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Baričević Z, Pongrac M, Ivaničić M, Hreščak H, Tomljanović I, Petrović A, Cojoc D, Mladinic M, Ban J. SOX2 and SOX9 Expression in Developing Postnatal Opossum ( Monodelphis domestica) Cortex. Biomolecules 2024; 14:70. [PMID: 38254670 PMCID: PMC10813269 DOI: 10.3390/biom14010070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2023] [Revised: 12/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/31/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
(1) Background: Central nervous system (CNS) development is characterized by dynamic changes in cell proliferation and differentiation. Key regulators of these transitions are the transcription factors such as SOX2 and SOX9. SOX2 is involved in the maintenance of progenitor cell state and neural stem cell multipotency, while SOX9, expressed in neurogenic niches, plays an important role in neuron/glia switch with predominant expression in astrocytes in the adult brain. (2) Methods: To validate SOX2 and SOX9 expression patterns in developing opossum (Monodelphis domestica) cortex, we used immunohistochemistry (IHC) and the isotropic fractionator method on fixed cortical tissue from comparable postnatal ages, as well as dissociated primary neuronal cultures. (3) Results: Neurons positive for both neuronal (TUJ1 or NeuN) and stem cell (SOX2) markers were identified, and their presence was confirmed with all methods and postnatal age groups (P4-6, P6-18, and P30) analyzed. SOX9 showed exclusive staining in non-neuronal cells, and it was coexpressed with SOX2. (4) Conclusions: The persistence of SOX2 expression in developing cortical neurons of M. domestica during the first postnatal month implies the functional role of SOX2 during neuronal differentiation and maturation, which was not previously reported in opossums.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zrinko Baričević
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development, University of Rijeka, Radmile Matejčić 2, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia; (Z.B.); (M.P.); (M.I.); (H.H.); (I.T.); (A.P.); (M.M.)
| | - Marta Pongrac
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development, University of Rijeka, Radmile Matejčić 2, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia; (Z.B.); (M.P.); (M.I.); (H.H.); (I.T.); (A.P.); (M.M.)
| | - Matea Ivaničić
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development, University of Rijeka, Radmile Matejčić 2, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia; (Z.B.); (M.P.); (M.I.); (H.H.); (I.T.); (A.P.); (M.M.)
| | - Helena Hreščak
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development, University of Rijeka, Radmile Matejčić 2, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia; (Z.B.); (M.P.); (M.I.); (H.H.); (I.T.); (A.P.); (M.M.)
| | - Ivana Tomljanović
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development, University of Rijeka, Radmile Matejčić 2, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia; (Z.B.); (M.P.); (M.I.); (H.H.); (I.T.); (A.P.); (M.M.)
| | - Antonela Petrović
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development, University of Rijeka, Radmile Matejčić 2, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia; (Z.B.); (M.P.); (M.I.); (H.H.); (I.T.); (A.P.); (M.M.)
| | - Dan Cojoc
- CNR-IOM, Materials Foundry, National Research Council of Italy, 34149 Trieste, Italy;
| | - Miranda Mladinic
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development, University of Rijeka, Radmile Matejčić 2, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia; (Z.B.); (M.P.); (M.I.); (H.H.); (I.T.); (A.P.); (M.M.)
| | - Jelena Ban
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development, University of Rijeka, Radmile Matejčić 2, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia; (Z.B.); (M.P.); (M.I.); (H.H.); (I.T.); (A.P.); (M.M.)
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Cao W, Douglas KC, Samollow PB, VandeBerg JL, Wang X, Clark AG. Origin and Evolution of Marsupial-specific Imprinting Clusters Through Lineage-specific Gene Duplications and Acquisition of Promoter Differential Methylation. Mol Biol Evol 2023; 40:msad022. [PMID: 36721950 PMCID: PMC9937046 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msad022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Revised: 01/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Genomic imprinting is a parent-of-origin-specific expression phenomenon that plays fundamental roles in many biological processes. In animals, imprinting is only observed in therian mammals, with ∼200 imprinted genes known in humans and mice. The imprinting pattern in marsupials has been minimally investigated by examining orthologs to known eutherian imprinted genes. To identify marsupial-specific imprinting in an unbiased way, we performed RNA-seq studies on samples of fetal brain and placenta from the reciprocal cross progeny of two laboratory opossum stocks. We inferred allele-specific expression for >3,000 expressed genes and discovered/validated 13 imprinted genes, including three previously known imprinted genes, Igf2r, Peg10, and H19. We estimate that marsupials imprint ∼60 autosomal genes, which is a much smaller set compared with eutherians. Among the nine novel imprinted genes, three noncoding RNAs have no known homologs in eutherian mammals, while the remaining genes have important functions in pluripotency, transcription regulation, nucleolar homeostasis, and neural differentiation. Methylation analyses at promoter CpG islands revealed differentially methylated regions in five of these marsupial-specific imprinted genes, suggesting that differential methylation is a common mechanism in the epigenetic regulation of marsupial imprinting. Clustering and co-regulation were observed at marsupial imprinting loci Pou5f3-Npdc1 and Nkrfl-Ipncr2, but eutherian-type multi-gene imprinting clusters were not detected. Also differing from eutherian mammals, the brain and placenta imprinting profiles are remarkably similar in opossums, presumably due to the shared origin of these organs from the trophectoderm. Our results contribute to a fuller understanding of the origin, evolution, and mechanisms of genomic imprinting in therian mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenqi Cao
- Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
- Innovation, and Commerce, Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn University Center for Advanced Science, Auburn, AL, USA
| | - Kory C Douglas
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Paul B Samollow
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - John L VandeBerg
- South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute and Department of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, USA
| | - Xu Wang
- Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
- Innovation, and Commerce, Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn University Center for Advanced Science, Auburn, AL, USA
- Scott-Ritchey Research Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
- HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, AL, USA
| | - Andrew G Clark
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
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