Click here to close
Hello! We notice that you are using Internet Explorer, which is not supported by Xenbase and may cause the site to display incorrectly.
We suggest using a current version of Chrome,
FireFox, or Safari.
???displayArticle.abstract???
A small number of signaling pathways are used repeatedly during organogenesis, and they can have drastically different effects on the same population of cells depending on the embryonic stage. How cellular competence changes over developmental time is not well understood. Here we used Xenopus, mouse, and human pluripotent stem cells to investigate how the temporal sequence of Wnt, BMP, and retinoic acid (RA) signals regulates endoderm developmental competence and organ induction, focusing on respiratory fate. While Nkx2-1+ lung fate is not induced until late somitogenesis stages, here we show that lung competence is restricted by the gastrula stage as a result of Wnt and BMP-dependent anterior-posterior (A-P) patterning. These early Wnt and BMP signals make posterior endoderm refractory to subsequent RA/Wnt/BMP-dependent lung induction. We further mapped how RA modulates the response to Wnt and BMP in a temporal specific manner. In the gastrula RA promotes posterior identity, however in early somite stages of development RA regulates respiratory versus pharyngeal potential in anterior endoderm and midgut versus hindgut potential in posterior endoderm. Together our data suggest a dynamic and conserved response of vertebrate endoderm during organogenesis, wherein early Wnt/BMP/RA impacts how cells respond to later Wnt/BMP/RA signals, illustrating how reiterative combinatorial signaling can regulate both developmental competence and subsequent fate specification.
Fig. 1.
Respiratory competence ofXenopusendoderm is restricted by the early gastrula stage. (A) Experimental diagram of the Xenopus respiratory competence assay. Bisected early gastrula stage (NF10.25) Xenopus embryos assayed by in-situ hybridization show the expression of sox17α throughout the definitive endoderm (DE), hhex in anteriorendoderm (AE) and ventx2 in posteriorendoderm (PE). DE, AE, or PE explants were dissected at NF10.25, cultured in isolation until NF14, treated +/â 50 nM RA from NF14-25, and then in 3.5 μM Bio + 50 ng/mL BMP4 from NF25-38, at which time they were fixed and analyzed by in-situ hybridization for the respiratory endoderm markers nkx2-1(B-G) and sftpc(H-M).
Fig. 4.
Wnt/BMP-mediated A-P patterning impacts developmental competence. (A,B) Experimental diagram. Xenopus embryos at the 16-cell stage with clear pigment differences (animal pole, dorsal-anterior, and ventral-posterior views of such embryos are shown) were injected with 25 pg of Noggin or 100 pg of Dkk1 RNAs (to inhibit BMP and Wnt/βcatenin signaling, respectively) into each ventral-vegetal V2.1 blastomere along with 25 pg eGFP RNA as a lineage tracer, which targets the ventx1/2-expressing posteriormesendoderm. Hhex+ AE tissue was targeted by injection of each dorsal-vegetal D1.1 blastomere with 25 pg eGFP RNA. At gastrula stage NF10.25, GFP fluorescence was monitored and used to dissect AE, PE, and BMP- or Wnt-inhibited PE explants, which were then treated as indicated in panel B (50 nM RA from NF14-25 followed by 3.5 μM Bio + 50 ng/mL BMP4 from NF25-38). (C)In-situ hybridization analysis of hhex and ventx1+2 (both probes mixed together) in bisected gastrula NF10.25 embryos confirms effective inhibition of the posteriorizing Wnt and BMP pathways by dkk1 and noggin RNA injection. Numbers in the lower left corner indicate numbers of embryos assayed with the gene expression pattern shown. (D-M) Relative gene expression analysis (RT-qPCR) of different anterior-posteriorendoderm lineages assayed in explants as prepared/treated in panels A,B. Graphs display the average 2âδδCt value +/- SEM of 3 biological replicates. (N-W)In-situ hybridization of control embryos showing the endogenous spatial domains of expression along the anterior-posterior axis.
Fig. 6.
Model depicting the reiterative use of Wnt, BMP, and RA signals during endoderm development. (A) In situ hybridization showing expression of the RA-synthesizing enzyme raldh2 (aldh1a2) during early Xenopus development. Abbreviations: AE, anteriorendoderm; PE, posteriorendoderm; lpm, lateral plate mesoderm; FG, foregut; MG, midgut; HG, hindgut; sm, somitic mesoderm; ant, anterior; post, posterior. (B) Schematic depicting the reiterative roles for Wnt, BMP and RA signals during endoderm vertebrate development.
Supplemental Figure S1.
