transition is dictated by the GATA1-PU.1 network: a classical example of a bistable cell-fate system. We show that, for a wide range of cell communication topologies, even subtle changes in signaling can have pronounced effects on cell-fate decisions. We go on to show how cell-cell coupling through signaling can spontaneously break the symmetry of a homogenous cell population. Noise, both intrinsic and extrinsic, shapes the decision landscape profoundly, and affects the transcriptional dynamics underlying this important hematopoietic cell-fate decision-making system.
This article has an associated ‘The people behind the papers’ interview.
Summary: Through theory and computational modeling, cell-cell communication is revealed to be a crucial and under-appreciated determinant of cell-fate decision-making during hematopoiesis.
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