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Whitesell TR, Chrystal PW, Ryu JR, Munsie N, Grosse A, French CR, Workentine ML, Li R, Zhu LJ, Waskiewicz A, Lehmann OJ, Lawson ND, Childs SJ. foxc1 is required for embryonic head vascular smooth muscle differentiation in zebrafish. Dev Biol 2019; 453:34-47. [PMID: 31199900 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2019.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Revised: 05/29/2019] [Accepted: 06/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Vascular smooth muscle of the head derives from neural crest, but developmental mechanisms and early transcriptional drivers of the vSMC lineage are not well characterized. We find that in early development, the transcription factor foxc1b is expressed in mesenchymal cells that associate with the vascular endothelium. Using timelapse imaging, we observe that foxc1b expressing mesenchymal cells differentiate into acta2 expressing vascular mural cells. We show that in zebrafish, while foxc1b is co-expressed in acta2 positive smooth muscle cells that associate with large diameter vessels, it is not co-expressed in capillaries where pdgfrβ positive pericytes are located. In addition to being an early marker of the lineage, foxc1 is essential for vSMC differentiation; we find that foxc1 loss of function mutants have defective vSMC differentiation and that early genetic ablation of foxc1b or acta2 expressing populations blocks vSMC differentiation. Furthermore, foxc1 is expressed upstream of acta2 and is required for acta2 expression in vSMCs. Using RNA-Seq we determine an enriched intersectional gene expression profile using dual expression of foxc1b and acta2 to identify novel vSMC markers. Taken together, our data suggests that foxc1 is a marker of vSMCs and plays a critical functional role in promoting their differentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas R Whitesell
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Canada; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N1
| | - Paul W Chrystal
- Departments of Ophthalmology, and Medical Genetics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Department of Biological Sciences, CW405, Biological Sciences Bldg., 11455, Saskatchewan Dr., University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada; Women & Children's Health Research Institute, ECHA 4-081, 11405 87, Ave NW, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 1C9, Canada; Neurosciences and Mental Health Institute, 4-120 Katz Group Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E1, Canada
| | - Jae-Ryeon Ryu
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Canada; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N1
| | - Nicole Munsie
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Canada; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N1
| | - Ann Grosse
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 364 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA, USA, 01605
| | - Curtis R French
- Department of Biological Sciences, CW405, Biological Sciences Bldg., 11455, Saskatchewan Dr., University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada; Women & Children's Health Research Institute, ECHA 4-081, 11405 87, Ave NW, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 1C9, Canada; Neurosciences and Mental Health Institute, 4-120 Katz Group Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E1, Canada
| | - Matthew L Workentine
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N1
| | - Rui Li
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 364 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA, USA, 01605
| | - Lihua Julie Zhu
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 364 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA, USA, 01605; Program in Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology, Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA, 01605
| | - Andrew Waskiewicz
- Department of Biological Sciences, CW405, Biological Sciences Bldg., 11455, Saskatchewan Dr., University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada; Women & Children's Health Research Institute, ECHA 4-081, 11405 87, Ave NW, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 1C9, Canada; Neurosciences and Mental Health Institute, 4-120 Katz Group Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E1, Canada
| | - Ordan J Lehmann
- Departments of Ophthalmology, and Medical Genetics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Nathan D Lawson
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 364 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA, USA, 01605
| | - Sarah J Childs
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Canada; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N1.
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Whitesell TR, Kennedy RM, Carter AD, Rollins EL, Georgijevic S, Santoro MM, Childs SJ. An α-smooth muscle actin (acta2/αsma) zebrafish transgenic line marking vascular mural cells and visceral smooth muscle cells. PLoS One 2014; 9:e90590. [PMID: 24594685 PMCID: PMC3940907 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0090590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2013] [Accepted: 02/02/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Mural cells of the vascular system include vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and pericytes whose role is to stabilize and/or provide contractility to blood vessels. One of the earliest markers of mural cell development in vertebrates is α smooth muscle actin (acta2; αsma), which is expressed by pericytes and SMCs. In vivo models of vascular mural cell development in zebrafish are currently lacking, therefore we developed two transgenic zebrafish lines driving expression of GFP or mCherry in acta2-expressing cells. These transgenic fish were used to trace the live development of mural cells in embryonic and larval transgenic zebrafish. acta2:EGFP transgenic animals show expression that largely mirrors native acta2 expression, with early pan-muscle expression starting at 24 hpf in the heart muscle, followed by skeletal and visceral muscle. At 3.5 dpf, expression in the bulbus arteriosus and ventral aorta marks the first expression in vascular smooth muscle. Over the next 10 days of development, the number of acta2:EGFP positive cells and the number of types of blood vessels associated with mural cells increases. Interestingly, the mural cells are not motile and remain in the same position once they express the acta2:EGFP transgene. Taken together, our data suggests that zebrafish mural cells develop relatively late, and have little mobility once they associate with vessels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas R. Whitesell
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Smooth Muscle Research Group, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Regan M. Kennedy
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Smooth Muscle Research Group, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Alyson D. Carter
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Smooth Muscle Research Group, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Evvi-Lynn Rollins
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Smooth Muscle Research Group, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Sonja Georgijevic
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Smooth Muscle Research Group, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Massimo M. Santoro
- VIB Vesalius Research Center, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven, Belgium
| | - Sarah J. Childs
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Smooth Muscle Research Group, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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