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van der Veer BK, Chen L, Tsaniras SC, Brangers W, Chen Q, Schroiff M, Custers C, Kwak HH, Khoueiry R, Cabrera R, Gross SS, Finnell RH, Lei Y, Koh KP. Epigenetic regulation by TET1 in gene-environmental interactions influencing susceptibility to congenital malformations. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.02.21.581196. [PMID: 39026762 PMCID: PMC11257484 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.21.581196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
The etiology of neural tube defects (NTDs) involves complex gene-environmental interactions. Folic acid (FA) prevents NTDs, but the mechanisms remain poorly understood and at least 30% of human NTDs resist the beneficial effects of FA supplementation. Here, we identify the DNA demethylase TET1 as a nexus of folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism and genetic risk factors post-neural tube closure. We determine that cranial NTDs in Tet1 -/- embryos occur at two to three times higher penetrance in genetically heterogeneous than in homogeneous genetic backgrounds, suggesting a strong impact of genetic modifiers on phenotypic expression. Quantitative trait locus mapping identified a strong NTD risk locus in the 129S6 strain, which harbors missense and modifier variants at genes implicated in intracellular endocytic trafficking and developmental signaling. NTDs across Tet1 -/- strains are resistant to FA supplementation. However, both excess and depleted maternal FA diets modify the impact of Tet1 loss on offspring DNA methylation primarily at neurodevelopmental loci. FA deficiency reveals susceptibility to NTD and other structural brain defects due to haploinsufficiency of Tet1. In contrast, excess FA in Tet1 -/- embryos drives promoter DNA hypermethylation and reduced expression of multiple membrane solute transporters, including a FA transporter, accompanied by loss of phospholipid metabolites. Overall, our study unravels interactions between modified maternal FA status, Tet1 gene dosage and genetic backgrounds that impact neurotransmitter functions, cellular methylation and individual susceptibilities to congenital malformations, further implicating that epigenetic dysregulation may underlie NTDs resistant to FA supplementation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernard K. van der Veer
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Stem Cell and Developmental Epigenetics, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Lehua Chen
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Stem Cell and Developmental Epigenetics, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Spyridon Champeris Tsaniras
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Stem Cell and Developmental Epigenetics, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Wannes Brangers
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Stem Cell and Developmental Epigenetics, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Qiuying Chen
- Department of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Mariana Schroiff
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Stem Cell and Developmental Epigenetics, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Colin Custers
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Stem Cell and Developmental Epigenetics, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Harm H.M. Kwak
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Stem Cell and Developmental Epigenetics, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Rita Khoueiry
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Stem Cell and Developmental Epigenetics, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Robert Cabrera
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Precision Environmental Health, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Steven S. Gross
- Department of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Richard H. Finnell
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Precision Environmental Health, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Yunping Lei
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Precision Environmental Health, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Kian Peng Koh
- Department of Development and Regeneration, Laboratory of Stem Cell and Developmental Epigenetics, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Precision Environmental Health, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
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Lee S, Cui M, Lee D, Han K, Sun W, Lee D. A rationally designed optochemogenetic switch for activating canonical Wnt signaling. iScience 2023; 26:106233. [PMID: 36915690 PMCID: PMC10006827 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Revised: 01/10/2023] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Accurate spatiotemporal control of multicellular self-organization by various signaling pathways is essential for developmental stages. In particular, evolutionarily conserved Wnt signaling serves as a major morphogenetic switch to determine the anteroposterior axis of the embryo. Here, we developed a genetically encoded optochemogenetic Wnt switch, named optochemoWnt, by coupling a blue light-inducible CRY2olig and rapamycin-inducible LRP6c clustering. The rationally designed optochemoWnt successfully modulated Wnt signaling with AND-gated patterns and demonstrated an improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The dual-triggered switch provides a safeguard to prevent signal leakage resulting from ambient light sources under general laboratory conditions. OptochemoWnt expands the molecular toolbox available for the fields of developmental biology and tissue engineering. In addition, the AND-gated strategy of optochemoWnt may be used for other biomedical applications that integrate user defined switch elements with Boolean logic gates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seunghwan Lee
- Department of Anatomy, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,BK21 Graduate Program, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Mingguang Cui
- Department of Anatomy, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,BK21 Graduate Program, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Donghun Lee
