Bmp2 is required for cephalic neural tube closure in the mouse

BMPs have been shown to play a role in neural tube development particularly as dorsalizing factors. To explore the possibility that BMP2 could play a role in the developing neural tube (NT) beyond the lethality of Bmp2 null embryos, we created Bmp2 chimeras from Bmp2 null ES cells and WT blastocysts. Analysis of Bmp2 chimeras reveals NT defects at day 9.5 (E9.5). We found that exclusion of Bmp2 null ES cells from the dorsal NT did not always prevent defects. For further comparison, we used a Bmp2 mutant line in a mixed background. Phenotypes observed were similar to chimeras including open NT defects, postneurulation defects, and abnormal neural ectoderm in heterozygous and homozygous null embryos demonstrating a pattern of dose‐dependent signaling. Our data exposes BMP2 as a unique player in the developing NT for dorsal patterning and identity, and normal cephalic neural tube closure in a dose‐dependent manner. Developmental Dynamics 238:110–122, 2009. Published 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Comparative analysis of neural crest cell death, migration, and function during vertebrate embryogenesis.

Cranial neural crest cells are a multipotent, migratory population that generates most of the cartilage, bone, connective tissue and peripheral nervous system in the vertebrate head. Proper neural crest cell patterning is essential for normal craniofacial morphogenesis and is highly conserved among vertebrates. Neural crest cell patterning is intimately connected to the early segmentation of the neural tube, such that neural crest cells migrate in discrete segregated streams. Recent advances in live embryo imaging have begun to reveal the complex behaviour of neural crest cells which involve intricate cell-cell and cell-environment interactions. Despite the overall similarity in neural crest cell migration between distinct vertebrates species there are important mechanistic differences. Apoptosis for example, is important for neural crest cell patterning in chick embryos but not in mouse, frog or fish embryos. In this paper we highlight the potential evolutionary significance of such interspecies differences in jaw development and evolution. Developmental Dynamics 229:14-29, 2004.     

Relative expression of Slug, RhoB, and HNK-1 in the cranial neural crest of the early chicken embryo.

The neural crest constitutes a complex population of cells that originates at the edges of the neural plate of vertebrate embryos and gives rise to a high diversity of tissues and cell types. Molecular markers are very useful to identify cell populations, and in the case of the neural crest at early stages, many of them have been described. Here, we show a series of chicken embryos double labeled for several of the most commonly used crest markers that evidence the existence of different subpopulations. Slug is a very good marker for premigratory and early migratory cranial neural crest, RhoB labels delaminating cells and the very early migratory population, and the HNK-1 epitope is acquired in the migratory crest cells at a distance from the neural tube, with a significant proportion of the Slug-expressing migratory cells negative for HNK-1. The existence of these crest subpopulations should be considered when analyzing both wild-type embryos and the phenotype of experimentally manipulated chick embryos. Developmental Dynamics 229:136-139, 2004.     

Endogenous bone morphogenetic protein antagonists regulate mammalian neural crest generation and survival.

We demonstrate here that Chordin and Noggin function as bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) antagonists in vivo to promote mammalian neural crest development. Using Chrd and Nog single and compound mutants, we find that Noggin has a major role in promoting neural crest formation, in which Chordin is partially redundant. BMP signaling is increased in dorsal tissues lacking Noggin and is further increased when Chordin is also absent. The early neural crest domain is expanded with decreased BMP antagonism in vivo. Noggin and Chordin also regulate subsequent neural crest cell emigration from the neural tube. However, reduced levels of these BMP antagonists ultimately result in perturbation of neural crest cell derived peripheral nervous system and craniofacial skeletal elements. Such defects reflect, at least in part, a function to limit apoptosis in neural crest cells. Noggin and Chordin, therefore, function together to regulate both the generation and survival of neural crest cells in mammalian development.     

Differential expression of beta3 integrin gene in chick and mouse cranial neural crest cells.

RNA in situ hybridization on early chicken embryos revealed that the beta3 integrin gene started to be expressed after Hamburger and Hamilton (HH) stage 6 in the presumptive epidermis adjacent to the neural plate, before closure of the neural tube. The beta3 integrin gene was also strongly expressed in cephalic neural crest cells at the same stage in which they begin their migration but disappeared progressively in these cells along the route they take to the branchial arches. The gene was weakly expressed in the differentiating cranial neural crest cells. The alphaVbeta3 integrin protein complex was also mainly detected in the migratory cephalic neural crest cells. However, during early mouse embryogenesis and in contrast to the chick, the beta3 integrin gene was expressed in the foregut diverticulum and in the heart and not in the cephalic neural crest cells. Therefore, the difference in the beta3 integrin expression suggests that mouse and chicken cranial neural crest cells may have distinct integrin requirements during their ontogenesis.     