(A) Xenopus early somite stage NF14 and NF20 foregutendoderm explants contain a restricted domain of respiratory-competent cells that can respond to RA followed by Wnt/BMP pathway stimulation to activate respiratory fate. NF14 endoderm requires exogenous RA (50nM) prior to Bio (3.5uM) +BMP4 (50ng/mL) in order to express the respiratory markers nkx2-1 and sftpc in only a subset of each explant. NF20 endoderm is competent, and does not require exogenous RA in order to express respiratory markers in response to Bio+BMP4. This competence is RA-dependent, as culture of embryos in the Raldh inhibitor DEAB (10uM) prior to foregut dissection blocks the ability of Bio+BMP4 to induce the lung markers. (B-J) Gastrulaanteriorendoderm contributes to foregut organ lineages. Immunofluorescence analysis of optical sections through hhex:GFP transgenic X.laevis embryos. GFP expression driven by the Xenopus hhex promoter is localized to gastrulaanteriorendoderm (C; plane of section indicated in B) and acts as a short-term lineage label (Rankin et al., 2011). (E-I) Analysis of NF34 hhex:GFP embryos (planes of section indicated in D) reveal GFP expression is present in lateral and ventral Sox2+ pharyngeal endoderm (E,F,G), Nkx2-1+thyroid endoderm (E,Eâ), Sox2+ esophageal endoderm (G,H, J, Jâ), Nkx2-1+ respiratory endoderm (G-Gâ,H-Hâ), ventral pancreatic endoderm (I), and stomachendoderm (I, J, Jâ), confirming that gastrula stage AE contributes to foregut lineages. J and Jâ show staining of the lung/esophageal/stomach region of NF38 embryos, confirming that gastrula AE contributes to both lung bud, esophageal, and stomachendoderm. Scale bars 100uM. Abbreviations: DE, definitive endoderm; AE, anteriorendoderm; PE, posteriorendoderm; fb, forebrain; phe, pharyngeal endoderm; thy, thyroid; v fge, ventralforegutendoderm; d fge, dorsal foregutendoderm; sto, stomach; vp, ventralpancreas; tr, trachea; eso, esophagus; lb, lung bud; stom, stomach.
Supplemental Figure S2
(A). Dynamic expression of the RA-synthesizing enzymes rdh10 and raldh2 and RA-degrading enzyme cyp26a1 during early Xenopus development. Panel A shows in situ hybridization analysis of rdh10, raldh2, cyp26a1, hhex, and ventx1 at the indicated stages of Xenopus development. Abbreviations: AE, anteriorendoderm; PE, posteriorendoderm; AM, anteriormesoderm; PM, posteriormesoderm; vlpm, ventrallateral plate mesoderm; fg, foregut; hg, hindgut; lpm, lateral plate mesoderm. Note the robust expression of rdh10 and raldh2 in the ventrallpm at NF20 but not NF14, which correlates with the endogenous timing of RA-dependent respiratory competence of the endoderm (Supplemental Fig.S1A). Boxed flow chart in (A) is a simple schematic of where the enzymes act in the metabolism and catabolism pathway of RA biogenesis.
(B). Early RA treatment of Xenopus DE is inhibitory to lung induction and promotes pancreatic/stomach and intestinal fate. Experimental diagram to test two different RA treatment periods on Xenopus gastrula DE. RT-qPCR analysis of DE explants treated either from NF10.5 to NF25 or NF15-25 with 50nM RA and then from NF25-38 with 3.5ïM Bio + 50ng/mL BMP4. Gene expression in each condition was normalized to the housekeeping gene ODC and then log2 fold changes in experimental gene expression were determined using the 2âδδCt method relative to the experimental geneâs ODC-normalized expression in either AE or PE cultured in isolation as indicated. Graphs display the average 2âδδCt value +/- SEM of 3 biological replicates (each biological replicate contained n=4 explants).
Bayha,
Retinoic acid signaling organizes endodermal organ specification along the entire antero-posterior axis.
2009, Pubmed
Bayha,
Retinoic acid signaling organizes endodermal organ specification along the entire antero-posterior axis.
2009,
Pubmed
Blythe,
beta-Catenin primes organizer gene expression by recruiting a histone H3 arginine 8 methyltransferase, Prmt2.
2010,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Cadigan,
TCF/LEFs and Wnt signaling in the nucleus.
2012,
Pubmed
Chen,
Retinoic acid signaling is essential for pancreas development and promotes endocrine at the expense of exocrine cell differentiation in Xenopus.
2004,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Cunningham,
Mechanisms of retinoic acid signalling and its roles in organ and limb development.
2015,
Pubmed
Danesh,
BMP and BMP receptor expression during murine organogenesis.
2009,
Pubmed
Deimling,
Retinoic acid regulates anterior-posterior patterning within the lateral plate mesoderm of Xenopus.
2009,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Desai,
Retinoic acid selectively regulates Fgf10 expression and maintains cell identity in the prospective lung field of the developing foregut.
2004,
Pubmed
Desai,
Distinct roles for retinoic acid receptors alpha and beta in early lung morphogenesis.
2006,
Pubmed
Domyan,
Signaling through BMP receptors promotes respiratory identity in the foregut via repression of Sox2.
2011,
Pubmed
Frank,
Emergence of a Wave of Wnt Signaling that Regulates Lung Alveologenesis by Controlling Epithelial Self-Renewal and Differentiation.
2016,
Pubmed
Gaarenstroom,
TGF-β signaling to chromatin: how Smads regulate transcription during self-renewal and differentiation.
