1. Neuronal identities derived by misexpression of the POU IV sensory determinant in a protovertebrate.
- Author
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Chacha PP, Horie R, Kusakabe TG, Sasakura Y, Singh M, Horie T, and Levine M
- Subjects
- Animals, Biological Evolution, Cellular Reprogramming genetics, Cellular Reprogramming physiology, Ciona intestinalis metabolism, Epidermis innervation, Epidermis metabolism, Gene Expression genetics, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental genetics, Gene Regulatory Networks genetics, Neural Crest metabolism, Neural Plate metabolism, POU Domain Factors genetics, Single-Cell Analysis, Transcription Factors metabolism, Vertebrates genetics, Ciona intestinalis genetics, Neurons metabolism, POU Domain Factors metabolism
- Abstract
The protovertebrate Ciona intestinalis type A (sometimes called Ciona robusta ) contains a series of sensory cell types distributed across the head-tail axis of swimming tadpoles. They arise from lateral regions of the neural plate that exhibit properties of vertebrate placodes and neural crest. The sensory determinant POU IV/Brn3 is known to work in concert with regional determinants, such as Foxg and Neurogenin , to produce palp sensory cells (PSCs) and bipolar tail neurons (BTNs), in head and tail regions, respectively. A combination of single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) assays, computational analysis, and experimental manipulations suggests that misexpression of POU IV results in variable transformations of epidermal cells into hybrid sensory cell types, including those exhibiting properties of both PSCs and BTNs. Hybrid properties are due to coexpression of Foxg and Neurogenin that is triggered by an unexpected POU IV feedback loop. Hybrid cells were also found to express a synthetic gene battery that is not coexpressed in any known cell type. We discuss these results with respect to the opportunities and challenges of reprogramming cell types through the targeted misexpression of cellular determinants., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interest., (Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.)
- Published
- 2022
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