Abnormal neural crest cell migration after the in vivo knockdown of tenascin-C expression with morpholino antisense oligonucleotides.

A key feature of vertebrate development is the formation of the neural crest. In the trunk, neural crest cells delaminate from the neural tube shortly after the fusion of the neural folds and migrate ventrally along specific pathways to form the neurons and glia of the peripheral nervous system. As neural crest cells leave the neural tube during the initial stages of their migration, they express the extracellular matrix glycoprotein tenascin-C, which is also found in the stroma of many tumors. We have studied the possible role for tenascin-C during neural crest morphogenesis in vivo by microinjecting tenascin-C morpholino antisense oligonucleotides into the lumen of the avian neural tube in ovo and electroporating the morpholino antisense oligonucleotides into the precursors of the neural crest. After 24 hr, tenascin-C immunostaining is reduced around the dorsal neural tube in the experimental microinjected embryos (12 of 13) but not in embryos microinjected with control morpholino antisense oligonucleotides (n = 3) or subjected to electroporation only (n = 2). In each of the 12 tenascin-C knockdown embryos neural crest cells are seen ectopically in the lumen of the neural tube and in the neuroepithelium; cells that do leave the neural tube after the microinjection fail to disperse laterally from the surface of the neural tube into the somites. The observation that neural crest cells must express tenascin-C to migrate normally is consistent with a role for this glycoprotein in contributing to the invasive behavior of neural crest cells.     

BMP signaling mediated by ALK2 in the visceral endoderm is necessary for the generation of primordial germ cells in the mouse embryo

Deletion of various bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) and their downstream Smads in mice have clearly shown that BMP signaling is essential for the formation of primordial germ cells (PGCs). However, the molecular mechanism through which this takes place is still unclear. Here, we demonstrate that BMP4 produced in the extraembryonic ectoderm signals through ALK2, a type I BMP receptor, in the visceral endoderm (VE) to induce formation of PGCs from the epiblast. Firstly, embryonic day 5.5-6.0 (E5.5-E6.0) embryos cultured on fibronectin formed PGCs in the presence of VE, but not in its absence. Secondly, Alk2-deficient embryos completely lacked PGCs and the heterozygotes had reduced numbers, resembling Bmp4-deficient phenotypes. Thirdly, expression of constitutively active ALK2 in the VE, but not in the epiblast, was sufficient to rescue the PGC phenotype in Bmp4-deficient embryos. In addition, we show that the requirement for the VE at E5.5-E6.0 can be replaced by culturing embryos stripped of VE on STO cells, indicating that STO cells provide or transduce signals necessary for PGC formation that are normally transmitted by the VE. We propose a model in which direct signaling to proximal epiblast is supplemented by an obligatory indirect BMP-dependent signal via the VE.     

Bone morphogenetic protein signaling is required in the dorsal neural folds before neurulation for the induction of spinal neural crest cells and dorsal neurons

Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) activity has been implicated as a key regulator of multiple aspects of dorsal neural tube development. BMP signaling in the dorsal‐most neuroepithelial cells presumably plays a critical role. We use tissue‐specific gene ablation to probe the roles of BMPR1A, the type 1 BMP receptor that is seemingly the best candidate to mediate the activities of BMPs on early dorsal neural development. We use two different Cre lines expressed in the dorsal neural folds, one prior to spinal neurulation and one shortly afterward, together with a Bmpr1a conditional null mutation. Our findings indicate that BMPR1A signaling in the dorsal neural folds is important for hindbrain neural tube closure, but suggest it is dispensable for spinal neurulation. Our results also demonstrate a requirement for BMP signaling in patterning of dorsal neural tube cell fate and in neural crest cell formation, and imply a critical period shortly before neural tube closure. Developmental Dynamics 240:755–765, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Cardiac neural crest in zebrafish embryos contributes to myocardial cell lineage and early heart function.

Myocardial dysfunction is evident within hours after ablation of the cardiac neural crest in chick embryos, suggesting a role for neural crest in myocardial maturation that is separate from its role in outflow septation. This role could be conserved in an animal that does not have a divided systemic and pulmonary circulation, such as zebrafish. To test this hypothesis, we used cell marking to identify the axial level of neural crest that migrates to the heart in zebrafish embryos. Unlike the chick and mouse, the zebrafish cardiac neural crest does not originate from the axial level of the somites. The region of neural crest cranial to somite 1 was found to contribute cells to the heart. Cells from the cardiac neural crest migrated to the myocardial wall of the heart tube, where some of them expressed a myocardial phenotype. Laser ablation of the cardiac premigratory neural crest at the three- to four-somite stage resulted in loss of the neural crest cells migrating to the heart as shown by the absence of AP2- and HNK1-expressing cells and failure of the heart tube to undergo looping. Myocardial function was assessed 24 hr after the cardiac neural crest ablation in a subpopulation of embryos with normal heart rate. Decreased stroke volume, ejection fraction, and cardiac output were observed, indicating a more severe functional deficit in cardiac neural crest-ablated zebrafish embryos compared with neural crest-ablated chick embryos. These results suggest a new role for cardiac neural crest cells in vertebrate cardiac development and are the first report of a myocardial cell lineage for neural crest derivatives.     