2014,
Pubmed
Gessert,
The multiple phases and faces of wnt signaling during cardiac differentiation and development.
2010,
Pubmed
Goss,
Wnt2/2b and beta-catenin signaling are necessary and sufficient to specify lung progenitors in the foregut.
2009,
Pubmed
Green,
Generation of anterior foregut endoderm from human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells.
2011,
Pubmed
Harris-Johnson,
beta-Catenin promotes respiratory progenitor identity in mouse foregut.
2009,
Pubmed
Havrilak,
Endothelial cells are not required for specification of respiratory progenitors.
2017,
Pubmed
Herriges,
Lung development: orchestrating the generation and regeneration of a complex organ.
2014,
Pubmed
Huang,
Efficient generation of lung and airway epithelial cells from human pluripotent stem cells.
2014,
Pubmed
Kjolby,
Genome-wide identification of Wnt/β-catenin transcriptional targets during Xenopus gastrulation.
2017,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Kraus,
Patterning and shaping the endoderm in vivo and in culture.
2012,
Pubmed
Kumar,
Nuclear receptor corepressors Ncor1 and Ncor2 (Smrt) are required for retinoic acid-dependent repression of Fgf8 during somitogenesis.
2016,
Pubmed
Kurmann,
Regeneration of Thyroid Function by Transplantation of Differentiated Pluripotent Stem Cells.
2015,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Loh,
Mapping the Pairwise Choices Leading from Pluripotency to Human Bone, Heart, and Other Mesoderm Cell Types.
2016,
Pubmed
Loh,
Efficient endoderm induction from human pluripotent stem cells by logically directing signals controlling lineage bifurcations.
2014,
Pubmed
Mazzoni,
Saltatory remodeling of Hox chromatin in response to rostrocaudal patterning signals.
2013,
Pubmed
McCauley,
Pluripotent stem cell-derived organoids: using principles of developmental biology to grow human tissues in a dish.
2017,
Pubmed
McCauley,
Efficient Derivation of Functional Human Airway Epithelium from Pluripotent Stem Cells via Temporal Regulation of Wnt Signaling.
2017,
Pubmed
McCracken,
Wnt/β-catenin promotes gastric fundus specification in mice and humans.
2017,
Pubmed
McCracken,
Modelling human development and disease in pluripotent stem-cell-derived gastric organoids.
2014,
Pubmed
McCulley,
The pulmonary mesenchyme directs lung development.
2015,
Pubmed
McLin,
Repression of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in the anterior endoderm is essential for liver and pancreas development.
2007,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Molotkov,
Retinoic acid generated by Raldh2 in mesoderm is required for mouse dorsal endodermal pancreas development.
2005,
Pubmed
Moody,
Fates of the blastomeres of the 16-cell stage Xenopus embryo.
1987,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Múnera,
Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells into Colonic Organoids via Transient Activation of BMP Signaling.
2017,
Pubmed
Nakamura,
Tissue- and stage-specific Wnt target gene expression is controlled subsequent to β-catenin recruitment to cis-regulatory modules.
2016,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Rankin,
A Retinoic Acid-Hedgehog Cascade Coordinates Mesoderm-Inducing Signals and Endoderm Competence during Lung Specification.
2016,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Rankin,
A gene regulatory network controlling hhex transcription in the anterior endoderm of the organizer.
2011,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Rankin,
Suppression of Bmp4 signaling by the zinc-finger repressors Osr1 and Osr2 is required for Wnt/β-catenin-mediated lung specification in Xenopus.
2012,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Rossant,
Expression of a retinoic acid response element-hsplacZ transgene defines specific domains of transcriptional activity during mouse embryogenesis.
1991,
Pubmed
Sasai,
Integration of signals along orthogonal axes of the vertebrate neural tube controls progenitor competence and increases cell diversity.
2014,
Pubmed
Shannon,
Induction of alveolar type II cell differentiation in fetal tracheal epithelium by grafted distal lung mesenchyme.
1994,
Pubmed
Shannon,
Induction of alveolar type II cell differentiation in embryonic tracheal epithelium in mesenchyme-free culture.
1999,
Pubmed
Spence,
Directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into intestinal tissue in vitro.
2011,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Stevens,
Genomic integration of Wnt/β-catenin and BMP/Smad1 signaling coordinates foregut and hindgut transcriptional programs.
2017,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Wandzioch,
Dynamic signaling network for the specification of embryonic pancreas and liver progenitors.
2009,
Pubmed
Wang,
Epigenetic priming of enhancers predicts developmental competence of hESC-derived endodermal lineage intermediates.
2015,
Pubmed
Wang,
Retinoic acid is a key regulatory switch determining the difference between lung and thyroid fates in Xenopus laevis.
2011,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Wang,
Retinoic acid regulates morphogenesis and patterning of posterior foregut derivatives.
2006,
Pubmed
Xie,
Dynamic chromatin remodeling mediated by polycomb proteins orchestrates pancreatic differentiation of human embryonic stem cells.
2013,
Pubmed
Zorn,
Vertebrate endoderm development and organ formation.
2009,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase