1. Transcriptional targets of TWIST1 in the cranial mesoderm regulate cell-matrix interactions and mesenchyme maintenance
- Author
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Junwen Wang, Vanessa Jones, Melinda Power, Heidi Bildsoe, Xiaochen Fan, Patrick P.L. Tam, David A.F. Loebel, Emilie E. Wilkie, Jing Qin, and Ator Ashoti
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,PROTEIN ,FGF and mesoderm formation ,Madin Darby Canine Kidney Cells ,bHLH factor ,Mesoderm ,Mice ,Craniofacial ,Cranial mesoderm ,Genetics ,Mice, Knockout ,CRANIOFACIAL MUSCLES ,Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ,Nuclear Proteins ,Cell Differentiation ,TGF-BETA ,Cell biology ,Extracellular Matrix ,DOMAIN RECEPTOR 2 ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,DIFFERENTIATION ,Neural Crest ,embryonic structures ,NEURAL-TUBE ,Twist1 ,PROMOTES TUMOR-METASTASIS ,Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ,animal structures ,Mesenchyme ,Morphogenesis ,Biology ,Cell Line ,03 medical and health sciences ,Dogs ,TGF beta signaling pathway ,medicine ,Paraxial mesoderm ,Animals ,BREAST-CANCER ,Molecular Biology ,Binding Sites ,BETA-IG-H3 INTERACTS ,Skull ,Twist-Related Protein 1 ,Mesenchymal Stem Cells ,Cell Biology ,030104 developmental biology ,Extracellular matrix-cell interaction ,MORPHOGENESIS ,NODAL ,Developmental Biology ,TGFBI - Abstract
TWIST1, a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor is essential for the development of cranial mesoderm and cranial neural crest-derived craniofacial structures. We have previously shown that, in the absence of TWIST1, cells within the cranial mesoderm adopt an abnormal epithelial configuration via a process reminiscent of a mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET). Here, we show by gene expression analysis that loss of TWIST1 in the cranial mesoderm is accompanied by a reduction in the expression of genes that are associated with cell-extracellular matrix interactions and the acquisition of mesenchymal characteristics. By comparing the transcriptional profiles of cranial mesoderm-specific Twist1 loss-of-function mutant and control mouse embryos, we identified a set of genes that are both TWIST1-dependent and predominantly expressed in the mesoderm. ChIP-seq was used to identify TWIST1-binding sites in an in vitro model of a TWIST1-dependent mesenchymal cell state, and the data were combined with the transcriptome data to identify potential target genes. Three direct transcriptional targets of TWIST1 (Ddr2, Pcolce and Tgfbi) were validated by ChIP-PCR using mouse embryonic tissues and by luciferase assays. Our findings reveal that the mesenchymal properties of the cranial mesoderm are likely to be regulated by a network of TWIST1 targets that influences the extracellular matrix and cell-matrix interactions, and collectively they are required for the morphogenesis of the craniofacial structures.
- Published
- 2016