No evidence for ventrally migrating neural tube cells from the mid- and hindbrain.

Abstract The neural crest is a migratory population of cells that originates from the dorsal neural tube in vertebrates. Recently, the existence of a group of ventrally emigrating neural tube (VENT) cells has been proposed, based upon cell labelling studies in the hindbrain of avian embryos. Like crest cells, these VENT cells have been reported to give rise to numerous cell types. VENT cell emigration is thought to occur after embryonic day (E) 3, when neural crest cell production has ceased. Migration of cells from the ventral neural tube into the periphery was inferred retrospectively after examining numerous embryos harvested at different stages. We have attempted to label VENT cells in vivo by using a green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression vector, electroporated into the ventral neural tube after crest cell migration and before the putative migration of the ventrally localised cells. Because GFP can be visualised strongly in living tissue a few hours after electroporation, the migration of labelled cells within the same embryo can be followed. Fluorescent cells labelled in the mid-hindbrain region were examined in ovo and in explant culture. No GFP-expressing cells were detected emigrating from the ventral neural tube from E3 to E5. Our findings are, thus, in disagreement with those of previous studies, which have indicated the existence of VENT cells in the cranial region.     

成纤维细胞生长因子信号调控早期鸡胚胎神经嵴细胞的迁移

目的 利用Sprouty2基因阻断成纤维细胞生长因子（FGF）信号,探讨FGF在早期鸡胚胎发育过程中对神经嵴细胞迁移的影响及其机制。方法 通过体内培养的方法孵育鸡胚至HH9期,通过显微注射的方法将Sprouty2-绿色荧光蛋白（GFP）质粒注射入神经管腔内。实验侧使用电穿孔转染的方法转染胚胎半侧神经管,另一侧正常神经管设为对照侧。采用神经嵴细胞特异标记物HNK1免疫荧光的方法检测Sprouty2基因阻断FGF信号后是否影响胚胎头部和躯干部神经嵴细胞的迁移过程。随后,进一步通过检测神经细胞钙黏分子N-Cadherin的表达来观察细胞之间黏附作用的改变。结果 HNK1免疫荧光检测结果显示,Sprouty2转染侧即阻断FGF信号通路后,HNK1在早期鸡胚胎的头部和躯干部的表达量均比对照侧的表达量增多;而神经细胞钙黏分子N-Cadherin检测结果表明,Sprouty2转染侧和正常对照侧N Cadherin在头部和躯干部神经管上表达量的差异均无显著性。结论 Sprouty2基因阻断FGF信号后,促进了早期鸡胚胎神经嵴细胞的迁移,但是FGF信号对此过程的影响可能不是由神经钙黏分子N-Cadherin介导的。     

Noggin-mediated antagonism of BMP signaling is required for growth and patterning of the neural tube and somite

Embryonic patterning in vertebrates is dependent upon the balance of inductive signals and their specific antagonists. We show that Noggin, which encodes a bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) antagonist expressed in the node, notochord, and dorsal somite, is required for normal mouse development. Although Noggin has been implicated in neural induction, examination of null mutants in the mouse indicates that Noggin is not essential for this process. However, Noggin is required for subsequent growth and patterning of the neural tube. Early BMP-dependent dorsal cell fates, the roof plate and neural crest, form in the absence of Noggin. However, there is a progressive loss of early, Sonic hedgehog (Shh)-dependent ventral cell fates despite the normal expression of Shh in the notochord. Further, somite differentiation is deficient in both muscle and sclerotomal precursors. Addition of BMP2 or BMP4 to paraxial mesoderm explants blocks Shh-mediated induction of Pax-1, a sclerotomal marker, whereas addition of Noggin is sufficient to induce Pax-1. Noggin and Shh induce Pax-1 synergistically. Use of protein kinase A stimulators blocks Shh-mediated induction of Pax-1, but not induction by Noggin, suggesting that induction is mediated by different pathways. Together these data demonstrate that inhibition of BMP signaling by axially secreted Noggin is an important requirement for normal patterning of the vertebrate neural tube and somite.     

