The pattern of nodal morphogen signaling is shaped by co-receptor expression

Embryos must communicate instructions to their constituent cells over long distances. These instructions are often encoded in the concentration of signals called morphogens. In the textbook view, morphogen molecules diffuse from a localized source to form a concentration gradient, and target cells adopt fates by measuring the local morphogen concentration. However, natural patterning systems often incorporate numerous co-factors and extensive signaling feedback, suggesting that embryos require additional mechanisms to generate signaling patterns. Here, we examine the mechanisms of signaling pattern formation for the mesendoderm inducer Nodal during zebrafish embryogenesis. We find that Nodal signaling activity spans a normal range in the absence of signaling feedback and relay, suggesting that diffusion is sufficient for Nodal gradient formation. We further show that the range of endogenous Nodal ligands is set by the EGF-CFC co-receptor Oep: in the absence of Oep, Nodal activity spreads to form a nearly uniform distribution throughout the embryo. In turn, increasing Oep levels sensitizes cells to Nodal ligands. We recapitulate these experimental results with a computational model in which Oep regulates the diffusive spread of Nodal ligands by setting the rate of capture by target cells. This model predicts, and we confirm in vivo, the surprising observation that a failure to replenish Oep transforms the Nodal signaling gradient into a travelling wave. These results reveal that patterns of Nodal morphogen signaling are shaped by co-receptor-mediated restriction of ligand spread and sensitization of responding cells.

Antagonistic interactions in the zebrafish midline prior to the emergence of asymmetric gene expression are important for left-right patterning

Left-right (L-R) asymmetry of the internal organs of vertebrates is presaged by domains of asymmetric gene expression in the lateral plate mesoderm (LPM) during somitogenesis. Ciliated L-R coordinators (LRCs) are critical for biasing the initiation of asymmetrically expressed genes, such as nodal and pitx2, to the left LPM. Other midline structures, including the notochord and floorplate, are then required to maintain these asymmetries. Here we report an unexpected role for the zebrafish EGF-CFC gene one-eyed pinhead (oep) in the midline to promote pitx2 expression in the LPM. Late zygotic oep (LZoep) mutants have strongly reduced or absent pitx2 expression in the LPM, but this expression can be rescued to strong levels by restoring oep in midline structures only. Furthermore, removing midline structures from LZoep embryos can rescue pitx2 expression in the LPM, suggesting the midline is a source of an LPM pitx2 repressor that is itself inhibited by oep Reducing lefty1 activity in LZoep embryos mimics removal of the midline, implicating lefty1 in the midline-derived repression. Together, this suggests a model where Oep in the midline functions to overcome a midline-derived repressor, involving lefty1, to allow for the expression of left side-specific genes in the LPM.This article is part of the themed issue 'Provocative questions in left-right asymmetry'.

Left-right axis asymmetry determining human Cryptic gene is transcriptionally repressed by Snail

BACKGROUND

Establishment of the left-right axis is important for positioning organs asymmetrically in the developing vertebrate-embryo. A number of factors like maternally deposited molecules have emerged essential in initiating the specification of the axis; the downstream events, however, are regulated by signal-transduction and gene-expression changes identifying which remains a crucial challenge. The EGF-CFC family member Cryptic, that functions as a co-receptor for some TGF-beta ligands, is developmentally expressed in higher mammals and mutations in the gene cause loss or change in left-right axis asymmetry. Despite the strong phenotype, no transcriptional-regulator of this gene is known till date.

RESULTS

Using promoter-analyses tools, we found strong evidence that the developmentally essential transcription factor Snail binds to the human Cryptic-promoter. We cloned the promoter-region of human Cryptic in a reporter gene and observed decreased Cryptic-promoter activation upon increasing Snail expression. Further, the expression of Cryptic is down-regulated upon exogenous Snail expression, validating the reporter assays and the previously identified role of Snail as a transcriptional repressor. Finally, we demonstrate using gel-shift assay that Snail in nuclear extract of PANC1 cells interacts with the promoter-construct bearing putative Snail binding sites and confirm this finding using chromatin immunoprecipitation assay.

CONCLUSIONS

Snail represses the expression of human Cryptic and therefore, might affect the signaling via Nodal that has previously been demonstrated to specify the left-right axis using the EGF-CFC co-receptors.

Decrypting the phylogenetics history of EGF-CFC proteins Cripto and Cryptic

EGF-CFC proteins are obligate coreceptors for Nodal signaling and are thus required for gastrulation and left-right patterning. Species with multiple family members show evidence of specialization. For example, mouse Cripto is required for gastrulation, whereas Cryptic is involved in left-right patterning. However, the members of the family across model organisms have little sequence conservation beyond the EGF-CFC domain, posing challenges for determining their evolutionary history and functional conservation. In this study we outline the evolutionary history of the EGF-CFC family of proteins. We traced the EGF-CFC gene family from a single gene in the deuterostome ancestor through its expansion and functional specialization in tetrapods, and subsequent gene loss and translocation in eutherian mammals. Mouse Cripto and Cryptic, zebrafish Tdgf1, and all three Xenopus EGF-CFC genes (Tdgf1, Tdgf1.2 and Cripto.3) and are all descendants of the ancestral Tdgf1 gene. We propose that subsequent to the family expansion in tetrapods, Tdgf1B (Xenopus Tdgf1.2) acquired specialization in the left-right patterning cascade, and after its translocation in eutherians to a different chromosomal location, Cfc1/Cryptic has maintained that specialization.

A Small Change With a Twist Ending: A Single Residue in EGF-CFC Drives Bilaterian Asymmetry

Asymmetries are essential for proper organization and function of organ systems. Genetic studies in bilaterians have shown signaling through the Nodal/Smad2 pathway plays a key, conserved role in the establishment of body asymmetries. Although the main molecular players in the network for the establishment of left-right asymmetry (LRA) have been deeply described in deuterostomes, little is known about the regulation of Nodal signaling in spiralians. Here, we identified orthologs of the egf-cfc gene, a master regulator of the Nodal pathway in vertebrates, in several invertebrate species, which includes the first evidence of its presence in non-deuterostomes. Our functional experiments indicate that despite being present, egf-cfc does not play a role in the establishment of LRA in gastropods. However, experiments in zebrafish suggest that a single amino acid mutation in the egf-cfc gene in at least the common ancestor of chordates was the necessary step to induce a gain of function in LRA regulation. This study shows that the egf-cfc gene likely appeared in the ancestors of deuterostomes and "protostomes", before being adopted as a mechanism to regulate the Nodal pathway and the establishment of LRA in some lineages of deuterostomes.