- Department of Physics, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Kihoon Han
- BK21 Graduate Program, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Department of Neuroscience, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Woong Sun
- Department of Anatomy, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,BK21 Graduate Program, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Dongmin Lee
- Department of Anatomy, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,BK21 Graduate Program, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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Geng S, Paul F, Kowalczyk I, Raimundo S, Sporbert A, Mamo TM, Hammes A. Balancing WNT signalling in early forebrain development: The role of LRP4 as a modulator of LRP6 function. Front Cell Dev Biol 2023; 11:1173688. [PMID: 37091972 PMCID: PMC10119419 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1173688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2023] [Indexed: 04/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The specification of the forebrain relies on the precise regulation of WNT/ß-catenin signalling to support neuronal progenitor cell expansion, patterning, and morphogenesis. Imbalances in WNT signalling activity in the early neuroepithelium lead to congenital disorders, such as neural tube defects (NTDs). LDL receptor-related protein (LRP) family members, including the well-studied receptors LRP5 and LRP6, play critical roles in modulating WNT signalling capacity through tightly regulated interactions with their co-receptor Frizzled, WNT ligands, inhibitors and intracellular WNT pathway components. However, little is known about the function of LRP4 as a potential modulator of WNT signalling in the central nervous system. In this study, we investigated the role of LRP4 in the regulation of WNT signalling during early mouse forebrain development. Our results demonstrate that LRP4 can modulate LRP5- and LRP6-mediated WNT signalling in the developing forebrain prior to the onset of neurogenesis at embryonic stage 9.5 and is therefore essential for accurate neural tube morphogenesis. Specifically, LRP4 functions as a genetic modifier for impaired mitotic activity and forebrain hypoplasia, but not for NTDs in LRP6-deficient mutants. In vivo and in vitro data provide evidence that LRP4 is a key player in fine-tuning WNT signalling capacity and mitotic activity of mouse neuronal progenitors and of human retinal pigment epithelial (hTERT RPE-1) cells. Our data demonstrate the crucial roles of LRP4 and LRP6 in regulating WNT signalling and forebrain development and highlight the need to consider the interaction between different signalling pathways to understand the underlying mechanisms of disease. The findings have significant implications for our mechanistic understanding of how LRPs participate in controlling WNT signalling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuang Geng
- Neuroscience, Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- Institute for Biology, Free University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Fabian Paul
- Neuroscience, Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- Institute for Biology, Free University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Izabela Kowalczyk
- Neuroscience, Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- Institute for Biology, Free University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Sandra Raimundo
- Advanced Light Microscopy Technology Platform, Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
| | - Anje Sporbert
- Advanced Light Microscopy Technology Platform, Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
| | - Tamrat Meshka Mamo
- Neuroscience, Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- *Correspondence: Tamrat Meshka Mamo, ; Annette Hammes,
| | - Annette Hammes
- Neuroscience, Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- *Correspondence: Tamrat Meshka Mamo, ; Annette Hammes,
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Shi DL. Wnt/planar cell polarity signaling controls morphogenetic movements of gastrulation and neural tube closure. Cell Mol Life Sci 2022; 79:586. [PMID: 36369349 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-022-04620-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2022] [Revised: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Gastrulation and neurulation are successive morphogenetic processes that play key roles in shaping the basic embryonic body plan. Importantly, they operate through common cellular and molecular mechanisms to set up the three spatially organized germ layers and to close the neural tube. During gastrulation and neurulation, convergent extension movements driven by cell intercalation and oriented cell division generate major forces to narrow the germ layers along the mediolateral axis and elongate the embryo in the anteroposterior direction. Apical constriction also makes an important contribution to promote the formation of the blastopore and the bending of the neural plate. Planar cell polarity proteins are major regulators of asymmetric cell behaviors and critically involved in a wide variety of developmental processes, from gastrulation and neurulation to organogenesis. Mutations of planar cell polarity genes can lead to general defects in the morphogenesis of different organs and the co-existence of distinct congenital diseases, such as spina bifida, hearing deficits, kidney diseases, and limb elongation defects. This review outlines our current understanding of non-canonical Wnt signaling, commonly known as Wnt/planar cell polarity signaling, in regulating morphogenetic movements of gastrulation and neural tube closure during development and disease. It also attempts to identify unanswered questions that deserve further investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- De-Li Shi
- Institute of Medical Research, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China. .,Laboratory of Developmental Biology, CNRS-UMR7622, Institut de Biologie Paris-Seine (IBPS), Sorbonne University, Paris, France.
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