Slit2/Robo1信号对鸡胚早期神经管及体节发育的影响

目的: 探讨Slit2/Robo1对鸡胚早期神经管和体节发育的影响。 方法: 显微注射法将质粒注射入HH10期胚胎神经管内,活体胚胎细胞电穿孔方法转染胚胎半侧神经管,以另一侧神经管为对照侧,原位杂交及免疫荧光方法观察转染10 h后神经管的发育和神经嵴细胞迁移至体节的情况。结果: 下调Robo1侧神经管发育较正常对照侧异常,同时发现Slug表达和神经嵴细胞迁移至体节路线发生改变。结论: Slit2/Robo1信号可能通过影响Slug基因表达,对胚胎早期神经管闭合、神经嵴细胞正常产生及迁移方向以及体节分化有重要作用。     

Spatiotemporally separated cardiac neural crest subpopulations that target the outflow tract septum and pharyngeal arch arteries

We used lacZ-retrovirus labeling combined with neural crest ablation in chick embryos to determine whether the cardiac neural crest cells constitute one group of multipotent cells, or they emigrate from the neural tube in time-dependent groups with different fates in the developing cardiovascular system. We demonstrated that early-migrating cardiac neural crest cells (HH9-10) massively target the aorticopulmonary septum and pharyngeal arch arteries, while the late-migrating cardiac neural crest cells (HH12) are restricted to the proximal part of the pharyngeal arch arteries. These results suggest a prominent role for early-migrating cells in outflow tract septation, and a function for late-migrating cells in pharyngeal arch artery remodeling. We demonstrated in cultures of neural tube explants an intrinsic difference between the early and late populations. However, by performing heterochronic transplantations we showed that the late-migrating cardiac neural crest cells were not developmentally restricted, and could contribute to the condensed mesenchyme of the aorticopulmonary septum when transplanted to a younger environment. Our findings on the exact timing and migratory behavior of cardiac neural crest cells will help narrow the range of factors and genes that are involved in neural crest-related congenital heart diseases.     

Expression of actin‐binding proteins and requirement for actin‐depolymerizing factor in chick neural crest cells

Background: Neural crest cells are multipotent cells that migrate extensively throughout vertebrate embryos to form diverse lineages. Cell migration requires polarized, organized actin networks that provide the driving force for motility. Actin‐binding proteins that regulate neural crest cell migration are just beginning to be defined. Results: We recently identified a number of actin‐associated factors through proteomic profiling of methylated proteins in migratory neural crest cells. Here, we report the previously undocumented expression pattern of three of these proteins in chick early neural crest development: doublecortin (DCX), tropomyosin‐1 (TPM‐1), and actin depolymerizing factor (ADF). All three genes are expressed with varying degrees of specificity and intensity in premigratory and migratory neural crest cells, and their resulting proteins exhibit distinct subcellular localization in migratory neural crest cells. Morpholino knock down of ADF reveals it is required for Sox10 gene expression, but minimally important during neural crest migration. Conclusions: Neural crest cells express DCX, TPM‐1, and ADF. ADF is necessary during neural crest specification, but largely dispensable for migration. Developmental Dynamics 243:731–739, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Enforced expression of the transcription factor HOXD3 under the control of the Wnt1 regulatory element modulates cell adhesion properties in the developing mouse neural tube

HOX genes expressed in a specific spatial and temporal manner play a crucial role in determining the body plan during the early development of vertebrates. In adult tissues, many HOX genes participate in normal hematopoiesis and carcinogenesis. We previously found that overexpression of the homeobox gene HOXD3 alters expression levels of cell adhesion molecules in human cancer cell lines. Here, we have investigated whether HOXD3 expression is related to the cell adhesion processes during mouse development focusing on dorsal midline cells or roof-plate cells of the neural tube and neural crest cells. We created transgenic mouse embryos, in which HOXD3 is expressed in the dorsal midline under the control of the Wnt1 regulatory element, and analyzed these embryos at embryonic day 10.5-13.5. In HOXD3-expressing transgenic embryos, although neural crest-derived structures in the trunk region appeared to be normal, striking abnormalities were found in the neural tube. In transgenic embryos expressing the lacZ gene under the control of the Wnt1 regulatory element, expression of lacZ was restricted to roof-plate cells within the neural tube. By contrast, in HOXD3-expressing transgenic embryos, expression of HOXD3 was not only located in the dorsal neural tube, but also had spread inside the ventricular zone in more ventral regions of the neural tube. These findings show that the HOXD3 transgene is expressed more broadly than the Wnt1 gene is normally expressed. Expression of both Wnt1 and Msx1, marker genes in the roof plate, was further extended ventrally in HOXD3-expressing embryos than in normal embryos, suggesting that expression of the HOXD3 transgene expands the roof plate ventrally within the neural tube. In the ventricular zone of HOXD3-expressing embryos at embryonic day 10.5, we observed an increase in the number of mitotic cells and failure of interkinetic nuclear migration of progenitor cells. Furthermore, in HOXD3-expressing embryos at embryonic day 12.5, the ventricular zone, in which progenitor cells became more loosely connected to each other, was composed of a large number of cells that did not express N-cadherin. Our results indicate that expression of HOXD3 is closely associated with modulation of cell-adhesive properties during embryonic development.