Project description:Glial cells have been proposed as an endogenous source of progenitors for the treatment of neural deficits. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms underpinning the neurogenic potential of certain populations of adult glial cells, are not known. Using single cell transcriptomic profiling, we show here that enteric glial cells represent a cell state attained by autonomic neural crest cells as they transition during development along a linear default differentiation trajectory that allows them to retain neurogenic potential while acquiring a gene expression profile associated with their role in neuronal support and immunomodulation. Key neurogenic loci in early enteric nervous system progenitors remain in open chromatin configuration in mature enteric glia, thus facilitating neuronal differentiation under appropriate conditions. Molecular profiling and gene targeting of enteric glial cells in a novel cell culture system of enteric neurogenesis and a gut injury model, demonstrated that neuronal differentiation of glia is driven by transcriptional programs employed in vivo by early progenitors. Our work provides mechanistic insight into the dynamic regulatory landscape underpinning the development of intestinal neural circuits and generates a platform for advancing glial cells as therapeutic agents for the treatment of neural deficits.
Project description:Glial cells have been proposed as an endogenous source of progenitors for the treatment of neural deficits. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms underpinning the neurogenic potential of certain populations of adult glial cells, are not known. Using single cell transcriptomic profiling, we show here that enteric glial cells represent a cell state attained by autonomic neural crest cells as they transition during development along a linear default differentiation trajectory that allows them to retain neurogenic potential while acquiring a gene expression profile associated with their role in neuronal support and immunomodulation. Key neurogenic loci in early enteric nervous system progenitors remain in open chromatin configuration in mature enteric glia, thus facilitating neuronal differentiation under appropriate conditions. Molecular profiling and gene targeting of enteric glial cells in a novel cell culture system of enteric neurogenesis and a gut injury model, demonstrated that neuronal differentiation of glia is driven by transcriptional programs employed in vivo by early progenitors. Our work provides mechanistic insight into the dynamic regulatory landscape underpinning the development of intestinal neural circuits and generates a platform for advancing glial cells as therapeutic agents for the treatment of neural deficits.
Project description:Glial cells have been proposed as an endogenous source of progenitors for the treatment of neural deficits. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms underpinning the neurogenic potential of certain populations of adult glial cells, are not known. Using single cell transcriptomic profiling, we show here that enteric glial cells represent a cell state attained by autonomic neural crest cells as they transition during development along a linear default differentiation trajectory that allows them to retain neurogenic potential while acquiring a gene expression profile associated with their role in neuronal support and immunomodulation. Key neurogenic loci in early enteric nervous system progenitors remain in open chromatin configuration in mature enteric glia, thus facilitating neuronal differentiation under appropriate conditions. Molecular profiling and gene targeting of enteric glial cells in a novel cell culture system of enteric neurogenesis and a gut injury model, demonstrated that neuronal differentiation of glia is driven by transcriptional programs employed in vivo by early progenitors. Our work provides mechanistic insight into the dynamic regulatory landscape underpinning the development of intestinal neural circuits and generates a platform for advancing glial cells as therapeutic agents for the treatment of neural deficits.
Project description:Glial cells have been proposed as an endogenous source of progenitors for the treatment of neural deficits. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms underpinning the neurogenic potential of certain populations of adult glial cells, are not known. Using single cell transcriptomic profiling, we show here that enteric glial cells represent a cell state attained by autonomic neural crest cells as they transition during development along a linear default differentiation trajectory that allows them to retain neurogenic potential while acquiring a gene expression profile associated with their role in neuronal support and immunomodulation. Key neurogenic loci in early enteric nervous system progenitors remain in open chromatin configuration in mature enteric glia, thus facilitating neuronal differentiation under appropriate conditions. Molecular profiling and gene targeting of enteric glial cells in a novel cell culture system of enteric neurogenesis and a gut injury model, demonstrated that neuronal differentiation of glia is driven by transcriptional programs employed in vivo by early progenitors. Our work provides mechanistic insight into the dynamic regulatory landscape underpinning the development of intestinal neural circuits and generates a platform for advancing glial cells as therapeutic agents for the treatment of neural deficits.
Project description:Chronotherapy demands that patients are treated at a particular time of the day in order to maximize treatment effects and minimize side effects. Chronotherapy can be personalized by taking into account the patient's circadian rhythm as measured by a repetitive sampling of gene expression over the day. As a proof of concept, the submitted model links circadian gene expression to the diurnal toxicity profile of the cancer drug irinotecan. The model is based on MODEL2109140001; it implements a transcription-translation network model of the core clock and additional genes associated with irinotecan metabolism and links this to a model of the pharmacokinetics and -dynamics (PK-PD) of irinotecan. The submitted model refines network connections of the gene regulatory network and adds a treatment-induced increase in UGT1A1 and a transient increase in the apoptosis rate in response to treatment for the PK-PD part.